New Friends [at] the Shore

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My friends and I went to bed only around one in the morning. We would have to wake up early the next morning. We were going to the beach; we would be spending a night there. Excitement climbed up our head already and each of us had a picture of the beach in our mind.


Though we slept late, we had no problem getting up. I could hardly open my eyes; it stung but the excitement of being at the beach kept it open. Though it was very early, we had no problem eating breakfast too. Though the appetite seemed a little far away, once we started, we all had our fill.


Benny, the person who would be going with us—who would also be driving the van told us that our training coordinator, Jom (He wants me to call him Mr. Jom, but since he looks a kid to me, and he is also a friend, I will only call him Jom—no offence dear) would be joining us too. He got to the institute a little late. And there was a surprise: we were to be accompanied by another two guys: the two sweet brothers who are as much friends as brothers. At seven a.m., the van geared into life and we zoomed off.



[From left: Alec, Tshoki, Ian, Karma Wangdi & Karma Yangden]


It was a Saturday but the traffic wasn’t light as I expected. I got sick because the vehicle kept moving backwards each time Benny pushed the brake. I slept most of the time and when I nearly puked we reached our destination.

Tshoki got so disappointed to see that the beach wasn’t as she expected. But she was to be proven wrong. No fun could have been more fun. No trip could have been this enjoyable.




Benny


We thought our friends were the shy type of guys. They barely said a word. The two brothers slept the entire journey; they slept as soon as we reached the beach. We saw them only at six in the evening. Jom swam a bit and he disappeared too. Tshoki wanted to chill herself. The San Miguel became her company. She wished it had more alcohol content. But at last, when it was midnight, our friends started talking more than we would have imagined possible. The guys grew braver; they seemed mature beyond their age though one of them is only 19, and the oldest is 23. When we had drunk more than 30 bottles of beer, had debated on many things on earth, we called it a night.


This is the general fun part—finding friends in these young staff of Paibare. I will recount my sensitive, personal side of the story tomorrow when my tiredness has bid me goodbye, when I have slept eight hours of free sleep.





The Three Friends we met [From left: Alec, Ian and Jom]

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