Silence in the car, with the exception of "Harana", which was one of those new songs by that band, Parokya ni Edgar.

A hand reaches over and turns off the radio.

M asks, "Anak, may nanliligaw ba sa 'yo?"

A fidgets. She thinks about those conversations at the lobby of the girls dorm, the flowers on the first monthsary, the stolen movie dates, and the moments at the stone benches by the creek.

A takes the plunge. "Uh, meron."

"Sino?"

"Si A."

"Kailan pa?"

A evasively answers, "This week lang."

"Ano ba sa tingin mo ang panliligaw?"

"Uh, dating?"

"With friends, o kayo lang?"

"Um, pareho."

M says resolutely, in a motherly tone, "Anak, ang panliligaw, hindi ginagawa sa kalsada. Kung may nanliligaw sa iyo, dalhin mo sa bahay, kahit ba sa Quezon City kayo nagaaral. At sa tingin ko, hindi pa ito ang oras para ligawan ka ni A. Sabihin mo sa kanya hindi na lang."

A looks out the window, at the passing trees. "Opo."

A was 16.

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"Can I meet you somewhere instead? I think I'm lost."

A, giggles, though she feels sorry for the poor guy. "Nasaan ka ba? Can you give me landmarks?"

"I'm near Ipil-ipil. I also just passed by Yakal."

"All right. I'll be there in a few. Just stay there."

A walks to the nearest jeepney stop, rides a jeep, and gets off one block away from where M is.

And as she walks, she notices that it was getting dark, and the street lights were already giving off their soft, yellow glow.

She sees M in the corner, looking everywhere but not in her direction, and she sees that he is holding a big bunch of flowers close to his chest.

She smiles, and for the first time that night, feels the warm glow and the butterflies.

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"How many of you have fallen in love? Please raise your hands."

And suddenly, there was a hush. No one dared to stir up the heavy air by even slightly moving their hands.

"Don't tell me none of you have fallen in love. Or are you people just afraid to admit it?"

Nervous laughter all around. And out of the blue, Z reached over, grabbed A's hand, and raised it up high.

And somewhere in her heart, she felt at peace.

--------------------

"Masaya na si Tito eh. May mga apo na kasi."

Tipsy laughter.

"Eh ikaw B, kailan ka ba magkaka-apo?"

B looks over to his son A, who was seated in the corner with his girlfriend of 2 months.

"Kailan nga ba? Sandali pa lang yun eh."

A, his daughter mutters, "Matagal pa yon."

M turns over to A, also her daughter, and asks, "Eh ikaw, kailan ba?"

A replies, "In twenty years, I guess."

M laughs. And A does too.

But her laughter was forced and hollow.

My paternal grandfather died early this morning.

My grandmother and him went to live in the US in 1992; that was probably why I was never close with them or my father's family.

But when they come here to visit, my grandfather made sure each of his apos got his undivided attention.

I guess my one regret was that I never got to know him really. And now it's just too late.

Now all I have to offer are my prayers.

This is probably why the tears are easy in coming.

News flash: the Dark Lord will not be my classmate after all. The Dark Lord has shipped out to UP Eng'g. Flunking twice pala is not allowed.

Goodness. 5 years of your friggin' life wasted. And quite a few more years to go before you get that diploma. Considering that it is practically a miracle to graduate on time in Eng'g. Sinasamba ka na nila doon sa ganung lagay.

Anyway. I know I am supposed to feel relieved and all that, but why do I feel a bit disappointed?

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Remember how we did a cleaning marathon in our Manila apartment around two weeks ago?

Well, I ended up cleaning a swarm of fruit fly maggots that lived on spilt spoiled milk. I left the milk carton in the pantry intact, very much unopened, and very much NOT spoiled. And when I opened the pantry door, BAM! The fruit flies! The crawling maggots! The wonderful smell! Think hydrogen sulfide. Think overripe papaya. Think cheese-flavored Humpy Dumpy.

It took a roll of tissue paper, strong detergent, water, half a can of lysol and a few sprays of Baygon to clear things up.

And up until now, there's still a hint of that awful smell every time I open the door.

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Next week, simula na ang exam marathon. Until the end of the sem. 2-5 exams per week, a few of them overlapping. Ang saya talaga ng second year.

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I've learned a few interesting things from Family and Community Health 2 last Thurday.

Whodathot.

Among other things, I learned that there are actually two kinds of rules: overt rules and covert rules. Overt rules are those that are explicitly stated, as in: "No boyfriends until you're forty" or "Bring my daughter home by 8 pm", that kind of stuff. On the other hand, covert rules are rules that are not explicitly stated but is understood and observed by everybody involved. For example, married couples, when they fight, follow a set of rules though they do not realize it. Let me explain by using a hypothetical.

