Dear Joffin,

Am waiting for that grass skirt, you know.

It suddenly crossed my mind how Los Baños - well, at least the areas of Batong Malaki and Anos - is profoundly shaped by the movements of the approximately 11 thousand students of UPLB. Personally, I find my own movements affected by theirs, one way or another. As a teacher, I sometimes dread bumping into students when I don't want to see them. For this, I really miss my anonymity. As a driver, I constantly have to remind myself not to get overly reactive to slow foot and car traffic. As a local resident, I'm trying to master the art of tuning out to admittedly noisier college kids.

So for me, the times I relish being in UPLB are during the three breaks: semestral, Christmas and Holy Week. On a lesser level, I get to look forward to Friday.

The day after Thursday, Thursday being the Friday of UPLB, at least as far as the students are concerned.

Things are cleaner, more easy-going, more downtempo. I find it easier to appreciate a good afternoon of lounging around at the local coffeeshop. Walking around campus is a relief. Going to the nearby bar is a reclamation of what is really local.

You could probably guess by now that I went out last night and had to restrain myself from violently reacting to lemming fashion and kids embarassing themselves.

I know, I know. I've touched on this topic before and it looks a little self-indulgent to go back to this yet again. But there were some things that were confirmed last night.