Going to Bohol for the first time is definitely an experience you would not dare miss but I went there not to spend a grand time basking under the summer heat but to be interviewed for a scholarship (IFP) I applied for last year.

I recieved an email telling me to confirm my attendance before May 22 for a panel interview scheduled last June 3, 2009. I was more than eager to do that. I booked my flight, asked some friends who were base in Cebu to get me a schedule of the supercat vessel going to Tagbilaran City, Bohol, and mentally and physically (AH1N1 paranoia) prepared myself for this trip.

fast forward…

June 3, 2009

I entered the room scared but I believed that was normal. I sat in front of 5 people, greeted them with a warm good morning and the interrogation began.

First question: If one of your parents died while you are outside the country, what would you do?

Second question: Why do you have to earn a degree when you can study these things in modules and books?

Third question: When will you stop studying?

I tried my best to answer these questions and all other follow-up questions. My interwiew lasted for 10 minutes but it felt like a lifetime.

As of now I don’t want to go back to Bohol. I don’t have any plans of reliving the tragic events that took place in Bohol. Right now I am going to avoid the Visayas. I might go back to Bohol, Cebu, or Leyte but not this year or the next 2 years.

Unless I can’t avoid it.

Right now, I am going to explore Mindanao and its secret caverns and passages. I wish I could explore Basilan and Jolo. I wish to go back to Dipolog and explore that area. I wish to go back to Pagadian with its interesting tricycle. Right now I wish to stay in Mindanao where I have rooted.