Jandrea...so far

  I recently found a line drawing that I probably did in 2004. At that  time, in the midst of many trying hours of work, I had to find an outlet for the stress and angst I was going through!   For years, the drawing lay dormant inside a sketchbook. After all, new chapters had opened and closed in my life! Much like yesteryear’s feelings that evoked the original image.  Today, I worked on it using watercolor paint & watercolor pencils - trying to put in all that I have learned using a new art medium. It no longer hurt putting the small and seemingly imperceptible images that belonged to this picture! Time does add a different perspective to how we do and see things! 

I have just realized (and admitted) that I am now at the older end of the generation gap! Twice now, on two separate fastfood establishments, we asked for "cubiertos" and the food servers did not know what they were. When we "translated that to kutsara't tinidor, they met that with what seemed like a  combination of amazement and amusement! One even repeated the word twice, rolling it in her mouth, like she was tasting new flavor of candy for the first time. The other one, an earnest young man, after giving us the utensils asked what language it was from. He seemed delighted to have learned a Spanish word today! Good for him!  Cubierto  - Spanish to English Translation | Spanish Central www.spanishcentral.com/translate/ cubierto utensil, piece of silverwarecoge el  cubierto  con la mano derecha take the spoon/ fork/knife with your right hand los  cubiertos  the cutlery falta un  cubierto , porque ...

Image from a FB friend When I first set my eyes on Vigan, it was though I was still in a dream. Still groggy with sleep after an all-night land trip, I found myself as if transported to another time. In the awakening light and the clip-clopping of the horses on the cobblestone street, the first thoughts that came to my mind was, "Oh my, I could run into Rizal's Crisostomo Ibarra in these streets!" A little dramatic but what can you expect from a then college student with a student theater group visiting the place for performances in schools in that area. I was of course wrong about running into fictional characters but I was certainly not disappointed about encountering ghosts from the past. We were billeted in a hotel which was a renovated mansion from an earlier century, just what you would expect in a place like this. The girls were given a big room which helped us imagine that we were friends of Maria Clara after a party. In the early morning, I woke up with th...

        We were going to talk about "Learning and Conditioning" in my General Psych class. As an introduction to the topic, I asked them to enumerate the things they have learned since childhood. As expected, they came up with answers like "reading, riding a bike, singing, cooking, writing a good paper, doing math, etc.".         I told them, "Good! But is that all? Are you sure you are not forgetting anything else?" I was hoping to get more answers that wouldn't fit into categories like abilities and skills and facts that they have learned from their more than ten years sitting inside a classroom. Silence.         And so I asked them, "Have you not learned other things from outside the classroom?" More Silence.  I proceeded to throw them a barrage of questions. How about the lessons you learned from your family - like loving and caring for others? From your mistakes, have you learned to rise above them so you ...

Mar 5, '11 12:32 AM      Last February 28, I had lakatan banana in fresh fruit salad for breakfast. For morning snacks, I had one boiled saging na saba . Before lunch, I had a little latundan banana in our room ( I don't know why. Maybe I just felt guilty about the growing stash of uneaten bananas in our room!)  For merienda, I had 2 pieces of bananacue and followed later by one leftover boiled saba . That would be roughly 6 pieces for someone who isn't even crazy about bananasI Dessert for dinner was... you guessed it, bananas! Suko na ako!!!       But whatever the nuns serve, no matter what or how much, you seem compelled to eat them. Like I was transported back to the days I was a half-intern in St.Joseph's College in my elementary years. Then, you risked getting an invitation to visit Purgatory if you as much left a crumb on your plate!       So after a a few days of (forced) banana bingeing, I realized...

     I was spending a few days by myself in an obscure hotel in Tagaytay while waiting for my sister to pick me up for a chore that needed to be done. That not coming to light, I decided to check off the list of things that I could still do in that period of isolation. I managed to complete a scholarly task I was putting off from accomplishing for an unforgivingly, long time.  So as a reward, I decided to enjoy the cool, afternoon air while waiting for my take-out dinner.         While seated on the chair just outside my room, a cherubic little boy, MM, and his yaya (nanny) came up to me to say hello.  It would have been a wholly delightful interruption to my reverie except for an unexpected jolt when the yaya said, "Say hello to Lola!"       A thousand thought bubbles burst from my confused brain, "Was she referring to me? Is this woman calling me a grandmother? Do I look like one at all? In a panic, I ...

