Miss Understood :)

I met Wila a few days ago. She looked prettier than ever.

She is a sophomore law student from the University of San Agustin. I met her during our freshman year, when she and I were just stepping foot in UP. I cannot remember how we stuck together. But when four years saw me and her (along with a few others) through college, I knew she had become one of my best friends.

No dirty thoughts there, matey.

She likes Japanese anime and fastfood. She and I would order Kenny’s and aaaalways, she found it hard to finish her chicken.

I miss her girly sing-song voice. It is something really unique about her. A lot of people mistook it for Wila being a snob, but she never took them all badly. She is the type who does not care about what people think of her.

I often see her as a fragile person, a girl who needs to be taken care of. But she is strong. Millions of barbels away from me.

My other friends and I would often mimic the way she speaks and make it sound worse to annoy her. We would also mimic the way she moves, reacts and smiles. I realized it was one of the fun things we did a lot in college.

I remember my elementary days when I felt proud to have a pretty friend. My reasons for befriending pretty people were superficial before. Now, it got worse. KIDDING.

I miss Wila. I hope we can hang out again soon.

missing Miagao

I miss the boondocks of Miagao.
I miss our long afternoon walks.
I miss the people of Balay Madyaas.
I miss all of my friends.

I wonder when will I have the chance to go back there and hug the mosquitoes.

header retrieved and used, finally.

Finally, I was able to retrieve the header that my blogger friend, CoffeeConcepts girl, made for me. Hehehe!

Thankyou, Myk! :))

the ones who walk away~

Yesterday was the most awaited day in every dormitory here in UPV Miagao. How can it not be when yesterday, almost all dormitories had their year-end parties?

And today, March 26, was Goodbye Day.

Almost everyone was going home. The night before, many colorful bags made of sack (I am not sure if this is what it is really made of)–the ones with colorful cartoon characters–were strewn along the hallways. Broken what-have-yous from mirrors to lamp shades were scattered about, decorating the otherwise clear, waxed floor. Noticeable also, is the thick dust collected after the sweeping done. (In our room’s case, the quarterly sweeping done…)

Manang Bibi is going to go wild. Hahaha!

Since we were graduating, we cannot leave the dormitories until the 28th, or until we will have a place to stay over for the first weeks of the summer, before our graduation. Trust me, looking at the all the other dormers lug their bags around heading to the dorm doors makes me want to curse. I never got used to be the one left. But as it was, I cannot feel anything while all of my friends were posting statuses about “leaving” and “being left”.

What did my friends and I do all day?

Surf the Internet all day! :D We called it our “Kapehan Session“–sans the coffee. Never mind the ones who will go away, we have our chismis to make our days more enjoyable. :D

As in talking, coffee is better enjoyed in groups.

5:13 PM

Ako kag lima ko pa ka upod ari subong sa Palmsdale Internet Cafe, isa sa mga pinakasikat nga pa-printing-an sa Iloilo City. Gahulat kami sang mga papel nga iluwa sang printer..

Hapos lang daad ang research namon ni Wila, garing bangod sa damo nga mga tabular analysis, damu-damo man ang mga pages nga puro tables lang makita mo, hehe!

57…Kakulubaan. Daw indi ko maexplain ang gakabatyagan ko. Daw mabata nga daw ma-*****. Daw may damu-damo nga external forces nga naga-hampang tug-of-war sa akon lawas. Hehehe~

Ma-gwa ko danay. Mabakal tubig kag masimhot hangin sang siyudad sang Iloilo.

121…Sa kilid ko, gasulat na naman si Wila sa iya journal. Pirme ya ni nadala ang journal niya, kag kada may chansa, gasulat siya. Sa punta sang linya sang mga bangko nga parallel sa ginapungkuan ko, ara ang tatlo ko pa ka upod, ga-edit sang ila mga theses. Ang isa ga-type, ang isa gadikta sa isa nga naga-bantay sa kada papel nga iluad sang printer. Sa atubang ko naman, ara ang isa, naga-dikta sa Manong sang Palmsdale nahanungod sa mga revisions nga gusto ya. Kung ano exactly ginadikta ya, wala na ko kabalo. Hehehe.

