tomorrow is our permanent address

1. Walang gumaganang HPLC machine within half an hour of Pisay.
2. Never use a trip to UP to break in your new shoes.
3. Makapal ang mukha ni Karmina Aquino.

Kasi ba naman. May dumaang junoirs sa Bio. Unit para i-greet si Sir Espie at bigyan siya ng pizza, at ito namang si Minay, kumuha lang ng isang slice.

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Kate got us scammed and I got us lost. I forced us to walk two blocks back to the NSRI and she forced us to walk around the Institute of Chem. building, without taking into my consideration my bleeding feet. We ran the last several meters to the NSRI in the rain only to have the rain stop the minute we entered. I acted like an idiot inside the Chem. pavilion. I opened the vial of 100% sili juice just to show off and we managed to splash it all over our hands. We took an Ikot jeep to the Shopping Center only to get off at the Health Center because they looked alike. Thankfully the Shopping Center was only a corner away from the Health Center. I bought a 50-mL beaker. I had the sense to walk into Pisay carrying a cup of Starbucks coffee and waving to all the poor souls come straight from CAT. She had the sense to wear good footwear. I sound like the idiot here, but she got us scammed.

"So, who's the killer? You?"
"You?"
"Me?"
"You."
"Why me?"
"I don't know."

She filled up the application form to be a barista at Starbucks. Sinulat niyang pangalan: Malitong Yawa Sinagmaling Diwata. The surname? Cion. XD

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Happy birthday, Sir Espie!!!

Yung mga magagaling at matatalino, puros September yata yung birthday. =D



Nagtago kami sa cubicle ni Sir Espie at kinantahan namin siya pagdating niya. Nagloko kami sa family computer na may cartridge na 1,000,000 in 1. Hindi marunong si Jut maglaro ng Super Mario. Tinakbuhan ba naman nya yung monster na palapit sa kanya. Si Emman naman, pinatay yung monster, kinuha yung mushroom, tapos nahulog sa butas. Sino kaya sa kanila ang mas matalino. Ma'am Dacs couldn't concentrate on checking test papers. Jer couldn't get past level 3. Sir Espie got to level 12, indicating what he did with all his spare time.

And yes, I missed them. Field bio isn't hard to miss. Nilagang corned beef maybe, climbing up Mt. Pinatubo and waking up to a roomful of insects maybe, maybe even the endless concerts of nail on chalkboard also known as Benjie singing. But field bio?


Not on your life.

Quote  of the Day:

... if you feel a sense of homecoming when you enter the Pisay bus.

This day two months ago twenty students woke themselves up at four in the morning or even earlier, hastily checked and double-checked the belongings they were to be bringing around for the next three weeks, and left their homes in varying degrees of excitement for the rain outside and the field trip of a lifetime. They all had expectations, and none of them were exactly met. None of them really knew what they were getting into.

Happy second "birthday", field bio! =>

A miracle- aside from running water, that is- happened yesterday. My mom allowed me to have dinner and watch Iron Man at Trinoma with my field bio classmates. She picked Pristine and me up at ten. Ten!

Okay naman yung movie, andami naming side comments, at natatawa sila sa akin kasi natutuwa ako sa computer na kinakausap niya na sumasagot pa sa kanya. At hanggang dinner sa Trinoma umabot ang pusoy dos nila. =>

Tapos akala ko iniwan nila ako. Kasi may binili ako sa grocery para sa kapatid ko. Tapos pagbalik ko sa mesa na inupuan namin kanina, wala nang tao doon. Ang naiwan na lang ay ang mga plato at isang bote ng Sprite. Buti na lang nagtext si Igi na nasa cinema na sila.

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Brown na yung benches sa front lobby!

(That was the first thing Rej pointed out when we arrived at Pisay yesterday.)

Umabot sa Pisay ang pusoy namin- may nagdala ng baraha kahapon. We had to hide them when other people passed by, and eventually discontinued the game. (Sayang, may 4 of a kind na 7 pa naman ako.) Mostly we just fixed up all our handouts and write-ups at the back lobby. Hindi na ako sanay na makita yung guys na naka-uniform. Sabi ni Benjie hindi na daw siya sanay na magdamit. (I believe him, I think we all did.) Nagpa-deli kami ng McDo for lunch. May dala-dala pa akong pagkain sa oral exam.

