Unlike the other married couples in our Badjao community, Tams and Joy's love story is different. The two got married out of passionate love for one another contrary to the Badjao culture of marriage.
In our tribe, if a man wants to get marry, which is usually begins at the age of 13. He will go around the community, or go to other Badjao communities in Luzon and Mindanao to look for a girl he wants to marry. It is not out of love but out of want, mixed with the interest in the status of the girl and her family. If he finds a girl he wants, he will then, with his family elders, post a dowry dictated by the girl's family. If the girl refuses to accept the dowry of the man, she will be "legally liable" to the community and the man's family that she has to pay a certain amount as moral damages penalty for refusing the man. Most of the girls really has no choice but to accept and marry any man who would post a dowry in the liking of their families.
And I saw how these loveless marriages work in the community. They often give me headache . Annulment of marriage costs only P2,000 depending on the business sense of the tribal leader.The jewelries and monetary dowry will be divided. The children are automatically awarded to the father.
But Tams and Joy are different. Their families do not approved of one another because Tams is poor. He was a sea diver. Joy comes from the Abdullah clan, well to do. But the two eloped so they won't be separated. And in their culture, if a woman is seen with a man, she is already perceived as " not virgin anymore." So the families got no choice but to wed the two regardless of the dowry.
Theirs is the only marriage that didn't cause me headache. They are harmonious. Though very poor, I don't hear or see them arguing about jewelries, food and money which most couples do after a long week of selling pearls by the men. They speak sensibly about life and their faith in God. Their children are quiet and well behaved. I see how Tams rear his 2 boys to serve God in their early years, teaching them to recite memory verses from the Bible and how to worship Isa Almasih. Tams is one of my student in our training class. He is grade zero, as he calls himself. He never attended school in our community because he needs to sell pearls everyday because of poverty, yet he strove hard all by himself to read and write... and he does now! His diligence to study the Word of God, attend my training class and read and write, he is now one of my finest speaker in class. And his wife Joy is a very good song leader.
Looking at Tams and Joy during our Sunday Worship Service, I can't help but smile and utter a wishful prayer to have a family like this. The smile continue a smile.
Cruising along Manila on Eicher's "mercedez benz" ha ha ha! The rain suddenly poured.
O my gosh! It's raining! And Eicher started calling out my name telling me it's raining and as if I could do something to stop the rain from falling.
I started to pray and look at the sky, " Lord, make the rain to stop. I don't want to get wet!"
The answer came right away- the rain stopped!
"Ha ha ha galing mo hah!", said Eicher.
A tinkling idea flashed to my mind, " If I can make the rain to stop from falling, then I can make the miseries to stop coming in to my life.". Yeah, I can!
A friend texted me this puzzling quotation : " Do one thing. Do it right. Finish it."
I will follow the rain principle and finish it!
My headache persists as I am making this screwy plan in my life. My mom was sleeping with the radio on beside her. The announcer said, " When God speaks that He will do something in your life, He will do it in your life 100 percent!". Oww gosh, the heavens is screaming on my ears again! Ha ha ha ha! Here comes the sun! the sunflowers and the sunburns! he he he!
I will wait upon the Lord.
He's been so good to me!
Showing posts with label Born Again Badjao Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Born Again Badjao Church. Show all posts
Monday, September 15, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
"You see?"
A couple in conflict came to me with 2 elders in the community, who wants to call it quit. The argument looks pretty senseless to me but it appeared a major problem to this couple because of cultural weight. I have said a lot just to keep them in-tack, even cattering to their emotion just to keep the marriage going. Replies from the couple came with tears... with my understanding na "ay naku, di ako maintindihan!". Until I resorted to the last weapon I know to make them understand and keep their marriage:
(In english)
"Don't you know that if you will be apart, you may enjoy it for the next 2 months, but you see it's lonely after those months! It's lonely to grow old alone and in our culture, you cannot re-marry. You see, you will feel the pain when hariraya, your birthday and new year come. It's difficult to sleep at night, alone because there will be no one there to hug you or care for you when you get sick. You see, it's what I wanna say... fight for your love!"
ang drama! grabe!
but once again... it works!
but i got the stress not because of the convincing power I let go out, but because of the last part of my statement!
I lost a husband,
I lost also a friend of long years,
And I lost friends, close friends..
The losing never stop.
Up to the last minute I said to myself:
"What else will I lose?"
I climbed a thousand Mt. Moriahs.
How many more Moriahs will I climb?
The problem with people is that during nights they are sleeping
while people like me are awake, thinking, praying, hoping... crying...silently,
so no one will hear. so no one will be disturbed.
Tomorrow I will travel again, will be very busy again.
(In english)
"Don't you know that if you will be apart, you may enjoy it for the next 2 months, but you see it's lonely after those months! It's lonely to grow old alone and in our culture, you cannot re-marry. You see, you will feel the pain when hariraya, your birthday and new year come. It's difficult to sleep at night, alone because there will be no one there to hug you or care for you when you get sick. You see, it's what I wanna say... fight for your love!"
ang drama! grabe!
but once again... it works!
but i got the stress not because of the convincing power I let go out, but because of the last part of my statement!
