A complication with my application for the NCLEX, like a vexatious relapsing dermatitis, had me spontaneously scurrying back to Cebu again to attempt to cure it. This time, however, I am to stay for longer than just a day- say, three months, as a matter of fact, for I intend to be ready for the review once the said problem is henceforth done with. Fixing the problem did not take a day; unfortunately, some documents are still in wanting and would necessitate some degree of waiting (argh!), much to my utter disappointment and disgust. And so, for the foreseeable weeks, I face, with gritting teeth and clinched fists, the hateful prospect of waiting and wasting in idleness. Summoning every last sliver of patience and self-control, and realizing that there is nothing that can be done, I turn my attention to my review book- timidly quivering at my side for fear, perhaps, of being torn to pieces.

An unavoidable drawback in trying to review without company is allowing one's self to be disposed to boredom and loneliness, as I have at numerous times realized, a situation most detrimental to learning. Stella and I had an undeclared agreement to review together, however, with her family situations tying her down- I am left in my lonesome to tackle the three months ahead, all the while fending off depressive episodes of which I am increasingly developing, luckily, an immunity to. Fortunately, a former beer-buddy, Bacchus, has expressed his desire to review with me, if his application pushes through; although I am not too keen on the idea, for he always seem to succesfully lure me with him without failure, despite my strong objections, into drinking rampages of which has no end until I have turned into a complete idiot trying to steal a kiss from every passing female or prostate senseless, muttering and groaning, in severe intoxication.

The possibility of my having company throughout the review, even if it is the god of wine himself, has put me in better and livelier spirits. Albeit, I would have rather much prefered, and have looked forward to with utmost eagerness, the dreamy notion of sweating in the same classroom, of sharing lunch and dinners, of sleeping beneath the same roof, of being a faithful accomplice in the noble undertaking of bringing down and beheading of that grotesque prancing monster which is the NCLEX- with Stella, goddess of virtue, more than any god or deity in the world. And all the bitter miseries and sadness, associated with waiting and studying in a cold strange land away from the warmth of home and the affection of loved ones, would have still transformed into a sweet and most entrancing of experiences. I suppose, looking back, pleasant the thought might seem, it was too perfect to be a reality- an occassion which I am inclined, for just a night, to celebrate with Bacchus and his bottomless wine.