Kim is considering a course change — from Social Anthropology in UP Baguio to Child Development in UP Diliman. Learned that she will have to go through an interview on Wednesday.

I couldn’t help but remember our happy and melancholy experiences last year, when Kim finally decided to study in UP Baguio. That wouldn’t have been a major decision if we were all living in Baguio City. But we were based in Quezon City, some 500 km away.

Two weeks into the school year, all three of us were feeling the strain of coping with the new situation. On my Facebook Notes, I wrote:

Mari and I are new empty nesters. Kim finally left for school in UP Baguio 2 weeks ago. Wasn’t easy when reality finally set in, so we were constantly on the phone with her. Even slept 3 nights on the sofa of her boarding house, on the pretext of fixing her computer and internet connection.

I was actually looking for excuses to stay with my baby in Baguio, but we knew that we all had to start adjusting to the situation. So I put the conditioning in my mind and even wrote:

But we’re all adjusting…. isn’t this the essence of life? Adjusting to change. Learning detachment.

So we’ve also learned to be flexible, and try to bond with or two of the girls and the apos on weekdays.

Yet,  I knew we were working on it, the best way we could individually can.

Nakakatawa nga.  Since we’ve dispatched the house help na, Mari and I go grocerying together again, buying food stuffs by hundred grams or so (di na by the kilo), butter by little packets instead of bar. won’t dare buy a whole chicken, lest we end up with a chicken-only week. But I’ve learned to order small meals from my caterer friend. (Yung sobra sa order ng iba, akin na). Still gotta learn to find time to cook several viands, and freezing them in small meal sizes. Aaabot din kami doon.

I’m back to singing with the Theresian Alumnae Chorale, the only other group aside from ECKANKAR that has given me a sense of home. (We’ve been together since 2003, singing at practically all STC events, outside gigs, and resource-generation concerts in the US.

Yesterday, we learned that Kim has gone horseback riding with Paige. (Since she was barely a year old, she’d beg us to let her ride a horse. Even suggested at one point to buy her a pony. So at the first opportunity, she and Paige go off to ride their own horses for an hour. Di pa sawa yan. Who could imagine Kim so lonely.)

And Mari’s constantly on Skype when we’re not driving around to rediscover the city. Detachment is not as hard as we thought after all.

But we feel we’re all at another crossroad again. Will she or will she not enrol in UP Baguio.Kim herself is undecided. She loves the little city of cool Baguio where so many people know each other, where taxi drivers return your full change to the last centavo, where people are courteous and helpful, where she can learn to take care of  herself, where she so much comfort with block mates.

But then, Baguio is too far from Mama and Papa and the Ates and the pamangkins, and most of her friends. In spite of the PLDT extension land line that we bought to keep constantly in touch, there’s not enough time to be together.

Manila could be a real nasty hot place, but it’s also her home.

Some weeks ago, her sisters and brothers-in-law started a campaign to urgeKim to stay in Manila and enrol in UP Diliman. One of them even gifted her with a huge jar of her favorite Nutella. “There’s more if you stay here.”

Tension is deafening. Hopefully we get to know by the end of the week. Otherwise, we all have to start readjusting again. Abangan.