Here is a look of that very eventful week, in pictures!

(This highlights the events last Friday and Saturday. )

Friday: “SIBYA” (1st Northern Mindanao Student Communicators Congress)

The congress focused on “Social Media for Social Change” and featured a power house cast of speakers led by my idol, Maria Ressa and her Rappler team: Patricia Evangelista, Chay Hofilena and Josh Villanueva. It was a very enriching experience to be listening to them, especially to Maria. It was the first of its kind in the region and I am very happy of the outcome.

Standing next to THE MARIA RESSA (one of the Philippines' best journalists!)

Team Rappler meets Team DEVCOM

Saturday: “The Gahum Fun Run” (Breakfast)

I woke up at 6AM! I was supposed to be at the university at 4 or 5AM but somehow, my tired body got the better of me. I hurriedly went to Manresa, where the finish line was and where the awarding ceremony was held. Thank goodness I made it there on time! I did not plan to run as I felt that I was not physically ready for it but I managed to fulfill my duty: giving out the awards and prizes to the winners!

Posing with our dean (middle)

Saying my thank you message to the participants

“Alumni Eyeball” (Lunch)

Shortly after the fun run, I proceeded to meet fellow DEVCOM alumni at the meeting (aptly called “eyeball”). We are organizing the grand alumni homecoming in December thus the need to meet and discuss details. It was a delight to see former students, a former teacher and former school mates and colleagues. Seeing them was enough to take away (a little bit) the weariness that was slowly creeping in.

The alumni who showed up during the eyeball.

“DEVCOM Night at the Oscars” (Dinner)

I found myself totally unprepared for the night. I could not find a dress to wear and I was feeling very very tired after the early day’s events. But I told myself to go as it is the last event of the week. So I managed to find a “dress” and dashed to a beauty parlor for a quick make up (look how I turned out!). I am happy with the “look”, though it did not hide the circles under my eyes. Just the same, I looked gorgeous! The event itself was very nice. It was so refreshing to see students “transformed”, looking so elegant and dashing.

As the night was about to end, I realized that it was the perfect way to end the DEVCOM Week. We all deserve it. I went home very tired but very very happy.

Yeah, that's me.

A "wacky" shot with the seniors!

With a freshman student, Christer

A photo with Irish and Chum

With my "crazy" colleagues!

So that was the week I had. Exciting, wasn’t it?

Cheers!

Flowers.

Chocolates.

Stuffed toys.

Cards.

Hearts.

Smiles.

Love is in the air.

Happy Valentines Day! Celebrate love in all its forms.

Love. Love. Love!

xoxo

We are celebrating more than thirty years of awesome existence.

GO DEVCOM! ♥

Anyways, it was such a delight to get the “Happy Holidays” greeting from ISS. Then it hit me, has it been five months since? Wow. Time is swift. In an instant, I was brought back to that beautiful summer and the happy feeling it gives. Yes, I had an unforgettable summer last year!

The greeting starts with: “It was good to have you with us at the International Summer School (ISS) last summer“.  Reading that made me emotional. To that, my reply is “I am GRATEFUL to have been given that opportunity to spend that GREAT summer with you, ISS!“

Then somewhere in the middle it tells of some relevant information about the next summer school session.

And the last line hit me too. It says,”In the hope that this vision (international understanding and peaceful coexistence) will inspire you in your future work, we send you our best wishes for the holiday season, for the New Year, and for the years to come”. Just very very nice.

It is so heart-warming and again brings back that spirit of gratefulness. I am forever grateful to have spent six beautiful summer weeks in Oslo. I feel honored and privileged to have been there.

I do my best in living out the lessons and the experiences that ISS gave me. More importantly, I keep the friendships I have formed with the amazing people I met there.

Thank you, ISS!  Keep up the very good work and best wishes for 2012.

Cheers*

Here is that greeting card in English:  And in Norsk version:

Week ends are the only times when I am able to “recharge” my personal batteries in order to be prepared for the next week. But this time, I could not recharge and the sad thing is, I have a full week ahead!

Last evening though, someone cheered me up… by calling me, waiting for me to go on skype and “listening” to my rants. I was very very tired and it was such a relief to “unload”  all my worries and cares to someone.

He was such an angel last night and I am grateful.

Thank you! You know who you are.

:-*

Anyways, I was fortunate to have finished my essay just before lunch that day so I went on to do the visits, alone. Yeah, I could not bring anyone to come with me as my classmates were still busy finishing their essays!

I went anyway as I thought that I may not have another chance to go.

I first went to Vigelandsparken – a famous park which boasts of 192 bronze and granite (human) sculptures! Actually, I met a fellow (Tindi) ISS student on my way there (we met at the metro)  so we went together. It was a very interesting visit and I am glad that Tindi was with me, otherwise it would have been difficult to take photos of myself there. Unfortunately Tindi can’t go with me to my next destinations so I went on to downtown all by my lonesome.

The Institute was already closed when I got there (they close at 15:00) so I just took photos of Alfred Nobel’s bust statue outside the institute.

From there, I walked to the Nobel Peace Center. Along the way, I passed by Henrik Ibsen‘s museum and the Holmenkollen Office.  At the Nobel Peace Center, I met Mr. Fridtjof Nansen (the title of this post refers to him).

