I just read an email about the Philippines being a host to pussy ladies who purr and treat the whites as kings. Of course, usually with the hope that these white men would look at them not just at a glance but as potential wives.
Well, I am a person who have some foreigner as friends. I really observed that when i am with them and we go around like in Baguio City or Olongapo City, people would look at me queerly. Their eyes have a slit that i can hardly understand. Sometimes, it occurs to me that maybe it is because i am with a foreigner. judging though from their looks, i see that some see me with the eyes of admiration as if i caught a big fish (i saw that look in olongapo) but others would look at me with (if i would be allowed to interpret their looks) "how were you able to hook him?" or looks like i am with a king. Of course, i'm irritated with it especially with the fact that i am already married to a Filipino who is more gorgeous than any foreigner.
In Baguio, after eating in a restaurant, i opened my wallet and made the waitress bring a question of "why you?" in her eyes. Of course, my foreign friend brought out a bigger bill but i paid the extra.
One time, i have to get boxes of books from an office. It so happened that my American friend who was with other Americans at that time was with me. They offered to help so i said of course since i really needed their help. The people in that office looked with awe at my friends and even scolded me a little for having them carry the heavy boxes.
So many times have i been with my American, German, Korean friends around. In all those trips i tried to show that we need not treat them as kings for they are but normal people like us. They need not be treated with royalty. Of course, we can always do that if that is how we treat all people. I tried to show to all kababayans who see us that foreigners are not royalty in our own country. They are also people like us. We don't look down to them but we also don't need to strain our necks to reach and show them what we are not if we know our own selves.
That is one thing that i like with Sagada, Mountain Province. Locals and foreigners are treated equally. If there are treatments which are otherwise, they are isolated cases. You don't see girls parading around foreigners even if the foreigner is known to be a very eligible bachelor. Nor do you see foreigners treated as royalty. It is in this small town where it is the foreigners who will adjust to the local ways not the other way around. As visitors usually hear from the locals, "if you are in Rome, do what the Romans do," not the Romans to do what the foreigner does. Of course, due to the natural ability of influence, there are some positive and negative changes that they bring.
But i am proud to say that Sagada is still free from negative influences as prostitution which are very common on places where the foreigners usually go.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
My stay at Sagada National High School
If there will be a school that i feel i will always belong to, it will be Sagada National High School. I have passed through other schools from my elementary to my graduate studies but those schools cannot supersede my love for this growing Sagada NHS.
Sagada NHS was just established in 1996. I entered the school as a teacher in 1997 just fresh from college. Since then, it became an inseparable part of me. I am part of its past and its present and that thought alone jerks me to reality that together with my co-teachers, parents, students and the alumni, we have gone a long way.
And though, until now, Sagada NHS can only be proud and yet humbled by the fact that there are only two buildings that they can call as their very own. One is a two-storey building which was built jointly by the 1st two batches of students (BAtches 2000 and 2001), teachers, parents and lately for finishing with the aid of the municipal government. It is now being utilized as a faculty room (upstairs) and a computer laboratory (downstairs). The other one is still unfinished which hopefully will finally be finished within this year. It had been a project which was started in 1997 (or 1998? - i am not yet so sure) but was stopped due to lack of funds (accordingly). It is only last year that the provincial government, DepEd and now the Municipal government all joined hands to finish it.
Sometimes, it grieves us that millions and millions of pesos were budgeted but we are only realizing the building as something to be used now. Jokingly, we would sometimes say that if only they will give the money directly to the school so the school and not the DPWH will work it out, we're sure that we're already using a first class building. But, trying to examine and critically think about it will just make my head ache and make me hate the system we are in. What consoles us, however, is the fact that the provincial as well as the municipal LGU's heard our plea. Now, hopefully before the end of this year, the new building will be ready to use.
Since its second year, i have been a part of this school's ups and downs, including how it grew to become one of the schools which other people look up and recognize. Until now, what infrastructure we have is nothing compared to what established schools have but we are proud to say that what we have are things we really worked for. They are symbols of how we worked as a team - all the teachers, parents, students, alumni and the community.
Yet, one factor could also be attributed to the very fact that all the teachers in this school never stops to learn. they are always willing to learn something new. They always want to try something new. They are an epitome of what we call, "educators are forever learners."
I entered this school when it was still an annex of Bangaan National High School. It had nothing then. I was honed in this school and whoever am i as a teacher will forever be because of this school and my co-teachers whom i worked with. I will not move out from this school without my own contributions whether those contributions will be recognized or not and even if those contributions will not be seen nor sensed by the normal eye.
