Bits and bits...

I was in the middle of teaching music when the grade leader told me that a grade one teacher’s bag was stolen. Later, the bag was found near the school gym empty of all valuables. The teacher was heartbroken.

 This happened during lunch break, at noon. I could not imagine grade one pupils stealing the bag, taking all the valuables, and then leaving the empty bag near the gym. There were suspects, but I think the culprit is someone from outside the school.

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The PNP helicopter scandal is becoming another Arroyo show. I was not surprised when Iggy Arroyo popped up to claim responsibility, again, for the helicopter scam.  I remember him claiming the Jose Pidal account to cover up his hmmmm….(I was thinking of saying crocodilean brother but then the reptiles might protest for being compared with that Migule Arroyo) …brother.

When Iggy with his spurious affidavits and lease agreement popped up, the case is closed, at least in the eyes of the thinking public. It’s like looking for invisible poop—the appearance of a bangaw confirms it. Mike Arroyo is guilty beyond reasonable doubt.

 It’s just that this stinking family could have made a difference in the country. They have the opportunity because Gloria was able to govern for nine years. Yet this ignoble family, instead, took advantage of their positions and plundered the country.

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Filipino Cooking Terms Explained (A little bit)

I was teaching cooking terms and techniques to my grade six home economics class and my stomach grumbling especially with graphic pictures of yummy food flashing on the screen. I asked my pupils if they were beginning to feel hunger pang and they shouted, "Yes, sir!"

Anyway, I am sharing some of the Filipino cooking terms and style of cooking for those who are interested: (Please forgive my translation I lack the culinary vocabulary to accurately translate these things and this may make some of the translations  sound unpalatable.)

1.   Banlian—this style of cooking is taught best in the Philippine National Police Academy. This is done by throwing scalding hot water on foodstuff, suspects and prisoners.

2.    Malasaduhin—halfhearted cooking.

3.   Salagapan—removing the scum formed when cooking or boiling meat (or other stuffs like sugar or soy).

4.     Kadluin—slowly stirring while cooking to prevent coagulation.

5.   Atay-atay na pagpapakulo—slowly and painfully boiling the meat, chicken and other food stuff until they lost their spirit and essence.

6.    Sangkutsahin--to boil in salt. This is a traditional way of preserving meat before the invention of the ref. Some senators are good at this, cooking resource persons. 

7.     Pinagmamantika—to heat until the oils are extracted. Also, to dehydrate the meat.

8.     Tunawin—to melt in heat. The AFP is good at this, they melt documents.

9.     Pasingawan—to steambath the food.

10. Pakuluan—is to boil foodstuffs. It could also mean political cooking.

  

If you're wondering why a guy like me is teaching home economics, don't.  Some of the teachers are making fun of my subjects, to tell the truth I am enjoying them because they are not that stressful to teach. 

I am excited about the practicum. I'm going to make my pupils cook delicious food. I hope.

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Adventures of Det. Pouetmo, Pinoy Detective

                                  (Det. Hercule Poirot)

The portable TV, what’s the significance of the portable TV lying on the bed of the murder victim? The Bulik-bulik Bureau of Crime Detection Unit was puzzled. Pedro Pouetmo, the senior investigator, holds the record for the most cases solved in the department, but this case puzzled him for its bizarreness. (It was rumored that Det. Pouetmo is a distant relative of Det. Hercule Poirot (Herr-kyu-ley Pwah-ruh) Agatha Christie’s legendary Belgian sleuth). 

Nothing was taken, Mr. Pepito Tubangbakod the victim was well liked in the neighborhood. He regularly attended the Church of the Parish of Santa Claus.  He was a regular of the local Kawangis club, and practically every child in the neighborhood was his godson. He was a bachelor. But there’s nothing wrong or strange with single hood nor was he a sexual deviant. The man was practically qualified to be beatified by the pope. So, there was no reason to believe that someone wished him harm.

