Ang Dating Daan (The Road Not Taken Before)

Kahapon malakas na malakas ang ulan. Bitbit ko ang medyo may kalumaang payong. Pero kahit papaano okey pa naman. Napilitan akong habulin ang sarili kong mga paa para makauwi ng mas maaga.

Pababa ako ng skul ng hinarang ako ng isa kong estudyante. HRS student siya namin sa skul. Pinapatawag daw ako ni Ms. Razel. SI Ms. Razel teacher nila sa International Cuisine. May ihahain daw na sushi. Papatikim sakin kong pasado o hindi.

Pagkain! Syempre kumaripas ako papunta ng kitchen kung saan nagluluto ang mga estudyante. Wow! hitsura pa lang pasado na. Lalo pa ang lasa. Ang sarap! At para sa akin pasado nga...

Bigla kong namalayang pasado alas sais y media na ng gabi. Tinapos ko ang ikalabinlimang slice ng sushi sabay lagok ng iced tea sa baso at kumaripas ng takbo. Dumaan pa ako sa drugstore sa baba ng skul para bumili ng anti-fungal cream.

In short dumating ako sa terminal ng jip kung san may papunta sa'min pasado alas syete y media na nang gabi. Ala pang jip na nakaparada. At ang dami dami ding pasaherong nag-aabang. Sa awa ng Poong Ninuno sa Punso, nang dumating ang jip hindi ko maisiksik ang sarili ko sa kapal ng mga taong pumanhik sa jip. Ang kapal talaga ng mga tao at ang kakapal pa ng iba! Nasagasaan ba ako...

Dahil naaawa ako sa kanila, kaya ako na lang ang nagparaya. Inantay ko na lang na dumating ang isa pang jip. Pagkatapos ng ilang dekadang paghihintay, dumating na rin ang kulay puting jip at wala masyadong pasaherong nakaabang. Nakasabayan ko pa ang panlabimpitong pinsan ko sa kilikili.

Hay naku! An sarap matulog sa jip habang pinapagaspas ka nang malakas na hangin at sinasabayan pa ng malakas na ulan. Isama mo na rin dun ang pabugso-bugdung preno ng pasaway na drayber na akala mo na LBM.

At pagkatapos ng ilang siglo ay narating na namin ang aming lugar. Pero hindi pa iyon talaga ang lugar namin. Dahil kailangan pa naming tumawid sa hanging bridge na gawa sa kawayan at pinagdugtong dugtong na bakal na one inch ang laki. Bumaba kami ng pinsan ko sa jip at sinubukang tawirin ang tulay. Sa mabuting palad ay masyadong malakas ang hampas ng alon ng tubig sa ilog dulot ng nagngangalit na baha. Gumegewang-gewang ang tulay at hindi rin kami makababa sa kabilang panig dahil abot hanggang bewang ang tubig sa babaan.

Dahil ayaw rin namin parehong mamatay sa ilalim ng madlim na gabi at malakas na ulan, bumalik kami sa direksyon ng kanto papuntang alternative route number 1. Nag-abang kami ng jip duon. Sinuwerte naman kami at nakasampa kami sa jip di kalaunan. Sa alternative route number 1 kami dumaan. Paakyat sa bulubunduking parti ng lugar namin. Napakaganda ng daan. Lubak-lubak. Animuy dumadaan ka sa sungka board sa dami ng butas sa daan. Okey lang kesa naman hindi kami mauwi di ba? Pero hindi natatapos duon ang party. My dinaanan pa kaming ilog. Kahit papaano naman eh may overflow na concrete road. Duon sinubukan ng drayber ng jip na tumawid. Succesful naman! Ang sarap nga ng pakiramdam habang tumatawid eh! Alam mo yung pakiramdam na inaantay mo na lang hawiin ng malakas na alon ang jip at sasabay ka ding magpagulong-gulong sa baha. Magiging kafriendster, kafacebook, kaTwitter, kaFarmville,kaMySpace, kaUzzap, kaMultily, kaBlog at kaTag mo ang mga naaanod na tabla at mga kahoy at anik-anik pa mula sa bundok. O di ba exciting?

Nang dumating kami sa kanto kung saan papauwi na sa bahay namin ay nakaabang na duon ang traysikel na sumundo sa akin. Sa wakas at nakarating na rin ako sa bahay namin malapit na maghating gabi. Bumaba na si Darna, natulog na si Rosalinda at wala na akong naabutan kundi ang mga kahayupan nila Jose at Wally...

Kinabukasan, kinailangan kong gumising ng maaga dahil maaga din ang pasok ko.

Latecomer

It was her wedding.

It was her son's baptism.

They were two different women. But they both have special place in my heart.

