wow. the two weeks flew by so fast. at first i thought that it would be a very tiring sembreak for me. it was. but it was still a very fulfilling and memorable sembreak. thank you ateneo HR! :) thank you tribong bongga (sembreak 2009)! :)
we spent 4 days in Tagaytay, 5 days in Oriental Mindoro for the Immersion, and 3 1/2 days in Puerto Galera for the "R 'n R". pero super bilis nung oras. di pa nagsisink in na we are OFFICIALLY part of ateneo HR!!! :)
here's a rundown of what happened during the last two weeks:
BOS-TAGAYTAY (October 25-28)
DAY 1: call time at 6am in ateneo. mass at 7am. we listened to two talks (gender and children's rights). the activity was fun naman. after a quick lunch, we travelled by vans to tagaytay. kwentuhan lang kami ni jules. after dropping off our stuff in our rooms at CBCP-NASA, we listened again to two more talks. we also formed four groups for the the BOS (SPICE, Binibining ganda't hari, Super, and Hunkys). my group is SPICE. groupmates ko si Kenji, Dos, Stef and Drea. our first competition was the cheering competition. syempre, todo project and dance number lang kami :)
DAY 2: we had praise during the early morning. some people were late. after breakfast, before the recap of our group, a memorable scene happened. tin reminded our batch about the rules. the facis were thinking of imposing a stricter penalty in case of any further violations of the rules. tas candy wanted to impose the penalty agad. retroactive effect. GRAAAAABE! hahaha. ang funny lang nung mga reaction namin. anyway, we listened to 4 talks ata. ung iba fun, ung iba nakakaantok. sorry! coffees are not allowed inside the conference room eh. i don't remember all of the things we did, i forgot my immersion booklet in my BOS bag. basta alam ko dos got injured in one of the challenges and life experiences kami after dinner. we finished at 4am.
DAY 3: syempre we didn't want to get scolded by the facis again, so all of us woke up early kahit less than 4 hours of sleep lang kami. we heard several talks ulit. some were really enlightening. we had an amazing race that afternoon. sooooooo tiring lang talaga. kawawa muscles namin. pero it was really really fun! :) we also had a nice sort-of induction ceremony nung gabi. im really sorry, bingo! i didn't mean to fall asleep while you were talking. hahaha
DAY 4: we listened to two more talks during the morning. had a VERY HEALTHY lunch! in fairness, unexpected yun ah. kaya pala! :) tas may challenge ulit after lunch. i think. basta i remember that we had cultural night. so rush lang talaga lahat. pero ang fun! lalo nung impersonations nila pau :) didn't sleep at all. bag check agad after cultural night.
IMMERSION-KABANAO, ORIENTAL MINDORO (October 29 til November 3)
DAY 5: we left tagaytay at a little past 2am. rode a van til batangas pier and waited for the 6:15am boat. slept all the way, kahit dun sa van papuntang socorro HQ. after having lunch, sir chochoy briefed us about our assigned immersion sites. i was partnered with chin. our facis were carol and caloi. carlo was also assigned near our area. our guide was Capt. Philemon Perez.
we rode a tricycle till marayos. capt decided that we should drop off carlo first in caligtangan just in case we dont make it before it becomes too dark to hike. plus, it was raining so that made it a wet hike. the hike was fairly okay. there were a lot of sapas on the way to the immersion site. ang cool nung water. we reached the area after more than an hour of hiking. after dropping off our stuff in the house, we had an usap-usapan in the simbahan with the mangyan elders. afterwards, we cooked our own dinner kahit wala kaming materials at all. we ate sardines and rice. tas slept early na rin para sa hike the next day.
DAY 6: we hiked back to sabang and rode a tricycle to marayos. our hike to kabanao was supposedly for one hour only. BUT the trail was really steep. we had to rest a lot of times. chin was super frustrated with the hike! in all fairness, ang ganda nung view sa taas. worth the hike naman! when we arrived at the community, capt gave us buko to drink. chin and i talked to the pastor about the community. dun nag-start ung npa vs. military talks. apparently, a stray bullet hit the community a week ago during the encounter between the npa and military. tas may mga hirit pa na mukha kaming npa. haha! the pastor also briefed us on the history of the community and how religion changed the the mangyan's culture. afterwards, chin and i settled down in the separate house. all the kids were gawking at us kahit habang natutulog kami during siesta hour. we ate balinghoy (camoteng kahoy) with sugar. it was really yummy! capt asked us to stay with his family na lang. he cautioned us that the npa MIGHT hold their meeting in the community. that made us nervous. during dinner, capt served us a lot of rice. i told chin to think of it as a food challenge na lang para maubos namin. we slept after dinner. it was cold because of the rain.