Mr. Tubangbakod was found dead inside his entertainment cabinet where his TV used to be. He had a clean death. There was no wound, nor any signs of struggle, in fact, the police were ready to conclude natural death except for the odd circumstance of the victim and the TV’s changed places—the TV was on the bed and Tubanagbakod was on the entertainment cabinet. Detective Pouetmo tried his best, but he had exhausted all his investigative prowess and resources, and he was about to surrender and add the case as a blot on his impeccable record when he remembered something.

Mr. Tubangbakod was famous for his memory. He was hospitalized three times for major injuries because of it. First, was when he was almost blinded when a spoon pierced his left eye because he forgot to remove it before drinking his coffee. Second, was when he was almost electrocuted when he inserted his finger into the socket instead of the rice-cooker’s plug. Third, was when he drove on the wrong side of road and his car collided with the garbage truck. And there were other minor injuries and damages to his and other people and their properties but it was always settled amicably for he was well liked--everyone knew of his affliction.

“Chief do you read Mark Twain?” Det. Pouetmo asked.
“No, why? What does Twain have to do with the case?” Capt. Cruz asked.
“Nothing, just an idea. But I think I know what happened to our dear Mr. Tubangbakod”, the detective said.

“Okay, let me hear it Detective.” Capt. Cruz warily replied, “I hope this is not another one of your literary blah, blah,”

“Ouch that hurts. Anyway Cap, I think our dear Tubangbakod was watching TV late, and he decided to go to sleep. Naturally, he would first turn off the TV then go to bed. But supposed he forgot, for someone who was famous for his memory problem, that it was the TV that was supposed to be turned off, and that he was the one supposed to lie on the bed to sleep--supposed he forgot the order of his actions.”

“Are you saying that Mr. Tubangbakod put the TV on the bed to sleep, and then he climbed inside the entertainment cabinet and turned himself off”, the chief blurted out.

“Possible.”

Walking Stories

I brought along my new camera with me on my afternoon walk. Walking is the only exercise I enjoy because it's relaxing. therapeutic and it stimulates thinking, I think. I was thinking that maybe I would see something interesting that I could take pictures of. I felt like a kid with a new toy. Its not a fancy camera, just a simple aim and shoot kind.

This is interesting. I saw this group of people having a photo ops. I don't know if they knew that I was taking their picture because they were engrossed with their operation.  They even brought sets of costumes  (or is it wardrobe) along with them. Maybe they were doing a school project. The models change clothes inside the cramped tricycle.  I used the camera's zoom but it was not as good as a telephoto lens.

Do they really want to sell their house? I was asking myself when I saw this sign because it was too small to be seen and it was placed in a rather inconspicuous area.

This sign is strategically placed at the entrance gate of the subdivision where I take my afternoon walk. But what is Arnold selling?

Shade is very important especially in field work. Here the farmers can sit down for a while, smoke and talk about their crops.What is trash to most of us is useful to some.

This is an aratiles tree that attracts children and adults, too. Aratiles used to abound in the municipality, but since  there are few open places where they could grow; aratiles trees has become a rarity. Every afternoon, I see children hanging on its branches picking the sweet aratiles fruit. The tree is now dead. Someone has girdled it.

I don't know why would someone kill this tree, but I hope the guy sees that he did not only kill a tree; he also destroyed a playground.

Karmic Planking Vegetables

  

   

Our puppy Agli, since my brother, nephews and a niece have named their puppies after theologians, I followed suit and named our new puppy after the Philippine Revolution theologian Gregorio Aglipay who for me was the pioneer in Liberation Theology in Asia. I meant no disrespect, just having fun.

I was thinking of having Agli perform in my planking experiment but he is a minor. As you can see, he could not keep still . Anyway, I don't want to be charged with animal abuse.

I had four phallic (word of the week) vegetables perform planking for me. (Are there laws against vegetable abuse?)

         Four phallic vegetables planking on our window grills. Pretty dangerous.

       Four phallic vegetables planking on our stairs. Dangerous because they might get stepped o n. But danger is part of planking.

  

Four phallic vegetables planking on a guitar. Symbolizing harmony, tone, and the essential unity of the vegetable spirit with the transcendetality of music.

