thoumayest

You only need P6 fare to take a jeep and go to Olivares. Olivares, that is the second nearest "mall" near UPLB. Olinvares is popular simply because it has a facility that Robinson's (the nearest mall in UP) does not have - a movie theater. Olivares only has one cinema. You're lucky if it's featuring the movie you want. You are also lucky if you don't step on anything muck inside the dark room.

You wonder how the student body's need for movie entertainment is quenched with only one cinema. That is because students don't go to the movies much. Instead, they watch the plays. Ah, yes, the plays. Ticket prices range from nothing to P100.

The first play I ever watched here in UP is "Isko't Iska: DRA-MAtrikula Rising". Isko't Iska is an annual play by the freshmen for the freshmen. The whole cast is composed of first years and the plot focuses on the current events affecting a freshman's life. Ah, the joys of being in a free university. From impersonating GMA to playing an adacious Oble, the first play I ever saw is surely to be remembered.

Two weeks later, I watched "Icebag 8", simply because I was curious on how the upperclassmen made a play. I've heard a lot about "Icebag" (It's also held annually.). People say that it is not for the conservative minds. After four hours of sitting inside the NCAS Auditorium, I agreed to that comment. That was the first time that I actually saw a kiss - not a kiss of strangers or even of a bride and her groom, but of a man and woman. When I say a kiss that of a man and woman, that does not entirely mean that the kiss was shared by a man and woman. Well, one of the three couples in the play were normal, but the other two weren't. Squeals emanated fromt he audience as their lips touched their partner's. Gods and godesses wouldn't be able to explain how I felt. It was like butterflies in my stomach, no wrong words, as if my stomach turned upside down. I wasn't disgusted. In fact, unlike my dormmates who covered their eyes with their hands, I sat completely still - careful to take everything in, to imprint them in my memory. I rememembered the damned things in my sleep. So that was how a kiss looked like. Be amazed at my own naivety. Yes, it was a stage kiss, no feeling involved, but still, it was a KISS. Now wonder "Icebag" is such an annual hit. (The cast are pretty much the same unless an upperclassmen is graduating. Auditions must be tough.) People look forward to it come August.

The next play in my list is "Field: Land is the Belly of Man", a dance demonstration that I'm required to watch. And if I get P100 miraculously appearing in my wallet, "Rashoumon", a Samurai story also held yearly...