Melde, Menchie, & Me It was a privilege being one of the adult pilgrims to the last World Youth Day celebration held in Madrid, Spain. While the event is primarily for the youth, adults or in the case of the Diocese of Cubao, mommies are most welcome to join the delegation. I was the oldest member of the delegation, with the two other mothers younger than me by a few years. My age, I tried my damn best not to show. This was not out of vanity but a determination to show that I belonged here with the youth, and that I would not be a burden to them. After Cuatro Vientos       I succeeded in having some people believe that I was just in my forties. The secret on how to do this is wear exactly what the kiddos in your group are wearing and wear dark sunglasses to hide the wrinkles around your eyes. Plus, not to admit that you are in the company of your 27-year old son and 23-year old daughter. Hehehe! But, of course, I couldn't fool my body into thinking I was ...

Chanced upon this blog which talked about American teens complaining about not getting cars or iPhones for Christmas! Goodness gracious, I thought!  My daughter, was aghast at how materialistic these kids were and how ungrateful they were for the gifts they had received. Has American consumerism reached its all time high? Has accessibility to all the worldly goods warped the values of their youth? Has love become equated with a parent's ability to give the latest in expensive technology to their children? Through the years, I think the best gifts I have received are those which did not come in bright, shiny packages. By most standards, they would never be considered valuable at all. One gift was from this small, tough-looking lady who used to sit in a certain pew in church. In her mind, this pew was reserved for her and woe to those who would make the mistake of occupying her seat before she came. She was a source of amusement to those of us who were church regulars. We heard...

   These are what we had for family dinner two nights ago: Main dishes:           Chili con carne                                     Brown rice Drink:                       Green tea with mint Dessert:                   Tikoy                                    Christmas stollen      Midway through the meal, I laughingly observed that it was made up of an assortment of dishes that were foreign in origin.  It was a combination of Mexican, Japanese, Chinese, German, and of course, Filipino food. If I hadn't taken note of it, the meal's odd character would have passed unnoticed. It is not our practice to have themed meals in our household....

In 2003, I submitted the following piece to the Phil. Daily Inquirer's contest for readers to write about new Christmas family traditions. Proud to say, this won first prize! (P20,000 worth of gift certificates redeemable at all Rustan's establishments.) I like reading it just before Christmas so that I am reminded of the true meaning of the holidays! This the original, unedited version,  prior to publication in the Christmas issue of the broadsheet.     "Rudolp the red nose reindeer,  Had a bery shiny nose  Olop, the oder reindeer  Use to lap and call him names…” The holidays in my childhood used to be signaled by such Christmas carols sung by the neighborhood kids outside our door. Whenever I would hear the first notes, it was as if a light inside me would be switched on. It was a time of anticipation of greater things to come! But as my world became a little less innocent, I began to hear their off-key strains of song. The musical notes wou...

2011 Commissioning of members of the Ministry of Lectors & Commentators Holy Family Parish      After wearing a white blouse and and a black skirt almost every Sunday for mass the last 25 years or so, I couldn't find anything suitable in my closet this morning when I could wear something else aside from my lector's uniform.  I was on leave from the ministry in order to attend to other concerns. I realized I had no appropriate Sunday wear. In my closet were only "teachery" stuff. Only week-end gear. I wonder what that says about me? That I am no fashion plate? That I am just being practical by not buying stuff that I wouldn't actually get to use often? Or that my Sunday duties have been so ingrained in my life that it was the only thing that I really cared to dress up for?        Hmmmm... all wrong on the fashion angle! But so right on lectoring being a vital part of my life. It all begun in 1985 when I applied to bec...

Day 8, Alcorcon & Madrid: 18 Aug 2011 - Catechesis at San Juan de Mata Parish - Welcome Ceremony for the Pope at Plaza de Cibeles Today was the second day for the Catechesis at the San Juan de Mata Parish in Alcorcon. Before the speaker arrived, animators were in charge of preparing the audience for the session. During the animation, from where we were seated, I could not see the person leading the songs & accompanying movements. I normally am shy about joining such activities but “getting into the groove of things” (betrays my being a “child of the 70s”) was easy as the energy and enthusiasm of the young people around me were infectious. But there was a slight unease as I could not see the animators in the front of the church from where I was standing. So I turned to the hundred others who were imitating their movements. But it was a certain Caucasian girl in the middle of the church who drew my attention. Maybe because she was directly in the line of my astigmatic visio...