Four phallic vegetables planking atop each other. These  symbolizes the sexuality of vegetables. The gift of relationship based on the principle of love and unity. Of course it not good for phallics to relate with another phallics, the norm is for phallics to relate with the concaves for procreation.

 

Here we have the four phallic vegetables loosing their phallicness. In reality, they just lost their form but in essence they are still four phallic vegetables. In order for them to be with transcendental reality or the atman, these four phallic vegetable must lose their physical form. 

There still exist in the world of ideas, the concept and essence of these four phallic vegetables. Their phallicness, their physical existence is just a poor reflection of the perfection of the phalicness of the four phallice vegetables in the realm of ideas.  In this state, their imperfections are in the process of sedimentation i.e. being left behind. 

Four phallic vegetables has completed the cycle of life. They are now united with whole soup of reality--the spiritual sinigang. In a few moments when they are ingested and digested by the gods, the sanctification process, they have fulfilled their predetermined destination--that of going to the holy septic tank, their heaven to again be absorbed by the cosmos called the earth and be reincarnated into  another vegetable incarnation beginning the endless cycle of creation, destruction and rebirth.

These vegetables yearn for their Nirvana, their final annihilation, so that they would not have to go to through cyclical process of being planted, growing, fruiting, harvesting, being consumed, digested and converted to poop, endlessly.

School Talk

First thing I do in the morning is to ask some pupils to sweep clean my cave, the computer room. This room houses the Laptops (or netbooks) for the pupils.This is part of an old building, the Rodriguez Building ,named after the former governor of Rizal province. The building was constructed around the 1960's that makes the building 50+ years old. There are ghost stories the most common of which are the mysterious turning off of the light at around 7:00 pm. and the apparition of white ladies or white teachers.

Sometimes when I am holding class here, I scare my pupils by telling them to keep quiet because we have an old lady visitor. When they asked where, I point to a corner and tell them that an old lady wearing a Maria Clara gown is observing them. They would whine and pretend to be scared...maybe they were really scared.

I love this building because of its wooden floor. Sometimes I walk on it barefoot. Also, the room is spacious compared to the new models constructed by the local government. I measured it and the new models is  (or are, forgive my SV agreement)short by a meter. I suspect that the engineers included the hallways in their computation of floor area to make it appear that they meet the standard. I could be wrong, but these contractors are good in going around the specs.

 

 

Watching the pupils wash the dishes. There are three wash areas in our school and they are busy places during lunch break.

Grade six pupils are housed on the top floor. One good thing about it is the panoramic view of the whole campus.

I like the school's garden and trees. Last week, an NGO planted mahogany  trees around the school. I have fear that becuase of the demand for more rooms, the school would run out of space and become a concrete block similar to what happened to other schools. School should have tree and plants, lots of them in fact.

I visited Cainta Elementary school a couple of months ago and I was disappointed to see that it is now all concrete. there were few trees and they looked dying. I used to attend boy scout camping there when I was still in grade school, now you can't pitch a tent there. 

The worst things about it is the heat.

Art Appreciation-KULO CCP

                            
   (I took this picture of the Virgin Mary amidst the cocks, the cocks and the barrel men in Burnham, Baguio City a couple of years ago.)

I was looking at the pictures of the controversial exhibit on the internet and I felt nothing. I was not offended nor did I feel anger. Maybe it’s because I am not present in the actual exhibit or maybe it’s because I have read some of Nietzsche’s writings. When one has read Nietzsche, these exhibits are mere commas and period to his contempt and vitriolic criticism of organized religion and society in general.

Anyway, while watching the grade six section 4 check their test papers I did some doodling to pass the time and came up with 4 steps to appreciating weird, abstract and the offensive iconoclastic art (I don’t know if this is the appropriate term for this kind of art) exhibited at the CCP.  I am talking about the Kulo exhibit.