Sagada National High School, you will forever be a part of me.
Parents, teachers, students, alumni and the community, let us continue to support Sagada National High School. It is still a very young school but like a person, whether young or old, it needs people to support it. And, with that i guarantee you that Sagada National High School will always give its best to serve you.
MABIAMABIAG NAN SAGADA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL. Matago-tago tako am-in. WITH YOU SNHS WILL ALWAYS FLY LIKE AN EAGLE.
Sagada NHS was just established in 1996. I entered the school as a teacher in 1997 just fresh from college. Since then, it became an inseparable part of me. I am part of its past and its present and that thought alone jerks me to reality that together with my co-teachers, parents, students and the alumni, we have gone a long way.
And though, until now, Sagada NHS can only be proud and yet humbled by the fact that there are only two buildings that they can call as their very own. One is a two-storey building which was built jointly by the 1st two batches of students (BAtches 2000 and 2001), teachers, parents and lately for finishing with the aid of the municipal government. It is now being utilized as a faculty room (upstairs) and a computer laboratory (downstairs). The other one is still unfinished which hopefully will finally be finished within this year. It had been a project which was started in 1997 (or 1998? - i am not yet so sure) but was stopped due to lack of funds (accordingly). It is only last year that the provincial government, DepEd and now the Municipal government all joined hands to finish it.
Sometimes, it grieves us that millions and millions of pesos were budgeted but we are only realizing the building as something to be used now. Jokingly, we would sometimes say that if only they will give the money directly to the school so the school and not the DPWH will work it out, we're sure that we're already using a first class building. But, trying to examine and critically think about it will just make my head ache and make me hate the system we are in. What consoles us, however, is the fact that the provincial as well as the municipal LGU's heard our plea. Now, hopefully before the end of this year, the new building will be ready to use.
Since its second year, i have been a part of this school's ups and downs, including how it grew to become one of the schools which other people look up and recognize. Until now, what infrastructure we have is nothing compared to what established schools have but we are proud to say that what we have are things we really worked for. They are symbols of how we worked as a team - all the teachers, parents, students, alumni and the community.
Yet, one factor could also be attributed to the very fact that all the teachers in this school never stops to learn. they are always willing to learn something new. They always want to try something new. They are an epitome of what we call, "educators are forever learners."
I entered this school when it was still an annex of Bangaan National High School. It had nothing then. I was honed in this school and whoever am i as a teacher will forever be because of this school and my co-teachers whom i worked with. I will not move out from this school without my own contributions whether those contributions will be recognized or not and even if those contributions will not be seen nor sensed by the normal eye.
Sagada National High School, you will forever be a part of me.
Parents, teachers, students, alumni and the community, let us continue to support Sagada National High School. It is still a very young school but like a person, whether young or old, it needs people to support it. And, with that i guarantee you that Sagada National High School will always give its best to serve you.
MABIAMABIAG NAN SAGADA NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL. Matago-tago tako am-in. WITH YOU SNHS WILL ALWAYS FLY LIKE AN EAGLE.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Yoghurt and start of school
One of the visitors who came to Sagada (he knew me through another friend) last Monday told me, "Let's go out and have coffee so we can talk." I was about to say, "why not?" when he said, "Ay, di pala uso kape dito, yoghurt pala uso." So, he amended it to "Let's go out and have yoghurt so we can talk." Yes, in fact about 70% of my friends here all know how make yoghurt with their own way - with flavor or without.
Enrolment is almost over and the start of school is here. By Monday, every teacher and student all over the country will be busy with the usual stuff. However, i pray that the usual stuff should be an improvement of the past not just a repetition of what happened, including the mistakes. Though, in truth, i am not yet ready for the new school year since my mind is still on vacation and my body longs for the beach, the mountains and the sunshine, i have no other choice but to put my feet on the ground again. And, whether i like it or not, condition myself for monday and the rest of the year.
WORK... WORK... WORK... and no play - play will be during the vacations only (he he) but even if that is the case, when we enjoy what we are doing, we are already playing. That is, make work a play.
Enrolment is almost over and the start of school is here. By Monday, every teacher and student all over the country will be busy with the usual stuff. However, i pray that the usual stuff should be an improvement of the past not just a repetition of what happened, including the mistakes. Though, in truth, i am not yet ready for the new school year since my mind is still on vacation and my body longs for the beach, the mountains and the sunshine, i have no other choice but to put my feet on the ground again. And, whether i like it or not, condition myself for monday and the rest of the year.
