Labay’s First Friday: The Only Way to Celebrate First Fridays

I’ve only known one way to celebrate the first Friday of every month. And it’s always going to be THAT way. 😀

Last October 7, Drew and I decided to go to Los Baños to celebrate the First Friday of October with our college organization, Lumabay-Labay Club ’57.

Lumabay-Labay Club ’57 is a varsitarian (exclusive location-based) organization of people from the South. This is how I usually describe my organization to people who aren’t from UPLB. Students from the Visayas or Mindanao can join our organization after the member application procedure (in UPLB, we call it “reporting”). 🙂

Short History of Lumabay-Labay Club ’57

Lumabay-Labay Club ’57 was once known as a fraternity of students from Bacolod and Iloilo.  They call themselves Primos. After being recognized as a fraternity for 25 years, the Primos included ladies in their official organization roster and called them the Primas. In 1982, the fraternity turned into a varsitarian organization.

During the early years of Labay, the Primos’ only form of entertainment and bonding was through drinking beer.

As Sandwich’s song “Betamax” says,

“Wala pa nung MYX. Wala pa nung MTV. Wala pa nung internet. Wala pa nung ipod o mp3. Wala pa nung cable. Wala pa nung cellphone. Wala pa ring CD o DVD. Meron lang Betamax.” 

If the Primos were to add another line to that song, it might be “Meron ding BEER!” haha 😀

True enough, the Primos had spent a huge amount of their time in UPLB, drinking. This is why beer is deeply rooted in our organization. Drinking was the main form of bonding before, until today. 🙂

First Friday: How We Roll

Drew and I hitched a ride with Ed who was also in Manila. We arrived at Los Baños and had dinner at Burger King. We waited for Erd to arrive there so all of us could go to the First Friday venue. I missed the Primos. I haven’t seen them for a long time. I also missed the language we used, Hiligaynon.

It was raining heavily that night. After a few minutes, we went to the venue. We arrived in time because the residents (student Primos and Primas) just came too. I immediately greeted the Primos and Primas and it felt good to be back! 🙂

If I personally know you and I haven’t invited you to our First Friday celebrations, here is your chance to see what we do. 🙂

During FF, we strive to be merry with beer. Unlike other groups of people who drink, get wasted, and lose their cool, we drink with full control of ourselves. It’s a part of our nature in the Labay.

Our host calls out invitations for “Toasts.” Here’s how it happens. This is a rally toast. 🙂 Resident Primos vs. Alumni Primos

Personally, I consider toasts as a drinking challenge. Whoever finishes the glass of beer first, wins. Watch the video to see a rally toast in action. 🙂

After all the fun and games, you only have to remember one rule.. “indi mag ma-uy.” It sort of means not to lose a sober disposition. 🙂

Maybe if you we get together, let’s toast! 🙂

Love,
Kist