Mother complains about something Father did.

Father retorts back.

Mother raises her voice.

Father raises his voice.

Mother talks and talks and talks about what Father did 5, 10, 15 years ago.

Father gets irritated and shuts up.

Mother gets more irritated and screams at Father.

Father walks out of room, gets in the car, and drives away.

This pattern would happen again, and again, and again, every time Mother and Father fights. Now if Father, instead of retorting back, asks Mother in a lovey-dovey manner: "Hun, what can I do to make it better?" Mother would be stunned and caught off guard.

Another example would be how the family sits the dinner table. There is always a set arrangement (Father sits at the kabisera, Mother sits at his right, so on and so forth). If someone does not follow the rule (i.e. Bunso suddenly sits in Kuya's seat) there would be trouble.

And that is why, you, my friends of marriageable age, should not live with your in-laws when you get married. Everyone is in on all the covert rules except you. You will end up getting on everybody's nerves, and in the words of our professor "you'll be living in a mine field and the only time you'll know you've stepped on a mine is when it blows up in your face".

The past three days have been pretty tiring. Commuting back and forth from Las Pinas to Manila leaves one very harassed. I started (take note, STARTED) enrolling last Tuesday and couldn't quite finish on that same day as somehow, the computer printing out our form 5s crashed. Yes. And so a noisy, hot, irritated crowd of medical students waited the whole day just to get their form 5s printed.

Buti na lang, hindi na ito katulad sa Diliman, the Pila Central, kung saan hindi unheard of ang mag-enroll ng 1-2 weeks. Sa College of Medicine, sila na ang nagbibigay at nagaayos ng classes namin, kasi nga naman, magkakasama kaming 160+ na batchmates. Sa Diliman on the other hand, ikaw ang nagaayos ng schedule which means freedom, which means freedom = long lines. Magkakalayo pa ang mga kailangan mong puntahan para sa mga pirma sa form 5 mo. Todo swerte ka na kung matapos kang magenroll in 2 days.

Which brings me back to the enrollment in Manila.

We spent around 7 hours (in my case anyway) waiting around, dakdakan all over the med lobby, and getting ready for the freshmen orientation (which the sophomores partially handle).

I had to get back the next day to wait for a much needed signature and finally conclude my registration.

And the day after that, which was today, was the freshmen orientation.

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All orgs orientation nung morning (which I attended for KASANAG) and the real freshmen orientation as handled by the sophomores was done in the afternoon.

All in all, the afternoon orientation was pretty successful, considering na puro pagbubuhat ng sariling bangko ang ginawa namin don :p

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And guess what?

Ang bungad sa aking balita ni B****.

It appears that someone flunked Patho again and is now my classmate.

W. T. F.

Ano ito. Apat na taon din yon na classmate ko sya. Baka pa nga maging ka-block ko.

Oh. My. Gorsh.

Utang na loob. Bakit ba nangyayari sa akin ang mga ganito? Baket? BAKEEET?!?

BOTHERSOME.

Kung sinusubaybayan niyo ang blog na ito, alam nyo na siguro kung bakit ako nagkakaganito.

Naisip ko na rin ang possibility na ito dati, pero na-dismiss ko na yon as something that was out of this world.

Well, I guess I was wrong.

Has anyone been watching Congress on television lately?

It was so damn funny.

Somebody from the gallery passed a note to Maguindanao congressman Didagen Dilangalen asking him to shut up.

Now, I've never considered "Digs" as a serious lawmaker, as he somehow always gets on my nerves, but really, last night was just... incredible.

After Dilangalen read the note, he wanted the person who sent it cited in contempt, and so Deputy Speaker Raul Gonzalez and Senate President Pro-Tempore Juan Flavier suspended the session for a few minutes in an effort to cool things down. Dilangalen was so damn upset.

After resumption of the session, Speaker Raul Gonzalez rejected Dilangalen's motion for contempt, Rep. Etta Rosales defended Ms. Pido's (the woman who sent the note) right to speak up and Dilangalen, obviously, got severely irritated. And here, in essence (as Manuel L. Quezon III put so succintly in his web page) is what went on after that:

Dilangalen: Shut up, Mr. Speaker! Shut up!

Rosalez: You are out of order! You shut up!

Dilangalen: Shut up, shut up, shut up!

Rosalez: Shut up!

(repeat 10X)

Hehehehehehe.

It was so comical from this blogger's viewpoint I couldn't help but laugh. They sounded like two spoiled children slugging it out.

I never thought watching the news was so entertaining.

