Just to break the monotony, instead of writing about an experience or doing a regular post i decided to list down some of the questions that have been bugging me at the moment but i haven’t found answers to yet.

1. Do high school students nowadays care nothing about what other people say about them?

2. Why can’t they understand that there are boundaries that should never be crossed, or at least not yet?

3. What would it take to drive a point in? humiliation? bodily harm? because obviously requests and normal talk won’t always do.

4. Is is alright for me to feel frustrated, agitated or inadequate whenever my students fail to listen or obey my instructions?

5. Should I continue trying even if it seems like my efforts are not producing anything?

I am too confused at the moment to organize my thoughts into a regular post. I just hope that these questions will all be answered later before I start posting again… huhu!

I admit I’m a fan of National Geographic and Discovery Channel. Even before cable TV, I would ask permission from my parents to stay up late and watch National Geographic specials, which would just show every once in a while on Sunday evenings. I can still remember their specials about whales, gorillas, and even African safaris.

I guess that’s why I always had a soft spot for nature tripping. And now that mateo is starting to show interest in TVs, I am starting to expose him to the same nature shows I grew up with. This is because I want him to have the same respect and liking for nature as I do. I want him to love and respect all animals and surroundings because I dream to eventually take him and andrea to an African safari someday.
Especially now that such trips are made possible and even easier by companies like T. Jeffrey Safari who organize trips to African hunting safaris, anyone who wants to get up close and personal with the wild animals in Africa can now do by just clicking away.

I’m just waiting for mateo to grow up a little bit more and then we’ll definitely try and see if we can all go on a vacation at an African safari.

Just when I thought that the only formal celebration I’d ever attend again is a wedding, we were invited to join the Prom of the high school students this year.

Yes. Prom again. I still remember the first one I attended. It started out as a disaster because during dinner, I didn’t get to eat much. Actually, I almost didn’t eat at all. You see, when I was about to go back to the dinner table after scouring the buffet table, a small fly decided to crash land on my food. And to make things worse, it was able to get itself free from the sauce and manage to climb inside the rest of my meal. After that I just lost my appetite.

What the heck?! I mean we weren’t just anywhere. That prom was done in a hotel and yet there was a fly there that decided to choose my plate over a hundred of other plates in the room. What’s up with that?

Anyway, it didn’t end there. After the horrible dinner, I stayed behind because I didn’t have any ride home. My plan was to go along with my friends and hang out somewhere. Exactly where, I wasn’t sure. I didn’t really care because that’s how it was supposed to be. We were in high school and that’s what being a high schooler meant. At least that’s what I thought.

As it turned out, they were planning to have a drink at a small bar close to the hotel. They were excited. I tugged along. How exactly did we get past the guys at the entrance, I can’t remember but we did. And after a few hours, my friends were laughing so hard apparently enjoying their alcohol. I, on the other hand, was already tipsy. Because in my quest to quench my thirst, I drank a bottle of beer, half a glass of vodka, and a few shots of margarita (and on an empty stomach nonetheless). Wrong choice!

That was really stupid, because you see, after a few minutes of downing the last drops of margarita, I was having double visions already. I couldn’t focus my eyes on anything. I couldn’t do anything so I just waited for the effects to disappear. Luckily, after some time my vision returned to normal. And then a few moments after that, one of my friends invited us to just crash his place for the night. We all agreed.

When I woke up next morning, I was still dressed in my formal wear. I couldn’t believe I slept in a coat. I can remember feeling so stupid about the whole thing that happened the night before - drinking, gulping alcohol to quench my thirst, feeling tipsy, everything.

It was then that I understood that people sometimes indeed use the prom to do stupid things - things that they, more often than not, regret afterwards. I felt filthy and unruly, but a little wiser than the other day. My only solace is that at least I’ve learned my lessons even though i learned them the hard way.

I just hope this time, for my students’ sake, none of them learn their lessons in the prom the same way I did.

