Letters to a Mysterious Stranger [ONGOING]

Sweet November

(Sent on Oct 26th, Friday, 8:27 pm, Howell Hall)

To: prisoner24601@mpu.edu.ph

From: jerusha.abad@gmail.com

Dear Zorro,

Now that I have no more Julia-related distractions, I can finally get back to work. I have a report due on Jeanette Winterson's Sexing the Cherry in a few weeks, which I was stupid enough to pick because I haven't read it. How could I have known that it is a postmodern novel full of references that I have to annotate? Don't get me wrong: I love it, but annotating it is a pain. No wonder my classmates avoided it.

Sally, George and the Filipino gang are going to a Halloween party organized by the Filipino community next week, and I am out of costume ideas. I must find something cheap enough to make. I once cosplayed as a Weeping Angel, and unfortunately, no one got the reference.

Okay, I must go back to Winterson's islands.

Judy

(Sent on Nov 1, Thursday, 3:19 pm, Howell Hall)

To: prisoner24601@mpu.edu.ph

From: jerusha.abad@gmail.com

Dear Zorro,

Happy Halloween!

I hope you donned your black cape yesterday, and enjoyed wonderful moments with friends.

I love crafting costumes, but I didn't do anything fancy this year as I came as New 52 Wonder Woman. It was quite easy to find stuff in charity shops (or maybe I was just lucky). Steph helped me with makeup. The others definitely had better costumes because they ordered theirs from ebay. Sally came as a pirate maiden, and Gerry came as Disney Snow White.

We met a lot of people from the Filipino community. They mostly attended as families. Most of the adults either worked as caregivers and nurses. We postgraduate students seem to have been singled out because we were given a separate table. People were nice though. Too nice I think.

I also made a stupid mistake of admitting that I was single to one of the party's matriarchs, who kept announcing to all the single guys in the party that I was single and available, to the point that I wanted to hang a sign on my throat that says: SINGLE, AVAILABLE and NOT LOOKING.

Really, I have so much going on in my life that I have no time for a relationship. I mean, consider Gerry: she's a successful lawyer writing her Phd dissertation, but I know she wants to finish it as soon as she can so she could fly back to her husband and three year old son. Relationships are a disadvantage to grad students.

Thank God Jimmie was there, costumed as the Tenth Doctor. He helped ward off some introductions to other shy Filipino boys.

Of course, the best part of the party is the food. We had palabok, caldereta, lechon and dinuguan! I managed to bring home a plastic bag full of food.

It is All Saints Day there. Though I can't send flowers back home, I know both my parents are up there and they are happy for me. In case you are thinking of someone long gone, I hope this letter gives you a smile.

Yours,

Judy

(Sent on Nov 5, Monday, 5:09 pm, Howell Hall)

To: prisoner24601@mpu.edu.ph

From: jerusha.abad@gmail.com

Dear Zorro,