I lost a husband,
I lost also a friend of long years,
And I lost friends, close friends..
The losing never stop.
Up to the last minute I said to myself:
"What else will I lose?"
I climbed a thousand Mt. Moriahs.
How many more Moriahs will I climb?
The problem with people is that during nights they are sleeping
while people like me are awake, thinking, praying, hoping... crying...silently,
so no one will hear. so no one will be disturbed.
Tomorrow I will travel again, will be very busy again.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
On the Bench
Home alone since Monday. My parents on vacation. Am here in the tribe again. I used to be alone but it seems I can't get used to it. And since it's Holy Week, the people here are out there trying to make money out of their pearls along the beaches of Batangas. Ang tahimik!!
I contend myself doing some sketching, listening to music, and eating during my spare time. My mom left me my favorite food in the ref- milk, cheese,danggit,etc. (talk about my allergies!). So i bought lots of what I like! And for the first time since February, I was able to watch tv via satellite.
I came these things that made me think:
While sleeping in my house, I noticed bees sound that night, and by morning, some of them were flying over my bed. So I asked John Mark to check my walls, since my they are covered with curtains. And he found beehives, about 4 of them and the swarm of bees were busy creating another beehive, on the wall atop my headboard! The other badjaos smoked the bees out of my house and got the beehives. It was my first time to taste honey direct from the honeycomb. The milk and honey taste so good! The milk is actually baby bees on the making! So I decided to let the bees stay in my house, so we could collect more honey. Yeah, the bees stayed.... for 1 day! The next day, they're gone!
Bees are peace loving insects. They don't like to be disturbed while doing their " what they're supposed to do.". Busy but quiet and demands to be left alone so they could produce sweet honey. Best produce in our lives come in times we are alone and in deep thoughts. Most of us don't want to be alone. We like to be always in company and got sad and bored when left alone. We sometimes fail to appreciate the value of aloneness. Aloneness is not negative, it's positive! Sometimes, I do, commit that mistake.
Watching ducks swim on the water... how come this heavey bird float on water and even though they dive beneath, they don't get wet? I remember my grandfather who said to us whenever we take baths, " Maligo na maayos, wag paligong bibi!".
Ducks are incredible birds. Poor in flying but best in swimming! They are so excellent in floating, something that I can't even do! Ha ha ha! Life is like an ocean of varying wave sizes and storms! People should be like ducks, instead of succumbing to life's challenges, they should know how to float! When you float, you don't drown no matter how high the wave be! Life could be easy to deal with if we all know how to "float".
Heartbreak is a painful experience. It's one experience I hate! I symphatize with people who are heartbroken. It's easy to fall in-love but it's so difficult to move on after the failure. My gosh! I made the best coffee that morning when a parent told me her son is brokenhearted and can't move on. Talking to this guy removed the taste and good aroma of my coffee! (am the only one talking, and the guy.. he cries!). Seeing a guy cry move my heart and what else will I say but, "put this in your mind: it's her lost not yours!"! Ahuh!
Falling in love is a choice and so is getting hurt and not moving on. So we could make a choice to move on even in one day! Pain and love is an activity of our hypothalamus, it's a big thing to know that we can dictate our hypothalamus to minimize the pain so we could do something to move on.
"Moving on" is the phrase of the week here!
Why are there penguins in the South pole and not in the North Pole? Pareho lang namang may ice dun?
Make each day a day to smile about. Be like sunflowers!!!
I contend myself doing some sketching, listening to music, and eating during my spare time. My mom left me my favorite food in the ref- milk, cheese,danggit,etc. (talk about my allergies!). So i bought lots of what I like! And for the first time since February, I was able to watch tv via satellite.
I came these things that made me think:
While sleeping in my house, I noticed bees sound that night, and by morning, some of them were flying over my bed. So I asked John Mark to check my walls, since my they are covered with curtains. And he found beehives, about 4 of them and the swarm of bees were busy creating another beehive, on the wall atop my headboard! The other badjaos smoked the bees out of my house and got the beehives. It was my first time to taste honey direct from the honeycomb. The milk and honey taste so good! The milk is actually baby bees on the making! So I decided to let the bees stay in my house, so we could collect more honey. Yeah, the bees stayed.... for 1 day! The next day, they're gone!
Bees are peace loving insects. They don't like to be disturbed while doing their " what they're supposed to do.". Busy but quiet and demands to be left alone so they could produce sweet honey. Best produce in our lives come in times we are alone and in deep thoughts. Most of us don't want to be alone. We like to be always in company and got sad and bored when left alone. We sometimes fail to appreciate the value of aloneness. Aloneness is not negative, it's positive! Sometimes, I do, commit that mistake.
Watching ducks swim on the water... how come this heavey bird float on water and even though they dive beneath, they don't get wet? I remember my grandfather who said to us whenever we take baths, " Maligo na maayos, wag paligong bibi!".
