What about the Hana Deka Club?

Is there, probably, any reason for me to look back at one single project that somehow held a place deep down in my, err, heart?

Well, it’s not simply because I feel like reminiscing a bit, but sometimes, looking back at the day when our Anthropology teacher, Miss de Guzman, decided to give us - me, personally - a little challenge by travelling down to a little party, organized by a student organization, and try to observe whatever is going on, and make sense of it all. What makes it a bit more challenging, initially, was that the project proposal, sent by the officers of the Behavioral Sciences Society to members of the relevant department’s faculty, was slated for those currently taking Sociology class. It was then the first term of the year. And, I am still taking Sociology now.

Anybody remember the Hana Deka Club?

Our block was split into six groups of eight for another report, which I personally thought wasn’t much - a visit to the National Museum, nothing much - and we were asked to retain the groupings. After having to pay P150 for the tickets, which we almost didn’t get due to a class suspension, our group were off in the middle of the Ortigas district, ready to observe and, primarily, have some fun. As everyone could have put it, it was an ultimate bonding experience.

I went with Kim and Tracy, well, because six weeks ago, back when I didn’t know anybody, I met the pair (along with AK, later my classmate in Filipino 1 class, who warned us of what we were to face in PE a couple of hours later) as they walked by a still-nameless strip of concrete. (Now, more experienced, we call it SJ Walk.) Along with another classmate, Sudoy, who was also my classmate in English 1 class (our block of forty-something split into two sections for that class and Chemistry lab class), we formed a foursome which would also work for another report in another class. (It was the four of us who decided to use Sister Pinky, our Religion 1 teacher, as a “modern example” of Zacchaeus.)

Looking for more members, there was a couple who were connected through common schools and interests - Lau and Ale. The two also used to sit in the second row of J303 (while I always sat in the front, along with Kim and Tracy), and then, with more common bonds beginning to emerge in a half-clueless block, we were suddenly six. Admittedly I didn’t initially relate well with the two, thinking they were part of the high-brow crowd I consciously got afraid off back in high school.

The last two slots were, well, occupied by Ira, who was my seatmate in English 1 class, and Jom, who was initially seen as someone promising - but would later earn everybody’s ire.

Fast forward to July, and I was just recovering from what I called a “depression pang” due to me not adjusting well to the environment, the people, and all that. What Be[wild]ered did was, for once, rattle my abilities. I’ve never been on a night out before, at least on a night out in a real urban setting. Back then I was still this clueless guy who was thinking that college was his first stab at experiencing a decent high school life. And then I was later enjoying the setting, although as group leader I was still typing in notes on my PDA and had to get some convincing from Jom to enjoy the night (and even attempted to make me smoke, with no luck). I was there, after dinner at The Podium, after receiving puzzling text messages from Ale about transportation options, after deciding what to wear - and I found myself giving out Freudian slips and encouragements and random questions to people I initially knew as blockmates and seatmates - and just that.

What made the experience more amazing, though, was that we were able to pull it off despite what seemed to be my pessimism taking over. In the week after the gig, we were rushing in details, explanations, accounts and presentation suggestions, and then I myself was getting some positive remarks - a rarity back then - from Kim, who liked my positive, “I like that” assertions. So, on that Thursday, we were there, reporting in front of the class, getting Miss de Guzman’s approval for deviating subjects - we tackled human reactions, after everyone’s dismay over how the fashion show turned out, yet everyone else talked about that - and getting people hooked on Lau and Ale’s poses, my impromptu talking, and that photo of Caresse we transformed into an acetate slide, making her really blush. That, despite another development brewing, which was obviously dragging me down.

How much has changed since then. After that I began to drift away from these people, in part because I was having a crush on Ale and denied it, and then I was becoming closer to other people. I wasn’t to talk to Ale for a long time because of that. Consequently, Kim and Lau grouped together with my other blockmates, and thus the Bonobo Society was born, named becuase of another Antropology topic. Jom, as I mentioned before, would receive everybody’s ire over his out-of-place remarks. Me and Sudoy, along with others, became close because of that. Ira would disappear from school weeks before the term’s end, and now I haven’t seen her much. I personally thought it was a waste of fine talent. And then, things would change again - and me and Ale would become much closer than I thought.

Things have indeed changed. Even I - Be[wild]ered was an eye-opener, and later I would realize I wasn’t the same as when I entered DLSU. Now I’m a bit of an extrovert (or too much of it), a bit more optimistic - and, of course, it wasn’t single-handedly caused by that, but it’s still worth a mention, it being a huge factor.

Be[wild]ered also caused a lot of plot twists. People drifted apart and people went together. That would make for a much more complicated story, though.

So, anybody still remember the Hana Deka Club, the club I almost called Catwheel because I lacked inspiration, until someone pointed at someone’s notebook and culled that monicker?

Memories, obviously we couldn’t just forget easily. Or, I’ve gone too sentimental - just what I didn’t need.