JESSIE GRADUATING

Something I find amusing that was written by one of my amusing friends three years ago hehehe...

by: Annavarapu Vijay Bharat Sastri 3/24/2006

International House, UP Los Baños, Laguna

The celebration of Jessie graduating

was followed by partying,

The party started in IC’s by sitting and chatting,

But this way of celebrating

the party of Jessie graduating was very boring

So, we started deciding

Where to celebrate the party of Jessie graduating.

LB Square was very catching

To celebrate the party of Jessie graduating

I started partying by Buko Pandan drinking

But I was not enjoying Buko Pandan drinking

Then my mind needed some kicking,

Because Jessie is graduating.

Real party started by beer ordering

Because Jessie is graduating

Then on my talkings they started laughing.

Finally, Ate Mimi, Michelle and Jen

Went home safely by our escorting.

Then I started vomiting

Because of drinking.

Siyempre Jessie is graduating.

Today my heart is aching

Not because Jessie is graduating

But because Jessie will be leaving

And I will be crying.

I STAND IN AWE OF YOU

-yolanda b. botigan 5-27-09-

I stand in awe of You O God

I lift my hands and head up high in the heavens

In sincere praise and worship of You my Lord

My inner being cannot contain my soul

As warmth and stillness flow so peacefully, Lord

My tears roll down in Your presence

Through the emeralds and cool, fresh air

The sun rays that form

Beams of blue, red and yellow

Through trees on a misty morning

The vibrant mountain flowers

The dews on trees and grasses that unexpectedly

Drop and wet my skin

The birds, their magnificent sight

And their blissful echoes of pipes and twitters

The soft hush, hush of crystal waters

That quietly washes down the rocky brook

The sight of cows and horses

That happily graze on luxuriant greens

The calves and colts that run and jump

Moo and shout, warn and mock around the bend

While the lazy wind takes its part

In my knowing You more deeply O Lord

My soul sings praises for You

I give You my heart while

I stand in awe of You O God!

Centennial Graduation Bloopers Cum Diary

(April 24-25, 2009 - 37th commencement exercises as well as centennial celebration of the foundation of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna)

April 24, 2009 – 1:00 p.m. – Pagod ako sa kakatakbo to and from SU, ACCI, Grove, Robinson’s for payments, room reservations, sa pagbili ng mga pinapabili, habilin, at etc.. since 8:00 kaninang umaga. Dumating ako ng IH ng 5:00 a.m. na walang tulog. Buti na lang at dito na si Tito with his sister na dumating pa raw kahapon ng 5:00 a.m. din all the way from Eastern Samar. He let me take a rest sa kanilang room sa Guest House ng IH while they went for their 6:00 mass sa St. Therese. Hindi na rin ako naka-attend ng Testimonial for Graduates sa Agronomy kaninang 9:00 a.m.

Took my lunch then immediately went to Geofe’s and Lizet’s room to iron our toga with Venus. Wow! Akala ko it would just take me 10 minutes to iron the two! It took me exactly one hour! 30 minutes each toga! Hindi pa maayos-ayos ang pagkaplantsa! Wahuhuhu…. After a few minutes na natapos na akong magplantsa –nagbrown out! Then umulan! Aba! Ano ba itong hapon na ito!

Mag-aalas kwatro na. Practice at the grounds starts at 4 pm pero paano makapagpractice eh, umuulan. Practice sana un then diretso na for the Recognition and Hooding ng 6:00 p.m. Anyway, we went down sa lobby ng Umali for the assembly. Aba, eh, ang init! Grabe! Na-aagnas na ang mga make-up hehehe… I saw the dedication talaga sa work ng mga taga Graduate School, sina Ma’m Pinky, Ma’m Cha, Ma’m Connie, Ma’m Dina at si Ate Luz. Pawisan silang nag-aayos ng mga dapat ayusin para matuwid ang flow ng program.

Buti na lang may snack before the start of the program. Gutom din ang mga gagraduate ehe. Sabi ni Jaime na nasa likod ko, “Wow, dinner! Heavy dinner ba yan?” Halatang gutom! Wahaha… At last nakakain na rin kahit nakatayo hohoho… Kumain kami ni Darwin sa malapit ng pintuan sa basement para man lang masimoyan ng kaunting hangin.

The Recognition and Hooding program started at 6:30 p.m. and was finished around 9:00 na ng gabi. Immediately upon the exit of the colors, eh, recessional na iyon, Ma’m Connie announced na sa ilang saglit eh mag-shishift ang lights for the normal power! Wow naman, si dakilang ilaw!!! Natapos na ang dapat tapusin tsaka ka dumating!

