Lessons from 2013

Catch up

So here's what you missed:
It's a new year! I took the time to look back at my 2013 and I'd say it was quite eventful. Right now, I'd say the highlights of the past year have been my month-long stay in Manila for my OJT last summer and the recent super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) which basically changed the life we knew in Tacloban City.

Here are pictures of my 2013; memories and people I'll miss.

These pictures were taken at a bazaar put up as part of the Pintados festival in June 2013.

These are my sisters with whom I've shared Mommy's home for three and a half years.

And these are my YFC brothers and sisters, some of whom are not in the photos but are equally special and some I may not see for a long time (ehem, cross-registrants, balik gad kam).

As for GPP, well, we're carrying on with our lives together, aren't we? This is not yet the time to be sentimental about us, except for Kay who is now in Iloilo (I miss you).

Anyway, it's a new year and I'm happy to say that the trees that have once lost all their leaves to the strong winds brought by Yolanda are gradually becoming greener again and the rest of the city has been continually recovering as well.

Most of us, UP students, have received our first set of relief goods and we'd like to thank all those who sponsored these. These really mean a lot to a college student thriving in a storm-ravaged city where the prices of all basic commodities have gone crazy.

Then, we received school supplies from One JPIA. Many thanks! :D

No storm can stop us from having a great 2014!

Lesson from Oz: The great and powerful

Do what you do best and you will fulfill your purpose.

***

"I may not be the wizard you expected but I might be the wizard you need."

Ho ho ho!

High school friends. Getting fat is like our thing. You could feel bad about the fact that you are, indeed, gaining weight each passing day and yet, you end up laughing about it because you all are... and you all have to deal with it. If only you could laugh your fats off.

So, yeah, I've been meeting up with my high school friends and I'm loving it. I love how we have become more matured since high school and I love growing up. I'm really happy. I guess that's the key to happiness. You gotta love the process; the process of growing up.

On another matter, I think I got tired of being the shy and quiet girl. I've become more outgoing and more at ease with my friends. For the record, this was the first time I grabbed the mic in a karaoke session with friends. I got tired of just watching people have fun. Although I haven't totally outgrown the lessons I learned of being a good girl (i.e. I don't drink), I've loosened up and now I'm having fun. I hope you're happy too.

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God's Children

I don’t like how Yolanda has turned me into a 'tambay’. In fact, I think I’m one step closer to becoming depressed each day with nothing to look forward to and with an average of three persons to interact with every day. So, I thought I wanted to get my creativity running, you know, make art (although I’m not exactly much of an artist). I just have to do something. But I’m not even that motivated since creating without purpose is just pointless. Then, I thought about God’s creation of the world. Why did He want to create us? How could He be as motivated as He was as proven by the beauty of His work? Then, it occurred to me. It’s the same reason people would want to have kids.

Now, I don’t know all the reasons why people would want to have kids but as for me, I think I want to see someone go through life’s stages.  I want to see my child grow up with equal experiences of joy and sorrow and end up a victor by living a full life. Call me smug but I think I want to be someone my child can turn to when everything seems bleak; to be the source of encouragement given that I have been through everything that the child is going through and tell him/her that everything is going to be just fine. Then again, I’m still young.  I haven’t had any real thoughts on having kids yet. All these reasons I have might change. 

The point is that God wants to be a parent to us. The problem is that, in time, we become His rowdy teenagers and stubborn adult children. We neglect Him because we’re good on our own. We think life is all about getting what you want by making every night a party or making a fortune. But God continues to be a Father to us; waiting for us to come home to Him. He keeps waiting for us to tell Him about how we enjoy the blessings He sends us every day. He always wants us to talk to Him even only in our most convenient time. We simply forget everything He gave us (including sacrificing His begotten son).

To be His children is all God wants from us. He is our good and loving Father who would welcome us with open arms if we just come back to Him with a contrite heart regardless of how much we messed up with our lives.

Yolanda, we're just gonna laugh

After serving lunch in three-to-one ratio to the 157 evacuees...
Volunteer 1: Tara, pangaon na kita
Volunteer 2: Tara. Ano ngean tat kakaonon?

TRANSLATION
Volunteer 1: C'mon let's eat
Volunteer 2: Sure but what do we eat?
Everybody laughs. 

***

Priest: Kun ngadto ngean kamo kumaturog ha kwarto?
Volunteer: Waray na atop dre.
Priest: Nadiri kamo hito? Skyview!

TRANSLATION
Priest: Why don't you sleep in the bedroom?
Volunteer: Father, it doesn't have a roof anymore.
Priest: Don't you like that? Skyview!
Everybody laughs.

***

Puasa la anay an ayam.
(A Dobberman learns to fast by eating bread alone.)

Titikadako la an mata han Chihuahua han kagutom.
(The Chihuahua's eyes seem to grow bigger due to starvation.)

***

They say it's optimism and hope. Perhaps it is, but I can't really explain the Filipino humor. How could you laugh after finding out you're not getting a decent lunch after skipping breakfast? How could you make fun of your roofless bedroom? I guess, the Filipinos' sense of humor is just what it is. We just love to laugh.

You can break everything you want, Yolanda, but you're never gonna break the Filipinos' funny bone.