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I haven't been feeling well this past few days. I probably caught the cold from my brother.

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I watched the pre-finale show of American Idol, and can I just say? Fantasia Barrino really took my breath away.

Grabeee.

Tumindig lahat ng balahibo ko.

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I also downloaded all of AI3's performance MP3's, and listening to those songs instead of watching someone perform it actually make a big difference.

Remember Matthew Metzger? The good looking guy who sang "When I See Your Smile" in the 32s? I found him boring on TV, but he was just fine on the MP3. Same goes for Matt Rogers. And I seem to appreciate Amy Adams more.

Sana lang magising ako ng maaga para mapanood ko yung finale sa ABC-5.

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I've just arrived from Cagayan de Oro yesterday afternoon.

So ano nga ba ang nangyari?

Kinasal ang tito ko na pinsan ng nanay ko. Syempre, medyo konti lang ang nakapunta kasi nga Cagayan de Oro nga naman. Mahal ang fare papunta dun, especially kung air fare.

Consider: P5000+ na ang may student's discount. Ganda.

Anyway, pumunta kami dun last Friday early morning (flight was at 0930. What an ungodly hour), kung saan maulan-ulan pa dito sa Las Pinas. I half-expected for the flight to be cancelled, kasi nga naman kadadaan lang ni Dindo.

Dumating kami dun, nag-check in sa hotel, nag-lunch with some of the Alteza clan at lumibot sa mga shopping places. Siyempre, mala-souvenir shopping ang mga "young once", as in the requisite Cagayan de Oro shirts, native products, etcetera, etcetera. There wasn't anything much to see really, pero you got to admit, hindi hamak na mas malinis naman dun kay sa Manila. Kahit nga ang Clean and Green Las Pinas nadaig pa (mahirap singhotin ang hangin sa Alabang-Zapote Road kapag naglalakad ka don o kaya naka-jeep ka, lalo na kung traffic). Anyway, kahit sa Town Plaza nila (which they call Divisoria, pero wala namang bilihan) malinis. Roxas Boulvard (with the same lights and all) sya, minus the air pollution and the smell of the Manila Bay.

The "young ones" then headed off to the beach, while the "young once" headed for Kogon (spelling?) Market. Beach had whitish powder sand and was relatively clean. Not much aquatic life though. Ang nakaka-ewan don, ang layo-layo na ng nilakad mo sa dagat, ang babaw pa rin. Naka-150 meters na yata kami hanggang shoulders pa lang yung tubig. Kakaiba.

The next day was the wedding. Ako ang pinagbasa ng first reading, na nalaman ko lang the night before. Buti na lang astig ang aking suot (salamat GL, my couturier!) Yung reception ginawa nila sa Harbor Lights, dun sa garden ng hotel, which was kind of nice, because the place was near the ocean.

The "young ones" went out that night, nakinig ng live band sa Picasso, had some drinks, lumibot sa Divisoria, then went to sleep.

So in essence, yun na ang aking CDO adventure.

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On a more sentimental note, kwento ko lang ang story ng aking tito at ng aking bagong tita.

I didn't know much about my tito's life, kasi nga naman 30 something na sya at 20 something lang ako. Paguusapan ba naman yon sa mga gatherings. Anyway, it appears na 9 years na sila nung kinasal sila. Galing no? So, kapag i-compute, since 1995 pa sila. Shet na malagket. Ang tagal non ha.

Bakit CDO? Doon nag-college ang tito ko, sa Xavier (?), and apparently dun *yata* sila nagkakilala. Pareho silang nag-volunteer sa isang program (Jesuit Volunteer Program), na-assign sila sa parehong place, at... yun na yun. Hindi ko pa rin gets ang whole story.

Nakaka-senti nga yung program sa reception. May video presentation kasi, tapos nakalagay don "Just when I have given up on finding someone to share my life with... I suddenly found you." Shet. Nakaka-ewan.

Kelan kaya mangyayari sa akin 'to?

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Share ko lang. It's not that I'm breaking my word, pero naalala ko lang.

The last wedding I attended was last year, around summer time (March or April). I attended kasi nga ninang yung mom ko sa kasal. Nagpasama sa akin.

So, ang kilala ko lang don, yung nanay ko at yung mother of the bride, kasi kasama ni nanay sa PGH.

Ang masaklap pa don, nakaupo sila dun sa "presidential table" noong reception. Natural, ang nakasama ko sa table mga hindi ko kilala. Saya. Hindi pa man din ako mabokang tao.

And so, I kept up a text conversation throughout the thing with some-One.