Melinda, the first woman. She texted me in the middle of March this year to ask me to make an invitation card for her wedding. And I did it good. April 15 came and I was assigned as master of the ceremonies for the reception program. I waqs prepared to do the task. Afterall, I'm not new at it. It was eight in the morning when I texted Gary, one of my students before and Melinda's classmate in college. He made a quick reply. We decided to to meet at nine. It took an hour to travel from my place to the city. Though, Melinda's wedding mass' place is only a 20-minute ride from my place. I still have to to fixed things for the program and the same time, fetching Gary in the city. It was nine thirty when finally Gary texted me to meet somewhere. The best thing was, he didn't know where to find the location I referred him as our meeting place. At our meeting place, I saw many of our company. After long hours of finding the rendezvous, Gary finally saw us and we finally start our journey at nine forty five.

The wedding will be at ten but we didn't expect to arrive at the church very late. Seeing the couple during her recessional is a big shame on us. But somehow there still the wedding reception. Good thing I delivered it with flying colors!

Gloria, the second woman. She's Melinda's classmate. She borne a son out of wedlock in May 5, 2009. She texted me to attend her son's baptism on August 5, 2009. I decided to go although I know the place isn;t just an hour of travel but almost four hours from my place.

I am suppose to go with the father of the child but it didn't happen. For whatever reason, I don't know. And so on the day of baptism, I was texted by Gary to go with him. Gary again! He was the same Gary I was with on Melinda's wedding. Lack of choices I decided to go with him. We are suppose to go at ten in the morning but he refused. He was waiting for his girlfriend from Bacolod. She will be with us to Gloria's son's baptism. And so the ten a.m. schedule was moved to 12 noon. Taking the bus at 12:30 doesn't mean leaving the terminal. We waited for almost half an hour for the bus to take off. We reached Gloria's place at 2:45...

The eleven a.m. schedule was too far from our arrival. But we still ate a lot.

Two men, two lates for two women's important occasions. Anyway, its better late than never...

Jinx

Pag ang tao daw inabot ng malas, kadalasan maramihan... Pero pag ang tao ipinanganak na malas, buong buhay niya puro na lang kamalasan...

Ito ang kwento ng aking kamalasan. Tatlong taon ng sunud-sunodna tuwing nalalapit ang birthday ko, tila yata pinipeste ako. Two years ago, three weeks before my birthday naospital ang tatay ko. Ayun, sa isang private room ng isang sikat na ospital ako nagcelebrate. buti na lang at niregalohan ako ng isang hapunes kong student ng pagkalaki-laking cake na binili niya sa coffee break. Isang platito ang circumference, mga dalawang inches ang taas at may nakapatong pang isang red cherry. Alangan namang violet di ba? Magrereklamo sana ako kaya lang naalala ko di pala bagay sa'kin ang mga 7 layers cake kasi fetus pa ako. Pero thankful pa rin ako kasi first time kong nagkacake sa buong buhay ko.

Last year, subsub naman ako sa trabaho sa araw ng birthday ko. The funny thing is, ni isa sa officemates ko walang bumati sa'kin. Dajil wala ni isa sa knila nakakaalam na birthday ko. Tama ba yun? Sabagay alang office nuon dahil linggo nung araw na iyon. Pumunta lang ako sa skul para tapusin ko pinapatapos sa kin nang superior ko.

This year, mas malala ang nangyari. Two weeks before my birthday, nakatanggap ako nang balitang tanggal na ako sa tinatrabahuhan kong skul. after a week, kinunfirm ko ang balita. And positive! Ayaw na nang admin na irenew ang contract ko. So wala akon nagawa. Sino ba ang makakapagcelebrate ng maayos kung wala ka nang trabaho? Eto pa!

On the same week as my birthday, i took an assessment. Due to bigat na dinadala ko from termination, ayun at nafail ako.sayang kasi yun pa naman sana ang ipagmamalaki ko sana sa skul nagterminate sa kin. E wala, malas talaga...

Ilang birthdays ko pa ang dadaan na magdadala ng frustration sakin? kung ganyan lang din, ayoko nang magbirthday. Skip ko na lang ang arawna iyon.

Whatever!

Three's a Crowd

Naksakay ako sa isang jeep. Sa front seat. Ang dapat sanang upuan ng pasaherong pandalawahan ay nagsiksikan kaming tatlo.

Ako, nakaupo katabi ng drayber. Sa bandang labas ay ang binata. sa pagitan naming dalawa ay hindi kalakihang ale at hawak niya ang batang mga dalawang taong gulang.

Mahirap. Masikip.

Habang umuusad ang jeep, gumegewang-gewang kami na lalo pang nagpalala ng sitwasyun. Idagdag mo pa ang napakainsensitive na drayberna humahawi ng binti ko animuy tablang dos por dos na hinahampas ng palakol na bakal sa tuwing hahagilapin niya ang kambya ng jeep. Na siya namang usog ko sa direksyon ng katabi kong ale.

