Positivity in 2008

As the new year is about to unfold, with all optimism i declare -  2008 will be My year! hehehe.

I sense great things in store for me; new adventures, new discoveries. I see new friends along the way and making renewed connections with old friends. I look forward to possibly new places to travel to, both here in my country and outside too.

I sense great hairdays, and getting lucky in getting public transportation even in the rain. I see new lessons learned; lots of new books to read and great movies to see (perhaps make?). I see possible additional, higher education - I only need to decide if it's something I really want because for sure it wants me. I see new gadgets, waiting for me to tinker. And I continue to see love it its purest and sincerest form - from friends and family.

I see happiness and tons of laughter. I see wonder and wander. And I continue to see Faith, and Hope. Bright lights I see, lots of color, abundantly red and blue - the explanation of the colors I am yet to discover.

2008 is My Year! (ang kokontra, pangit!)

PreChristmas Events

I wanted to share the stories of 2 preChristmas events using pictures, but the net here at home in Davao is oh so slow it's taking forever to upload the pictures.

I don't want to resize it in a very small file size as I feel it would show great disrespect to the quality of the photos. Not that they are award winning shots, but I don't take pictures as often as used to, it takes Effort now so I'd rather give the photo justice and post them in a high enough resolution.

KAAMULAN 2007 (Bendum way) - in a snob explanation, I call this Kaamulan, the real one. I heard the "Isn't Kaamulan in March?" question a few times before I left Manila for the event last Dec.16. And I answered - "Yes, the commercialized, all about dances, trade fair, booths, sale, rodeo,etc Kaamulan happens in March. But a real kaamulan - in Bendum, with the Pulangiyen tribe, is happening in December. Following harvest season where families, relatives from neighboring mountains, sister tribes can actually come together in one place to celebrate bountiful blessings, recall the past, dance and be merry, do thanksgiving rituals, commune and talk about present realities/problems that the tribe is facing, discuss possible courses of action of the tribe and the whole community,  and pray for a better year ahead - thus the Binukid term AMUL-AMUL, which means Coming Together."  Ang taray ng sagot!Snob na snob(manang-mana sa ______, fill in the blanks) pagbigyan niyo na lang ako. And my own answer is Sooo Wishful thinking but again, pagbigyan niyo na lang ako.hehehe

The part I want to share about the Kaamulan is the fact that compared to last year, when the Sun was so up and it was so hot in the area, it was a rainy Kaamulan this year. So imagine our Tranportation HORROR the whole week as we had so many visitors for this year's festivity. We had the Board of Trustees coming up for the meeting,Karen-Thai visitors (part of an IP group in Thailand), DepEd visitors, Mindanao Tri-Partite Youth Council Visitors (headed by the former principal of our school), and staff of our mother NGO from ESSC. For those who don't know, to get to Bendum by Public Transportation includes a Mini-Bus Ride (2hours) on dirt road and about 40minute habal-habal (extended motorcycle) ride (up the mountain). Luckily after many years (definitely not during my JVP year in 2001), our 4wheel drive Kia Van can actually get up the area but not after crossing a river. But since it was raining, the river was always to high and had strong current too be passable.

Transpo Horrors include -
1) The board members being stuck on the other side of the river asking me and Pedro to go down via habal from Bendum to meet with them and actually start the board meeting under a tree near a piggery because they didn't want to waste time. After an hour, had to find a tractor and to pull vehicle to get across the river. (almost had to pay the tractor driver a Date -my gosh! a Date!?!? for the thing, good thing, they agreed to 100pesos instead).

2)The  Karen Tribe forced to walk about 1hour  from the nearest baranggay before they were picked up by habal-habal to finally arrive in Bendum at around 7PM. Yes! They were walking in the dark.But a couple of them had flash lights naman. hehehe. Still, it was generally dark, trust me!

3) DepEd members (some Principals of other schools)and other visitors forced to take habal-habal at night. And some motorcycles didn't even have lights and they were going up the mountain, with a passenger carrying 2 laptops and an LCD projector!

4) All remaining Staff and guests were forced to again take the habal-habal down on the last day to get to vehicle. One motorcycle got a flat tire, another lost its breaks causing 2 staff to fall down/off (not so sure what happened). No major injuries, Thank God!

Gusey (former ESSC staff) was 1 of the boys who fell from the Motorcycle

(photo taken using SonyE W710i)

One of my 2 favorite events during the Kaamulan was the HULAS night - informal passing/teaching of traditional songs and dances.



ROADTRIP 2007 (Cdo-Davao) - Finally happened after 3 tries! Buti na lang CDO na assigned si Kuya Marlon and Davao is really his hometown, we got a free ride home. Yippee!

