When I left the portals of Recoletos Seminary in Baguio City, never did it occur in my mind that I would see my classmates again. I personally cut my communications with them because I totally lost control of my spirituality. I started reading pure philosophy and left my spiritual books in the shelves to accumulate dust. Farther, I almost got into the summit of desperation and frustration when my mother died of brain tumor. I isolated myself from the practice of religion and hated the idea of being alone. I am too angry and afraid to confront my "being" and the core of my existence. While doing my doctorate and law at the same time (although I did not finish both because I decided to immigrate to the U.S.), I became the master of vice and promiscuity. Many sleepless nights have been wasted in drinking, bar mania and smoking until the lust of the flesh and worldly attractions has come to the peak of its saturation where the "kiss of death" was almost inevitable.

While working on my research, I got an e-mail from Fr. Christopher Maspara informing me of Fr. Anthony Morillo’s coming to the U.S. to meet the alumni of the University of San Jose-Recoletos in Cebu City, where he serves as president. I am overjoyed to hear the news because both priests are not only my friends and classmates but were among my college buddies. I haven’t seen my classmates in fourteen years and ten months (to be exact) so reuniting with anyone of them is almost taking a Kierkegaardian courage to face the religiousness of life. Although I was not in existential angst for such reunion because Fr. Anthony (I usually call him - Fr. Nonie) is not a faceless entity in the crowd but an old confidant whose life carries no psychological baggage and hang-ups. I was not worried about how he would look at my lifestyle because I am very much comfortable with his simplicity and honesty; in a nutshell his “cowboy” aura makes things what they ought to be. (I am anxious using this term because it might have some hermeneutical comparison to President Bush’s cowboy mentality, an overly conservative Republican President of the United States. I am not a liberal idealist but a moderate Democrat who shares the centrist values of the Clintons, Gores, Gov. Warner of Virginia and Sen. Obama).

Fr. Nonie’s short visit to the New World and our overly exhausting tour at Disney World in Orlando, Florida has been enriching both historically and academically. The parade of fairy tale characters at Magic Kingdom was theatrically and artistically entertaining; the Safari experience at Animal Kingdom was environmentally informative and the tree of life is perfectly awesome; the shows at Epcot park particularly at Imagination Institute and Universal Energy were scientifically astonishing and the evening gala show of Disney characters at MGM Studio Park has more than what the Kennedy Center can offer. A Saturday night dinner at Hard Rock Caf? located at the heart of Universal Studio and Sunday night madness at Planet Hollywood, one of the finest of downtown Disney are existentially enticing. Our Orlando escapades would not have been possible without the generous accommodation and hospitality of Gerald Omega and his uncle Albert Omega, not to say the least, our melancholic reunion with Aga Sta. Romana and his lovely wife.

As the mantra use to say, the real American experience is in New York and Washington, D.C. AirTran Flight 860 took us to Newark International Airport in New Jersey with a connecting flight through Atlanta, Georgia. Our stay in Jersey has been brief to fully comprehend a “slice” of the State’s history and culture but it was personally informative for me knowing the existence of an Augustinian Recollect community in the area. The speed of AMTRAK train took us to Manhattan, New York in less than half an hour. Charisse Idea, a U.N. diplomat, was so kind enough to give us a quick personal tour of the building including the Security Council Conference Room and the General Assembly Room. Robert Idea, a diplomat at the Nigerian Embassy, treated us to a good Chinese lunch and kept our luggage at his office while we walk around the city. St. Patrick Cathedral is one of the best in the country and we certainly enjoyed its gothic architecture. Across the street from the cathedral is the Rockefeller Center, which is an ideal place for refreshments. We don’t have a day to see the entire city but we made it a point to catch the last line going up the Empire State Building. The Philippine Embassy along 5th Avenue is elegant but scandalous for a poor country to own a property within the most expensive street in Manhattan.

We finally reached Times Square and Broadway just when the neon lights were starting to light and the crowd just started to enjoy the nightlife of the Big Apple. We walked through the streets of Manhattan with much enthusiasm and freedom and treated ourselves to a nice dinner at Planet Hollywood. An overnight Greyhound bus took us to Washington, District of Columbia where we started the day with an amazing tour at the new Air and Space Museum near Dulles International Airport.

As we pay tribute to the men and women behind the World War II Memorial and Vietnam Veterans Memorial, we were also reminded of the Battle of Corregidor and Leyte Gulf, which are engraved in the stones of the memorial park. Along the way we drop a shot at Washington Monument and Abraham Lincoln Memorial. We don’t have to go to London to visit the queen because Queen Elizabeth was getting ready to leave the White House when we reached Pennsylvania Avenue. The elegance of the queen was right in our face and that will remain within the pages of our history. From the White House, we hiked a couple of miles down to the U. S. Capitol and drove to Georgetown University. The following day before my classmate and friend goes back to the Philippines; we paid our homage to the famous eternal flame at the Kennedy Gravesite in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. Although four days of personal stories were not enough; but I am personally grateful because it was a moment of conversion. And it’s time to go and let go, my friend needs to be at the airport an hour before the plane departs. We only have to say good luck and God Bless.

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