Peculiar?

1. agadi-nwayi: old woman

It was my first time helping an agadi-nwayi cross the street.

2. ekwe: a musical instrument; a type of drum made from wood

Everyone danced to the beat as the little boy hit his ekwe. 

3. iba: fever

I’ve been absent for almost a week because of iba which later on turned out to be dengue.

4. efulefu: wothless man

Is it right to call a murderer an efulefu?

5. inyanga: showing off, bragging

Everyone in class dislikes him because he was always inyanga the material things he had.

6. ogene: a musical instrument; a kind of gong

We wanted the ogene to stand out in the new ethnic song we’re creating.

7. Uri: part of the betrothal ceremony when the dowry is paid

My mother had prepared lots and lot of food for my sister’s Uri.

8. ndichie: elders

The best part of our family reunion was the part where the ndichie sang “Bang Bang”.

9. obi: the large living quarters of the head of the family

I had to bring my father’s dinner to his obi  because he could not get out of bed because of high fever.

10. ochu: murder of manslaughter

He was captured by the police yesterday because he was accused of ochu. 

In a Grove·Rashomon

Rashomon and In a Grove are two stories that are quite similar and at the same time different. Rashomon displays the endless possibilites in life while In a Grove revolves around the nature of truth. The picture above is an example of dark and light which may also be a representation on my take from both stories.

In life, there are ups and downs. You may refer to it as light and dark just like the servant from Rashomon. He had his ups and he also had his downs and from that we get the darkness and light in our life. On the other hand, even though there is darkness, there is a small chance of light. In the photo, the darker side shows a hint of light. This means that no matter how dark it may seem, there’s still hope in life. In a Grove displays countless possibilites, lies, truth and a lot more confusing things. Even though it may seem that there’s no hope left in the story, you just need to have faith in seeking the truth then it will eventually come to you.

Footnote to Us

Jose Garcia Villa’s Footnote to Youth tells us about the life of a seventeen year old boy named Dodong. Dodong at a young age married, believing that he was man enough to enter adulthood. He was full of conviction, no doubts, not even a single ‘what if’ entered his mind whenever he thought about marrying the girl he always dreamt of. With his parents’ consent, Dodong and Teang married each other. Unlike Dodong, his father had second thoughts as a strange helpless light in his eyes was visible according to Jose Garcia Villa. Why is it that he didn’t make any objections in Dodong’s sudden declamation about marriage? As for Dodong and Teang, their sweet young dream got even sweeter as their first child, Blas arrived. Dodong, being a first time father, no wonder felt afraid but eventually, he got through it. As Blas grew older, Dodong and Teang had more children as well. It may sound cliché but history repeats itself, Blas came up to his father asking his approval to marry Tona. Though he had objections, Dodong agreed.

The first time I read Footnote to Youth, I honestly thought it was just about youth getting married at a young age and finding themselves full of repentance. But I guess there is more than what you think there is. Behind the not so ‘shallow idea’ of marriage at a young age, I think that what Jose Garcia Villa’s footnote to us is to be brave enough to accept our mistakes and make a change. Dodong and his father accepted their mistakes but failed to correct it. Many of us are full of conviction specially when we believe in something but when life gets a little harder, we give up. It’s not that I approve on marrying at a young age but maybe since it’s reality I have to agree to the idea of Jose Garcia Villa. Sometimes we are too brave that we forget to think about the possible consequences we might face and when it comes, it will shock us to the point that you would just want to surrender. For me, he wants us to start strong and finish stronger.

Reality’s Realization With The Help of Thinking

“Things come apart so easily when they have been held together with lies.”
― Dorothy Allison, Bastard Out of Carolina

Why is it that our country seems like a failed experiment? Elements combined together with fantasies that are to good to be true. Too good that we Filipinos couldn’t keep up to it which resulted to an even worse result, failure all covered up with our little fantasies. As a Filipino, yes, I have a dream for my country more than success and prosperity, I always hoped that one day, we no longer have to believe in these stories that our government would tell us but we could see things the way it is without any lies and fantasies attached to it. The perfect example that could further explain how fantasies could blind you from the truth is the never-ending government corruption and how we Filipino Citizens are partially to blame.