DAY 7: we had sweet coffee for breakfast. chin and i did our morning ritual (#1 and #2). we already found the perfect spot to do our nasty business. we ate balinghoy again and chatted with capt. we found out that the mangyans marry early. last year, a 10-year old girl married a 30-year old man. they are also allowed to have many wives as long as they can support them. if you break this tradition by marrying a singanon or tagalog, you will be punished. it was a very traditional culture where men rule over women. after doing some sight seeing, chin and i took a bathe at the bukal (a small tube where water flows from underground). it was located near a cliff so mejo scary lang talaga. we also washed our clothes so matagal lang talaga kami dun. we hanged out with pastor and his wife after our siesta hour. we got scared nanaman with the npa stories. chin and i decided to text the HQ. we borrowed the pastor's phone and pretended that we were texting the facis to ask for more provisions. parang spies lang kami, secret agents kung baga. hahaha. we also hanged out with the other mangyans to learn their language. after our dinner, the chairman of the whole tadjaon tribe talked to us about the mining problem. we also heard stories about our other batchmates. sobrang saya lang ung feeling na okay sila :)
DAY 8: we didn't sleep well the night before. chin and i took turns on staying awake, scared that the npa might arrive and kill us or something. pero wala naman nangyari na ganun. thus far, breakfast that day was the real food challenge for me. we were served rice with balinghoy. im sorry, but i cheated. i hid the kanin using tissue paper and disposed of it in my garbage bag. we attended their 3-hour mass at the simbahan. we also introduced to them AHRC and the rights of indigenous people. afterwards, chin and i took a nap at the other house. we ate and drank buko for lunch.
it was a long morning for us. we were waiting for the facis to arrive. i know that there is no chance that we would be pulled out of the immersion. i doubt that sir chochoy or tin abu will visit us. sure enough, jason and atty. alu arrived at past 1pm. they assured us that we were safe from the leftist and the rightist. we conversed in english just in case. after they left, we ate balinghoy again and conversed with capt and his family. we also asked them to sing mangyan songs for us. oh yeah, capt made a toilet for us. thank you :)
DAY 9: we woke up early again. capt and most of the mangyans went to marayos to work so chin and i were left with some of the children. we helped ruben, capt's son, gamas (remove weeds in the bukid). tas we took a bathe ulit ni chin pero mas mabilis na ung hike. chin played with the children while i dozed off in the duyan. they sang mangyan and tagalog songs. sir chochoy and tin abu arrived after lunch. grabe lang talaga, super handy nung small bag ni sir! we cooked pancit canton for dinner and capt served us baboy bundok. the chairman felt bad that they didn't throw a party for us so nagkwentuhan na lang kami.
DAY 10 pt.1: it was a wet morning. it rained the whole night. we were so worried kasi di talaga namin makita ung sun. nevertheless, chin and i hiked as soon as the sky was bright enough in order for us to see the trail. we hiked for only an hour. it was bittersweet when we reached marayos. super nalungkot kami ni chin when we boarded the tricycle. quoting chin, "at least tayo may bablikan. sila wala.."
chin and i were the first one to arrive at the HQ. we hiked for only an hour even though the trail was really slippery because of the rain. we waited for our batchmates to arrive. kb and bless were the last one to arrive. they had to wait for this "tin tin" person who never showed up! we rested for a bit, took pictures, ate our pasalubongs, and made kwento about our immersion experiences. after having lunch, we left the HQ for puerto galera.
R 'N R-PUERTO GALERA (November 3-6)
(longer entry kasi more recent)
DAY 10 pt. 2: there were 2 vans: our van (2A, 2C, and 3A batchmates) and the other van (2B batchmates and jules). kb and i sang filipino songs during the whole trip to puerto. for some strange reason, hyper lang kami. we stopped at the waterfalls to take our pictures. kb made libre ice cream to everyone. it was a 4-hour drive. boring, most of the time. well, except for the love tidbit that we overheard from the facis. hahaha.
when we arrived at the GM's Resort, a secluded beach resort near the white beach, we were super relieved! woohoo! Rest and relaxation na talaga ito. BUT NO!!! we had evaluation pa and sportsfest. hahaha. so most of us took a bathe kaagad after we arrived. aila, paula and jules were my roommates. after dinner, the boys and i had a few beers at the bar next to the resort. tas we had our first evaluation about our immersion experience. it was simple and sweet. most of the people are tired na rin kasi. afterwards, the boys and i drank again. some of our batchmates were singing naman. good job talaga, batchie hector! :) slept early.