1.       Look at the exhibit. See it with your eyes and whatever emotions you feel, just keep quiet and let it play in your mind. This is normal; art is supposed to elicit emotions. Now if you feel angry, enraged and furious just let it burn in your mind but avoid talking about it with anyone. It is important to keep thiese emotions to yourself so that your experience will not be tainted by the opinion of others. The important thing, at this stage, is not to talk anyone lest these emotions specially anger be inflamed into violence by the goading of people with violent tendencies. Keep away from them.

2.       When you felt your emotions whether it be anger or frustration or disappointment  or all of them has ebbed, sit down and ponder and process your emotions. What do you want to do about it? Ask yourself these questions: 

• Should I form or join a mob and stage a rally in front of the exhibition hall?
• Should I flash cards and banners with the messages ANTI-CHRIST, IMMORAL, AMORAL, BLASPHEMERS, GO TO HELL etc?
•  Should I scare the hell out of the artists and the people responsible for the exhibition by calling on the wrath of GOD, the Holy Trinity, the Holy Family and the heavenly hosts of angels, cherubim and seraphim to fall upon them?
• Should I murder the artists and bomb the exhibition hall?

If you have thought about these things and have decided to do one of them or have done one of   them, stop reading this blog. If you have thought about these things and came to the conclusion that these things are inane and insane, proceed.
 

3.       Once you have processed your feelings and think you can control the emotions you have felt, go back to the exhibit to take a second look. This time relax and let your imagination work. Let it run wild; let it take you wherever it wants to go, allow it work on what you have seen, the exhibit. Understandably, at first you cannot make head or tails of this exhibit. I have seen the photos of the exhibit and it was overcrowded to the point of overwhelming, but let it not stop you. Be patient and just keep looking.

4.       You feel frustrated and angry because you feel you have been cheated because you are expecting something else. This is understandable. You have been inculcated by the educational system with a very limited vocabulary on art. You are brainwashed into thinking that Filipino art should depict the rural life: art should portray the beautiful, the innocent, the serene, the peaceful.

       Be patient.

Though your mind is rebelling because it cannot find the basic elements of art, it cannot find symmetry, it cannot find sanity in color, hues…you are assaulted and insulted because you cannot understand. 

Be patient.

In the absence of order, in the absence of form, your mind begins to look for other way to comprehend the art work before you. Then slowly you see something else, the seemingly little unrelated, unconnected pictures…somehow there is a recurring theme…there is something that connects them you just can't  figure it out.

                               (Jesus wearing a Mickey Mouse ears and nose.)

Then you realized, the exhibit is the portrait of your hypocrisy. Either you are humbled by the experience or you  feel deeper hatred than when you first came to see it.

Blasphemy and art

(Currently enjoying his Warholian 15 minutes is Mideo Cruz, seen here posing beside his controversial art installation, 'Politeismo' (REUTERS Photo) 

I am not surprised at the violent reaction generated by the Kulo exhibit at the CCP. According to the news, the exhibit, a collaboration of several artists, features the posters of Christ, Virgin Mary and other religious items that are combined with phallic objects.
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Modern Filipino visual arts had its beginning in religious symbols. It was the Spaniards who brought paintings and other visual representation art here in the country as a means of communicating basic Catholic teachings to the Filipino natives, the indios. The natives in turn adopted and accepted the artworks and in time showed their talents in reproducing these images. (60 Filipino Masterpieces, 1986)

These images soon began to evolve into more than symbols. The veneration and adoration of these images somehow made the early Filipinos believe that these artworks especially the representation of Christ, the Virgin Mary, the Holy Family and the cross as having divinity. The natives started to believe that these religious images have pieces of deity in them thus possessing powers to heal, to drive away spirits and even to confer absolution. This is not unthinkable since the doctrine of transubstantiation made the early Filipinos believe, especially the cannibals, that they are ingesting parts of God with them. 

So, religious artworks here in the Philippines are not mere artwork, there is divinity in them thus disfigurement or alteration to these images especially of Christ, the Virgin Mary and the Crucifix is direct blasphemy of the Deity. This is beside the fact that these images do not in any way look like the real Christ or God or Mary. We have many representation of Christ there’s the black, white, Asian and the faces of this Christ could vary from the shaved, bearded, smiling, and stern faced, wearing a crown, bareheaded etc. Yet any disrespect to any of these images is a considered blasphemy. So with Mary, she has varied images, faces, sizes and even race.

