This week has been a busy and draining one, both emotionally and physically. As usual, my posts have been sporadic at best. Though I think about writing every night, whenever I take those ’solo’ walks to the bus stop, somehow something else seems to crop up…and I am consumed…by my work, my relationships…consumed to the point of not even being able to connect with myself again…how I miss staring off space and just zoning out…even for just a while…
(1) The week started with news that MaiMai, a distant relative who keeps watch of my kid cousins in Manila, died of aneurysm…MaiMai was probably in her early to mid-30’s…worked hard to help her family and probably like everyone else, aspired to some day make it big in life. Her presence whenever I sleep over at Tita Mamel’s place in Pasig has always been reassuring…I will miss the way she goes “juice, ting” during breakfast and proceeds to chatter on…I will miss the way I see the kids interact with her, even if I am not there often to see it…I know everyone, and probably little Nikka is especially attached to her…I cried when I read a forwarded SMS detailing how Nikka had a bunch of paper hearts prepared for MaiMai’s birthday…how excited must she have been preparing them! Unfortunately, the hearts end up in a plastic bag, along with MaiMai’s other possessions which were shipped back to Bohol together with her remains. Mai, thank you for everything. Salamat gyud. Wherever you are, I hope somehow, in some way, you were able to make peace with the world before taking your last breath.
(2) I wonder if MaiMai will ever meet Lola and Lolo…is there such a thing? I always play scenes of reunion in my mind…but then the Bible tells us that everyone’s just brother and sister in heaven…we probably won’t even recognize one another…which to me is a bit sad…based on my flawed, human understanding, it would have been nice to meet the people I love again…Lola, most especially. I wonder how she is now and if she sees all that is happening in my life and in her other children and grandchildren’s lives…I wonder if she peeps in the account books of the Bohol Chronicle, as she always wanted me to during the short stay I had before leaving for Singapore. Lola, wherever you are…everyone here misses you. Life is different without you lola. In your own sweet way, despite being seemingly weaker than us, you were actually a strength to all those around you. I know my own mommy draws her strength from you too…and I know your children feel safe knowing you are around. La, unsaon na man ni? Gubot na kaayo, lami na i-surrender usahay…I feel spent, and yet I feel I have not really done much too…wa ko kahibaw if sakto ba ni ako gipangbuhat, if worth it ba…I wish you could just be back with us, even for a moment…I miss you so much lola.
(3) Green Earth Tours & Travel (www.greenearth.com.ph) has been buzzing with activity for more than a week already. I’ve been shuttling back and forth Clementi and Bedok (more than an hour’s bus ride, one way!) to help out with some stuff and have even gone to several places to meet up with possible suppliers. In a way it is very exciting…a welcome diversion you might say, from the usual daily grind of work-school-home-work…We are bidding to serve a group of Cebu students who want to go on an educational trip to Singapore. We bid against people who proposed Manila…I feel we have a strong offer, and I hope the students will go beyond wow-wow-wee visits in Manila and lunch at Max’s (ha?) and realize the value in being able to go out of the country to see and experience other cultures…the budget may not be as high, but that makes it all the more exciting…I would think students actually find thrill in backpacking and roughing it up a bit…seriously. I hope and pray we get it…and I will do everything I can to satisfy these students and make their visit a very memorable one.
(4) Then there’s work at GroupM…which deals more on Social Media and interaction. I enjoyed last week the most, because I felt that we were given work that somehow makes an impact to the organization. We were tasked to help come up with the company’s philosophy…and boy do I get a certain high looking for and looking at really cool and edgy photographs that give the presentation that added oomph. I appreciate the boss trusting us on this, and sitting down with us to guide us through some stuff…I learned more than I have learned during my whole 2 months as an intern! 
(5) Then there are school projects, which if I detail them now, will probably just cause me to faint or hyperventilate (which one’s worse?) For consumer behavior I have to work with a group on Nivea…it’s interesting…but somehow it feels like a repeat from my promotions class last semester as well as a bit like our San Miguel project 2 semesters ago too…And really, to be ’stressed’ out trying to spew out some stuff for participation points is too much for me…Quite childish…and of course, it becomes an avenue for airheads to just go blabber on…waaaaaaaah! Trust me, waking up and preparing for a 3 hour class only to hear of a classmate who lost her camera in Morocco or a pig-of-a-classmate who thinks the kind of wife one has is reflective of one’s status in society…what a chauvinist! Then, there are other projects for subjects like Human Capital (where I am doing a paper on office romance), CRM (where I am doing something on Travelport with a good friend, Ruki) and laslty, Channels & Pricing (where I will work with a good group and do something on Dell’s strategy in China)…Ah, enough to make you lose your hair?
(6) Speaking of hair, I had mine cut short…reminiscent of my high school days…though I did not go as far has having it shaved again! Hahaha..Now that would have caused an uproar. I guess I even find it unthinkable if I sport such do again. (Not that the first one at Saint Theresa’s was intentional…) Now I find joy looking for cutesy earings to go with the whole look…it’s fun…and it’s a cheap way to reward myself for all the brouhaha that has been going on in my life…
(7) It’s 1AM and I think I should stop. Again, with the promise that tomorrow will be a new day where hopefully I could add another entry to this wonderful blog of mine…wonderful because it gives me solace…it ‘hears’ me out in some sort of way a human being could not do Perhaps I will post the photo essay I did for my consumer behavior class…now that was a fun project…(see, I am not mean and I do recognize good stuff when I feel they are indeed good)
(8) So much to write, but I am not sure if my strength will hold me for now…the bed beckons…
Hurrah, hurrah! I’m amused at how all the war movies I watched tied together…Persians and Greeks in Alexander the Great and 300 and then a mention of the 300 men at the battle of Thermopoly in Last Samurai…Amazing…though now that I think about it, the execution of the final battle in Last Samurai was too similar with some scenes in 300. Owel…Still, I loved it…I ate burger and fries (with a healthy dose of salt and pepper) still thinking about Samurais and Greek Warriors…Amazing. I guess the world will have a hard time looking for people like them nowadays…I am truly in awe in how such men are able to command so much respect and loyalty among their followers…enough for these followers to be willing to die for these lords…Who wants to die for Gloria Arroyo, anyone? Hehe…Not me…No, not me…
And the class ends off with his words of wisdom, something that he says was actually from his professor back in Wisconsin (damn whoever this guy is–apparently, he has one sorry disciple)…”I bluff my way through half of the time…and the problem is, I do not know which half.”