For the story and more pictures ... http://mycubao.org/2011/10/07/cuatro-vientos-a-precious-privilege-wyd11-reflection/

Story #1: Nancy Drew   I was addicted to the Nancy Drew stories when I was in Grade school. It was my obsession to read all of the books in this collection. Not being able to afford to buy them, I would just wait for my aunt to give them to me as pasalubong from  the US or I would borrow them from my 2nd cousin, Gelene, who had, it seemed to me then, all the titles listed in the back of every volume.       Not only did I want to read every Nancy Drew adventure ever published, I also wanted to read them as fast as I could every time I got hold of one. So that when I was in the middle of one and it was lights out time,  I would continue reading under the kulambo using a flashlight.      DId I get to read all of the Nancy Drew books? Nah, adolescence got in the way. I was introduced to other reading fare. And they became my next obsession. (See Story #3) Story #2: "Ghost Story"      My aunt who used t...

May 30, '10 2:07 PM "God is manifest in the ordinary, in the actual, in the daily, in the now, in the concrete incarnations of life." ... — from Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality         During Mass yesterday, feeling absolutely low, some kids from Catechism class were asked to sit with me. The tears just had to stop. At the end of the mass, one 5-year-old even managed to kick my little toe. Aaaw! Bleeding, how could I not concentrate on my physical pain instead of the one in my heart? Strange ways God picks to make one forget desperation, even for a while!

     There’s so much to tell about Flory. As I recall the many memories I have of her, they alternately bring me to the brink of tears or laughter escapes even from this unhappy heart.  My story of Flory has been very hard to write, not because there are deep dark secrets I’m trying hard not to reveal, but because I know the way I will relate my memories of her will always pale in comparison to the way she would tell her version of these memories.                   I first met Flory in college, in the late 1970s, when we were members of the UP Psychology Society. Then in the 1980s, our paths crossed again at the Foreign Service Institute. I was delighted to see a romance blossoming between two of my friends. (Trygve was a former colleague of my then would-be husband, Dani). As we shared a workplace for some years, we were witnesses to each other’s weddings, the birth...

Yes, I'm sick! I'm not too sure if it's the flu because I'm not showing all the symptoms. Well, not all at once anyway. Here's a rundown of the unfolding of the ailment:                      First, started getting woozy Sunday evening. This, I attributed to a high cholesterol lunch of batchoy.              By Monday, woozy had progressed to dizzy - a mild attack of vertigo which prevented me from going to work.           Tuesday, my nose started to drip more than usual. Nothing that a boxful of tissue couldn't handle. Or so I thought!           On Wednesday, I had to force myself to go to work even if I was sneezing violently all over the place.           Thursday,  there was very li...

            Mama had 2 birthdays. As young children, we always celebrated it on December 12. Then when she applied for a passport when I was about 10 years old, she had to secure a copy of her birth certificate. Lo and behold, on it her birthday was January 31, 1923! How that came to be, no one could explain. My Lola said that she was sure Mama was not born on the date written on that piece of paper. How can that be when all her other legal documents bore December 12, 1922 as her date of birth? But there was no one to ask about the circumstances of her birth registration. So everyone surmised that the clerk must have made a mistake of writing the date when her birth was registered as the date of birth. That would have put the issue at rest but no, my mother could not be comforted by that explanation. She just had to make sure that we didn't miss out celebrating the day she was born.          So, ...

At 53    As I get older, it seems that getting friendly with my Id has become less dangerous. It is not as threatening to my Ego as it used to be.I've noticed that not only am I less fearful about speaking my mind, I've also allowed my mind to speak in not so wholesome ways.      I've allowed wicked thoughts to slip through the sturdy and unyielding barriers of yesteryears. For example, when I see people with very unattractive physical features, I think about descriptions that are definitely politically incorrect. However, ehem ... when I see very attractive men of every age, I immediately imagine possible dalliances ( Joke lang, T! ) People who fail to meet my expectations are berated with sometimes unkind words ( Silently, of course! )  Then there's my ever-increasing temptation to butt in when overhearing conversations of strangers. I just have this need to correct errors, offer answers to their questions, and oh, just say anything...

           I've always been an APO fan. I love their easy-to-listen to music, the way they seemed to enjoy singing together all these years and of late, their contributions to the political scene. But as a teen-ager,  I was particularly interested in  Jim Paredes. For me, he was the most attractive of the 3 members. I have followed developments in his career and personal life. Even now, I follow him on Twitter and read his blog. I've never paid to much attention to Danny Javier and Buboy Garrovillo except to think that the former seemed to be the smartest and the latter was cute in a little boy way.          But things kinda changed when I met Buboy in person last November 2010. Yes, he was still cute as he didn't seem to be too different from how he has looked since I was in high school. But it wasn't that which struck me about him. He seemed to be just a guy-next-door who wasn't trying too hard to be the cele...