Acceptance and appreciation of iconoclastic art here in the country still has a long-long way to go. Filipinos are generally emotional people still incapable of processing processing the symbolic and abstract meaning of this kind of art.

CCP has no choice but to take down the exhibit lest the agency's official's be crucified.

SOS and Marbles

                                                                                                    
It was lunch break and I was curious what the girls in the grade VI section 6 was doing, so I had a look. I was surprised to find out that these girls were playing SOS. SOS is like tic-tac-toe but instead of using x’s and o’s, the players use s and o. The big difference is that SoS is played using a grid thus the game can go on for hours. I thought this game was already made extinct by computer games, but still it is being played with enthusiasm by boys and girls.

 I used to play this game with my classmates when I was in elementary school. This game was so addicting then that we even played this at home.

Another game I used to enjoy was the Spin a Win which was named after a famous Sunday noontime game show then. The mechanics of the game is similar to that of Hangaroo. We also played FLAMES and guess the letter.

 Memories came flooding back of how my classmates and I used to pass idle time in school through paper and pencil games.

I spotted these pupils playing marbles. They looked at me expecting something bad maybe a confiscation of their marbles, but I smiled and told them to continue playing. When I was in grade school, my friends and I used to play marbles in the school too, but we kept our eyes open because the sirs confiscate our marbles, not only marbles but teks, tops and other toys too.

Of course now children can play games is  the school ground as long as it is after school. 

Looking at this children brings back a lot of childhood memories. 

Sunday, Sunday...

             (This is the Sunday that I want!)

One thing I hate about Sunday is that this is the day I think about Monday. Instead of relaxing and enjoying the rest, I feel tense because I am thinking about Monday, about work. Sunday does that to me. It always does.

I don’t know why? Maybe it’s because I am stressed about my work. Maybe it’s because I am stressed about church which is really not true because I have not been to church for almost a month now, due to overtime work, but still I feel tired and blue on Sundays. I must be suffering from Sunday blues. Who has that sickness anyway? Just me.

I want to make the most of my Sunday. After church,  I want to do a DVD marathon; I want to read; I want learn a new guitar piece; I want to do all these things on Sunday.  I also want to sleep so that I could relax, but I don’ want to sleep and waste Sunday. Who would want to sleep on their rest day? It is a waste of time.

I must do something on Sunday or else I feel my rest day is wasted.

Facebooking on Sundays also stresses me out because at the end of the day, I have this realization that I have just spent my whole day doing nothing. Blogging also stresses me because at the end of the day, I have done nothing but write about foolish things that no one is interested about, also showing how bad my grammar is.

Of course going to malls is not an activity I will waste my Sundays on, but sometimes I think of going there to relax, but then the things asking that I buy them stresses me out too.

I am thinking that Sunday is the day when I am supposed not to work. But then what would I do on Sunday? I have to think of something to do on Sundays. But, then, thinking about doing something on Sunday makes me think that Sunday is also a working day. This is confusing…I better stop typing and just sit down and think about nothing nor do anything. But then…

Sunday is the day before Monday and this is what kills my Sundays.

Pilosopo

What is a pilosopo?

An article I read lamented that the Philippines is the only country where the word philosopher is considered an insult. Being called a Philosopher or a pilosopo is synonymous to being “a smart aleck--someone who engages in meticulous and abstract reasoning, thereby incurring the ire of other Filipinos. The statement “Namimilosopo ka na naman” is a huge slap in the face. It’s a way of shutting down reasoned discourse, instead of attempting to refute the logic in question.”

This choice of words shows the low regard that Filipino society has for critical thinking and challenging of the status quo. It’s a society where anti-intellectualism is a virtue, and where too much careful thinking is a sign of weirdness and unacceptable behavior. Socrates would not be proud.