For the past few months, we may have been seeing the same things over and over again in news headlines, newspapers and it may even be your class topic. The issue on the Pork Barrel Scam took the government a huge amount of time before they had finally convicted the main suspects. Not to my surprise, who else could it be? Our own government officials who sworn to God and to us to serve the country with honesty and promised a better future. How could it have happened that our own trusted officials where behind this corruption and how were they able to keep it a secret? One thing’s for sure, they fed us with their promising fantasies, fairy tales wherein they were our prince charming who saved us, the damsel in distress when the truth is they were the greedy and beastly creatures who wanted everything for themselves not even thinking about how many FIlipinos have no houses,no proper education and worst of all no way to start a better life.

How is it possible that we all believed in this illusion caused by their fantasies? Why did we let them build our country with lies when we had the chance to stop it? Like what Nathan Allen said in his article Filipinos: Think! Think! Think!,  “due to colonization and other factors, the Philippines may have established itself as a country full of “small minds”- and by that I mean people that were intentionally discouraged from being ambitious, and kept from their potential.” We all grew up in a fairy tale that the authorities made up that’s why we don’t know how to speak our minds and differentiate reality and fantasy and because our fantasy is what we ever wished for, we chose to live in it.

What I picked up from Nathan Allen’s FIlipinos: Think! Think! Think! that could probably be the reason why we are what are not is that we don’t give importance to who we are or what we stand for. Like our officials, sometimes we are greedy about our ideas we don’t let other people learn about them, we keep things to ourselves. Yes, we might be thinking but we don’t put them in action. The worst part is that instead of making something of our own, we our contented of copying not minding that we would look like people who have no ideas so we just pretend like its ours and even brag about how good we are at it.

Though I am ashamed of how a foreigner made me realize these things about my own country, I am quite grateful to these people who pushes us to our limits even thought they are not of our kind.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Last Thursday, January 9, the Grade 10 students had a play which was A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare. At first, I wasn’t really going to watch but I realized something. I thought that someday, our batch might do something like this as well and the funds were for the Nanjing Walkabout so I decided to watch. I used my money which was given to me for Christmas to buy VIP tickets. So the day of the play finally came and me and my friends were first on the line because we wanted to sit near the stage! We were really excited because it was the first time that our school had a play by one of the greatest writers in history, Mr. William Shakespeare. We were aware that the play would use Old English so I prepared my self for that ahhaa! When the play started we were just so amazed about how good everyone did with memorizing the lines! The costumes were fabulous specially the wedding gowns at the end of the play! The play that the characters were watching was so hilariousI don’t remember a time when I wasn’t laughing during the play of the actors!i told my self that the amount I paid was worth it. When the play ended I still couldn’t get over my favorite scenes which are the part where in Hermia slapped Lysander. I also liked the parts where Puck was copying the actors as they practiced for the play. Even the lights and sounds effectwas in perfect timing! Watching AMND was definitely an unforgettable experience!

Snow in Midsummer

The day after A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Grade 9’s play was up next already. There play was Guan Hanqing’ s Snow in Midsummer. If the Grade 10’s play was Western now, its Eastern! After the Grade 10’s play I already saw how pressured the Grade 9 was because honestly, the Grade 10 was really excellent with every part of the play. I thought that maybe they were afraid that they wouldn’t be able to do as well as the Grade 10 did. Like with the first play, me and my friends were also first in line but the difference is, we were no longer VIP because we have no more money left! Haha! We even planned to split in the 2 lines so that even if the other line will go first my friend in that line could reserve the seats for us because we had to stay in the first row of the regular ticket! Before the play started, I saw a lot of old students and even teachers. I was quite happy to know that they were still in touch with us. The play started and I could already feel the sadness in the story. I really liked how each character had their own Chinese Accent! I really like the idea of the see through wall which showed the part were Dou E the lead actress was killed! It was so good! After that, we were all frightened and surprised when we saw her as a ghost walking in the aisle with a scary expression!t was such a great story and the characters were really excellent!

VLC Experience :)

LIke what I said on my blog a while ago, I’ll be sharing about my VLC EXPERIENCE! It was truly a life changing experience as a FIlipino youth. Seeing Cebu gave me more inspiration to strive harder knowing that there are more things to improve in our country. So for my blog, I’ll be sharing my most unforgettable experiences in Cebu.

My first most unforgettable experience in Cebu was our Dinner at Tops. When we got there, it was just sunset and I was so mesmerized by the view! I felt like never leaving but I know that was impossible at that moment. It was very very cold as it got darker and darker. We enjoyed playing at the big field there and the scent of the air was just so soothing!