Nalimutan ni Jom yung term na "wetlands". Ang sinabi niya ay "water plus grassland combination". At hinulaan ko lang talaga ang ibig sabihin ng MFP ("Guess lang, Sir... May 'Mountaineering', may 'Federation', at may 'Philippines'..." "Ipagdugtong mo sila." "Mountaineering Federation of the Philippines?") at ng biota ("organisms?"). At uno pa kaming lahat sa group!

I really love my groupmates.

Tapos may malaria mosquito (Anopheles gambiae) pa sa scientific names ni Jut.

At nakakatawa pa yung iba naming scientific names. Sa gecko- Gecko gecko. Sa Eurasian eagle owl- Bubo bubo. (That can be a field bio insult- "ang eagle owl mo naman!") Sa boa constrictor- Boa constrictor. And the Gallus gallus and Chanos chanos. Ficus benjamina. Barringtonia acutangula.

(I'm betting this doesn't make any sense anymore.)

And after the oral exams we just stayed at the back lobby, talking and taking pictures and finishing off our remaining requirements. It really doesn't matter where you are- your field bio classmates will make things alive.

When I arrived at home yesterday night, there were chocolates in the ref, the lights turned on when you flicked a switch, and the water didn't taste of anything. My mom told me I had to wash my hands before I could eat said chocolate, so I did. A few seconds later I went bursting out of the bathroom, going, "Water comes out of the tap when you turn the faucet! Water comes out of the tap!!!!" I think Mom found me funny. I'll bet I would have found me funny, too. I doubt I can ever take running water for granted again.

And electricity, for that matter, and soft beds and dry pillows and books and hot chocolate and plates not made of plastic. I will never eat from a plastic plate again. And computers! When I first turned on my Eee this morning, to write this post, I was for a few minutes stumped on how to activate the connection to the Internet. It took me a few minutes of staring at the screen in order to jog up my memory of civilized life.

Pero di bale nang wala sa sibilisasyon, basta kasama ang pinakamamahal kong mga libag.

The first thing I did when I woke up this morning was to look for all my field bio handouts and compile them in a clear book. I dreamt that I went to field bio sadly lacking in materials and with no handouts at all, and even though I woke up realising that field bio starts tomorrow I was still not reassured that I would not leave without, well, anything at all.

If my audience were not mostly imaginary, I would have to announce that I will not be posting for the next three weeks, due to field bio. I think it is more likely for something from my imagination not to know that than it is for a classmate not to.

I think that this post will end around now, because I can't see how anyone, imaginary or not, can expect me to continue babbling while rushing around with last-minute preparations.

And, I bought two packs of Halls candy, each pack containing a hundred candies each. Just for field bio. =>

I am trying to decide how to narrate a day that was, to me, simply fantastic, the way other field bio days and enough schooldays for me to be considered a nerd are in their stability, which is the absolute opposite of grand and yet is grander than any imaginary triumph anyone can come up with, without seeming redundant, annoying, and just plain shallow. I would like to say that the noise of my brother's DS is getting in the way of my thinking, but in order to say that, I must first establish that I can think to begin with. Even though you are purely imaginary (that reminds me of i) (that must have sounded weird), my dear audience, I cannot guarantee that you will all agree with me. So I will just say that the noise of my brother's DS is, while it does not grate on my nerves, something the world just may be better without.

I believe that I have strayed far enough from my topic.

We went to Trinoma today, the way we do most other days, for lunch. We also went to Trinoma this afternoon, the way I don't most other afternoons, because, well, I guess we wanted to eat, among other things.

I love ice cream. I don't know how that will sound. I love candy and ice cream and we played agawan-base in the pool, but I didn't know how to play agawan-base. At nasa amin yung flippers. =>

At wala akong nakalimutan ngayon!

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I was laughing at the accident insurance. I don't know if I was supposed to, but I was laughing nonetheless.

 

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There is nothing grand about a trip to Trinoma. There is nothing earth-shaking about an afternoon out with friends, an ice cream cone, a lot of chatter, and a trip to an arcade. That's why it's so hard to relate that scene in a way that does not make people want to run away in the opposite direction as fast as possible. But really. I don't wonder at the people who pick a lifetime of so-called ordinary scenes over a lifetime of extreme despairs alternating with extreme euphorias.