The center is awesome! It is a good thing that I got a student pass so I got in free of charge. It has so many features which are highly informative and interactive. Very cool!

Then came Mr. Nansen. In that part of the center, one can have a photo taken with the famous Norwegian (it’s actually just a replica of him standing there) and all you need to do is work on the machine and pose beside him. Unfortunately, it took only 5 seconds for the automatic camera to take a snapshot! Then lo and behold, I was not “properly” posed with him. Sighs!

So here is that photo of Mr. Nansen and me. In the photo, I am referred to as the “unknown helper”. It is really funny but I love it! Thanks to the amazing stuff at the Nobel Peace Center, I have a souvenir photo with the Nobel Peace Prize Winner.

That quick trip was a very nice one for me! At least I managed to go despite my very hectic schedule at the summer school. I also love the fact that I did it alone.

After that, I headed back to the dorm to prepare for the closing party, the packing and the leaving (most of us left the next day).

Cheers, Mr. Nansen!

Sighs.

Obviously, I am still busy. We’re having the midterm exams this week – which means no classes. But “no classes” do not translate to “no work“.  Since Tuesday, I found myself in meetings and more meetings! There seems to be an endless list of meetings to attend and people to meet (in meetings).

So now, there are only a few days left before regular classes start again. But there are still meetings to attend until Tuesday at least.

Note to self: you have loads of papers and student projects to check!

I hope the meetings will take a low down. Otherwise, I need to do a better job at juggling my time and multi-tasking.

For now, I hope this will do. I am off to, yes, a meeting!

‘Til later!

Sighs.

I have been terribly busy these days that I hardly find the time to blog. When I get home from work, all I could think of is hit the bed!

But I promise (note to self) that I will do a better job as soon an my work load becomes manageable, which has always been a challenge, by the way.

I just need to gather my bearings then all will be well again.

So stay tuned!

Well, I got busy taking stock with the events pre and post Christmas.  The week following TS Sendong‘s aftermath was really crazy. I had to have the stamina to survive my days, which were all about attending the nine dawn masses (from December 16-24) and then working at the relief center from 10am to 10pm (from December 17-23). Plus of course, I had to deal with the emotional challenges of feeling so sad for the typhoon victims and so happy that help kept pouring in.

After Christmas, all those lack of sleep, emotional and physical stress took it’s toll. I felt so drained and a bit sick.  I decided to go slow and rest.   So I did just that because I realized there are still so many things to do and I need a healthy mind and body in order to carry out the tasks at hand – be it for relief and rehabilitation operations, teaching and admin work.

I still don’t know what to make of what just happened to my city. It certainly left us all with grief and at the same time with hope.

In a week, everything will be back to “normal” again at the university, but I am sure this tragedy has taught us a hard lesson: that mother nature is very angry so we should make amends, and that despite and in spite of everything, we will rise again. We are after all, a resilient people, as we are Filipinos.

On a happier note: I sincerely hope that this is a great year. I claim it. I own it.

Cheers to 2012: a year of love, happiness and dreams fulfilled!

A great 2012 to all! )

It was the first day of the “Simbang Gabi“and the last day of work (for me). After the mass, I noticed that the sky was a bit cloudy and thought that it might rain during the day, but dismissed it and forgot about it. It was after all, a very busy day.

I had to do some admin work; prepare for the planned Christmas parties for the next day, one of my college and the other of my university; and rehearse for our supposed to be production number for the university party. We were at the thick of the rehearsals when heavy rain poured that afternoon. It was still pouring when we finished. I went back to the office to get my stuff and leave for home, then the lights went off. Black out.

That got me a bit nervous. I remembered that I saw some postings on Facebook about a typhoon that will hit the city that night but since I got so busy, I did not pay attention.

I went outside the uni and got a quick dinner. I did not feel good about the rain and the strong winds that came with it.

When I got home, it was still raining and with still no electricity, I decided to sleep.

At around midnight, I was awaken by the sound of the rain and the wind. Scary. Then the windows of my room opened, that really freaked me out! I had to get up and hold the windows so they will not open. But the wind was insistent and too strong! It opened the windows for at least three times. It was a battle between me and the wind. That really scared me a lot! I cried when I held the windows and silently prayed for it to stop. When the wind’s blow subsided, I moved my bed away from the windows, curled up and prayed. My bed was a bit dump. I could hear the sound of the rain and the wind hammering.

Some two hours later, it stopped. But I know that the damage has been done and the devastating news that came in the morning was just too much.

Many people died, many are missing, houses and vehicles washed out. And the stories kept coming as the day progressed. One depressing story after another.

This is happening a week before Christmas.

Sometimes it is hard to understand events like this. But with faith and hope, we get on. I am happy that my relatives are all safe and well, but I can not say the same for the others.

In the midst of all these, there are people who want to help. The uni has set up a relief and operations center for the victims. This, at least, makes me smile.

I know this tragedy have left the Cagay-anons shaken and shocked, but I also believe that we will rise from this experience and hopefully become better people. And the next time a typhoon hits, we will be more prepared to face it.

God bless my city and its beautiful people!

FYI: All the parties were cancelled for obvious reasons.