Nung reception ng tito ko, naalala ko lang yung nangyari, and well, considering na emosyonal na rin ang atmosphere, I couldn't help but feel kind of sorry for myself. I-add mo pa yung "Just when I have given up..." chuva na yon.

Waaaaahhh. Kelan kaya?

I first read this one from Lyndon Gregorio's (creator of Beerkada) newsletter Aristocart. It was just too good and too funny to pass up.

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Daddy, why did we have to attack Iraq?

Questions and Answers about Foreign Policy (and the U.S. Invasion of Iraq)
(c) 2003 anarchie bunker

Permission is freely granted to copy, print, and distribute this material by any means, so long as the author is given proper credit and so long as this statement is included in any and all copies made for distribution.

Q: Daddy, why did we have to attack Iraq?

A: Because they had weapons of mass destruction.

Q: But the inspectors didn't find any weapons of mass destruction.

A: That's because the Iraqis were hiding them.

Q: And that's why we invaded Iraq?

A: Yep. Invasions always work better than inspections.

Q: But after we invaded them, we STILL didn't find any weapons of mass destruction, did we?

A: That's because the weapons are so well hidden. Don't worry, we'll find something, probably right before the 2004 election.

Q: Why did Iraq want all those weapons of mass destruction?

A: To use them in a war, silly.

Q: I'm confused. If they had all those weapons that they planned to use in a war, then why didn't they use any of those weapons when we went to war with them?

A: Well, obviously they didn't want anyone to know they had those weapons, so they chose to die by the thousands rather than defend themselves.

Q: That doesn't make sense. Why would they choose to die if they had all those big weapons with which they could have fought back?

A: It's a different culture. It's not supposed to make sense.

Q: I don't know about you, but I don't think they had any of those weapons our government said they did.

A: Well, you know, it doesn't matter whether or not they had those weapons. We had another good reason to invade them anyway.

Q: And what was that?

A: Even if Iraq didn't have weapons of mass destruction, Saddam Hussein was a cruel dictator, which is another good reason to invade another country.

Q: Why? What does a cruel dictator do that makes it OK to invade his country?

A: Well, for one thing, he tortured his own people.

Q: Kind of like what they do in China?

A: Don't go comparing China to Iraq. China is a good economic competitor, where millions of people work for slave wages in sweatshops to make U.S. corporations richer.

Q: So if a country lets its people be exploited for American corporate gain, it's a good country, even if that country tortures people?

A: Right.

Q: Why were people in Iraq being tortured?

A: For political crimes, mostly, like criticizing the government. People who criticized the government in Iraq were sent to prison and tortured.

Q: Isn't that exactly what happens in China?

A: I told you, China is different.

Q: What's the difference between China and Iraq?

A: Well, for one thing, Iraq was ruled by the Ba'ath party, while China is Communist.

Q: Didn't you once tell me Communists were bad?

A: No, just Cuban Communists are bad.

Q: How are the Cuban Communists bad?

A: Well, for one thing, people who criticize the government in Cuba are sent to prison and tortured.

Q: Like in Iraq?

A: Exactly.

Q: And like in China, too?

A: I told you, China's a good economic competitor. Cuba, on the other hand, is not.

Q: How come Cuba isn't a good economic competitor?

A: Well, you see, back in the early 1960s, our government passed some laws that made it illegal for Americans to trade or do any business with Cuba until they stopped being Communists and started being capitalists like us.

Q: But if we got rid of those laws, opened up trade with Cuba, and started doing business with them, wouldn't that help the Cubans become capitalists?

A: Don't be a smart-ass.

Q: I didn't think I was being one.

A: Well, anyway, they also don't have freedom of religion in Cuba.

Q: Kind of like China and the Falun Gong movement?

A: I told you, stop saying bad things about China. Anyway, Saddam Hussein came to power through a military coup, so he's not really a legitimate leader anyway.

Q: What's a military coup?

A: That's when a military general takes over the government of a country by force, instead of holding free elections like we do in the United States.

Q: Didn't the ruler of Pakistan come to power by a military coup?

A: You mean General Pervez Musharraf? Uh, yeah, he did, but Pakistan is our friend.

Q: Why is Pakistan our friend if their leader is illegitimate?

A: I never said Pervez Musharraf was illegitimate.

Q: Didn't you just say a military general who comes to power by forcibly overthrowing the legitimate government of a nation is an illegitimate leader?

A: Only Saddam Hussein. Pervez Musharraf is our friend, because he helped us invade Afghanistan.

Q: Why did we invade Afghanistan?

A: Because of what they did to us on September 11th.

Q: What did Afghanistan do to us on September 11th?

A: Well, on September 11th, nineteen men - fifteen of them Saudi Arabians - hijacked four airplanes and flew three of them into buildings in New York and Washington, killing 3,000 innocent people.