It was a great JVP batch trip with Mark, En and Nikki. I've been traveling Cdo-Bkdn-Dvo for about 6 years now and I can't count the times I've passed through the towns but I've never really had the chance to actually go down and enjoy the sites. Bukidnon is most definitely a paradise! I've always been proud to be a Mindanawon but the trip made me appreciate the richness of my region even more. Salamat sa SHELL! At salamat "mayaman" na si Kuya Marlon, pwedeng pwede na siya mag-Ninong sa mga babies anytime. hehehe

We stopped a lot that it took us about 8 and a half hours to get to DvO from CdO. But it sure was fun. From the quick stop in Jollibee Mby to meet a scholar from Miarayon, Bukidnon; late lunch at 130 in Roadhouse Cafe in Valencia; Pictorials in Quezona and Instant Coffee somewhere in Buda.



It was great road trip..na sana maulit muli. Pabalik naman kaya? hmmmm
Pictures of events to follow..soon, i hope.

Kaamulan 2007

Eto na ang Pictures, finally! :)

We had some transportation horrors but everything ended well. And it was good to hear that the people of the sitio and the neighboring baranggays are not too keen on allowing mining to enter. The forest is still a major concern, environmental management and conservation is important.

During the festival, there were games (prizes sponsored by Mindanao Tri-Partite Youth Core-MTYC - thanks to Jana our former principal); panampulot and community eating together; we had group discussions and presentations on mining; there was the teaching of traditional dances and songs - hulas; we had the ULAGUING - sharing of epic of tribe in a complicated song; dance competition for the entire community.

As for the staff - we had bonding sessions during the night. but pictures not allowed. hehehe.

Complete CHRISTMAS Wishlist!

Here it is, I was able to think it through. Things I really need, aside from PEACE of MIND (hehehe) and PEACE for the COUNTRY (more hehehe).

Again, in no particular order.
1) Rubber Shoes (running/hiking) - Addidas pair would do, but if you are kind enough to give me a NorthFace one, that will be great. (hmmm, I know, only A RELATIVE can give this to me, but my sisters and cousins are in the network so I shall include this on the list, hehehe).

2.) DogEaters by Jessica Hagedorn - I want to read this as I hear they are making a play out of it. Interesting.

3.) Donation to APC, under my name. - I know this sounds self-serving because it's my project, but it's totally not! It'll be a huge help to the children we help get culture-based education in Bukidnon. 250Php lang!

4.) CASH! - I'm serious.Any amount will do. I need to raise 20,000Php by March (ideally) for an important activity come March-September 2008. I'll explain more about it perhaps on the next entry, hope to find time within the week to tell you the story. But I know someone else in my network who'll need to raise this amount too. (Hey Speak Up Girl! Inuunahan na kitang manghingi ng pera sa mga kaibigan natin. hehehe, but I'm excited about the fact that we'll be batchmates, funny!)

5) 1GB or 2GB Memory stick for PUMBI (Canon 350D) - I need an extra one eh. 

6)  Camera Bag for Pumbi (Canon 350D) – A crumpler messenger type bag would be nice. Pumbi doesn’t have his own bag yet, when traveling he borrows 80’s (NikonF80) bag. And 80 hasn’t been happy about it. I think it’s jealous, the last time I borrowed 80’s bag, 80 broke down and it cost me 2,984 to have him fixed.

7) 1GB or 2GB Memory Card for Sony Ericsson W710i. – so I can add more music to my new toy and more space for phone games too.

 

8)  All condition JACKET– waterproof na thick enough. I know, I know, this will be costly so this is like the running shoes, wishful thinking.

 

9)     Trekki Monster Toy – nagpaparinig for those are New York based or near New York as I heard they sell it after an AvenueQ show. Kaya lang, running pa kaya avenue q now?

 

10)   Yearlong Supply of J&J Baby Cologne(Regular Scent) – ang weird ko noh? Hehehe. I usually finish a bottle (medium sized) in a month.

 

11)     Gift Certificate to Full Body Massage or Hair Coloring/Hot Oil – I haven’t had a full body massage since 2005. I want to dye my hair again, perhaps red streaks again or purple. Three hairstylists told me, while I was getting a haircut, that my hair is so dry already and that I need hot oil. I didn’t want to believe them as I thought it’s one of those “salestalk” in parlors. I mean, I condition my hair and it doesn’t feel that dry to me. But after the 3^rd comment, I’m thinking they must be telling the truth.

 

12)     New MOJO Slippers (sturdy one, as TIBAY as my old one). I think I’ve worn off my old one. It still is much ok but it’s almost 4 years old and I’ve been wearing it everytime I go out on field and sometimes even wear it here in Manila too.

 

13)   Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire. It’s a book, a good book. Need I say more?

 

14)     Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Again, it’s a book, a good book. I’d be uber glad to get a hardbound, but a softbound would do.

 

15)  Pair of Stud (gold) Earrings. I’m making parinig to my sister Dodot. I lost one of the pair she gave me a couple of Christmas’ ago. Ok lang din if you only give me one and not a pair, if you can just buy one of those. Hehehe

 

That's It! I wonder how many in this list will I actually get. Not even half, I think.