Kakululbaan gid ini nga moment gali. Daw matyag ko, nagbakasyon lang ko three years ago, tapos bag-o lang ko liwat nagsulod sa amo ni nga sitwasyon. Daw namag-uhan ko gulpi.

201…Wala labot sa amon, damo pa ang gapila. Mga estudyante man ah. Sang University of San Agustin. Naka-uniform pa gani sila ya. Daw gaeskwela gid ang ila itsura. Kami ya, indi. Hahahah! Naka-civilian kami daan.

Kadugay kay Manong ah. Ginapasal-ot ya pa bi ang mga iban nga gamay man lang ipa-print. OK lang sa amon ah, kay paano bi, 360 ka papel ang mawaldas namon sa isa lang ka-printing-an—kung wala may magsala, hehe.

Gasakit tutunlan ko. Pamatyag ko gani kagina, daw hilanaton ko. Pay mas OK na hilanaton kaysa indi kapa-print kag kapa-bind subong nga adlaw—kag indi ka-graduate on time. Kung amo na, mas manami nalang mahilanata for the rest of my life, charing! Hahahaha.

265..Lapit na lang ah. Pila nalang ka papel, good to go na kami. Tapos, pa-bind na dayon. Pwede na dayon mapatay, hehe. XD

6:45 PM. Natapos man gid. Phew~

haikus

Clouds pass from time to time,
and bring men a chance to rest
from looking at the moon.

-a haiku by Matsuo Basho

During our Literature class yesterday, we discussed haikus and poems. I was not particularly looking forward to this day (I even forgot to bring my copy of the poems). But when the discussion started, I feel like one of the “hagglers” in our modern-day wet market, sharing my own opinions when I had the chance.

I particularly liked this haiku. Because when our teacher asked us how we interpreted it, I already knew what to say. :)

I associated it with love, and loving. That men, while waiting for their true love, sometimes share experiences with other girls first. But when they meet “her”, the others will be nothing but wisps of passing clouds. He will pay them no more heed, because behind the clouds, “his moon” is there. (This version is much more poetic, the one I gave in class is more dramatic). Hahaha!

I earned a lot of teasing that day. My friends and our teacher poured all of it on me, teasing me for being “inspired” and “having a lot of boys”. What the-?! Hahahaha!

And before the day ended, I received phone calls from you. I was delighted to hear your voice once again, feeling queasy but excited just like it’s the first time I felt that way. :) I knew then, that like the haikus, I have given a new meaning to the dullness of everyday living. :))

the politics of politics

There was a great puddle in the school days ago. It’s wet. It’s slimy. It irritates a lot of people. It attracts chaos. It’s dirty. It’s politics.

Every academic year, the CAS-Student Council officers get replaced. So, before the year ends, an election is held. From my experience as one of the Student Electoral Board members during our second year, this year is the worst political year ever.

Dirty politically related ways to defame and dishonor swarmed the air. On Facebook, somebody made a page encouraging everyone not to vote for a certain political party. Text messages were being sent to competitors. Insults of all sorts roamed the campus like wild beasts. Everywhere, everybody was talking about how dirty politics in UPV Miag ao have become.

I feel bad for those at the receiving end of the dirty propaganda. They do not deserve those. But running for office means selling yourself—not only to the highest bidder, bu to the ‘lowest of the castes’. Oftentimes, those who run (and expect to be treated like some prince or princess in the highest tier) find themselves in the most unexpected of places—the bottomless pit of what-have-yous.

I have seen them cry. I have seen them laugh at the cost of others. I have seen them tear the night away like a heavy curtain, just to come up with GPOAs that might answer the needs of the community.

When the rally was over, a lot of people were agitated. Agitated how, I cannot tell exactly. Some were agitated because they were directly affected. Some, because their friend/s were hurled insults. Some feel fake agitation. For the last batch of agitated ones, I do not feel empathy.

Politics is not for the weak. It is for those with giant fighting spirits, those who are willing to swallow their tongue, including the tongues of others. It belongs to those with flowery speeches (or fearful stance, if the situation calls for it) and with sweet promises. As always, I do not trust politicians. They are the bunch of consistent people whose promises will always stay as they were months ago–promises.

credits to akalol.wordpress.com

Fun Teaching Session with Tatay Mark

Yesterday saw the CAS Week Celebration, an event meant mostly to help the freshmen (for obvious reasons) and the seniors (because it’s their last year in the university). Although I wasn’t able to be there for the program, we went anyway because we thought we had classes.

