Manila Gay Guy

It’s been exactly 2 weeks since I arrived here in the US. Dalawang linggo na pag-a-adjust (maulan ang Bay Area these past weeks), sa bagong bahay, bagong trabaho, bagong workplace, bagong environment, and yes, bagong set of friends din. I treasure all these new things, even those that make me a bit uncomfortable, because they give me that diversity of experiences I need so I can better prepare myself to be the person I want to be in the future. On the other hand, there is joy in swimming with the current, going with the flow, and riding the tide. Hindi man kumportable na magpaanod sa mga bagong daloy ng aking kinaroroonan, may sayang mapapala sa pakikipaglaro sa bawat nitong liko’t ligwak.

Last Friday, I met someone.

Isa sa mga na-resolve ko na gawin sa aking pagtuntong dito sa Amerika ay ang magkaroon ng mga bagong kaibigan. Marami akong iniwang mga mahal na kaibigan sa Pilipinas, at sa aking pag-alis, noon ko naramdaman ang labis na ligayang naidudulot ng pagkakaroon ng marami, sari-sari, at mga tapat na kaibigan, iyong may pagkakaibigang walang pag-iimbot, buong pusong pagtanggap sa isa’t isa. Kaya naman, sabi ko sa sarili ko, dito sa Amerika, magkakaroon ako muli ng mga ganoong kaibigan.

Last Friday, I met Raffy. Pinoy din, US citizen, pero sa Pilipinas nag-aral. Unang-una kita ko pa lang sa kanya, pansin ko na ang tamis ng ngiti niya. His smile can light up the whole Philippines (siyempre ine-exag ko lang). Pero seriously, that was my first impression of him — such a sunny, carefree personality. (At siyempre it helps na tisoy siya, guwapo, at matangkad – LOL) We went to a Starbucks near his house, and after the usual intro chit-chat, we discovered we knew common friends, which was a really good thing. Tipo bang di kami naubusan ng topics to talk about. He asked that we continue our conversation while walking the streets of downtown because he wanted to show me around as well. As early as that time I was beginning to feel na may paroroonan kaming dalawa ni Raffy.

Madaldal si Raffy, in a good way. In a very good way. While walking around downtown, naikuwento na yata niya sa akin ang bawat miyembro ng pamilya niya, mga kaibigan niyang iniwan din sa Pilipinas, at marami pang iba. Habang nagkukuwento siya, taimtim lang akong nakikinig. Ansarap ng may kausap ng tagalog, isip-isip ko. Pero more than that, ramdam ko ang sincerity ng friendship ni Raf. Parang tiwalang-tiwala na siya sa akin. It feels good to be the recipient of such trust. So willingly, without even being so conscious about it, I also shared with him some aspects of my life. And no, not the melodramatic kind of sharing. But really those deep things that you don’t just share right away to acquaintances.

As we continued our walk and our talk, he suggested to change location –

“Tara, Migs, let’s go to this park I know. Maganda dun, at malapit lang. Tahimik, surrounded by nature. Dun tayo magkuwentuhan pa.”

And so we went. It turned out, you’ll later find out, it was a key step we took.

[to be continued]

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