My next favorite is our visit to the showroom of Kenneth Cobonpue and Arden Classic. When we first got there all I could say was there showrooms are hidden. They are very hard to find if you’re not familiar with the place. In Arden Classic, I was so excited about their products and when I saw it, I was not disappointed because it was fantastic! All the details were done excellently even the smallest of them were so fabulous! With Kenneth Cobonpue, it was also the same I was shocked with furnitures and about where they got their inspirations but what shocked me the most is how expensive their products are. In Arden Classic, a paperweight cost $30 which is the cheapest already while a small chair in Kenneth Cobonpue cost Php33k. I promised my self that when I grow up I will have one of those!

 

Lastly, my most favorite is our visit to Hello Hans Movie House. The truth is, it isn’t part of our itinerary but since some of the places we were supposed to go to was unsafe because of the recent earthquake there, they decided to take us there. Hello Hans is a mini theatre. We watched the Korean movie War of The Arrows. I think we were 10 in a room. And what I liked about it was it was very cold! So if ever you go to Cebu make sure to drop by Hello Hans Movie House! 🙂

 

VLC Experience: Food

It’s been 4 days since we got back from Cebu. To be honest, I still have the “Cebu hangover”. There were just so many things that I will miss in Cebu which will be  the topic for my next post later on. For now, let me talk about the amazing food of Cebu! *clap* *clap* *clap*

Our first meal in Cebu was in ZUBUCHON! The food was just so yummy! So Zubuchon serves one of the best lechons in the Philippines. And being someone who has experienced eating there, I could say that it is very true that Zubuchon is something to be proud of.  If you’re not familiar with lechon, lechon is roasted pig marinated with different kinds of sauce and herbs.

That same day, we had our dinner in Tops! We were thought about how to make PUSO read as PU-SO but in a faster way. Like what our tour guide said, you can find Puso in any place in Cebu. Puso is also called hanging rice. It is just rice wrapped in young coconut leaves and is boiled until the rice is cooked. So after you cook the rice, all you have to do is cut the puso and eat the rice directly from it.

             

For our 3rd lunch in Cebu, we went to Golden Cowrie. The food was also delicious! They also served us a lot of meat which is composed of 4 meaty barbecues! And their soup was also so good! It was perfect for that rainy weather. If I’m not mistaken, since it was unlimited rice, a lot of my classmates ate more than 4 cups!

The last meal that we had before leaving Cebu was the best! After attending church, we went to Rodeo Grill to have lunch. What’s funny about this is that the restaurant is hidden! Haha! For me, it was one of the best meal I’ve ever had even better than my mom’s cooking. They served us a big piece of milk and the super yummy gravy! Again, it was unlimited rice so even I got 3 cups. So if ever you have plans on visiting Cebu, might as well visit the place and I’m quite sure that you will  enjoy!

Tomorrow.

I’m blogging, again. Just so you know, tomorrow is the day we leave for VLC which will take place in Cebu. I’m not really excited about the fact that I’ll have to wake up early but that’s just how it goes and I can’t do anything about it. Just by writing, I can already feel the excitement building inside me. I can feel butterflies and roller coasters in my stomach! Even though I know that there are sad things coming up for us, I’m still excited because I know that there are greater things to see. Aside from things to see, I’m really excited about the hotel. To be honest, every time my family goes on trips, I like staying in the hotel than roaming around. I always feel so comfortable and sleepy, of course. But this time, I have to go on every activity which also makes me excited, obviously. I’m really looking forward for this camp so wish us all the best! 🙂

Reminders before VLC :)

Considering the things that has happened in Bohol and Cebu, a lot of people have been reminding us of how we should act when we get to Cebu on the 24th. I think that because of what has happened, our batch should have important reminders that we should carry on during our VLC. For my blog today, I’ll be writing 2 very important reminders that I think could actually help us during our trip to Cebu.

1. See things in a different perspective.
I remember what our teachers and fellow students told us that we might not reach our expectations, I really believe in this but I know that to look at things in a different perspective might turn the negative thoughts into positive solutions that could help our fellow countrymen affected by the recent earthquake. For me, if we keep seeing the bad effects of this earthquake as a reason to lose hope or to make us feel bad, we will definitely lose hope and remain weak. But, if you use all of these as an inspiration to help and make ways even as a student you will be able to become a solution or a blessing to them.

2. Be open 24/7. Like many stores open for 24/7, make sure to keep your heart, eyes and mind open for everything that might happen or for all the ideas that yon might think of. Let all of them enter you and make sure that before they leave you have something in mind for them that will help them prosper or become better. For example, if ever you see something wrong and you have an idea to solve it or even just to help in your own way, let it enter you and while inside, make sure that you treat it with your best so that once that idea comes out of you it is polished very well.