This year a friend of mine is getting married in Boracay, a world-known, white-sand, beach resort in the Philippines. He and his bride are flying back to the Philippines this March but since they’re manning everything from across the globe, it wasn’t easy at first. He told me he was worried about the logistics - the hotel accommodations, flights, even the land transportation. (Oh, I’m so fortunate to have such successful and generous friends!)

No, he wasn’t complaining about the cost. That part, they had prepared well for already. But of course if they could save some bucks then why not. What he was really worried about were all the bookings, coordination, and all those sorts of stuff. And being a true friend that I am, (ahem) I offered some advice to make his life a little easier.

I told him if he wants cheap hotel reservations and various accommodations, or even car reservations he can check out TravelHERO, an online resource that helps travelers like him smooth out trips and events like this. I told him he can even book his Boracay venue from there. It is easy and so convenient because TraveHERO can book hotels, motels, resorts, bed and breakfast, and even cars not just from the US but in several international destinations as well. I even told him jokingly, that even if he decides to celebrate his wedding somewhere else, he could choose from many different countries all the way from Albania to Zimbabwe and still be just a click away with TravelHERO.

Fortunately, he did check it out and he was grateful. As his way of thanking me, he gave me extra tickets to Boracay. So now, andrea mateo and I can go there as a family for his wedding. Woohoo!

It’s amazing how fast babies grow. I mean if you don’t experience it first hand, I guess it would be difficult to see just how amazing it is.

Take last night for example. Mateo was having one of his fits. Andrea went outside the room to cool off and relax a bit before she could go back to letting him suck again, so I was left alone with mateo.

I knew I had to do something or he would end up wailing like crazy asking for mama. So instead of carrying him, I immediately asked him with a disturbing voice where’s the ball mateo?. I wanted to distract him by making him look for something other than andrea - his favorite ball.

Amazingly, he did stop crying. Afterwards, he started moving around the bed turning over pillows to look for something. When he couldn’t find what it was, an evil idea occurred to me. I wanted to know what mateo would do if he sees me looking frustrated. Haha! So I pushed on with my question, this time with an angry face to match the tone.  Would he think that I’m getting frustrated because he couldn’t find the ball? I had to see…

Honestly, I thought he would just ignore me. So I surprised when he just started pointing at a stuff toy at the corner of the headboard. Was he trying to distract me with the toy? I had to check so I pushed on with the same tone. Then, looking determined, he went and took the toy. Afterwards, he hugged the stuff toy and started smiling at me. It seems that he’s really bent on taking my mind off the ball. He looked at me again and then he did the same thing all over again. He was indeed trying to distract me. I couldn’t restrain my excitement when I realized what he was doing, so I smiled. And then, as if realizing he was successful in his attempt, he smiled too.

My little boy just tried to beat me at my own game. I wanted to distract him from his mama and he ended up distracting me. I was just so amazed. Babies are just really so amazing.

A cousin of mine from Connecticut emailed me yesterday asking for tips about waterproofing. He was asking me about how people here in the country address leaks in walls, on ceilings and in basements because he knew what kind of trouble we experience during rainy seasons. Ah! Our experiences right there deserve a whole different post altogether.
Anyway, he’s renting an apartment now and he’s had some trouble with leaks. You see, just a few weeks ago, they experienced a heavy down pour there - his first in the new apartment. He said it was brief but it was strong enough to expose the leaks on the ceiling and from the basement. He also said that he’s told the landlady about the problem already but it’s been two weeks already and they haven’t done a thing about the leaks yet. He’s a little frustrated and scared because he doesn’t know what’s going to happen if it does rain again. And because I know that my cousin doesn’t know a thing about fixing houses, I gave him a few tips on how to solve the roof problems but I had no idea about the basement. I asked him to seek professional help instead.

I said if he’s looking for CT basement waterproofing contractors, then he could try out  budgetdry. It’s well-known in Connecticut. They give free in-house consultations and most importantly, they offer services at a price that is 15-30% lower than other waterproofing contractors in the area.

Then I told him, if it still doesn’t work, pack up and leave. If he can’t solve his problem then I guess Connecticut isn’t for him.