Ducks are incredible birds. Poor in flying but best in swimming! They are so excellent in floating, something that I can't even do! Ha ha ha! Life is like an ocean of varying wave sizes and storms! People should be like ducks, instead of succumbing to life's challenges, they should know how to float! When you float, you don't drown no matter how high the wave be! Life could be easy to deal with if we all know how to "float".
Heartbreak is a painful experience. It's one experience I hate! I symphatize with people who are heartbroken. It's easy to fall in-love but it's so difficult to move on after the failure. My gosh! I made the best coffee that morning when a parent told me her son is brokenhearted and can't move on. Talking to this guy removed the taste and good aroma of my coffee! (am the only one talking, and the guy.. he cries!). Seeing a guy cry move my heart and what else will I say but, "put this in your mind: it's her lost not yours!"! Ahuh!
Falling in love is a choice and so is getting hurt and not moving on. So we could make a choice to move on even in one day! Pain and love is an activity of our hypothalamus, it's a big thing to know that we can dictate our hypothalamus to minimize the pain so we could do something to move on.
"Moving on" is the phrase of the week here!
Why are there penguins in the South pole and not in the North Pole? Pareho lang namang may ice dun?
Make each day a day to smile about. Be like sunflowers!!!
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Lot's of Things
Many things happened while I was away from this blog.
It was a very long time...
But lots of things came in:
1. I finally got my own Badjao house. It's a green, 2 storey bamboo house with a terrace where you can see the fields afar, the mountains and the dirt road leading to the highway! You can stargaze every night. It's as if you're so close to the clouds! Ganun! It has its odd badjao staircase, windows and no door (just openings)! Nyah! I hang my curtains, lots of them! Muslim style! (This pic was before I fixed the things in the house.)
2. Got my share of laughters and tears! Teaching my lessons....
Life really is so simple. Complication is only in the mind. We can make things simple by learning appreciation and a little bit of understanding.
3. ... and dancing the igal!
that's how we celebrate in the tribe! Even simple things can be a source of great joy! You will know the meaning of life when you spend even a bit of your life among the ethnic tribes! You will realize that you are so blessed by God!
I was here only last September 2006, and I could say... it's wonderful to live here!
a. The "exotic" food-- grabe!
b. the baysanan ( wedding shower)--- luxurious! Go there with your malong and dance barefooted!
c. the people, with their hugs and greetings! ay naku! challenging yet warm! E kasi love nila aq!
d. the dialect, " sinama"-- tounge twisting to! Counting is the most difficult to learn!
e. the people's faith-- moving heaven!
f. the tribal leaders? vibes kami lahat!
g. most of all, my life here got me the promise of God came true!... and I also met Eicher here who added pleats to my curtains! ha ha ha ha!
Sa susunod ulit....
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
this poem,RAC,the wedding and me
Do I need to go out to the grounds
to know if the rain is already here?
Do I need to pause for a while
to feel that I"m forgetting something?
Do I have to beg for the time to speed up its hands,
So I could catch up with you in the clouds?
Am I just a dreamer ? or I'm a fool believing?
A wishful thinking? What could I be?
Shall I stop knowing? Shall I cease from waiting?
Shall I stop believing? Something you do not know.
At sunset, the waves return to the sea, the birds to its nests.
The man to his home.
Shall I remain standing here, still believing
For something none of us have ever known.
It's already Alba-a subo!( Wednesday morning). Still awake. My tiredness won't leave me! So I do this blog.
I left Batangas yesterday at 5:30am to go to the RAC of the DSWD in Manila City Hall, to claim 2 Badjaos who were mistaken as beggars in Pier,Manila. They went to the Pier to fetch some relatives from Davao. After showing some documents, they were released to me. Cries, hugs and kisses melted down my hunger and fatigue. They were like little children clinging to my arms as we walked along LRT to the bus station with all eyes on us! My best friend who's with me can't believe that it's happening.
It's part of my work. Am not a social worker. Inside the RAC, I thought, I should have taken that course- Social Work.
After bringing the badjaos to the bus, and made some requests to the bus conductor for them, I asked my friend if we could go to the NSO to authenticate my birth certificate, but the rain came in the way! I thought, perhaps it's not yet time for me to get a license, since it'll take 3 days for the NSO to authenticate a docu. I'll be very late for the filing due of documents for the licensure examination. Surely I'll miss it! So I shifted gear- I'll take my M.A. instead if I will not be enrolled in the mission school this August in Mindanao. And get a license next year! Di naman mukhang magulo, ano? Parang lang!
Am still thinking of our school. Still up to now. Am getting a headache because of it! Now, I can appreciate being an employee. No headaches! You just have to contend with the boss, but when 5pm strikes, you go home and forget about your job, come again tomorrow.
At 8am Salasa (Tuesday), I enrolled to a public school my 13 badjao pupils, all first time in a public school. I, one by one introduced their mothers to the teachers and show where the classrooms are. I hope things will get well the whole school year for them!