Q: So how did Afghanistan figure into all that?

A: Afghanistan was where those bad men trained, under the oppressive rule of the Taliban.

Q: Aren't the Taliban those bad radical Islamics who chopped off people's heads and hands?

A: Yes, that's exactly who they were. Not only did they chop off people's heads and hands, but they oppressed women, too.

Q: Didn't the Bush administration give the Taliban 43 million dollars back in May of 2001?

A: Yes, but that money was a reward because they did such a good job fighting drugs.

Q: Fighting drugs?

A: Yes, the Taliban were very helpful in stopping people from growing opium poppies.

Q: How did they do such a good job?

A: Simple. If people were caught growing opium poppies, the Taliban would have their hands and heads cut off.

Q: So, when the Taliban cut off people's heads and hands for growing flowers, that was OK, but not if they cut people's heads and hands off for other reasons?

A: Yes. It's OK with us if radical Islamic fundamentalists cut off people's hands for growing flowers, but it's cruel if they cut off people's hands for stealing bread.

Q: Don't they also cut off people's hands and heads in Saudi Arabia?

A: That's different. Afghanistan was ruled by a tyrannical patriarchy that oppressed women and forced them to wear burqas whenever they were in public, with death by stoning as the penalty for women who did not comply.

Q: Don't Saudi women have to wear burqas in public, too?

A: No, Saudi women merely wear a traditional Islamic body covering.

Q: What's the difference?

A: The traditional Islamic covering worn by Saudi women is a modest yet fashionable garment that covers all of a woman's body except for her eyes and fingers. The burqa, on the other hand, is an evil tool of patriarchal oppression that covers all of a woman's body except for her eyes and fingers.

Q: It sounds like the same thing with a different name.

A: Now, don't go comparing Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are our friends.

Q: But I thought you said 15 of the 19 hijackers on September 11th were from Saudi Arabia.

A: Yes, but they trained in Afghanistan.

Q: Who trained them?

A: A very bad man named Osama bin Laden.

Q: Was he from Afghanistan?

A: Uh, no, he was from Saudi Arabia too. But he was a bad man, a very bad man.

Q: I seem to recall he was our friend once.

A: Only when we helped him and the mujahadeen repel the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan back in the 1980s.

Q: Who are the Soviets? Was that the Evil Communist Empire Ronald Reagan talked about?

A: There are no more Soviets. The Soviet Union broke up in 1990 or thereabouts, and now they have elections and capitalism like us. We call them Russians now.

Q: So the Soviets - I mean, the Russians - are now our friends?

A: Well, not really. You see, they were our friends for many years after they stopped being Soviets, but then they decided not to support our invasion of Iraq, so we're mad at them now. We're also mad at the French and the Germans because they didn't help us invade Iraq either.

Q: So the French and Germans are evil, too?

A: Not exactly evil, but just bad enough that we had to rename French fries and French toast to Freedom Fries and Freedom Toast.

Q: Do we always rename foods whenever another country doesn't do what we want them to do?

A: No, we just do that to our friends. Our enemies, we invade.

Q: But wasn't Iraq one of our friends back in the 1980s?

A: Well, yeah. For a while.

Q: Was Saddam Hussein ruler of Iraq back then?

A: Yes, but at the time he was fighting against Iran, which made him our friend, temporarily.

Q: Why did that make him our friend?

A: Because at that time, Iran was our enemy.

Q: Isn't that when he gassed the Kurds?

A: Yeah, but since he was fighting against Iran at the time, we looked the other way, to show him we were his friend.

Q: So anyone who fights against one of our enemies automatically becomes our friend?

A: Most of the time, yes.

Q: And anyone who fights against one of our friends is automatically an enemy?

A: Sometimes that's true, too. However, if American corporations can profit by selling weapons to both sides at the same time, all the better.

Q: Why?

A: Because war is good for the economy, which means war is good for America. Also, since God is on America's side, anyone who opposes war is a godless unAmerican Communist. Do you understand now why we attacked Iraq?

Q: I think so. We attacked them because God wanted us to, right?

A: Yes.

Q: But how did we know God wanted us to attack Iraq?

A: Well, you see, God personally speaks to George W. Bush and tells him what to do.

Q: So basically, what you're saying is that we attacked Iraq because George W. Bush hears voices in his head?

A: Yes! You finally understand how the world works. Now close your eyes, make yourself comfortable, and go to sleep. Good night.

Q: Good night, Daddy

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May ipapaalala lang ako sa isang tao dyan, ehem, ehem. Wag kalimutan ang pasalubong kong boylet :D