The transplant.

*Parts of this post is for Kiko. Dude, remember that Christmas wishlist you posted? I was meaning to post something for you since then, so um, here it is, sort of. (-:

So it has been roughly five months, and I am enjoying every minute of this job. (!)

I was excited when I was applying, I became more excited when I was training, and then I became pessimistic on my first week of actually working. But after the Christmas rush (irate customers, promo for the planner, bitchy seasonal customers who would kill a barista in exchange for a sticker in his/her promo card), things became clearer to me… I love this job. I really do.

I mean, I really really do.

I can tell you a million reasons why. Okay, maybe just a hundred hehehe. Foremost of course is that I learn a lot about coffee. This job is about loving coffee, and sharing that love with the customers. It’s also about being passionate and dedicated and selfless not just for the customer and the product we’re selling but also for my fellow baristas. I can’t find the words but I guess what I’m trying to say is this job makes me a better person in ways I never thought I can be. Okay, that sounded a bit heavy but oh well, I hope you get the drift.

By now it should be obvious I am nuts about coffee, and that yeah, I applied for this job because I want to have free coffee every day. Hahaha kidding. I applied for this job because I thought it’ll be fun. And it is!

So, why does coffee hold such a big chunk of my life?

(oh god it does, it does)

Again, I can list numerous reasons (it tastes great, it keeps me awake, it’s my comfort drink, my head aches if I don’t drink coffee for a day [addict], it’s the perfect companion etc.) These reasons are the same as any coffee drinker’s, so…they’re self explanatory.

The only reason I can really talk lengthily about is this: I like the memories that flood my head whenever I drink a cup of coffee.

See, I come from a family of heavy coffee drinkers. And I mean these people ingest coffee like it is water.

My earliest memory of coffee consists of my father sitting in the morning sun, doing his crossword and sipping coffee. Just that (and he is also one of those who influenced me to become a writer, but that’s a different story altogether). My parents would drink coffee in the morning, every after meal (even if it’s meryenda), whenever they feel like it and before sleeping. It has become sort of a ceremony in the house whenever Mama makes coffee, eventually Kuya and I drank coffee with them, we’d watch TV or just talk. These are the sunshiniest warmest memories I have of coffee and my family in this house…just those simple moments that you can never go back to…which makes them more special.

My aunties cannot live without coffee, either. One of the things I look forward whenever we eat at the house in Paranaque is the after meal coffee. Without fail my Tita Tita or Tita Lisa will brew coffee every after meal. There are days when we would stay at the dinner table hours after we’re done eating and just talk about whatever while sipping coffee.

When I was in Alameda, one of the first questions my Lola Emmy asked me is if I am a coffee drinker, and when I said yes, she had this secret smile that I’m sure no one else could have understood but me at that exact moment we were talking. I love that little red house in Alameda! Coffee is brewing the whole day and there is overflowing laughter and warmth and love.

My Dada Gaudio drank coffee every night while praying near her little altar that used to be at the top of our stairs. After her teleseryes, evening news or whatever it is she was watching, these are the sounds that follow that I now know by heart: The clinking of her teaspoon against her cup, the thermos spouting water, her feet trudging up the stairs, and a match rubbing against the matchbox. Then I’d know she was already doing her ritual, and I also know that even if she is deep in her novena or rosary, that whenever any of us (Kuya, me or Byron) went up the stairs and she sees us, she would stop whatever she’s doing and demand for a hug or kiss. She’s gone now, and god knows how much I wish to relive those nights even for just a few days, and do some things differently. Hug her tighter maybe, or tell her I love her always, always, always.

So there. I can tell you guys a whole lot more, but let’s reserve that when we have coffee together (ahem *visit me naman sa store* ahem).

And now this job has given me more reasons to love coffee. I’m loving my new friends here! And I have a few regular customers whose drinks I now know by heart, and I love making their coffee for them and I love how their face light up whenever I hand their cup to them! I used to scoff at designer coffee, because PARE naman, one hundred plus pesos for a cup of coffee? Oh f*cking come on, right? But, (I didn’t think I would ever say this but hahaha here I am saying it now…) we put in our heart for every drink that we make. So the next time you drink your cappuccino or latte or frappucino…think of how much love your barista put into it and I hope maybe somehow you’d think your money was worth it. (-:

But of course I maintain that carinderia coffee is still the best, especially when shared with a friend. At ten or twenty pesos, you get good instant coffee, and maybe the best conversation of your life. (-:

This is the sad part of this post… tantanan… I might be leaving this job within the year (as soon as possible), because I want to focus on writing again. I was meaning to resign by the time Mama arrives (April) but ohgod I can’t get myself to do it yet. So I’m looking at June or July or August or September or hahaha. Basta this year. My goal for every new job is to not get attached to my workmates because I’m chummy, I usually end up being sadder about leaving my friends than leaving the job. But! This time I know I will be sad, too, about leaving the job. It’s just that from the beginning I knew this was a temporary thing, what I didn’t know is that I would love it this much.

So there. I will enjoy every moment while it lasts. Big things are coming my way this year, I just know it. I’m preparing myself for that major step (Life in Baguio. Again. With Jang). So there will be changes, beautiful painful changes. But as of now I am still a barista, and I have work at 7:30 pm – 5:30 am later, haha.