Enad left for basic military training (bmt) last Tuesday, May 29th.
I was worried for him but at the same time I felt and prayed that this should be a turning point for him. While waiting for his flight at the airport lobby, he jokingly said, "Ok, that's it! I think I changed my mind!" He's being funny but there might be some truth to it. I remembered Juel kept telling him that the most dreadful thing at BMT is the "waiting". They make you wait, and wait, and wait more. That plus all the yelling from your training instructors. Hahahah, I told Enad that the yelling part he's used to anyway.
We had a good bonding time before he left. We had a cook out for him at the park and invited family and friends. We had fun soaking each other with that $1 water guns Janice got from WalMart. Juel drove from Ohio with his "Claire". Cynthia and her boys also drove from Maryland to wish him good luck. Enad's confirmation godmother Veronica came with her husband, Renato who had a blast enjoying my chicken kelaguen and cucumber kimchee. Enad's best friend Elliott's mom came, too. We both have fun reminiscing how our boys had been together since middle school. Of course, Eric and family were there. Ed, Jocelyn and Jolie Erwin joined the fun, too. Jim Goode and family were there as were Cindy and Tom Lane and kids. It was a fun, happy, and good bonding day for all of us!
As if Saturday was not enough, the next day, with the coolers still in the trunk, we were off to Busch Gardens. We planned for an early morning trip so we could maximize the day but we didn't leave til around 12 noon. Enad and Juel went to watch Pirates of Carribean 3 the night after the cookout so Enad was still in bed til almost 12 noon. "Just sleep all you can," I said to myself. Juel needed to be up to walk Claire out. Or was it Cris who took Claire out for a walk? I, myself, didn't get up til 10am. I was dead tired from late Friday night ~waiting for Juel's arrival from Ohio~ to preparing for the cookout (the guys did the barbecuing alright!) to the cleaning up and putting things away!
Our trip to Busch Gardens was fun, too. First, because we had Claire so we walked from the parking lot to the entrance instead of riding the train. It was also Janice's first time back to Busch Gardens since when she was still in a stroller. Now, she's in her heelys. She had fun riding her first "real" roller coaster and her first "big" bump car on her own, all with her kuya's prodding. The guys (Cris, Juel and Enad) were in line for 45 minutes for the new ride Griffon, coined 205 ft up, 90 degrees down! While waiting for them, Janice had fun getting soaked as Griffon touched the ground blasting the spectators with about 20 ft spout of water!
We stayed in Busch Gardens until it closed at 11pm. With the throng of traffic getting out of the parking lot, we were home almost midnight! Once again, as if these walking and waiting in line and riding and getting soaked weren't enough to put us straight in bed, we just made sure that Claire is safe up in the house then we left for IHOP! We were starving! Another long wait for our food yet the fun wasn't spoiled by that! Juel made fun of the server all throughout and Cris and Enad went along with him. Yes, I admit I laughed with them!
Monday came and Juel left for Ohio after spending some time with Eric and family. Enad was asleep til 4 pm. He then went out with friends til around midnight.
Tuesday, May 29, I got up around 7am and Enad wasn't in his bed. I thought he went to the base to do some last minute paper work. He actually went to Walmart to buy his toiletries for his trip. We left the house around 9am so he could drop off some papers at the base. Then off to the airport we went. His flight was at 11am. Before we said our goodbyes, and be good, and i love yous, he told me NOT to answer the phone when it rings in the middle of the night. It just might be him saying he arrived safe with his mailing address. Well, I got a call from him around 5pm and got to talk to him. He just landed at San Antonio airport.
The next call came on Saturday around 1pm. The caller ID said it was from a pay phone and I knew it was from him. So, I answered it but he hung up. Cris reminded me that Enad specifically said not to answer. And the phone rung again with the said caller ID. This time the answering picked up and it was Enad! You should see us, Cris, Janice and I, all huddled up by the answering machine listening to his message. He was just spitting out his mailing address letter by letter, number by number with spaces in between. He said something more about Red Cross and he sounded like he was reading out from something. I wasn't sure if it was the answering machine or maybe his voice was cracking up or he's on the verge of crying. And then that's it!
So after so many times of replaying his recording, I finally put his address together.
That should be the only phone I'll get from him unless he earns something to make a phone call for his reward.
First Phone Call. At the end of "Zero Week," most likely on Sunday afternoon, you'll get your first opportunity to call home. This will be a very short phone call (only about 3 minutes), enough time to pass on your mailing information. Warn your family/loved ones in advance about this phone call. You will not sound "well." Your voice will be shaky, and you'll sound like you're on the verge of tears. During this particular stage of training, you'll swear that T.I.'s are around every corner, under every table, just waiting for you to do something wrong so they can yell at you for it. This "scared rabbit" feeling transfers to your telephone voice. The bad thing is that you won't have time to tell them that you're really okay. You've got enough time to spit out your address, then you have to give the phone up to the next recruit in line. So, make sure your family is ready for this. Otherwise, they may spend the next several days thinking they made a mistake about letting their "baby" go away to basic training. (from http://usmilitary.about.com)I'm praying for him - as always. This time I know where he's at. I know he's safe and out of trouble. I'm now praying for his strength and faith to keep going. I know how's it like there. He might have watched and read too many movies and articles about basic training but being really there is a different story all together.