This is not untrue. When one answers back, he/she is pilosopo.  In everyday use, we usually associate being a pilosopo to playing or punning with words. Being sarcastic is also being pilosopo. The word pilosopo carry many meanings most of them negative.

Some have concluded, including the article I have read, that the negative connotation of the word pilosopo is an indication of the Filipinos “low regard for critical thinking” and the Filipinos “anti-intellectualism.”

A rather harsh picture of the Filipinos—anti intellectual and intolerant which is understandable but may not   necessarily be correct.

Filipinos are conscious of social protocols which places values on seniority whether by age or by blood. Filipinos also place high value on propriety which is why ours in not an abstract philosophy but a practical and relational philosophy—a philosophy of life than of being. Apart from calling someone an ate or a kuya because he/she is older by age. We use ka, aling, mamang and other honorific to address the elders.  We also have honorifics for in-laws and even in-laws's in-laws.We have a very strict family protocol that trickles down to the third to fifth generations that comes with its   own peculiar, unspoken and traditional rules on rank and privileges. Hence it is considered irreverent to argue with someone older than you are.  This philosophy of relationship puts the highest value on respect and relationship than on argumentation when faced with situations.

An example of this is the Filipino parents’ rule of not allowing their children to answer back. This has been the classic situation among my children. When caught committing house rules infractions and confronted by their parents, a child naturally answers and reasons back, but when the child do this, his or her parents berate him/her for speaking. The child is confused what to do, he/she is being asked yet when he answers or reason he/she is accused of being a pilosopo—disrespectful.

Though this may seem confusing at first and it may seem that the child is discouraged into using his/her reason, but actually what is inculcated in the child is that what is required is remorse and not reasoning.  

   

Filipinos do not discourage argumentation or reasoning, they just place them below respect and propriety.  It is not all about being right it is all about being in the right and this kind of thinking erpresents a rather unique philosophy which may not be rational using the western model, but is appropriately a working philosophy developed in the social context of Filipino relationships. 

According to Gripaldo, the word pilosopo means two things: a sophist (or philosophist) or a philosopher. If you are argumentative, you are a pilosopo (a sophist) but if you are wise, you are a pilosopo (philosopher). Pilosopo (sophist) is pejorative while a pilosopo (philosopher) carries the positive connotation of pilosopo.

The way pilosopo is used in daily discourse, the connotation it carries is that of a sophist. Sohpist are paid Greek teachers who are known for their argumentative skills. One sophist boasts that he could make a square a circle and a circle a square simply by arguing. They are looked upon as mercenaries for they collect tuition for their lessons.

In general, a philosopher is someone who “seeks answer to the questions of life.” A philosopher is someone who asks questions and tries to seek answers to these questions using his/her intellect. In the academe, a pilosopo denotes a proper philosopher. These are the people who have formal studies of philosophy and engages in academic philosophical discourses.

Hototay story/Rain again

I was reading Ambeth Ocampo’s 101 Stories on the Revolution when I came upon an interesting trivia about the origin of the word Hototay.

I knew Hototay during my drinking days. Hototay was a soup that looked like nilaga except that it contained (as I remembered it) vegetables, pork, octopus, shrimp and other ingredients that I could not recall. I knew, from the drinking stories, that the name came from a Chinese word—Hototay, sounds Chinese and the soup even looked Chinese.

Ocampo’s book explained where the Hototay came from. Here was the excerpt:

Combat drill was regular, and so were the Sousa tunes played by the Military band for the crew on deck. “There’ll be a Hot time in the Old Town Tonight” was a favorite that Filipinos later corrupt into a name of a soup—Hototay.

On the preceding page:

Hototai sometimes spelled Hototay, is a noodle-and-soup dish often offered in Panciterias. It is the favorite dish of National Artist for Literature N.V.M. Gonzales. WE would not normally associate hototay with the Philippine Centennial, but under the innocent Chinese sounding name is actually the title of the hit song of the Sapnish AmericanWar, “There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight.” Compress the whole title into one word and you get Hototay, one of the songs the American sang when they occupied Manila in 1898.