Idagdag mo din ang trapik na siyang dahilan kung bakit naiinis ang drayber kaya pabugso-bugso ito kung pumreno at amagrelease ng clutch. Na siya namang dahilan para magpaubaya ang ale sa kung saang direksyon tumilapon wag ang masaktan ang kanyang anak sa kanyang lap.

Idagdag mo din ang sandamakmak na na butas sa daan animuy alun-along dagat. na siya namang dahilan ng binata para kumapit ng mahigpit sa hawakan ng jeep dahil baka kung saan ito pupuluting planeta . kaya naman ang kawawang ale naiipit sa pagitan naming dalawa. pilit niyang ikinukubli sa aming mga siko ang kanyang anak baka pagdating sa bahay nila ay durog-durog na ito....

kung bakit kasi mahilig tayong makisiksik kung saan-saan; sa kung anu-ano.

Kasi natatakot tayong maubusan ng masasakyan. O kung hindi man, masyado lang tayong nagmamadali. O kaya naman, di tayo makakapag-antay ng konting panahon...

Parang karir ko din. Dalawang linggo bago magpasukan ngayong taong ito, nakonfirm ko na hindi na pala irerenew ang kontrak ko ng pinapasukan kong skul. Kaya naman nagpanic ako. Sino ba naman ang hindi. Kaya nag-apply ako kung saan-saan. Sa takot kong maubusan ng mapapasukang trabaho, hindi ko binitawan ang isa ko pang pinapasukang skul na kasabay nuon ng nagpalayas saken na skul. Sa aking pagmamadaling makakakita ng kapalit ng sumibak na skul, tinaggap ko ang isang pagkaktaong mag-aral sa isang english proficiency course. Na sinabayan naman ng isang tawag mula sa isang aeronautics school. Ayun grab din ako. Sa ayaw kung maghintay ng konting panahon kahit alam kong me kasiguraduhan sa aero skul ay pinatulan ko din ang offer ng isang electronics skul.

Ayun nang mag-umpisa ang pasukan di ko alam kung ano ang gagawin ko. Pero kahit hirap ako at parang binalibag ang katawan ko sa pagod at sakit sa gabi ay hindi iyon naging dahilan para sumuko.

Kahit naiipit ako sa kabi-kabilang commitments, meetings, lessons, exams ng tatlong skul ay hindi iyon ang dahilan para hindi ko gawin lahat ng responsibilidad. kelangan kung kumapit sa tatlong skul hindi dahil ayaw kong mawalan ng trabaho kundi pagtanaw ng utang na loob sa kanilang magandang pagtanggap sa'kin matapos ang aking tadyakan ng dati kong pinapasukan.

Salamat!

About Talent

Talent is a gift. It is not earned. It is not acquired. It is within us. But it will not be known to man if we don't show it. so manifest your talent through a good performance. Afterall, constant practice makes perfect.

The Pursuit of Happyness (A Reaction Composition)

(In our call center agent training class, we were given a chance to watch a movie and we were required to make a reaction composition out of it. The following paragraphs talks about how I felt after watching the said movie. I'm going to cite some of the quotes used in the movie. At the same time I would like to cite some situations inside my class right now that well fits in the quotes that I picked up.)


I met my father for the first time when I was 28 years old. I made up my mind that when I had children, my children were going to know who their father was. Everyone of us wanted to have someone to lean on when we are in trouble. We always wanted to be fathered by someone else whom we are at with. It does'nt always mean that he is our biological father. He could also be someone else. For as long as we know that the person we chose to be a father for us is someone who can protect us and knows what's best for us. If some people can be good father to people they are not a kin with, how much more for real fathers? Let me talk about the situation in my class. Noeme, one of my student is clamoring for how difficult the program exercise I assigned them to do. She is pleading for me to tell them the solution for the problem.

It was supposed to be an assignment but they refuse to do it. Thingking I will tell them the solution, they make a lot of excuses. But the reality of the fact is that, they don't do their activity, Nil John and Rodjun play computer games. April Rose and Mary Grace are surfing the net of a social networking site. Ergie is playing solitaire. Jonah is working on the activity but she doesn't know where to go.

Fathers always go for what is best for their children, but these children of mine don't want to go their best. They only think of the difficulties of an activity but they are not trying their best to work for the solution. When I was in college, I was looking for someone to be "my father" to help me in my studies. Noone guides me. No one teaches me. I do it on my own. I do research. I do a lot of readings. And I don't quite if I know their is a chance of knowing it.

But my students, eventhough how I guide them, I can't let them learn. it is because they don't want to learn on their own. They want to be spoonfed. Poor little spirits...