By 2pm, I was in a wedding ceremony of 2 young badjaos in the tribe an island away from ours. This is the 2nd badjao wedding I attended. The wedding prelude takes 3 days of non-stop dancing and eating! I was there during the baysanan ( bridal shower & stag party combined). I've never seen so many huge round trays filled with different kinds of bread and the whole tribe's got to eat all the food! I also have never seen such display of jewelries, real gold, worn by the couple, the family and the guests! All guests have to dance the igal, their native dance. And of course, I danced! I received panggi (where other guests put money on your fingers while you dance). There are so many people, all badjaos! The food are not like ours except for the pancit. But they are okay to eat. Besides I need to eat them whether I like it or not. And you have to eat them kamayan! Their culture on acceptance is so sensitive. And I've never experienced such a feeling of being honored as a wedding guest! I like their culture! I like the malong! And the igal dance is regal! They are poor but they have a rich culture! I learned the igal so well, the wearing of malong is something I can't perfect! I can't learn the female waist fold. So I use the male waist fold which always earn a remark from my mom," ano ka lalaki?"
By 5pm, I tried to review words I learned in sinama, (badjao's dialect). And sang some sinama songs so I won't forget the intonations and of course, the words.
By 9pm, I opened my e-mail inbox to check for mails. An e-mail stroke me. It says, "There are 2 women within a woman: one is the socially acceptable woman, and the other is the natural woman. Both in a woman. very few women know this. It is rare to find a woman who can nurture her natural self without hurting her socially acceptable self and keeping it safe.". Hmmmm.
By 11pm, my head spun after knowing and analyzing that I over-withdrawn money from one of the bank accounts of my daddy! My dad yelled on the other side of the broadband, "Ano??!!!".... Ouchh!!!
I have to go to Bulacan today at 5am. Mission? Mangaral ng kapatid na naho homesick kaya umuwi ng Pinas ng walang nakakaalam! (added secret mission: watch Shrek 3. Ha ha ha!)
OMG!! What a day!!
*************************************************************
To those who gave their comments about my blog in teen talk! Thank you very much! Mwah! Mwah! mwah!
*************************************************************
Oh yeah, I finally watched Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End. Sorry to myself, I only understood what the East India Trading is trying to do in the movie. I can't understand the Calypso thing. What does it got to do with the story? I"ve watched all Pirates but I didn't get it! But I can't forget the wedding scene of Elizabeth & Will, and Will becoming the destined captain of the Dutchman....
" Captain forever"
*************************************************************
I sing this love song:
Pakale maka pinaheya. Masulga maka madunya.
Iya kamemon du makaasadya.
P'nno iya sin lasa
M'bal magka pinda,
O'mma kalangan ku, sin lasa nu.
( Oh, let heaven & earth hear, I want everyone to know:
That my love for you never ceases....)
to know if the rain is already here?
Do I need to pause for a while
to feel that I"m forgetting something?
Do I have to beg for the time to speed up its hands,
So I could catch up with you in the clouds?
Am I just a dreamer ? or I'm a fool believing?
A wishful thinking? What could I be?
Shall I stop knowing? Shall I cease from waiting?
Shall I stop believing? Something you do not know.
At sunset, the waves return to the sea, the birds to its nests.
The man to his home.
Shall I remain standing here, still believing
For something none of us have ever known.
It's already Alba-a subo!( Wednesday morning). Still awake. My tiredness won't leave me! So I do this blog.
I left Batangas yesterday at 5:30am to go to the RAC of the DSWD in Manila City Hall, to claim 2 Badjaos who were mistaken as beggars in Pier,Manila. They went to the Pier to fetch some relatives from Davao. After showing some documents, they were released to me. Cries, hugs and kisses melted down my hunger and fatigue. They were like little children clinging to my arms as we walked along LRT to the bus station with all eyes on us! My best friend who's with me can't believe that it's happening.
It's part of my work. Am not a social worker. Inside the RAC, I thought, I should have taken that course- Social Work.
After bringing the badjaos to the bus, and made some requests to the bus conductor for them, I asked my friend if we could go to the NSO to authenticate my birth certificate, but the rain came in the way! I thought, perhaps it's not yet time for me to get a license, since it'll take 3 days for the NSO to authenticate a docu. I'll be very late for the filing due of documents for the licensure examination. Surely I'll miss it! So I shifted gear- I'll take my M.A. instead if I will not be enrolled in the mission school this August in Mindanao. And get a license next year! Di naman mukhang magulo, ano? Parang lang!
Am still thinking of our school. Still up to now. Am getting a headache because of it! Now, I can appreciate being an employee. No headaches! You just have to contend with the boss, but when 5pm strikes, you go home and forget about your job, come again tomorrow.
At 8am Salasa (Tuesday), I enrolled to a public school my 13 badjao pupils, all first time in a public school. I, one by one introduced their mothers to the teachers and show where the classrooms are. I hope things will get well the whole school year for them!