Ang grupo naman, nagkita kita after the program para kumain – eh, di sino pa sila? Ang mga muntik nang maiwanan sa biyahe. Ah, eh… biyahe ng 5 years allowed stay sa UPLB ang ibig kong sabihin! (!!!???). Si Darwin, Lizet, Dann Marie at si Jaime. Nadatnan namin si Geofe with her cousin and cousin’s friend sa LBSquare so nakiupo kami sa kanila. At wala pala atang planong kumain itong mga kasama ko. Pero ako, gutom na gutom kaya I had to stand up and order for food. Napatayo rin si Jaime na umorder ng pagkain kasi makikisimpatya raw sa gutom! Nnggiiiiiyyee… Walang nagawa ang iba kundi kumuha rin ng pagkain hehehehe…

After dinner, siyempre, lakad yan pabalik sa IH dorm. It was a cool night. The atmosphere reminded me that I will be missing the place and this group after the graduation. When will I come back again and be with this kengkoy group? No one knows! If ever I will come back for my PhD, it would be with different buddies. It would already be indifferent to be acting like a teenager like how I behave while with these pipol! The children in us always get on the loose when we are all together. I am the eldest in the group but it seems I am the youngest when it comes to kakulitan sa kakengkoyan hahahaha… although magkakalapit naman kami ng edad.. uuuuuuuuhhhh… At ako lang ang may asawa na….

Well, while we walked home, took shots from the carabao park until the grounds of Mariang Banga down the Umali Hall with all kinds of postures. You may ask for hard copies of the images from anyone of us. 12:30 na nang madaling araw nasa labas pa kami. Nauna na si Jaime na umuwi kasi pupunta pa raw sila ng Manila ng 6:00 a.m. kinabukasan bibili ng pang-graduation daw. O sige!

1:30 na ng madaling araw ng April 25 na kaya nung matulog na kami ni Lizet. Sinamahan ako sa transient room ko sa guest house ng IH…. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz…….

April 25, 2009 – 8:30 a.m. – Had some pictures sa likod ng PAS shop with Lizet and Dann Marie. (Dann Marie came all the way from Davao just to attend the graduation with us and her dear friends sa SESAM. She graduated last year). Had our “picture jumps” hahahaha… then left them while I went to see Venus and her sister sa Anest Tower where they checked in. Venus and I had quick things to do na hindi rin natupad kasi mahal pala, (Olive’s Photoshop) and besides, oras na for the preparation for the graduation. Mag-aalasdose na ng tanghali eh dito pa kami sa kung saan-saan. Eh, 2:30 ang assembly time kaya. We parted sa jeep after we bought hair blower each na tig-189.00 pesos hehehe sa Chinese shop near Robinson’s where Maida, Jaime and I bought the same aluminum cups one time last year.

1:00 p.m. – Nag-start na ang lahat magpabeauty kasabay ang pagkulog ng himpapawid na nagbibigay babala na malapit na niyang ibuhos ang kanyang balde-baldeng bendisyon para sa mga centennial graduates ng UP Los Baños.

2:30 p.m. – Umulan na nga. We waited for a few minutes na humupa ng konti ang ulan before we went down infront of the Umali Building. We were ordered by the Dean of the Graduate School, Dr. Oscar B. Zamora to proceed to SU where we waited again for further directions kasi umuulan pa rin. Mag-aalas kwatro na naman kagaya kahapon, we proceeded towards Baker Hall for the final assembly. Naawa uli ako sa mga staff ng GS na basa na ang dala nilang listahan at program sa pagchecheck ng kung sino ang dapat nasa linya. They checked 3x just to make sure everybody and everything is in order. Kagabi sa Recognition at Hooding, pawisan sila kasi nga brown out, ngayon basang-basa sila, pero whatever happens, they do it because of duty and service. I salute you all people from the Graduate School.

I didn’t bring with me my umbrella kaya ako nakisilong sa mga katabi ko kahit di ko kakilala.. (wa hiya.. haha).

6:00 p.m. – Ayan na. Nagsimula na rin ang procession. Umaambon-ambon na lang din kaya okey nang mag-smile sa shots na kinukunan ng mga nakapuwesto nang mga official photographers. Ang mga graduate students ang pinakalast sa order ng procession so when we finally entered the “sacred ground” na nasilongan ng apat na malalaking parachute and where our seats were waiting for us, aba, eh, naararo na ang daan kaya ayun, mga bagong graduation shoes, lumubog sa putikan! Para naman matest ah, kung gaano naman katibay ang biniling sapatos! Appear tayo jan Jaime!