There are those who are not in favor with Ocampo’s style of writing history, as is obvious; one tends to remember the trivia rather than the “history.” But I can not imagine reading history without these bits of trivgia—it’s like eating sinigang without the soup.

_________________________________

It was still raining hard when I woke up at 5 o’clock this morning. It was cold, damp and difficult to get out of bed.  If it was possible, I would just stay in bed enjoying the warmth of my wife’s arms around me, but I got to work or else we would not eat.

I was watching the news expecting that the Department of Education would suspend classes, but the news anchor announced that classes at all levels would resume today.

There were many absent pupils in my classes today. Some of the pupils might still have the “classes suspension” hang over, hearing the rain pounding on their tin roofs, seeing that the sky was still dark,  expecting heavy rains to pour all day that they did not even bother to get up from bed.

Their parents might have thought that it was better to keep their children safe at home absent from classes than waiting for the department to suspend classes. The problem with the department, like what happened yesterday, was that they suspend classes when the pupils were already in school, when the streets and roads were already flooded. The delays in the announcement of the suspension of classes was understandable because floods were localized hence DepEd could not issue a blanket order suspending the classes. Anyway…the local government and the principals had the authority to suspend classes as the situation warranted.

But teachers would rather not have the classes suspended because we would have to conduct make up classes on weekends.

 

Submarinebiebertuitionfeeblahblah

I am beginning to feel the stress of the opening of classes. My daughter’s first year high school tuition fee almost gave me a heart attack. The down payment alone cost me a whole month salary excluding books, uniforms and school supplies. I stopped counting…

 I am waiting for the inevitable: asthma attacks. The change from summer to the rainy season is already happening. One hour it is blistering hot, the next hour it’s raining very hard. The humidity is also starting to bother me; the water in the air is encouraging the growth of molds and other microscopic plants that trigger allergic reactions.

When my boss informed that I will be teaching Music and English this school year (of course things can and do change), I am now forcing myself to study Filipino folk-songs and attempting to arrange some of them for the solo guitar. There are surprises because some of the pieces are very good for the guitar.

Pressured because I will be one of the discussant in the Summer Enhancement Program for Teachers...fancy name for the district seminar that will be held this Monday-Friday. I am part of the Music team...more or else I will do more guitar playing than discussing.Our chief is planning to have a band present during the seminar, it is also possible that I may be playing bass guitar, too. I hope that the band will sound like a band. I haven't played in a band, except for jamming with the church band, for years now. I don't know if I still have the "it".

Que se ra...

____________________________

So, the Philippine Navy is planning to acquire a submarine by the year 2020. Why is it, that I think this is not a good idea. A submarine is very, very expensive for our navy. It’s not that I don’t want our navy to have one, but let’s face it we do not need a submarine because we cannot afford it yet. What the navy immediately needs is ships, boats, helicopters, planes to guard our coasts and to conduct rescue operations. The navy does not even have ships capable of operating in the open blue seas; all they have are patrol boats and WWII landing crafts.

Hmmmm...submarine hotdog.

_____________________

Justin Bieber held a concert here in Manila and many young Filipinos were disappointed by the snobbery of the Bieber. There was a video showing Justin elbowing a fan asking for an autograph. Also, he did not attend the post concert party which disappointed his fans.  Of course, many were hurt by Bieber's actions because of their naivety. Also, many defended Bieber's actions because of their naivety and lack of sense.

The sweet baby, baby, baby image that Bieber projects to his fans is an illusion. The guy is a performer. He  sells himself to the audience, and the fans should not think that the cute, smiling and boy next door image that Justin projects  is the real him.   

The fans must somehow separate the reel from real. They pay him for his performances and that is it—he performs. If they want Justin to be nice and accommodating to them…hello…hello…For all I know, the guy hates all of his fans for their gullibility and ....  

 ________________________________________________

I was listening to the news when I heard a comment by Garcia’s lawyer that a plea bargain agreement mounting to a hundred fifty million pesos does not in any way indicate guilt. I almost threw what I was eating at the TV set. Of course, I do not blame the lawyer for making the statement because it is sworn duty to defend his client at whatever cost it takes. Also he knew the technicalities of the law than a stinking-armchair-pseudo-expert like me. 