By 2pm, I was in a wedding ceremony of 2 young badjaos in the tribe an island away from ours. This is the 2nd badjao wedding I attended. The wedding prelude takes 3 days of non-stop dancing and eating! I was there during the baysanan ( bridal shower & stag party combined). I've never seen so many huge round trays filled with different kinds of bread and the whole tribe's got to eat all the food! I also have never seen such display of jewelries, real gold, worn by the couple, the family and the guests! All guests have to dance the igal, their native dance. And of course, I danced! I received panggi (where other guests put money on your fingers while you dance). There are so many people, all badjaos! The food are not like ours except for the pancit. But they are okay to eat. Besides I need to eat them whether I like it or not. And you have to eat them kamayan! Their culture on acceptance is so sensitive. And I've never experienced such a feeling of being honored as a wedding guest! I like their culture! I like the malong! And the igal dance is regal! They are poor but they have a rich culture! I learned the igal so well, the wearing of malong is something I can't perfect! I can't learn the female waist fold. So I use the male waist fold which always earn a remark from my mom," ano ka lalaki?"
By 5pm, I tried to review words I learned in sinama, (badjao's dialect). And sang some sinama songs so I won't forget the intonations and of course, the words.
By 9pm, I opened my e-mail inbox to check for mails. An e-mail stroke me. It says, "There are 2 women within a woman: one is the socially acceptable woman, and the other is the natural woman. Both in a woman. very few women know this. It is rare to find a woman who can nurture her natural self without hurting her socially acceptable self and keeping it safe.". Hmmmm.
By 11pm, my head spun after knowing and analyzing that I over-withdrawn money from one of the bank accounts of my daddy! My dad yelled on the other side of the broadband, "Ano??!!!".... Ouchh!!!
I have to go to Bulacan today at 5am. Mission? Mangaral ng kapatid na naho homesick kaya umuwi ng Pinas ng walang nakakaalam! (added secret mission: watch Shrek 3. Ha ha ha!)
OMG!! What a day!!
*************************************************************
To those who gave their comments about my blog in teen talk! Thank you very much! Mwah! Mwah! mwah!
*************************************************************
Oh yeah, I finally watched Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End. Sorry to myself, I only understood what the East India Trading is trying to do in the movie. I can't understand the Calypso thing. What does it got to do with the story? I"ve watched all Pirates but I didn't get it! But I can't forget the wedding scene of Elizabeth & Will, and Will becoming the destined captain of the Dutchman....
" Captain forever"
*************************************************************
I sing this love song:
Pakale maka pinaheya. Masulga maka madunya.
Iya kamemon du makaasadya.
P'nno iya sin lasa
M'bal magka pinda,
O'mma kalangan ku, sin lasa nu.
( Oh, let heaven & earth hear, I want everyone to know:
That my love for you never ceases....)
Thursday, May 24, 2007
After 3 days, I'm back!
Those were tiring days! I spent those days working in the office, not paper works but manual job! Because no male employee in sight! My muscles ache up to now! The massages I got did not suffice!
I missed the Pirates, the dinner date, the malling, and the Rizal Park! Someone blurted out, "hey tsong, wait ka na ng bf mo sa Luneta, buhat ka pa ng buhat ng tables dyan!". (My bf in Luneta is none other than the man who doesn't know how to sit down--- JR... Jose Rizal!). Those pesky jokes just earn from me a laugh! Anyway, I like the park, more than any other park! Because it's big and wide, and near the bay, with a very senti sunset, green grass, fresh air, taho in the evening, and an open heaven! Relaxing... for me. Whenever I'm sick, tired and petitioning God for something, my friend brings me there.
The night before I go, lying on my bed with the t.v. on, a preview of the show, Here Comes the Bride flashed on the screen. I learned it's a competitions for couples about to wed. But the fat bride caught my attention, who's crying out, " bakit ako? ayoko...". I asked the people in the house, "is she a bride?" ( she's wearing a wedding gown!). I blurted out, " huh? bride siya? what do you know...". She's lucky, I thought. She's got a guy and she'll get marry! I wonder what's in her that made her through the isle? I've got beautiful friends, all professionals, but all guy-less!It's not because they shun guys, but because no guy is courting them!
I wonder what female qualities do really men like? Qualities that will click to men that will move them to court a woman? A male friend once said to me with a high tone after asking him if he likes beautiful & sexy ladies: " What will I do with a beautiful face?". That guy is good looking and intelligent... and she loves girls! Aahhh...
It's still a puzzle to me specially when I learned from a survey that the female-male ratio now a days is 8:1 ( 8 females to 1 man!). Napaka swerte ng mga lalaki! No wonder why many women today fall in-love so easily, even with married guys! The world is running out of men! OMG!!! To think of it that most eligible men now are either taken or gay!
I departed from thinking about it! Besides, it's not a problem to me. Ha ha ha ha!
4am, I headed south. And off I go with a promise I'll be back by June 11. My prayer went again, that God will give me a good-looking male seatmate who will not move a bit but only watch the movie on video. Answered prayer! I was able to sleep in the bus!
Something came up to my window : a black butterfly! on a moving bus? Premonition?