We finally took our seats nung oras na ng pagpapakilala sa panauhing

pandangal na si Dr. Jaime Aristotle B. Alip. Grabe, ang sarap umupo. Pagod na pagod ang mga binti ko sa kakatayo mula pa nung 2:30 p.m. At last makapagpahinga na rin yung conductor ng banda, kung tama na banda ba ang mga nasa stage playing the instruments na tila kanina pang magsimula ang prosesyunal ay nagsimula na rin siyang mag-conduct exerting all her energy swaying her graceful hands just so that the musical background stays alive. (Iba yata ang grupo ng UPLB Chorale Ensemble).

The message of the guest speaker was about his managing the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD-MRI), an organization which he himself founded. It is providing microcredits mostly to marginalized women clients. At ang tumatak sa isipan ko hanggang ngayon na sinabi niya ay ang huwag mag-habol sa mga gadgets na lumalabas ngayon from the fast competition in new technologies.

Then came the awarding of diplomas. Buti na lang nung lumalalim na ang ceremony kasabay ang paglalim ng gabi, tumigil na rin ang medyo malakas-lakas na pag-ambon. Nagsimula na naman mag-conduct yung slim and energetic lady para sa marching music sa pag-akyat ng mga graduates sa stage. Bilib naman ako sa energy ng lady na yon!

I checked the time, it was 8:15. Parang kalahati pa lang ang natapos nang umakyat sa stage! Nakakabore din palang gumraduate heheheh… Hindi, naiinip kasi ako sa matagal na nakaupo. 9:00 na yata or a few minutes past pa nung tawagin na ang mga graduate students. At last, nakaakyat na rin sa stage to shake the hands of the Chancellor na tila hindi pa pagod.

Immediately, upon the mention of the name of the last graduate student to go up the stage, Mr. Jeric S. Alcala, B. S. Applied Mathematics, summa cum laude, delivered his graduation message. It was a humorous, challenging and simple message that almost everyone appreciated. I say that it was a very real, humble story that he shared to the graduates. The boy hails from Sto. Tomas, Batangas.

This centennial graduation was lead by two summa cum laude. The other one is Aidel Paul G. Belamide, BA in Communication Arts.

Natapos ang ceremonies around 9:30 p.m. Graduate na si Yoli, at last!

10:30 p.m. – Sinauli namin nila Venus, Geofe at Darwin ang mga toga namin sa Baker Hall before we went out for late dinner sa LBSquare. Were in our quarters around 12 midnight. I had to pack my things again… Bye, bye UPLB…

The Significance of Insignificant

“If you focus yourself in the Bible would make you a very insignificant one in society. You are not encouraged to improve in your career. You would just stay small as a pinhead in your place.”

I was taken aback upon hearing this comment one time from one among the respected officials I had lunch with. Honestly, I wanted to comment and say, “yes you are really very insignificant on what the world calls significant but you are highly significant on what God calls a significant world,” but a “worldly respect” set my lips zipped. I faintly smiled back instead.

Have I questioned myself before since the time I surrendered my life to the Lordship of Christ of my significance to Him if I become His child?

I pray to my God who is mentioned in the Holy Bible. I ask Him to answer my prayers. I request Him to grant my needs. I worship Him. I praise Him. I adore Him and thank Him for everything He gives and do in my everyday life. I love Him and will always love Him. I keep my faith in Him. All of these I do because I am highly significant in Him and in a world where I live. I am in my freewill to be so and nobody nor nothing controls nor dictates me to believe that I am highly significant in this world while focusing my life in the Bible. Life may seem so cruel though but I would never exchange my significance in Him for anything.

It never crossed my mind to think that I will be insignificant if I focus my life in the Bible which means that I will believe in my God Jesus Christ, pray to Him and read His words. The more I focus on Him the more significant the things I do and will do. If I did never focus on Him and on His word, the Bible, then I would never had become His child. I would not have accomplished the things I needed to accomplish. I would never have reached the state where I am today. He never fails me but sad to say that I fail Him.

Is it true that one becomes insignificant if he focuses his life on the Bible? It is a very big lie from the devil! Anyone who believes that he becomes insignificant if he focuses on the Bible perceives the situation in an inverted triangle allowing him and his life in total deceit!

The Beloved Mascot Dog of IH "Adobo"

Adobo? Adobo! Delicious!

Yes. It's adobo, a savoury Filipino dish but I'm talking about a different adobo. