Happiness

It's funny how I proved to myself partially the last paragraph of my previous post. Happiness is founded on and not separate from meaning. Our trip to Subic from May 24-27 was both meaningful and full of happiness in the superlative degree.

For pictures, check out my multiply: http://robroque.multiply.com

More than all the extraordinary things we did during the whole trip, it was I guess the company that made all the difference. I doubt it that if I was given a free European tour for myself only, I'd have nearly a quarter of the fun I got out of this trip. I spent most of my summer at home but now that it's about to end, I realize I've been blessed with meaningful and fun trips - Naga for ILC, Laguna with the family and Subic with my friends.

It turned out meaningful for me because it was a chance to rekindle old friendships that Pisay has inevitably pushed a bit down the priority list. But perhaps the most peculiar thing I got from the trip was that it was a learning experience for me. It taught me so many things in so many different aspects of my life. I prayed at the start of the trip that it'd get something lasting out of it. God is so great, I got more than I asked for.

On the more mundane aspects of life, I got to learn new card games like speed, egyptian and 100 and even got to develop our very own game, acceleration (3-deck speed with 6 players). I also was exposed to new and exciting group games like mafia and killers. I finally got to watch Rent and the extended versions of the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and the Return of the King.

I experienced a lot of new stuff like riding in a banana boat, playing frisbee on the beach, exploring Ed's vast resort and go-karting after a downpour (I'll try not to do this again - clothes get so drenched and dirty). For the first time, I rode on a car driven by someone almost my age (and now I'm excited to start driving as well). It was also the first time that I rode a car that had flat tires twice (at Pisay and near the Shell gasoline station near SM). It was really a blessing that the tires were damaged at that exact moment in that exact place. I don't like to imagine what could have happened if the tires burst in the middle of our trip across NLEX with the car running at 100 km/h.

I was reminded of how blessed I was to be with these people and generally in Pisay for the past four years. I wouldn't have found people like them - intellectuals who talk about science, politics, religion and other important topics over a meal - who I am comfortable to be with. Pisay has allowed my personality to blossom and develop and not be hindered by shame or shyness because I was in a place where I really truly belonged. It saddens me a bit that we're all about to part ways physically but I still hope that the friendships we've sown and tended to will survive the tests of distance and time.

I got a lot more realizations and lessons. Some of them were related to teaching in Pisay and some life questions I rarely ask myself; others were about living in a whole new environment and being possessive of friends; some regarding the beliefs in other faiths, exorcisms and wandering spirits.

It's amazing that although physically, all I brought home were pictures and sea shells, I feel I came home with a lot of ideas, new knowledge and different paradigms by which I could view the world.

It's also a welcome respite to finally be talking about things we don't usually talk about because we had more "important" and pressing matters to attend to. This summer comes only every after a step in the educational ladder. This transition from high school to college allows us to focus no longer on the academics of the past high school or look to much into the future dynamics of college life. Perhaps this freedom from the burden of academic requirements allowed us to be more open about the aspects of our lives we rarely share to other people. This freedom allowed us to focus on the really more important things.

Hahaha. I even brought home three "homeworks" that I will think about and research on. One is about the people-based theory that Sir Mardan and I developed in our conversation. I will be talking more about this in my next post. The two others were from my conversations with Pito. I will not delve into the second but of the third, I realized that sometimes I have only a vague idea of why things are in our faith. I do them sincerely and believe in them as acts of faith but I'm surprised that I don't know by heart the theological explanations regarding them despite the inquisitive and critical thinking training we received in Pisay. It reminded me of the importance of seeking God in everything - in the spiritual, physical and even the mental realms of life.

The joy I got out of the trip was beyond the momentary ecstasy of riding a banana boat at high speeds or trying out the slide or playing an intense acceleration game. It was beyond the immediate satisfaction of travelling to new places and experiencing new things. It was founded on meaning - on the fact that I brought home so much of the things that change very little and that I was with friends I will be with till I can't recognize anyone anymore and with my God.

Summer Job

I've been working for this '94 Pisay graduate this past few days (thanks Cheska for bringing me on board :D). Other than the fact na we're being paid, the type of work I'm doing is something I really like. Haha. Essays, research papers. saya! Plus the topics are very interesting. Siguro the worst part of everything is the deadline (which I've actually broken twice).

The first paper I was asked to write was about Illegal Immigration in the US. Siguro the best thing I realized is that buti na lang the Philippines is an archipelago surrounded by large bodies of water and that we're an ocean away from the US or else we might see millions of Filipinos crossing the border to the US. As it is, (one option lang pede, visa overstaying) the Philippines is one of the top countries wtih visa holders who become illegal immigrants because they stay in the US indefinitely beyond the terms of their visa. Grabe pala. Thousands of Mexians cross the border everyday and hundreds die because of the harsh conditions they have to face to get across. Nakakaawa pero it's a fact of life there. Hindi pa nga yung mga super duper poor ung lumilipat e, un pang mga may trabaho naman at may pamilya. Sad na we see the same thing here in the Philippines. It's the middle class that's leaving this country. And a country without a vibrant middle class is a country doomed to economic collapse.

The second paper I got was about the diseases of famous rulers. Ang saya gawin nito! hahaha. Grabe pala. Sickness can really shape the fate of a nation. The third Roman Emperor, Caligula, had either epilepsy, encephalitis or meningitis seven months from the beginning of his rule and it turned him from a benevolent and compassionate leader to a cruel, egoistic and insane tyrannt who thought himself to be a living god! Ivan the Terrible was one of the greatest rulers of Russia who brought expansion and reform to the empire but his reign came crashing down because he caught syphilis and took mercury as the "treatment" aggravating his mental instability. Queen Victoria holds the record as the British monarch with the longest reign. It was in her era that the Industrial Revolution came to its zenith and the British Empire included India, South Africa, Canada, Australia and New Zealand making it the foremost Global Power. But her grim legacy was the hemophilia gene she passed on to her children who later on married several members of other royal families in Europe. The defective gene penetrated the Spanish, German and Russian imperial families. Astig na the gene could have entered the British royal family if Alix, a granddaugther of Victoria, had chosen to marry a prince fo Britain instead of the Czar of Russia. Hemophilia was expressed in the only son and heir to the throne of Russia, Alexis. His parents focused so much on his ailment that they lost touch of their subjects, allowed a healer to gain influence in the Kremlin and caused the deterioration and final collapse of the centuries-old Russian Empire because of the Russian Revolution. Galing talaga nito. One single mutated gene transformed Russia from an ancient empire to the communist super power it later became! Ano kaya nangyari kung sa Britain pumasok ang gene at hindi sa Russia? Magkakarevolution pa kaya? Ang galing di ba?

So yun. We're currently working on another project. Hopefully, we don't break the deadline again. hehehe.