I arrived here in Batangas, 10am. After wearing my langit-langit malong ( a malong half-leg lenght pants with tassles and beads on the hemline), off to work I go. A young man yawned as I teach, and said he's tired , got a slam from me, " Kung pagod ka na, ano tawag mo sa akin?!". So I was able to finish my lesson.
Checking on my e-mail and my friendster, my tiredness ran down like water to my legs: Mark is still alive, but still in his " silent" mode, and Jhomar is still pushing for the hamsters to rule! I can't believe myself! nahh!
My phone still rings at 12:40am. Friends checking me out if I"m okay, busy or nagbibisi-bisihan lang, and why am still awake?:
Thank you Lord for my friends who keep me company always, who care, who support, who give me headache as well as tummy ache, and who's always there specially in times like this. Take care of them, Lord and give them long life so all of us will always have fun times together! Amen.
Those were tiring days! I spent those days working in the office, not paper works but manual job! Because no male employee in sight! My muscles ache up to now! The massages I got did not suffice!
I missed the Pirates, the dinner date, the malling, and the Rizal Park! Someone blurted out, "hey tsong, wait ka na ng bf mo sa Luneta, buhat ka pa ng buhat ng tables dyan!". (My bf in Luneta is none other than the man who doesn't know how to sit down--- JR... Jose Rizal!). Those pesky jokes just earn from me a laugh! Anyway, I like the park, more than any other park! Because it's big and wide, and near the bay, with a very senti sunset, green grass, fresh air, taho in the evening, and an open heaven! Relaxing... for me. Whenever I'm sick, tired and petitioning God for something, my friend brings me there.
The night before I go, lying on my bed with the t.v. on, a preview of the show, Here Comes the Bride flashed on the screen. I learned it's a competitions for couples about to wed. But the fat bride caught my attention, who's crying out, " bakit ako? ayoko...". I asked the people in the house, "is she a bride?" ( she's wearing a wedding gown!). I blurted out, " huh? bride siya? what do you know...". She's lucky, I thought. She's got a guy and she'll get marry! I wonder what's in her that made her through the isle? I've got beautiful friends, all professionals, but all guy-less!It's not because they shun guys, but because no guy is courting them!
I wonder what female qualities do really men like? Qualities that will click to men that will move them to court a woman? A male friend once said to me with a high tone after asking him if he likes beautiful & sexy ladies: " What will I do with a beautiful face?". That guy is good looking and intelligent... and she loves girls! Aahhh...
It's still a puzzle to me specially when I learned from a survey that the female-male ratio now a days is 8:1 ( 8 females to 1 man!). Napaka swerte ng mga lalaki! No wonder why many women today fall in-love so easily, even with married guys! The world is running out of men! OMG!!! To think of it that most eligible men now are either taken or gay!
I departed from thinking about it! Besides, it's not a problem to me. Ha ha ha ha!
4am, I headed south. And off I go with a promise I'll be back by June 11. My prayer went again, that God will give me a good-looking male seatmate who will not move a bit but only watch the movie on video. Answered prayer! I was able to sleep in the bus!
Something came up to my window : a black butterfly! on a moving bus? Premonition?
I arrived here in Batangas, 10am. After wearing my langit-langit malong ( a malong half-leg lenght pants with tassles and beads on the hemline), off to work I go. A young man yawned as I teach, and said he's tired , got a slam from me, " Kung pagod ka na, ano tawag mo sa akin?!". So I was able to finish my lesson.
Checking on my e-mail and my friendster, my tiredness ran down like water to my legs: Mark is still alive, but still in his " silent" mode, and Jhomar is still pushing for the hamsters to rule! I can't believe myself! nahh!
My phone still rings at 12:40am. Friends checking me out if I"m okay, busy or nagbibisi-bisihan lang, and why am still awake?:
Thank you Lord for my friends who keep me company always, who care, who support, who give me headache as well as tummy ache, and who's always there specially in times like this. Take care of them, Lord and give them long life so all of us will always have fun times together! Amen.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Today
Today, is election day! and here goes the "barakos" of batangas who's running for offices, w/ their people in the gates of the precints asking who you voted for? A wrong answer will earn a "uh uh uh!", with their forefingers speaking out " that's bad kid!"
Since we are in a hot spot ( becoz our communities are endorsing a candidate,..secretly.), we devised a way so our votes will be secured ( we hope so!) : my community who knows how to read and write assists the other communities who don't know how, (in-spite of the panananga ng mga teachers sa amin na ayaw papasukin ang mga assists, we insisted, reciting the rules... wala silang nagawa!) and nobody will speak Tagalog or English, kahit ako, we will speak sinama which no tagalog understand, only us!... Well, mine is sinama for beginners!
We also voted solid for mama Vilma S! Magaling naman talaga! and the rest? wala na kaming pakialam, di na namin kayang isulat lahat!! For our people who have such a simple mind and very simple existence on earth, the senatoriables & others are very, very difficult to know and to remember. They don't have time to listen to many campaign jingles, or read posters because they can't read or write, what they care is "sino ang mabait? sino ang pumapansin sa amin?sino ang totoong nakakatulong sa amin?"
After the tiring day, my assists & I passed by SM and did some gaming in Quantum. My students (the assists) were doing well in gaming, and they are no longer ashamed to stroll in SM . Before, they are ashamed becoz the tagalogs looked down on them, and abhor them becoz they were once dirty, filth-smelling beggars, illiterate and very,very poor! But now, our labours have been rewarded, teaching them for 7 years now, they are now literate, no longer beggars but having descent jobs as pearl sellers and the others are employed outside the community. They dressed like us already and have confidence to face other people not of their own kind. Although their culture remains, a lot has been changed! Am praying that the other communities will follow our footstep as I am pioneering the teaching there.
I received a phone call from my best friend's mom asking my status here. If am not sad or homesicked becoz am alone here, and she wanted me to go to Manila and give me a treat this weekend. Phonecalls like this one shatter the sadness of being alone in a strange place where the people are not like you. So am planning to go to Manila before weekend so I could make habol to watch spiderman. But am darn excited to watch The Pirates of the Carribean. And am gonna buy kids' movies for our kids here to watch.
I made-over our house, the mission house, so it will bear my trace. So I could sleep better at night. And most of all to find the toki who's bugging my sleep every 1am in the morning with his sound! Well, my carpenter wannabees found the poor 5 inches toki as if they're hunting for a croc! killed the 5 inches toki with a kris and a broomstik!! hay naku!! Akala ko ba ang lahi ninyo ang pumatay kay Magellan, bakit toki lang para kayong papatay ng giant buwaya?!My laughs!!
( toki - tag. "tuko"; eng.? ewan ko ba, nakalimutan ko na.)
I ended up my day threatening the guy who's bugging me for 2 days now with his frequent but senseless phonecalls, disturbing my work , becoz he has nothing to do! I raise my voice and said, " if only I could reach out my hands to you, I want to squeeze your neck and pound you like a lice! Ang kulit mo!Di ako namimigay ng picture! Di ako artista!". Of course, my students threw me their wide- eyed look.... "bayolente din pala si teacher!"
If only I could say, am waiting for a phonecall from someone I misses a lot, yet not missing me at all!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Since we are in a hot spot ( becoz our communities are endorsing a candidate,..secretly.), we devised a way so our votes will be secured ( we hope so!) : my community who knows how to read and write assists the other communities who don't know how, (in-spite of the panananga ng mga teachers sa amin na ayaw papasukin ang mga assists, we insisted, reciting the rules... wala silang nagawa!) and nobody will speak Tagalog or English, kahit ako, we will speak sinama which no tagalog understand, only us!... Well, mine is sinama for beginners!
We also voted solid for mama Vilma S! Magaling naman talaga! and the rest? wala na kaming pakialam, di na namin kayang isulat lahat!! For our people who have such a simple mind and very simple existence on earth, the senatoriables & others are very, very difficult to know and to remember. They don't have time to listen to many campaign jingles, or read posters because they can't read or write, what they care is "sino ang mabait? sino ang pumapansin sa amin?sino ang totoong nakakatulong sa amin?"
After the tiring day, my assists & I passed by SM and did some gaming in Quantum. My students (the assists) were doing well in gaming, and they are no longer ashamed to stroll in SM . Before, they are ashamed becoz the tagalogs looked down on them, and abhor them becoz they were once dirty, filth-smelling beggars, illiterate and very,very poor! But now, our labours have been rewarded, teaching them for 7 years now, they are now literate, no longer beggars but having descent jobs as pearl sellers and the others are employed outside the community. They dressed like us already and have confidence to face other people not of their own kind. Although their culture remains, a lot has been changed! Am praying that the other communities will follow our footstep as I am pioneering the teaching there.
I received a phone call from my best friend's mom asking my status here. If am not sad or homesicked becoz am alone here, and she wanted me to go to Manila and give me a treat this weekend. Phonecalls like this one shatter the sadness of being alone in a strange place where the people are not like you. So am planning to go to Manila before weekend so I could make habol to watch spiderman. But am darn excited to watch The Pirates of the Carribean. And am gonna buy kids' movies for our kids here to watch.
I made-over our house, the mission house, so it will bear my trace. So I could sleep better at night. And most of all to find the toki who's bugging my sleep every 1am in the morning with his sound! Well, my carpenter wannabees found the poor 5 inches toki as if they're hunting for a croc! killed the 5 inches toki with a kris and a broomstik!! hay naku!! Akala ko ba ang lahi ninyo ang pumatay kay Magellan, bakit toki lang para kayong papatay ng giant buwaya?!My laughs!!
( toki - tag. "tuko"; eng.? ewan ko ba, nakalimutan ko na.)
I ended up my day threatening the guy who's bugging me for 2 days now with his frequent but senseless phonecalls, disturbing my work , becoz he has nothing to do! I raise my voice and said, " if only I could reach out my hands to you, I want to squeeze your neck and pound you like a lice! Ang kulit mo!Di ako namimigay ng picture! Di ako artista!". Of course, my students threw me their wide- eyed look.... "bayolente din pala si teacher!"
If only I could say, am waiting for a phonecall from someone I misses a lot, yet not missing me at all!! Ha ha ha ha ha ha!
Thursday, May 10, 2007
I just finished my dinner, & now havin' my dessert. Too early for breakfast!
I went to Manila yesterday to submit a proposal to World Vision Foundation for the people here at 11am, and talked to a bank loan officer in Bulacan at 2:30pm. Once again, I was Darna (w/o a Ding)! I was thinking of playing "Rose", but I changed my mind, instead I dropped by home. My Aunt thought she saw a ghost when I entered the gate, but then on said, "Ano'ng ginagawa mo dito? Bkit ka nandito?Bkit ka umuwi?" I got a big, "Huh?!" in my mind. "Don't you like to see me? Didn't you missed me?"... Nyahh! Drama!
I enjoyed the night with the "ducktrap" & the "meow meow". But my fun was aborted when I saw my hair on the mirror! "This is what I get from believing my hairdresser! I look like a ghost indeed! So I told I'll cut my hair short again....but I wanted a changed image! Can't decide which, I ran a text survey to my friends : "What do you think, shall I cut my hair short or not?Why?" goes my question in my survey, and I got some responses that pricked my mind:
A: " Cguro wag na lang paputol. Isah might get angry." (Isah is Jesus in Islam. correction, di po ako Muslim.) Ano connect?
R: "Wag u paputol,gusto q sa babae mahaba buhok!" ( Halerr!nag-aapply ba akong gf mo & you want me to please your taste? Excuse me!)
R2: "Mas maganda pahabain mo! ("Do u think bagay sa akin?"I asked.) Hindi! Pro mas maganda mahaba! ska pataba u bocing!"- Grrrrrr!!!!
My staff unanimously voted to have my hair cut. They too,thought I was a ghost when they saw me enter my office! But up to now, here in Batangas, still undecided whether I should pay David Salon a visit. But on my way here, while on the Slex ,I was thinking, "Why do men prefer girls to have long hair? What's in the girl's long hair that makes a man? Curious lang.
I was sporting a very short hair for 10 years. Am trying to make it grow long for a change, to soften my "dating". And it's working! But the looks of it is half Gloria Romero and half Elvis Presley!That's why am "napapraning" bout it!
Got my devotions at 9pm, & here again alone, & it's morning already. I'll do some politicking tomorrow, I mean mamaya.And it's raining na here! I wish the rain will wash away the pains in our hearts and make new seeds of love and joy grow from it! I wish the floods to come will bring to us the people whom God has prepared just for us! I wish our prayers will be heard and answered by our loving God so all of us will be happy!
I went to Manila yesterday to submit a proposal to World Vision Foundation for the people here at 11am, and talked to a bank loan officer in Bulacan at 2:30pm. Once again, I was Darna (w/o a Ding)! I was thinking of playing "Rose", but I changed my mind, instead I dropped by home. My Aunt thought she saw a ghost when I entered the gate, but then on said, "Ano'ng ginagawa mo dito? Bkit ka nandito?Bkit ka umuwi?" I got a big, "Huh?!" in my mind. "Don't you like to see me? Didn't you missed me?"... Nyahh! Drama!
I enjoyed the night with the "ducktrap" & the "meow meow". But my fun was aborted when I saw my hair on the mirror! "This is what I get from believing my hairdresser! I look like a ghost indeed! So I told I'll cut my hair short again....but I wanted a changed image! Can't decide which, I ran a text survey to my friends : "What do you think, shall I cut my hair short or not?Why?" goes my question in my survey, and I got some responses that pricked my mind:
A: " Cguro wag na lang paputol. Isah might get angry." (Isah is Jesus in Islam. correction, di po ako Muslim.) Ano connect?
R: "Wag u paputol,gusto q sa babae mahaba buhok!" ( Halerr!nag-aapply ba akong gf mo & you want me to please your taste? Excuse me!)
R2: "Mas maganda pahabain mo! ("Do u think bagay sa akin?"I asked.) Hindi! Pro mas maganda mahaba! ska pataba u bocing!"- Grrrrrr!!!!
My staff unanimously voted to have my hair cut. They too,thought I was a ghost when they saw me enter my office! But up to now, here in Batangas, still undecided whether I should pay David Salon a visit. But on my way here, while on the Slex ,I was thinking, "Why do men prefer girls to have long hair? What's in the girl's long hair that makes a man? Curious lang.
I was sporting a very short hair for 10 years. Am trying to make it grow long for a change, to soften my "dating". And it's working! But the looks of it is half Gloria Romero and half Elvis Presley!That's why am "napapraning" bout it!
Got my devotions at 9pm, & here again alone, & it's morning already. I'll do some politicking tomorrow, I mean mamaya.And it's raining na here! I wish the rain will wash away the pains in our hearts and make new seeds of love and joy grow from it! I wish the floods to come will bring to us the people whom God has prepared just for us! I wish our prayers will be heard and answered by our loving God so all of us will be happy!
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