Veggies and Other Things

Conscience: 'How was the trip to Batangas?'
Me: 'The trip or the stay?'
Conscience: 'You know what I mean. Make my life easier.'
Me: 'HA HA HA.'

Going to my brothers' farm in Batangas was my mom's idea. See, my brothers have this farm and they plant vegetables. Of course, mom wanted to visit the farm and see what was going on. Aren't all moms like that? They like checking out on their kids to see what they're up to. But the farm was great! The workers were harvesting and we were there to pick up the lettuce to bring back to the city. Am not sure how many kilos of lettuce we brought back, but it was a lot. The stay in the farm was pleasant because we just stayed for about two or three hours, had lunch at the restaurant there and we were supposed to swim. But I guess I'll just go back to the farm another day just to swim. Yes, there are two swimming pools there. I think mom just dragged me there to try and convince me to be a farmer like my older brother. LOL.

 

Conscience: 'You never really wanted to be a farmer.'

Me: 'But I wanted to be an environmental scientist.'

Conscience: 'Why didn't you take that up?'

Me: 'I thought the school was boring.'

Yes, I did want to be an environmentalist. And I still do actually. What happened was I took the exam and wrote down mass communication as my course. But when my mom paid the reservation fee, I changed my course to environmental science. At the last minute, I decided not to go to that school and so I ended up taking communication arts. And then I switched school for second year and took up media production. But you know, if they had an honors course and put environmental science and media production together, I would totally take it! I think if I could extend my life a little more and slow things down, I would go back to that school to take that course. Or if there was a real time turner, I'd use it to take more classes. I'm a nerd like that.

Show Instead of Tell

Ada, Téa and Gusto,


Mama learned how to play Angry Birds today! 


Finally, after months of arguing with her that the game is fun, she decided to check it out. I do not know where she got the idea that Angry Birds is an angry game. Each time I tried to tell her about it, she would just say, 'No, Anna. It sounds like an angry game. How can something that sounds so angry be fun?' Of course, I would try my best to explain it to her. She would not believe me. So while we were waiting for our lunch at Batangas today, I asked Manong Renzo to let mama play some Angry Birds. And this time, she played.


To get her to somehow understand the game, Manong Renzo explained it in terms of geometry and math and science and school related stuff. On mama's first game, she lost. On her second game, she lost. On her third game, she lost. She just kept on losing, but she kept on playing it also. I dunno how she managed to win, but she did and then she moved on to the next level. I think she played the game the whole time we were waiting for our food. And that was a long time!

There's No Class

Conscience: 'Finish the sentence. The best thing about summer is that. .  .'
Me: 'There's no class.'
Conscience: 'And the worst thing about summer is that. . '
Me: 'There's no class!'

I love summer because I do not have to worry about waking up early, getting assignments done, passing those long quizzes and pleasing those really strict professors. I also do not have to live in two different houses during the week. And yet I miss classes because no classes means that I have to live up here in the mountains without the kids. Honestly, I miss the kids a whole lot! I've been dreaming about Gusto's hugs, Ada's daily Greek mythology classes and Téa's singing. I really want to go to the city and visit them. Never thought that they would take up so much space in my heart. And just in case you're wondering, that picture was taken at 7AM one Monday morning last when all of us were really so sleepy and my hair was still kinda sane. 

Conscience: 'How are your grades!'
Me: 'Mind your own business!'
Conscience: 'I am just asking!'
Me: 'Don't make me nervous!'

I do know that I passed theology because I already saw my grade for that subject.  I am rather nervous for statistics, sociology and history. I am really dumb when it comes to math and I have no idea how I did during the final exam. For sociology, the school has to call me to tell me when I can take the final exam which consists of one questions because I was sick when it was given. And since history was taught in Filipino, I did not really understand a thing the professor was saying. Most of her quizzes were so hard and I just got good grades when it came to projects and that sort of thing. I've been praying so hard that those professors find it in them to pass me. I've made deals with God just so that I do not have to take those subjects again. We'll see. Might get my grades next week.

Talk To Me, Please!

Drinking coffee while waiting for the gate to miraculously let us in.

I was sitting in church last Sunday trying to get a grip on the sermon. I was listening but I also was kinda distracted. So I looked around the room. I noticed that everyone had a friend. They were sitting with people they knew and shared their life with. They sat with their families and extended families. They sat with their girlfriends or boyfriends or someone they just found special. They sat with their friends and friends of their parents or friends of someone they knew. And I was sitting there thinking to myself, 'Heck, I don't have a friend in this place!'


