the perils of

Lightbulb moment. Those "light images" I talked about in my previous post? THEY HAVE AN ACTUAL PURPOSE! I am truly sorry, NVM Gonzales, for having thought that they were just there to prettify your narrative. Oh, how wrong I was. Mr. Max Pulan explained to us last Friday that the lights were actually - Wait. You don't actually care about this stuff, do you :| All righty then. Skipping to the next topic! . . . So I haven't updated this blog in a while, but here I am now, thanks to the prodding of an anonymous commenter whom I suspect to be my own mother. Anyway, it's RecWeek here in the Ateneo, which means that it's time for all the orgs to start haulin' in some fresh meat! It's a pretty epic event that the upperclassmen have been psyching us up for since the first week of classes, and now that it's here, it really is super cool! B-) All of us get these RecWeek manuals, which are basically these cool little books that tell you about ...

Phew. Finally, I've submitted my Chemistry pre-lab report today. I was up till 2 AM figuring it out (and I only just finished it before Math class at 2 PM!) and now I feel like I can just sit back, relax, and enjoy the aircon and Internet here in the Rizal Library. :) And Math? Well, I'll just put in a little extra effort tonight and tomorrow and over the weekend. The quiz is still on Tuesday, after all. That gives me five days prep time! And I've already scheduled an appointment with Mr. Tolentino, my Math teacher, for next Wednesday afternoon. I've already explained to him that I didn't take up in high school the topics we're discussing right now. He understands. Man, I feel so behind because my blockmates have already learned this stuff - in their sophomore year, at that! But I'm all mellow right now. I've got only three classes tomorrow - English, Literature, and P.E. All in the morning. So the rest of the day, I'm freeeeeeeeeeeeeeee... t...

How on Earth did I manage to make it into the Director's List? How was I able to pass the ACET? How did I even graduate high school? Myself, I am disappoint.

I just don't understand Math as well as my classmates do. Every Math class, I have to struggle to keep up with the lessons. If this were a race, it seems like my blockmates would be sprinting towards the finish line, and I wouldn't even be halfway there. Math math math math math. Axioms and the table of signs and proving and inequalities... It just doesn't come naturally to me. Now, I'm really, really scared of getting a bad grade in Math and then losing my scholarship. I wouldn't even be here if not for the money given to me by the BPI Foundation. My parents simply can't afford to pay the tuition here. If not for my BPI scholarship, I'd be in Xavier University right now, studying Nursing, living the cushy life back in Cagayan de Oro... D'awww! I can't lose my scholarship. I just CAN'T. I don't wanna go to Xavier!!! I LOVE IT HEEEEEERE!!!! Okay. Here's what I'm gonna do. I'm going to make use of one of the consultancy...

Name: Aimee Capinpuyan Age: Confidential, upon request of mother. Number of days away from home: 14 . . . Present Physical Condition Height: Average. If wearing chunky slippers, tall. Weight: To be measured on weighing scale in her aunt's house later (will be kept confidential if results are unfavorable) Skin : Getting worse because of sun and stress Hair : As thin and messy as ever Diet: Consists mainly of McDonald's, KFC and Jollibee .  Exercise: More than she likes.  Overall physical condition: Average. . . . Present Mental Condition Chemistry: Good. Math: Needs improvement. English : Cool. Literature: To be announced True or False You sometimes see things, animals or plants that other people cannot see. False. You see dead people. I see Fr. Horacio de la Costa's statue a lot - does that count? What's 1+1? True. Opinion on Korean & Japanese music: Hostile. Sanity: Present Insanity: Overall mental condition: Just fine. . . . Present Emoti...

Lately I've been coming back to the dorm too tired do much else other than take a bath, Skype, and Facebook. Writing takes a lot of energy, okay! So, for all the days I've missed to post, here is a barrage of pictures I took with my cellphone with quick recaps: Tuesday, June 15 First day of classes. I actually did write about this day in a previous post , but I guess I forgot to post these marvelous pictures of the Church of the  Gesù .  I went here after classes with Andy, Ren and Elisa, my friends from Health Sciences (I can't say "blockmates" because Elisa is from XX1.) . . . Wednesday, June 16  English 12 in the Bellarmine Building was the first thing in the morning - teacher is Mr. Maximo Pulan!!! I was chosen to be one of the five people to go up on stage and create the beginning of a fairy tale, word by word (one word per person!). It turned out to be something about a beanstalk and a mouse and a slab of cheese that turned black when "I" ate i...

