Congratulations, friends and nieces!! :D

-
Wow, 2014 really is turning out to be a great year! I am particularly happy of the achievements that my friends and my nieces have gained. So, forgive me for carrying my chair (as the Filipino idiom goes, pagbuhat ng sariling bangko). In no particular order:

1. Trisha Palero
My niece graduated from grade school with flying colors! I just can't believe that time flew by so fast. But then, she's been this tiny kid who can knock some sense in her elders, so her high grades shouldn't be much of a surprise. Next school year, she's joining the ranks of kids taking up 7th grade... And I'm not sure if that counts as primary school or high school.

2. Ara Calabinhi
My other niece is graduating from college!! She's taken up BSc Biology in UPLB. I am a particularly proud tita because she's graduating from the same tough general program that I finished in 2002 (but I think she pursued a different specialization). But boy does her graduation remind me that I am getting old! 

3. Kathy Ramos
A friend since nursery school. I really believe that the school where we went for primary education introduced me to lifelong friends. The funny thing is, she's the friend who remembers more about what I had to go through orthodontically than me! Perhaps I was in pain much of the time to deal with the details or she really took note of the procedures when I had explained them in graphic detail. She finished BSc Nursing this year and is prepping for the board exams in May. I'm particularly happy because she has gone through challenges in the past. Getting that degree shows that nothing, absolutely nothing, can stop her when she has set her eyes on a goal.

4. Noan Pagdanganan
My bestfriend since grade school. Proof, again, that Christian School International introduced me to people who have become my lifelong friends. Not everyone can say that about their classmates. She graduated from her Medicine course and is now a step closer to becoming a bonafide MD, a goal we both had as kids. Well, I opted to do a 3605-mile "course correction" along the way so this achievement feels like a graduation for me too! I have an idea how challenging the ups and downs of Med school were for her because she shares stories about them with me. To see her reach the finish line (of Med coursework) reminds me that the cookie jar/ pot of gold at the end of the road can make us continue on despite the numerous reasons to turn back... but there should always be time to stop and smell the roses along the way.

5. Mark Vicente
A friend since college and a fellow AKR baby. Despite his crazy schedule and challenging patients (and patients' bantays), he'd have time (albeit very few hours---yes he's that busy---a year) to touch base with me to update each other about our lives. We'd also given each other advice and encouragement when we had to deal with troublesome youngest siblings (both have graduated from college already, thank goodness). And he was present over the phone, listening to me, during Lola Estay's last days. He's finished his fellowship and is now prepping for the Cardiology board exam that is coming real soon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for dropping by!

Before moving on, please share your thoughts or comments about the post. :)

Thanks again!

Popular posts from this blog

Skyflakes

-
One of the more famous Philippine exports is Skyflakes , a wheat-based, salty cracker. It is one of my emergency food items: I typically have some stocked at home and in my handbag in case I become hungry (like in traffic jams). When there's no electricity and it's impractical to cook rice (because the leftover would spoil), I'd open a pack of Skyflakes and generously coat each cracker with Cheez Whiz... if I had a bottle of it within reach. Anyway, each time I spent more than two weeks outside the Philippines, I'd be elated to see boxes of Skyflakes inside Asian stores (particularly when in I was Australia and in the USA). Back then, I took it as a sign of homesickness. When I moved to California, I didn't miss Skyflakes because Mommy made sure that there's a steady supply in the house. Skyflakes is embedded in Filipino gastronomy as a snack, a panawid-gutom , that anyone who reacts positively upon seeing Skyflakes outside the Philippines must have spe...
Read more

10 things I learned while driving on Marcos Highway to Baguio City

-
I went on a day trip to the City of Pines, which was around a 700-km drive from my house. I drove  going up there and then from the city to Victoria, Tarlac. After that, my dad took over the driving duties. It was day trip with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing with us. Anyway, this trip was my first time to go to Baguio City with me behind the wheel. As everyone who drives up knows, there are three main routes to Baguio from the lowlands: Kennon Road, which ascends from Rosario, La Union. It was out of my options because it's too dangerous to use that road in the rainy season. The second route is via Naguilian Road, which makes my trip a lot longer because the beginning of the ascent is in Bauang, La Union (further north). The last route, and the one I took, was the Marcos Highway, now known as the Aspiras-Palispis Highway. This 47-km road starts from Agoo, La Union and is touted as the safest route among the three.  As I drove up and then down (on the same day; we were in...
Read more

Surat Mangyan

-
Image
In high school, part of the Filipino curriculum was learning about one of the country's ancient native scripts called Baybayin . I learned back then that this script was eventually abandoned because the Spanish, and eventually the Americans, encouraged the use of the Latin script for written communications. But that's in the lowlands; the rules were different up in the mountains. In the lush mountains of Mindoro, groups of indigenous people called Mangyans  live largely in isolation away from the Christianised Filipinos. This isolation has led to the continuous development of the Mangyans' old script, Surat Mangyan . As I walked inside the Ayala Museum , I saw this bamboo tube (I'm not sure if it's an instrument) with Mangyan script written all over it. I suppose that this was equivalent to a book or a song. But I haven't figured out what's written yet, despite the translation guide provided. What I can do, however, is write my name in Ma...
Read more