Sinulog!

My head was starting to swirl from all the booze I drank. The blinking lights and cigarette smoke caused my face to cringe and my eyes to burn. The Sinulog night is the best here in Cebu.You get to meet different kinds of people. Cute guys with attitude; weirdos and their mohawks; human pin cushions and their pierced bodies; and if you’re lucky, you can even get a glimpse of hot celebrities in the party scene. Yes, people are always like that during Sinulog. Of course it depends on whether you were able to fold a Ninoy Aquino inside the hidden pocket of your wallet to keep from spending it. You see a lot of teenagers yanking their soul out of their bodies. Corporate people used to the fast - paced life, settle for a momentary pleasure with friends on a night of booze revelry. They consider this as treating themselves after a long day of mind-frying. Party time may last from midnight to the crack of dawn. What the heck, this only happens once every year - people gather altogether to celebrate to one beat. But for sure, a night in Sinulog is never at a loss for the unexpected.

I recall one time, I was dancing my stuff in one bar I frequently go to, two Sinulogs ago. I almost thought that I’d go home without a story to tell. Just then, two gays started shouting and raving to the music. One climbed on top of a seat and the other stood in front, below the former. They started extending their hands and swaying to opposite directions, like spiders playing patintero with their prey. “Play our music!”, they shrieked, like harpies, their tongues flailing out their mouths; almost as if trying to taste the raw atmosphere of smoke, booze, and sweat. I check the arena, turning three hundred sixty degrees, with an almost infinite slowness. Every face I see is different. Every movement, saturated with life. Every soul inside the night coven, bursting with a story to share.

Take "Silingan", for example. I call her that because she once lived a block from my place and we were classmates in two subjects when I was still in school. I don’t really know her to the core, but I see her every time I go to Mango during Sinulog; almost as if she lived here. This was her kingdom and she was queen every night she danced. The ledge was her throne; every gyrate of her hips, a commandment; and every other person inside the dark den, her subject. Some say she was no longer studying. I then come into deep contemplation. Did her parents know this? I swiftly erase the thought from my mind. This should not be part of my reverie.

I sway around, catching a nanosecond-smile from M. This, on the other hand, was a guy who was there, not to drown his burden in ale, but to scope the place, looking for his latest victim; like the vampire, Lestat. For those who are not familiar with Anne Rice’s most famous character, the latter is a blood-sucking romeo who prefers victims who deserve to be victims. The more dirt, the better. Pero syempre, mas nindot kung palaban! That was how M liked it.

And there's this gwapo na waiter I met, in one of my bar adventures. Quiet, but friendly, patience was already evident, the second I saw the sweat from his brow. He was working his way to college. Eskwela sa buntag, trabaho sa gabii. Kinda’ like makes you feel all guilty inside. But then, all these faces form a part of me that make up what we coin as, human. I am "Silingan", when I try to cover my melancholy with a life evident with happiness. I am M, when I try to feel good about myself by toiling with the emotions of those I consider my inferiors. I am "waiter", when I try to make up for what life cannot readily offer me. I am each of these three and a million others. But most of all, I am Sinulog --- full of life; bleak sometimes, but always full of hope.

I felt my head wanting to explode; thoughts turning redundant. I had too much to drink. It’s time to head home.