The day I'd been looking forward to since setting foot in Manila: first day of college! Come to think about it, a college education is actually the whole reason why I'm here. Oh, but not just a college education, but a holistic learning experience and spiritual formation you can only find in the Ateneo. (Shameless school promotion, anyone?) Right. So. I woke up at 6:15, fell asleep, then woke up at 6:30. When I checked my phone after I showered, I panicked because Rap, my blockmate and ally in the war of the races (HALF CHINESE FTW IN YOUR FACE ALBERT YOU KOREAN YOU), was already asking me where I was. I grabbed the nearest pack of Sky Flakes and started dipping the pieces in cheese spread like hell. Breakfast ;) Met up with Andy, Karl, Rap and Kaye at the Gonzaga cafeteria and then caught up with a few more blockmates. We went to our first class of the day, Filipino 11. When we got to the classroom in Berchman's Hall, Room 209, we found most of our other blockmates...

Because I'm too lazy to write a real paragraph. Woke up at Auntie Luching's house (Oh, and I had a really, really bad dream last night!) Didn't feel like P. Diddy (how many times have I used this "joke" already?) Breakfast was chorizo and fried rice. Ahh, home-cooked meals. <3 Made the most out of the wi-fi because I knew that Internet would be crappy from then on Received chocolate from my cousins <3 <3 <3  Was very happy Rode with Kuya Karl back to the dorm. Signed up for a day of Dorminet (Dorm Internet. Pretty clever, huh?) Dorminet is fast, but unreliable, because one moment it's there, and the next - poof! Lunch by myself at KFC. It was the first time since coming here that I ate alone, I think.  Went to Rustan's to buy that sponge thingy you use to scrub yourself with - just because I needed an excuse to go over there :D (I like Rustan's, okay.) More Internet when I got back to the dorm. Ugh things got extremely boring ...

Hey, guess what! I came to Manila last Sunday, and since TODAY'S a Sunday, that means- I'VE BEEN HERE FOR ONE WEEK!!! Has it already been one week? It's felt like a month. Haha. I'm still counting down the days until I get to go home for Uncle Mike's wedding. 20 days more! Woohoo!  Anyway, to celebrate my still being alive after a week of living in Manila, here's an irrelevant picture of a lolcat! . . . So how's my first weekend here, you ask? It gets a bit lonely when I'm by myself and I've ran out of Facebook notifications to check up on. Haha. But when my cousins are around, it's all good. Well, not really. There's the drinking. This is what everyone's been telling me since I decided to come here in the first place. The drinking. The drugs. The vices. I assure you guys, I won't. Seriously. I really really hate the taste of beer .__. (and, NO, it wasn't my cousins who let me have my first taste - it was YOU, Dad! Hah...

Hello readers, a.k.a. Dad! Sorry for not updating this. I'm waaaay behind schedule. (THANK YOU, crappy Smart Bro plug-in!) So, here's what I'll do: I'll write about today, and then backtrack and write about Friday, then Thursday! Sound good? . . . Saturday. When I woke up this morning I was kind of feeling like P. Diddy (see: previous post ). It was a Saturday, and I had all the time to kill in the morning before having to go take Guidance Testing in the Ateneo at 1 PM. Short on cash, I decided to go to ADMU to withdraw money. While walking towards Xavier Hall, this guy approached me and asked, "Miss, saan ba yung canteen?" I must've stood there open-mouthed for quite some time, because he repeated his question. "Uh, uh..." I stammered. DUDE, I'm a freshman. Can't you tell? I reek of freshie. I told him to make a left at the MVP basement, climb up the stairs and then look for the Gonzaga cafeteria. He thanked me and was on his w...

SORRY FOR THE MESSY LAYOUT - I MADE THIS IN MS WORD BACK WHEN THE INTERNET WAS CRAPPY AND NOW I'M TOO LAZY TO EDIT THIS SO OKAY, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. - Aimee/Bea ----------------- OrSem day. When I woke up this morning, I wasn’t feeling like P. Diddy (Dad, if you’re reading this, I’m making a reference to a famous pop song by Ke$ha, okay?). In fact, what I felt was more like... Um, to be honest with you, I don’t really remember what I felt like. This morning seems to me like so long ago. (It’s now 11:28 PM according to my laptop clock, by the way.) All I can walk you through is the technical stuff, and none of the “what I felt like” part. (Oh look, it just turned 11:29.) I feel like a robot now. Anyway, so here’s what happened, without the feelings: · Woke up at 6:25. Had camote fries for breakfast, courtesy of Twa-e (oh, did I mention that “Twa-e” roughly means eldest aunt in Chinese?) · Showered, dressed, then put away the things I...