DAY 11: we were supposed to go swimming the next day before breakfast. but people were too tamad to get up. so we hanged out na lang while waiting for the food. we had evaluation again. it was mostly like art class. just a summary na lang of the experiences of people:
kb and bless = they had one of the worst hikes. they had to do a 3-hour night hike, super narrow trails, plus limatiks pa! they stayed in a separate house which was made out of bamboo lang so super cold din pag gabi. highlight siguro: kb is the queen of the mangyans. heartthrob si batchie! hehehe :)
drea, paula and dos = they had one of the easiest and closest hikes. there were a lot of children in their community. they also lived in a separate house so they had to cook their own food. highlight siguro: just think church of lukumi vs. city of hieleah tas pigs ung ginamit. freaky.
hector and quino = they also lived in a separate house. ang funny lang. malamig daw kasi pag gabi dun sa community nila. quino tried to stay warm by sleeping near the makeshift stove. but noooo, batchie hector had to do push-ups so he could stay warm. hahaha. highlight siguro: they had Baybellin, their own mangyan "tour guide". EJECT!!
ai and cj = they had the worst hike and the worst living condition! they had to hike through knee-high mud kaya they had to remove their mojos. their house was made out of bamboo rin ata kaya pag foggy ung area, pumapasok ung water sa loob. tas super liit nung house nila, right size lang for the two of the them. it was really depressing.
stef and jen = they had the best living condition! i mean, seriously, they stayed in a guest house and meron pa floor plan. they had a comforter, pillows, kubo, running water, stove with gasul, store, etc. graaaaabe! we were teasing them nga na parang di sila nagimmersion. :) EJECT!!
carlo = in my opinion, the hike to caligtangan was fairly easy. ayos naman daw din ung pagstay sa caligtangan. carlo did a lot of stuff like go to the bundok to help out in the bukid. highlight siguro: nanlibre lang talaga si carlo ng mga bata. i mean, coke etc pa. hahaha. pwede ba i-eject?? :)
gamma and kenjie = they had a 2-hour hike din ata. they were also near the sea. highlight siguro: they weren't in their immersion site when the facis arrived for the follow-up. candy wrote a letter to them. hahaha. ang funny lang talaga ni kenjie! the mr and mrs in the group :)
jules and bianca = they had a fairly decent living condition also. mejo civilized na rin daw kasi ung immersion site nila.
bingo and skip = they lived on top of the mountain but also near the sea. they were fed well by their host family. i mean, really fed well. highlight siguro: ung kwento about their hike. it was a very slippery hike that most of the time, some of them would fall flat on their ass. :)
since we wanted to finish early, we devised a plan and limited our sharing to at least 2 minutes na lang. we also elected our batch officers. CJ is our batch head, Bless is our project coordinator, Dos is our secretary, and Carlo is our treasurer :) (sorry, spaced out na lang talaga ako the whole time. i was bonding with the guys lang talaga. haha)
after dinner, , we had the lighting of the candle. afterwards, most of the group partied. as in. get drunk and all that crap. hahaha. kla made all of us drink at least one shot of her mix. so kamusta naman?? i dunno but i think i got drunk. after our talk ni jason about his love life, i felt a bit woozy. okay, thats an understatement. i felt like i was going to throw up. Bingo helped me na lang get to my room. (this part is a little vague to me. i distinctly remember that i got woozy at the beach in the kubo. quino etc were there pa nga. tas i was talking to bingo and i suddenly felt like i was going to throw up. sabi naman ni bingo, i got woozy daw near the videoke after we sang ni skippy. labo.) so there... bigla na lang ako nag-disappearing act. i wont blog what happened afterwards (while i was apparently too drunk to get up) 'cause i want to invoke my right against self-incrimination. nothing immoral. pero just to be safe :)
DAY 12: i woke up early the next day, which is weird. the whole agenda for the day was the sportsfest. there were three groups: TEAM BA (our group), Pex Pex (pau's group) and eject (dos' team). our team won only twice: cheering competition and the quiz bee. grabe naman kasi, lahat nung mga athletic nasa Pex Pex. ang masasabi ko lang, sooooooobrang hector lang talaga nung cheer nila. hahaha. i love you, batchie! :)
after the sportsfest, a number of people swam in the sea kahit super lamig. im sorry, pero para lang Baguio yung weather. skippy even termed our resort, "Baguio Beach." suuuuper cold talaga! while most of the people were chilling and swimming, bingo and i hanged out sa may duyan. kulitan and kwentuhan. we almost forgot that we had to practice pa pala for the cultural night. hahaha.