You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you, you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period.
Nil John, he was good in my class during the start of the class. I don't know why he turned to being stubborn and bad in my class now. Lately, he made a lot of absences. He and his close friend (?) Rodjun will jus come into my class if not late not at all. Or if they preffered to stay in my laboratory class, they don't do the assigned exercises. They just mess around and play their favorite computer games.

Whatever their reason for not doing good in my class, I don't care. For as long as they will be able to pass the final exams, then they pass. If not, then I'll check if they know how to solve for the exercises I gave them. Then I will check for the attendance. But as of now, I can't see a better reason to let them pass.

When I was in college, I was not at all times. When I came to get into trouble in my lessons, I see to it that will be able to pass that subject. I don't wait for someone to tell me that I need to study harder. I don't. Because I know no one can tell me what should I do. I am the one who will carry my future for me. I juts hope they will realize the best thing to do. And if they will do it, am just hoping they will do it earlier. Or else things will be late and I can't help them.

Probably means there's a good chance. Possibly means we might or we might not.
Jay-R, he is not intellectually superior but he has some kind of a patience. He try himself to solve the problem. He is very jollyperson. He would always make his classmates laugh good. He perseveres to try things out. He will not stop until he reaches his elastic limit. Although at some point he is tested by the temptations his classmates are giving him. But he would always have a sense of responsibilities on his shoulders. He would return into the activity and do it again. He would make a lot of good chances for the solution.

Then in the end, he will give up if he knows there is a weak possiblity of getting into the correct solution.

It was right then that I started thinking about Thomas Jefferson on the Declaration of Independence and the part about our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. And I remember thinking how did he know to put the pursuit part in there? That maybe happiness is something that we can only pursue and maybe we can actually never have it. No matter what. How did he know that?
No matter what. The pursuit of happiness is always there. For a student to be in college is not easy. Making a lot of assignments and homeworks, exams and quizzes here and there, projects and practical exams in every corner, and paying of fees every month. It is a lot tough. But April, she might not have it yet in mind. She would always like to do facebook, friendster, etc. ect. and more social networking sites. I don't know what she might get in submerging in that. BUt for her, who cares? She would always wanted to be with it. Uploading new pictures, editing her pictures and etc. Do her parents know all about what she is doing? Well. Its always easy to be with that sites rather than making solutions for the program execises I gave them.

Jane, like Nil John, she was also good during the first quarter of the sessions. She's the one I was thinking before who have the skill in programming. Lately, she is not doing well. She made a lot of absences more than her attendance. Too bad for an intellectually capacitated girl. Whatever her reasons, I don't know. I am not in the right position to ask. Maybe not.


Christopher: Hey dad, you wanna hear something funny? There was a man who was drowning, and a boat came, and the man on the boat said "Do you need help?" and the man said "God will save me". Then another boat came and he tried to help him, but he said "God will save me", then he drowned and went to Heaven. Then the man told God, "God, why didn't you save me?" and God said "I sent you two boats, you dummy!"
What is the matter with this young fellow? They always thinks that what I am teaching them is plane trash. Or maybe they are thinking, their former teachers in computer could do better than I am. Or maybe they are thinking that I am teaching them the things their teachers before have taught them.

What can I do? That is what is required in the subject matter I am teaching? If they cant solve a specific problem which they already have tried before, how much more for new language that will be introduced? We sometimes failed to recognized beautiful things from people around us. We always thinks that beggars are nothing but stinky creatures on our land. But we fail to realize that they are reminders for us to become human. If we give them five peso coin, they say thank you. But try to give a hundred to a rich man and you get a bully.

As a teacher, when I saw my students doing their work and giving attention into it, I feel happy. It is the time when I can say, they are doing it not because they respect me. Not even because they are afraid of me. But simply because they are conscious about their future. They do care for the future that awaits them.

I am not giving them the pains and hurts. But rather I am training them to become a good professional in the future. That is doing the things on thier own without being supervised at all times.

Sometimes we people fail to see good things... real good things...

Wanna know what's my favorite color?

(This was an impromptu speech in my call center training class. The activity was to describe to a blind friend the color you like most.)


Let me start it with an anecdote. Two weeks ago, I took an assessment for Computer Hardware Servicing. I was excited because I'm confident I can do the job well. I did everything I can from disassembling to assembling computer parts, to installing appropriate operating system and system drivers, to browsing to the Internet. But when the last phase came, that is printer sharing, i wasn't able to make it. You might ask why. Actually, I encountered that problem already during the training but i was hesitant to ask then. i was afraid to make clarifications. Now, I get my price.

I'm damn frustrated, sad, sad and gloomy. I'm feelin' blue...
From now on, that's my favorite color. Blue.

My friend, can you picture out the color blue now?