Another Word for Stress

I have been SCRAed (Supreme Court Reports Annotated) to sickness by no less than sixteen cases which I had to digest, thanks to my favorite subject, Local Government and Development. This semester has been very tedious, with 33 units and a six-day working schedule sitting on top of me. So, I’ve burned out. Immune System decided to take a holiday last Thursday, (it only gets a break once a year, so it decided to have an early Christmas vacation), and I have to entice it to come back with paracetamol, lots of water, and Milo chocolate drink. The hammer fell on Friday –recitation day– when I had to spend half a day in the library with friends (Humanities section, one of the AB territories) to study for LGD. I was prevented doing so by my fever and runny nose, so I slept there. I had read only three cases.

6:00 PM. Class. My card was drawn first among the pile. “Fabie,” the professor said. “Right… Fabie versus the City of Manila,” I affirmed. I stared at the professor, he stared back. Nothing happened. “Uhm, what is your question, sir?”  “To be, or not to be, that is the question!” he replied with such elocution as the theatre guild. The class laughed, I grinned back. Behind me, a helping voice: “facts, gago!” Upon hearing it, clunk went the engine of my brain and started running… I stated facts, and then the issue. “Fabie was asking permission from the City of Manila to erect a structure in the hacienda, but was barred from doing so…” I hit the correct answer, despite having not studied everything, thanks to grace, and a little helping hand from my seatmate.

Everyday is a 12-hour working day, and though my Tuesdays and Thursdays are quite free with only one subject each, we use the hours for study and rest because we always come home late. Non Tuesday-Thursday classes start at 7 or 9 am, so southern guys in class have to wake up 2 or 3 hours before class starts, or risk rush hour – when there will be no public transports available, literally. Class ends at 9 pm, so if we were in a hurry going home, we would reach our beds by 11 pm. This time around, 4POL class just can’t have enough rest! Sigh.

So now, I do cherrish long weekend holidays. This weekend is one, so thanks, President Gloria.

Lyrics

Just playing around with lyrics. harhar. =)

 

Inspirado

I. Sa labi mo nakahimlay ang langit,

Sa ngiti mo nagbabago ang kaba,

Sa mata mo nakadungaw mga anghel

At nasa palad mo ang aking puso.

 

II. Sa bawat oras na lumipas,

Ikaw ang nakaukit sa isip ko

Parang nasa langit lang ang pakiramdam

Tuwing kasama ka sa buhay ko

 

Bridge: kaya wag ka sanang aalis,

ayaw kitang mawala sa’kin dahil

 

Chorus: Inspirado ako sa’yo

kahit ako’y may pagka gago

Tinamaan mo ako, oh

At inspirado ako sa’yo

 

III. Sa bingit ng katamaran

Bigla akong tatamaan ng kasipagan

Tuwing naaalala lang kita

Ba’t ba bumubulusok ang tuwa

 

IV. Sa tuwing hawak mo ang kamay ko, oh

Lumiliwanag ang buong mundo

At pag nagkabit ang ating labi

Damdamin ko’y higit sampung pasko, oh

 

Bridge, Chorus, Chorus, End.

City Sweepers

I woke up this afternoon and went to the US Embassy here in Manila. There was a book shelf right outside its gates, so I started browsing through the books. Unfortunately, a librarian appeared, and she turned out to be the lady janitor who cleans our building in the university. She came up front and asked me if I was a student of the university, I answered yes. She asked if I was a registered student, currently enrolled, I said yes. I was afraid she’d ask for my ID next, because I lost my ID. I was afraid I would not be allowed to browse anymore. Sure enough, she asked for my ID. Since my ID is lost, I showed her my registration form, it’s a receipt to prove you are enrolled.
 She rolled her eyes and said, “you should have told me sooner that your ID was lost!” I thought I would not be permitted to browse the books anymore. But then she continued, “I could have had the whole of Manila swept by janitors to find your ID!” she said. “Really, is that possible?” I asked, surprised. “Of course! One student lost his SIM card and I had janitors sweeping the whole city after which they deliver their trash here for inspection,” the librarian-janitor said with an air of confidence. “How long did it take them to find it?” I asked, still surprised. “Three days,” she said.

And then I really woke up. It was 2:30AM and my electric fan was making a racket of a sound.

a sad happiness

ONE of the greatest regrets I have in college is paradoxical in nature, because it is also one of the best things I have had in college, perhaps even better than my experience in highschool. I barely have four months to spend with people –friends– whom I only got to seriously hang out with only in this later part of my 4th year.

I say I regret my decision to spend more time with friends who happen to be the best because of the lateness of the time I had decided to do so (another one of my flawed decisions). More than anything, it makes me happy to know I’ve got them, and more than anything, it makes me sad to know we’re leaving very soon. So, I’m making up for all the lost opportunities I’ve had.

Thinking back, I realize this runs back in highschool where I never really had a seriously tight knit group of friends, probably because I was weird (laugh out loud), something which my English teacher made profoundly more highlighted by her choice of words to describe me: special, unique, and oh — artiste. Artiste. I almost forgot quixotic. I guess I never really blended in. For one thing, I never played sports which involved balls bigger than a fist (I only played baseball, badminton, and jolen). However, I was delighted to be included in the most elite group of students the school could have — the ACP (CAT for you) officers, albeit I held a quite negligble position which was guidon bearer. Anyway, like most weird people, I’ve developed a certain liking for writing. In another post, I would establish the connection between weirdness and writing (all writers are weird).

Okay, back to present. I realize that the most I could do is to spend more time with people who have always been there, but I am still groping for an answer to why I never came along with them from the beginning. Damn. Well, I would just have to thank Downybearded for that fateful day when I got wasted for the first time at Tapsi, where it all started. Tenks!