I guess I shouldn't mope so much. I don't want you , the beautiful and handsome members of my family, thinking that I'm having such a sucky time here in the Big M. I can just imagine how your mealtime conversations would take place: Dad: Ahh, look what Achi said on her latest blog post. She's miserable. Cait: Good. Jiggy: WHAT! Diiiich! You think it's GOOD for Achi to be MISERABLE? You're horrible ! Cait: No need to shout Jigs! Jiggy: Ha? Cait: No need to shout Jigs. Jiggy: What? Cait: NOOOO! NEEEED! TOOOO! SHOUT! JIIIIIIIGS! Jiggy: Ohhh Dichi! No need to shout! (To all those non-family readers [if there are any] I should probably have clarified this sooner: I am Achi, and Caitlin is Dichi. At least to Jiggy, she is.) So, dearest family members of mine, I'm fine. Homesick and sad, but otherwise, alive and in one piece. Actually, I'm a lot luckier than the rest of my promdi batchmates, because I'm coming home this July. Only 24 more days to go until m...

Okay. There might be a couple of things I missed to take into consideration when I decided to study in Manila. One. The crippling loneliness. Okay, well, I haven't actually experienced that yet, because my mom's here with me right now (but she'll be back in Cagayan by tomorrow.) But tomorrow, I'll actually be staying in my dorm. And even though I have a roommate, I can't really say to her everything I say to my family, now can I? Crippling. Loneliness. I know I know. I'll have friends. In fact, I'll have one sure friend with me. (Hello, Jason!) But then... CRIPPLING. LONELINESS. . . . Two. No television. I didn't think this would be a problem at first, because I don't pay much attention to the TV whenever it's on at home. But now, having no TV in my life leaves a void in my free time in my room. Because what is there to distract me from my homesickness? . . . Three. . . . Well, that's pretty much there is in my list as of now. I'll tell ...

Survived my first day. (Oh, by the way, I must point out that yesterday isn't technically my first day in Manila, because I came here when I was like three. And then again last April. But, for conveniency sake, I'll just say it was my first day.) So anyway. Second day. It's five in the afternoon and Mommy and I are in the guest room at my aunt's house. No WAY am I staying in my dorm until my three days with Momsie are up. I had a really hard time falling asleep last night. In my own house, I lie in bed for about two hours before finally drifting off to sleep. Although it didn't take that long for me to go to sleep last night, it was unpleasant altogether because I was feeling terribly sad. I don't know what time it was that I actually fell asleep, but I woke up at 7 this morning feeling refreshed, cheerful, and puffy-eyed. Mom and I went to Ateneo firstly to settle things with the Office of Admissions and also to pay tuition. I "oohed" and "aahed...

The beginning of my new life... It's tomorrow. TOMORROW. It's unsettling. It makes me uncomfortable. I don't like this feeling. It's like being pushed off an airplane and not knowing whether your parachute works. It's like climbing up a tall, tall metal ladder and stepping on the very edge of the diving board, peering down at the ice-cold pool you're going to have to plunge into. It's like drinking too much pineapple juice and then getting your intestines all knotted up from the acid. Oh wait. That last part actually happened. But you get the idea. Anyway, so how am I spending this lovely sunny day in Cagayan de Oro City with my family, you ask? Well, so far, I've accomplished the following: Got my favorite pillow back from the dry cleaners. He's a lot cleaner now :3 (yes, he's a "he") Did some last-minute shopping with Momsie. Ate nachos with Momlet. Ate a burrito with the Momster. Reserved some tickets for a visit home in August! :D ...

I've finally got my class schedule! Woohoo! The enlistment itself was just about an hour long. Picking out a P.E. is what cost me so much time. But turning my schedule into something cheery and colorful - that took an hour and forty-five minutes. :) (click picture for high-def... if you wanna... you don't have to.) Everything's looking pretty good, except for Monday. Ugh. Four straight hours of Chemistry! Torture! What I love is that the very first class I'll be having on M-W-F mornings is English. And then Literature! Woohoo! And check out my Wednesday. Only two classes in the morning and then it's FREEDOM all the way! . . . Oh yeah. About my P.E. I really wanted running, and I was ecstatic to see that there was a slot left. But when I clicked the "enlist" button, it turns out somebody had beaten me to it. Grrr. So now it's Tai Chi. It wasn't a very hard decision to make, actually. There were very few P.E.'s left that still had slots availabl...

Today: Enlistment Day Time: Late in the morning. Status: Uneasy Enlistment Day. The crucial day when students finally get to view their class schedules and compare them with friends to see which periods they're free to hang out. Better-known as "Dear Sweet Lord Please Let Me Have A Good P.E." Day. In the Ateneo, you can enlist for your classes online. But to avoid online traffic, this is done by batching. They give you a random number which corresponds to the time you should be online, and all you have to do is log on at that given time and then enlist. Problem is, there is a limited number of slots in all P.E.'s. This is common knowledge already, as 1,000 students can't sign up for any one class! So the rule that applies now when chosing your P.E. is first come first serve. Which is really really uncool, because I'm part of the last batch of enlisters! I won't have a lot of P.E.'s to choose from by the time I log on. Even now, when they're still s...