975 PESOS

Nine Hundred and Seventy Five. What would you get from 975 pesos? 19 Magnums, 3 Zipline rides, 8 Hunger Games movie tickets. That's a whole lot of fun, right? But wait, I am thinking of something, how about a "Retreat?"

A retreat became a compulsory activity in school which usually exists in the later part of a graduating student's life. By compulsory, it means you have no excuse and you have to experience retreat. You can't retreat in a retreat (if you know what I mean). If you'd ask me how did I find the retreat, I'd start responding with this:

I am one of those who came and showed up because I paid 975 pesos. I am pessimistic about the so-called activity. I hate retreats. All I could think about is there would be crying and stuffs alike. I hate it. Before the retreat was finalized, I am one of those who wished and prayed that there would be a sudden turn of events that would cause the retreat to be impossible. But I failed. And so, the date is set on a Thursday morning. Again, I have to come and show up because if I don't, I still have to pay the same amount, and that would be impractical.

Thursday morning was the day that I wished I could skip but I can't. We would be on a long and quite tiring journey. Along the way, I am still thinking of how I could get the retreat to be postponed (the evil in me =D). And again, nothing happened, plus we are already in our expected destination. But wait, bwahahaha, it turned out that we were at the wrong place. (And I am already thinking that finally, we're going home!) Or not. Hmp. We continued our journey, turned here, road up, road down, turn right, turn left, and boom, we finally arrived. (The place was splendid I should say.)

After the snacks and room assignments, it was time to begin the activity itself. As expected, there were a lot of prayers yet there were also activities which I found to be fun though I still want the retreat to end sooner. The night came and its time to sleep. Sleeping means when you wake up, its time. Time to pack things and go home. Yes, it is only a one night retreat, unusual huh? But its on my side of the table. =).

Morning's activity started with a devotion, an emotional devotion for some, an ordinary devotion for me. But I was excited for the next event, "The Amazing Race." Now that's my kind of thing. But it was not the thing I expected, there was no running, no race. We just stood on one station, finishing tasks (bible tasks), and that's it. But what I didn't realize is that I sang with my team a religious song. Was that me? =).

I find myself enjoying the retreat already, part of me I guess. I found my self active in the activities,   defending my team, cheering, winning, and socializing with others. And I had fun, real fun.

But it was time to go. But before leaving the place, we still have lunch. The retreat master called it "Agape Meal." I know what Agape is, Love. But I couldn't figure out what Agape Meal is. We were advised to get our meal and place it on our table and wait for further instructions. Then, we were instructed to give our meal to the person whom we would like to share our love and whom we'd like to reconcile with. At first, we were thinking of giving it to our group of friends so we don't have to exchange meals with the persons we've hated and the persons we've hurt. But something just touched us, we started roaming and looking for that one person we've hated. And suddenly, hugs between people who had misunderstandings for quite a long time were there. One said sorry, one accepted, tears fell, but at the end of the day, they had patched things up. The group became one again.

I was fulfilled and satisfied with the outcome, really. I guess why I was really looking forward to end the retreat sooner than it should be is because something real good would happen every time the retreat ends: reconciliation, forgiveness, love, acceptance, and union.

Now, was 975 pesos worth it? You answer. =D.