"do THIS is memory of me"

as a religion teacher to first communicants, i teach my kids that the mass is an invitation to receive Christ and a "re-enactment" of the last supper. fr. mark gave me a new insight on the above.

in the last supper, Christ offered himself, body and blood, for the love of man. quite literally, He gave it HIS ALL. and THAT is what He wants us to do in memory of Him... to give our all.

all for Christ. how simple, yet very difficult to do.

cheap thrill

la pacita toast with vanilla ice cream. promise!

and diko makes four

i probably owe my "career" as a "ninang ng bayan" to mama aly. her brood alone is a bayan in itself!

mama aly and freddie have four children: two of each species. of the four, i am officially godmother to 3: to mara and selene since baptism; to dino since his confirmation only 3 years ago. that leaves diko gian... but not for long.

the other night, while online, he asked me to "officially" become his ninang. of course, i said "yes." truth is, i've been waiting for the invite since his baptism, just like dino. and like dino, i never treated gian any less. the boys were always like godsons to me. they got the whole treatment, including the personalized birthday shopping trips.

that he asked me to be his ninang made my day (i hope as much as i made his). gian was always special because he wanted this as young as 5 or 6... and the kid really knows how to make me feel it, too! part of our ym chat went like this...

"even if you're not officially my ninang, i love you as one in my heart"

awwww... how could you not melt?! i am only too happy to make it "official" in his heart.

i used to be a fish

i'm a twice certified open water scuba diver... since 1990. twice because my first c-card got lost when i was pickpocketed in shang; had to be re-certified by padi years after since ssi couldn't reissue me a replacement. (come to think of it, my padi c-card was in the wallet that was stolen in camp! oh no!)
i was diving long before it came into fashion. it was such a small diving community back then. we'd have a divers' party twice a month (always on a tuesday) and everybody knew everybody, literally! i remember my lessons costing php 3,750, a big amount back then. oops! i'm beginning to show my age! yes, everything was dirt cheap then.
i loved diving. it's a totally different world down there and one cannot help but marvel and be in awe. truly, only God could have made such a beautiful, colorful playground for the denizens of the deep.

i was addicted to diving. the first 3 months after my certification, i was underwater EVERY WEEKEND. i would come home from trips abroad, rest one day to let the nitrogen in my blood settle, then go off diving with my buddies. tessa and i would go diving on a whim... our "one-day-wonders," we used to call them.

i did some of my best thinking underwater. everything was so calm and tranquil in the deep blue that clarity of mind hit you just as soon as you hit the water.

and the best beer i had came after a dive. i don't know why but i do know that other divers will agree with me on this.

used to. those are the operative words in the title.

you see, i have all this dive gear... and they're all dry. they have been for yeeeaaars now. that they're still in pretty good shape is suprising, actually. i remember spending a fortune on the stuff. dad paid for my reg and asked me to make sure that i got the best (back then) since that was my second heart underwater (spoken like a true cardiologist).

i got an invitation to dive during the last holiday. i passed. after years of remaining on dry land, i probably need a refresher course. i probably wouldn't fit into my wet suit either. i lent my gear to some friends though, so at least they (the gear) saw some action... at least they were able to say hi to the fish again.

maybe i'll get wet again.

"are you okay?"

"are you okay? my name is leslie. I AM A CERTIFIED FIRST AIDER."

finally, i can say that and mean it!

my camp staff, the pinoy JCs, and some eager volunteers sacrificed 3 weekends (one of which was a sunday!) before camp to take a CPR and first aid course. the board felt compelled we ought to be prepared. fine. at least i was taking the course for free.

throughout camp, we staffies would joke around about "the script" (above) not really knowing if we were certified or not... and maybe, just maybe, half-praying that we didn't actually have to say it for real. 

well, we are! just got my certificates and IDs yesterday! and though the news comes belatedly, it's good to know that our sacrificed weekends of wrapping each other in cravats faster than a new york minute, cracking your knees with lifts, huffing and puffing into non-breathing manequins, and sludging through fake blood have been rewarded.

don't get too close to me; i might just bandage you for fun.

popcorn at last!

i haven't been in a movie theater for about 8 months. now, before you get all weepy for poor, pathetic me, let me explain. there's actually a very good reason for it.

i started preparing for the comprehensive exams for my master's degree towards the end of last year. truth is, i only SERIOUSLY prepared for it about a month before. i know that i had no excuse for not studying but i easily made one up (hehe). somehow, though, i would feel guilty exchanging time in a movie house for time with my books. so hit the books i did.

after february, i borrowed dvds of the movies i missed, guiltlessly staying up til 4 a.m. watching them. after that, well, there wasn't much to be seen in the movies. every time i'd gear up to watch a flick, someone would say that it wouldn't be worth the money to see it. so i'd go somewhere else, or stay home, or be in one of my endless meetings *sigh*.

the dry spell was broken last week, two days after camp ended. not only did it, the dry spell, end, but i ended it in style! a cisv mom invited the jcs and whoever else was free to brave the rains to see superman... in the mall of asia... in the i-max theater... for free! plus popcorn... plus a late lunch after... and i didn't have to drive! later for dinner, the italian jc cooked pasta and the brazilian jc prepared a cocoa dessert (i got the recipe!). how could i complain? then again... ok, there is no accounting for style when it comes to those 3D glasses. thank God they're worn in the dark! and the popcorn at moa isn't great.