WORK... WORK... WORK... and no play - play will be during the vacations only (he he) but even if that is the case, when we enjoy what we are doing, we are already playing. That is, make work a play.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
ict integration and webpage designing
I'm here in a training in baguio again. at last, kasi we (that includes my computer buddy at school) have been looking for a training like this for the past year. we already have a website but it was only through the help of Mr. Kent Sinkey, an American who opted to stay in Sagada, that our dream came to reality. But, we have been trying to look for a seminar like this kasi we do not know how to update our own web. It is not good if we will always be a parasite when we can be the host ( he he). now, our wish came true. i hope we can finally produce a 100% web of sagadanh'ers. i know and i believe that this training will bring us a hundred steps forward and we can really make our web the best that we can make it, with our own tastes and with our own flavor.
i met rossana valdez, ms. olongapocnhs (bastos ko ano pero this i think is a sign of pagtanda), marinella, zenaida, vernice which i have already met in other trainings sponsored by smart before. i met new faces again to add to my growing lists of contacts all over the philippines - my room mates lorna and juvy ann all from la union. ms mildred dapliyan who came all the way from olongapo city national high school though she is from pingad and married to ernesto dapliyan of sagada.
my gosh, i arrived late yesterday. i came all the way from tabuk, kalinga. we started in tabuk at 9:00 am and reached bontoc at 3:30 so i have to board the last trip from bontoc. i stayed in two different vehicles for 13 hours. i opted to go to bontoc instead of boarding straight from tabuk coz their first trip is at 1:00pm and i will stay in the bus for 12 hours so that means to say, i will reach baguio by 1:00 am. that's why i did what i did. new routes, new experiences, new experiences, new learning. way to go, irene.
by the way, i met my "twin" again. though she is a little older than i am, how can i not say that. so many people have mistaken me for her and her for me. just at breakfast i was greeted by stories of how they have mistaken me for her last night, calling her my name and she gamely let them think of what they are already thinking. that's soraya and she's our project manager.
i came to note that joretze, cesar and lauren are together at lipa. go, go, go the smart mentors.
i met rossana valdez, ms. olongapocnhs (bastos ko ano pero this i think is a sign of pagtanda), marinella, zenaida, vernice which i have already met in other trainings sponsored by smart before. i met new faces again to add to my growing lists of contacts all over the philippines - my room mates lorna and juvy ann all from la union. ms mildred dapliyan who came all the way from olongapo city national high school though she is from pingad and married to ernesto dapliyan of sagada.
my gosh, i arrived late yesterday. i came all the way from tabuk, kalinga. we started in tabuk at 9:00 am and reached bontoc at 3:30 so i have to board the last trip from bontoc. i stayed in two different vehicles for 13 hours. i opted to go to bontoc instead of boarding straight from tabuk coz their first trip is at 1:00pm and i will stay in the bus for 12 hours so that means to say, i will reach baguio by 1:00 am. that's why i did what i did. new routes, new experiences, new experiences, new learning. way to go, irene.
by the way, i met my "twin" again. though she is a little older than i am, how can i not say that. so many people have mistaken me for her and her for me. just at breakfast i was greeted by stories of how they have mistaken me for her last night, calling her my name and she gamely let them think of what they are already thinking. that's soraya and she's our project manager.
i came to note that joretze, cesar and lauren are together at lipa. go, go, go the smart mentors.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Election Fever
Election fever. Have you caught it already? I am still proud to say that election in Sagada had always been cool. (I don't know if it is a proof to Montesquieu's (?) climate theory.) But, though there are many people killed due to politics, no one in Sagada is ever known to have died due to the "dirty" game.
Tomorrow will be election in the Philippines. They say that there is a raise for the honorarium of the BEI's who will be serving. Others say it is too much, others complain. Looking at it though, i could say that the amount is fine if you are here in Sagada or in places where politics is not a dirty game but, it is too little for those who are going to serve in the "hot" areas for their lives are also at stake. Yet, i greatly hope that this year's election will be as cool as the climate here in our place though it had already started with a lot of killings. May the election fever in other places subside and may the wisdom that comes from God and the wisdom of the election overrule the fever that had attacked others to the extent of killing and even destroying others morally, spiritually or even physically. This is my prayer, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Tomorrow will be election in the Philippines. They say that there is a raise for the honorarium of the BEI's who will be serving. Others say it is too much, others complain. Looking at it though, i could say that the amount is fine if you are here in Sagada or in places where politics is not a dirty game but, it is too little for those who are going to serve in the "hot" areas for their lives are also at stake. Yet, i greatly hope that this year's election will be as cool as the climate here in our place though it had already started with a lot of killings. May the election fever in other places subside and may the wisdom that comes from God and the wisdom of the election overrule the fever that had attacked others to the extent of killing and even destroying others morally, spiritually or even physically. This is my prayer, in Jesus Name, Amen.