Sure, they all know me. They all know me as Pastor Alberto's niece. They know me as Pastor Alberto's sister's daughter. They know me as Anna. I am not complaining about the fact that they just know my name and not who I am. It's just that it gets really lonely sometimes. They have done their part. They say hi to me and I say hi back. They talk to me for five minutes and then the awkward silence begins. They smile at me and I smile back politely. And then it just stops there. We are eternally on the hi-how-are-you-I'm-fine-thank-you stage.

Hello Vacation

 

March 15, 2012 was the day my summer vacation started.

Several hilarious things took place before that day. To start off, I had gotten chicken pox and was out of school for around two weeks. What did I do? I stayed home, cried my head off and frantically finished all my requirements which I still had to pass. Of course, my group-mates in statistic and my partner in academic writing had to do most of the work as my brain would not function. I bugged certain people in school to tell me when exams were and to please give me the e-mail addresses of the professors. Oh, I also bugged my mom to talk to the dean to tell her that I was sick. 

Fast forward to three days before my vacation and I was running around campus trying to get certain people to sign my clearance. My most awesome mother had already gotten two or three signatures for me, but I still lacked one from the library and one from the guidance department. I first went to the library and presented my ID and my clearance form. I was wondering why it was taking forever. Turns out that someone in the past had had my ID number and the system was rejecting my name and my bar code. I was like, 'Why'd you give me the same number in the first place?!' I was still feeling so sick so I didn't get angry at the librarian. Well, it wasn't her fault. It's the fault of someone in another department. Wait till I find out who assigns those numbers to the students.

Three Balloons

Ada.

As soon as she saw me walking in, she got up from the little table and yelled, 'Tita Anna!' I was trying to get the three balloons through the small door. When I got to the TV room, she was already jumping up and down in anticipation. Yaya Cora said, 'Say hi first to Tita Anna and Mama and Papito.' Of course the excited Ada
could not contain herself. When I finally made my way to the TV room, the first thing she said was, 'Hi Tita Anna! Is that for us?' Duh. Who else would I get the balloons for? I nodded my head while she hugged me while the two other kids looked on.


Originally, I was planning to give her the shark because it was Téa who was into ponies. But then, the Manang Ada had other ideas. She quickly grabbed the string that was attached to the pony balloon. I tried explaining to her that I had planned to give that one to Téa and that she could have the shark. Eventually, Téa just agreed to let Ada have the pony balloon. And once Ada had the pony balloon, she forgot that she was eating lunch and ran out to the living room. I just knew that I had once again messed up her schedule as I always do. Instead of her eating and then doing her Kumon, I had made her so excited! So what did she do with the balloon? Ada danced around the living room while singing one of her made up songs.


Before Ada left for Kumon, she said, 'Tita Anna, I don't want you to leave anymore.' I found it so cute and so adorable that she did not want me to leave. I had not been in Makati for two weeks because I was sick. So I guess she really missed me so much. In fact, every Thursday, I have to remind her that I am leaving for my other house for the weekend. She hates that. And she knows that summer is almost near which means that I will not be with her for around two months. Blame the fact that I totally missed the registration for summer class. I don't know how to tell Ada that for two months I will not be sleeping with her, going to the park with her and giving her baths sometimes. I guess I'll just have to visit her 'cause I'll miss her so much!

Saying Sorry

Why would I say sorry for something that I really intended to do?

So I did something wrong this morning. Someone was checking my photography portfolio and I totally freaked out. I do not appreciate it when people look at my personal belongings without asking for permission. If the person had asked me if he could check it out, I would have either said yes or told him no. But the person did not ask if he could mess around with my photography portfolio. Though there is nothing in that portfolio that needs to remain a secret, I just really hate it when people do not respect my privacy. And so when I caught the person looking at my portfolio, I yelled, 'You did not ask my permission!'


Now, what I find funny is that when I say that very same statement to children, they do not take offense. It's as if they need to hear that statement. And when you tell them that, they will immediately say, 'May I borrow?' Or something like that. Yet when you yell that exact statement to adults or people who are older than you, they automatically think that you are being rude. Like no one can tell a person who is older than them that they need permission to access things that do not belong to them. I am just going to say that there is a double standard. And it is annoying.