which only means that i have to redeem myself! quick! what do we see next?! :)

CD notes

relief. that's the first word that comes to my mind at the end of the 21-day international village. to have managed to run the village on a non-existent budget not only takes skill and cunning; it also takes a lot of patience and a lot of coffee.

the kids have boarded their planes (and buses) and are safe in their homes, in their respective countries. no more 8 a.m. wake up calls via whistles, gongs and what-have-yous. no more "can i talk with you?" tete-a-tetes with leaders too. i'm so relieved that other than bites, rashes, constipation, lice (yes, lice... but they were imported!), and the occasional leader throwing-up here and there, we did not have any major medical emergencies. growing up in a family of doctors paid off in camp. i think that dad would have been proud of me with my calmness and diagnoses :)

to my think, 21-days is too short for an international camp. although sometimes, having an all-girls leaders' pool made me think that 21 days was too long! hahaha! estrogen level was way too high!

on the good side... camp always makes me feel proud of my being filipino. the staff and i put on a great staff day dancing the tinikling, serving fishballs, kikiam, squid balls, ice candy, fresh buko (fresh coconut), eating lunch on banana leaves with our hands, and giving out free tricycle rides. we also made the kids play simple street games (the one where you put a Php 1 coin on your forehead and contort your facial muscles til it gets to your chin) and had the kids cover their faces in flour and water. for what reason? absolutely nothing! fun without a PS2... priceless!

snaps too for philippine hospitality! we had a great kitchen staff, an "abuseable" resort staff, and generous homestay hosts. like i said in open day, "to run a village, it takes a village."

i love, i love, i love my chapter board! they trusted me to make the decisions in camp and backed them up all the way. i applaud their dedication, working "behind the behind the scenes," always available for consultation, shopping for us, driving for us... and these are moms! they deserve much, much more than a camp shirt!

i loved the delegation the baguio chapter sent over... and so did everyone else! they were REAL people - 3 of the 4 kids were "scholars" (a child of a taxi driver, a child of an OCW - overseas contract worker, a child of a machine operator). now THAT is for whom i truly would like CISV to be. i know that for them, 21 days was way too short. i know that it'll make such an impact on their lives and hopefully give them a boost of confidence and aspire them to be and do better.

directing a camp can be stressful - i got the white hair (6!) to prove it - and rewarding. as camp director, it sucked that i wasn't around all the time. no wonder they call it "running" a camp. i miss being with kids. being a leader is way easier. so, what do you get from being camp director? gifts, a lot more paper and paperwork than i left with, new friendships - i now have friends in luxembourg and guatemala! how cool is that?! - laundry, a sense of relief, and yes, fulfillment.

will i staff again? hmmm... what country are we talkling about? :)

ready-or-not, a-camping, here i go!

strangely enough, i found myself at home by 8 p.m. for the first time in a looooooong time. camp's been keeping me out of the house and out of the bed lately. i haven't been sleeping much; running on adrenalin. i met the jc from brazil last night, the first of the 40+ foreign delegates coming in for the barangay. i took one look at her and then it hit me. "you're really here. this is really happening."
there are loose ends to tie and they're beginning to unravel. if i look all composed, don't let the look fool you; i'm screaming inside! pray. gotta pray. hard. harder.

crisis management training from my days as an executive producer are kicking in. gotta learn to let go. delegate. ask for help (what, me?!). and when they DO help, do not expect perfection! sigh... so be it.

it'll all be worth it. think of the program. think of the children. it'll be fun. gotta remember to have fun. no more coffee. this will happen. it's got to!

sharing the joy (fm)

one of the things i love most about getting hooked to a dsl connection is that i get to listen to live broadcasts. that's how i found JOY FM, listener-supported contemporary Christian music broadcasting form st. louis. i highly recommend you give it an ear and "get hooked" of another kind.

i get by with a little help from my friends

i've been scarce, i know. blame it on work. school has started and it was for me, a photo finish. for those of you who do not know me, i am not one to ask for help. not that i claim to be able to do everything; far from it. school opening never used to frazzle me; it was almost routine. not so this year, though. i could handle the added responsibility of being part of the administration and the task to create an entirely new curricula for religion frome grades 2 to 6. i was all geared to hack my crazy schedule of teaching reigion 4 times a week per grade level for 3 weeks just to be able to staff for an international camp. i could even face the challenge of being the homeroom adviser of a "notoriously rambunctious" group of kids. as if this wasn't enough, i agreed to take on a co-teaching assignment at the preschool (because it WAS preschool!). what i couldn't take was the incompetence of a person who shall not be named. hahaha! i was soooo frustrated. i actually got nervous for school opening. of course, shy (yes, shy) me wouldn't ask for help. but when help came, i did not say "no." i was so relieved and thankful that people pitched in. the teacher aides put their tasks on hold and converged in one classroom to get the things that needed to be done, done in 2 days! and i could not ever forget the preschool teachers who came up to me one by one to ask if there was ANYTHING they could do to help. i was soooo touched! they took on such menial tasks as coloring my learning center signs and cutting little black felt circles to pad my classroom furniture. truth be told, i suspect that they actually enjoyed what they did for me :) school's on its second week so needless to say, i survived the first day of school... i got by with a little help from my friends. and so, for friends who extend helping hands even when i don't ask, I AM THANKFUL.