Yeah, you can call us langka because we came anyway even if we knew that the CAS Week usually means abstinence from classes (but some teachers do not always follow this unwritten rule). But we decided to give our teacher the benefit of the doubt (and give ourselves the favor of not garnering more absences) and trudged to the CAS building.

Unfortunately for us and for our 6 pesos fares, classes were suspended that morning. Most probably, the teachers did not tell us about it because they all want us to be there. That was smart, heehee. :D

Instead, our teacher asked us to attend a Fun Teaching Session. These were informal “classes” on mostly GE courses. She told us that we could attend any FTS of our choice, but since we were late, we had no choice but to attend the remaining one wherein Tatay Mark is the “instructor”-much to our surprise.

Tatay Mark is more than smart. He is intelligent and is full of ideas you never thought you would hear if you have the habit of jumping into advance thoughts like me. Hehehe! We always see him as the scholarly one, one who is not physically healthy but emotionally and spiritually rich. He looked every inch the instructor that day. We (well, at least the five of us) all kept exchanging glances which says “Angayan gid siya mangin teacher”.

We were in awe of him, his knowledge about things and his command of the language. I am not sure if this FTS had been here before. I am not the attendee of these events except when I was a starry-eyed freshman. But I realized what I had missed. It was fun listening to your fellow student teach. Especially one as great as Tatay Mark.

We went home still thinking about the session (at least this was what I saw in my friends’ faces). When our Mommy Tin arrived, we told her about the session with Tatay Mark and she looked very disappointed that she was not there. We were all smiling as she lamented over the idea that she chose to attend the other FTS session instead of Tatay Mark’s. Better luck next time, Mommy!

P.S. We call Tatay Mark as such because we are a “family”. He, Mommy Tin, Wila, Bemjo, Jimma, Jennie and I. :))

[A thought came to mind while I was there listening to Tatay Mark's lecture. I would want to see myself in front of a group of students one day, speaking to them and listening to their views about things. Hmmm...]

gravity

Recently, I have been consumed in a state of being a bee.
As busy as the animal itself.

I realized that I have become too serious, that I feel bad every time I have the chance to think about the things I should be doing and should have done. It feels so addictive and it makes me very unhappy. Like gravity.

It is eating up of my happy hormones and leaving me nothing but an empty void which I try to cover by eating and eating a lot of fast food. Too bad it does not help. It only aggravates my hunger even more.

What’s worse is that I have also been missing the little things which I normally notice when I am in this state of “living a slow-paced life”. The gravity of everything eats me up, and it is insatiable.

basted.

I wonder why libraries do not reciprocate my love for books.

I was beginning to form a negative impression on ASchoolI’dRatherNotName a few hours ago even before I went there. These weird vibrations came to me even when I was just sitting on the jeepney heading for Iloilo City.

Rewind.

My thesis partner and I planned on visiting this school’s library for our paper. We did the necessary formalities which were required of us—checked and double-checked the ASchoolI’dRatherNotName’s library availability—and went there as early as our lazy feet brought us. Since we arrived too late for lunchtime (12:40PM), we took photos of our weird selves first. By some crazy thingamajig, we were informed that the library will not cater to researchers until 2PM that day. Goodness, they could have informed us earlier so we would not have wasted our time waiting for them to finish their business.

A bit upset and disappointed, we headed to the Center for West Visayan Studies and decided to do our research there first. Half past two, we headed back to the ASchoolI’dRatherNotName library. I erased the remaining traces of smile in my face and showed I had this bitchy side when faced with useless rules.

The baggage counter boy, who informed us of the 2PM library availability, was not briefed properly. Clearly, there has been a misunderstanding and my thesis partner and I were in the middle of the chaos. Shit, I thought.

Good thing, their assistants were objective people. They were helpful enough to explain the rules and help us search for the books that we need. But I vowed that unless my thesis will die, I won’t visit that library again.