Saturday, May 12, 2007
So, back to business again
It's been more than a week since we separated ways with the other smart mentors. my plan then was to take a very deep rest (not really sleep but do things which does not need my mental processors, physical maybe, but for sure not mental) so, when i went back to baguio, i took my kids (Manev & Sab) gallivanting - the malls and Asin Hot spring before we finally came home to sagada. Again, i refused to see the computer for some time - then slowly i started reading the past lessons and those that we have done. i had to pick the diamond nuggets i dropped along the way when my mind refused to take anything anymore. so far, i had picked some but not all. i know, i have left even some bigger nuggets somewhere.
when i was ready to face the computer again, i was too disappointed for the MOPRECO (Mountain Province Electric Cooperative) was not ready for me - WALANG ILAW. too bad. the next day, the light came when it was already high noon. i have to go to school kasi walang internet sa bahay. hapssss, another disappointment walang internet. it took me (and some helpful hands through the phone) the whole afternoon (and we even continued it the next day) to diagnose the problem. Until - taraaan- i can now post again.
i came to realize how blessed we are again to be in that training that we had. it was in fact, the most comprehensive, mind and stomach fulfilling and even the most luxurious training i've ever been. it will forever put a mark in my life. just to have our closing program away from the venue of our training is already a luxury and to have it in tagaytay adds to the imprint. i am too overwhelmed. WHOA SMART.
i just had a nice chat with my colleague yesterday. i shared to him what happened and encouraged him to join the next screening if there will be (of course, there will be. this is too good a program to stop). i know he will grab the next opportunity and if he will not grab it, i will grab it for whoever is interested but i know basing from experience that he will be one of those who is the most interested.
there are other things i need to sort out but that training already gave me a headstart on whatever direction i need to take.
to our benefactors and to all those behind this, be assured that what i learned will not only be head knowledge and that it will not just stay within me. in fact, we already had an initial plan of when to have the 1st mentoring for a few teachers - yes, that will be before the end of May.
congratulations to all my co-smart mentors. let's live to what we have bitten.
when i was ready to face the computer again, i was too disappointed for the MOPRECO (Mountain Province Electric Cooperative) was not ready for me - WALANG ILAW. too bad. the next day, the light came when it was already high noon. i have to go to school kasi walang internet sa bahay. hapssss, another disappointment walang internet. it took me (and some helpful hands through the phone) the whole afternoon (and we even continued it the next day) to diagnose the problem. Until - taraaan- i can now post again.
i came to realize how blessed we are again to be in that training that we had. it was in fact, the most comprehensive, mind and stomach fulfilling and even the most luxurious training i've ever been. it will forever put a mark in my life. just to have our closing program away from the venue of our training is already a luxury and to have it in tagaytay adds to the imprint. i am too overwhelmed. WHOA SMART.
i just had a nice chat with my colleague yesterday. i shared to him what happened and encouraged him to join the next screening if there will be (of course, there will be. this is too good a program to stop). i know he will grab the next opportunity and if he will not grab it, i will grab it for whoever is interested but i know basing from experience that he will be one of those who is the most interested.
there are other things i need to sort out but that training already gave me a headstart on whatever direction i need to take.
to our benefactors and to all those behind this, be assured that what i learned will not only be head knowledge and that it will not just stay within me. in fact, we already had an initial plan of when to have the 1st mentoring for a few teachers - yes, that will be before the end of May.
congratulations to all my co-smart mentors. let's live to what we have bitten.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Research
Super men is what i call this group. we took methods of research and statistics in just a half day. then made our thesis title and chapter 1 in the afternoon. tapos nagdefend sa gabi. wowoweeee. talagang supermen sila. (nakalimutan lang ilabas ang mga undies nila)
but i congratulate all of you people. galing niyo. sana totoo iyan forever para graduate tayo lahat sa Cebu next year. I really admire all of you. Be the best of who you are.
i learned a lot from this and i hope you did, too.
but i congratulate all of you people. galing niyo. sana totoo iyan forever para graduate tayo lahat sa Cebu next year. I really admire all of you. Be the best of who you are.
i learned a lot from this and i hope you did, too.
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