the perils of

            Yesterday, Block XX had its required INTACT (Introduction to Ateneo Culture) exposure trip to Bagong Silang, the largest barangay in the Philippines. Because we're Health Sci majors, yesterday was only the first of numerous visits we're going to be paying to Bagong Silang as part of a five-year partnership with Gawad Kalinga aimed at improving the health system in the barangay. Our mission was to educate the kids a bit about healthy habits.             I loved every bit of the trip. It takes a bit more than an hour going to Bagong Silang from Ateneo via jeep. (Ateneo provided us with three jeeps, so there quite a bit of leg room. Ateneo also provided snacks for us and the kids!) Thankfully, the jeep ride was fun fun fun. We sang songs the whole time!                       When we arrived, we were split into three groups and given a small tou...

      If you are, or have ever been, a high school student in the Philippines, I'm assuming that you know about the Diliman campus of the University of the Philippines, more commonly known as UPD. Because if you are/have ever been in high school, and you  don't  know about this university, then you should be ashamed of yourself. Go curl up in a corner and listen to My Chemical Romance and cry. I am ashamed of you.*      Fortunately, being the good soul that I am, I will provide you a little background about the place. Be grateful that somebody actually had the decency to relieve you of your ignorance and blindness. Yeah, that's right. Just call me The Illuminator.** And, yes, you are forgiven.     UP Diliman is the Holy Grail of universities here in the Philippines. Its entrance exam, the UPCAT, is the hardest to pass (I think it's because of the right-minus-wrong system). Among all the UP campuses in the country, the Di...