But I can’t help asking, where did General Garcia get the 150 million to offer the government in exchange for a downgrading of his case from plunder to bribery? 

Nobody is buying the story that guy is born rich.

Lawyers amaze me for their mastery of the art of prevarication.

__________________________________________________________

Almost three years of blogging, yet my writing, grammar, mechanics still sucks ...boink, boink....

Rain thoughts

I love rain. Looking out the window of my classroom, I can see the rain falling on the trees making the branches dance as if welcoming the blessing from heaven, serenity.

I am blessed to have a room on the third floor overlooking greeneries and trees.

Last year, my classroom overlooks dense residential area that all I could see were rusting GI roofs, concrete walls and people. Now the view is better, relaxing to the eye; the breeze is fresh, too.

So, I am here alone in the classroom listening to Carlos Santana’s Europa (a song that smelled like joint, according to one you tube comment) while writing this, listening to the rain as it falls on the roof, looking at the leaves of the narra trees as they sway with the tempo of the falling rain.

I am imagining bad things. A couple of years ago, this kind of weather would have been an ideal time to drink gin (or beer) and chat with my buddies while singing to April Boys videoke hits and chewing on half cooked fishballs soaked in vinegar-chili sauce. I remember there were times we drink gin  under the pouring rain and did some mud wrestling. It was fun but when we woke up in the morning, we not only have hang-over we also had colds.The thought made me miss my drinking buddies, but most of them have already mellowed down and are active in their churches while a few have already  died because of alcoholism.

Rain, rain...it has been raining for a week now.

My Birthday/ 1st year anniversary at DepED

       ( Photo taken during a teachers' meeting)

It was my birthday on July 27. I tried to keep it a secret, but it was hard to keep a secret especially birthdays from my co-teachers. I tried to keep it secret because it was the tradition among the grade six teachers for the birthday celebrant to provide merienda. I was broke; come to think of it, I am always broke.

I was really touched that day because instead of me buying the food, my grade six co-teachers made contributions so that we could eat hence not letting my birthday pass by without the traditional afternoon b-day snack. May konting awit pa!

Salamat po mga ma’am for accepting me as part of the grade 6 family.

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Today is my first year anniversary as a teacher here at a public school somewhere in Rizal, Province.

I reported for duty at the principal’s office on July 15, 2010. My item as national teacher was still due for August, so I was asked by the principal to be a volunteer teacher while waiting for my official appointment.

Volunteer teaching meant teaching without pay, but it was an opportunity for me to get know my would-be co-teachers, the school staff and also to get familiar with the duties and responsibilities of a public school teacher.

Looking back from what I have expected then, I thought my daily working routine would be: reporting in the morning, teach the prescribed number of  minutes, and then go home at four in the afternoon—easy enough, but I was wrong. I found out that teaching required sacrifice which according to my veteran co-teachers would sometime even required giving the time you reserved for your family. They were right.

I taught grade five pupils for a month before I was transferred to grade six.

It seemed like it was just few days ago because I still did not know some of my co- teachers by name though I knew all of them by face, but, also, somehow it felt like it had been years because I already felt at home especially in grade six--it’s the camaraderie.  My co-teachers have shared a lot of wisdom and experiences with me that somehow I felt I had been with them for a long time.

 The stories these veteran teachers shared were not just stories; they were also history of the school and the community. Their stories showed the changes that slowly happened in the school, in the department, changes in the children’s behavior even the changes in the philosophies of the teachers as the years passed by.

There were also anecdotes about principals, supervisors and co-teachers, and even ghost stories about a particular room and legends about the place where the school stood. I love stories and history, so I enjoyed listening to them.

Many of my co-teachers were Master Teachers who were about to retire, but as long as these MTs were still here, I would enjoy their teasings, their hollerings, their sandwiches, biscuits, coffees and most of all their stories—there’s practical knowledge and wisdom in them.