most of the people felt tired na talaga after the sportsfest so hindi masyado attentive during the meeting. some people got annoyed tuloy. anyway, cant blog about it. our theme was sort-of like lion king. since we call CJ as "madamba" and our batch name is "tribong bongga", our presentation was medyo ethnic. we had to scrap out a lot of performances kasi too tired to think lang talaga. the junkettes (alumni) and the facis (batch marino bente dos) performed also. ang funny lang talaga nung skit nila. im sorry, caloi!!! graaaaaaaabe!! :)
after the cultural night, we were supposed to get drunk kasi party na. but most of my batchmates went to bed kaagad. only a handful of us stayed for the party. we played one round of the game "i've never" pero the host (alumna and facis) got drunk na so we took a break. bingo and i decided to buy beer outside and saw jason instead. we wanted to give him the opportunity to make da moves kaso it failed pa rin. the facis soon followed us in the kubo. things got a little awkward for the new interns kasi they were discussing ata about jason and....
so we transferred to the next kubo ni bingo and kb. but kb was really sleepy na and bingo and i had drinks pa. so we dropped her off sa room niya. scary lang!! biglang may two dogs!! graaaaaabe!! tas bumalik kami nang beach ni bingo kaso wala na pala kami na batchmmate na gising. so we downed our drinks (kahit i know he cheated.. haha). kaso biglang nag-brownout nung pabalik kami nang room! crap. so went back to the beach with the facis. drank more wine. when we found out that the brownout would last the whole night pala, we decided to go to sleep na rin. 2am. last two standing sa batch. oh yeah, bingo made me walk the straight line just to prove that im not drunk. crap. i failed miserably =c
(oh yeah, the facis asked why our batch name wasn't Batch Competitive tutal we always like to use that phrase pa naman. well, i dunno also. mostly mangyan words talaga gusto nung batch tas nagsettle sa Bongga. so there)
DAY 13: i woke up early, again strange. i woke up three times because of strange noises (banging door kahit alam ko i closed the door before i went to sleep, dripping shower kahit di gumagana shower namin sa room, and loud knocking at the door na i thought were batchmates who were trying to wake us up). after our last breakfast at the resort, most of us went to the white beach to buy souvenirs. graaaabe, im surprised that we all fit in one small tricycle (me, kb, bingo, hector, carlo, skip and drea). i feel bad for the tricycle! hahaha. tas after buying souvenirs (i bought shirts for my family and some trinkets for my law school friends), we headed to the bar to drink some mindoro slingshot and took pictures at the beach. ang fun lang! i love you, batchies! :)
when we got back, some people swam while some got drunk pa ulit. kasama ako dun sa huli. hahaha. bonding sa kubo. ang fun. ang serious nga lang nung conversation namin with genesis. relationships. quoting myself, "being in a relationship is like being a girl, it's too emotional." hahaha :) we took a quick shower before we set sail for batangas. the ride was okay naman. most of us fell asleep, too tired to make kwento. after arriving at the port, we rode a bus naman (na puro HR people lang laman). :)
grabe, its been only 24 hours since i last saw my batchies but i already miss them. parang di pa nagsisink-in sa akin na im back in laguna na and school starts in a few days.. i miss being competitive sa food, laughing with the guys, drinking every night, and chilling lang with the batch and facis.
five words that i miss saying out loud: "Fight!" while hiking in the mountains, "Steady" when chin would ask for my opinion, "Chillax" when i'd quote Quino's mantra, "Competitive!" when i'd tease Bingo, and "Batch" when i'd call Bingo, Hector, Carlo, Skip, Gamma, Quino and KB.
school starts in a few days. this is only the beginning for all of us. Fight lang, Batch! Pero steady and chillax muna tayo for the last few days of sembreak. I'm sure, mas competitive tayo next semester! I love you, batchies!!! :)
"When things get awfully tiring, seek for silence. Most of the time, the loudest lessons are found at the quiet corners of our lives."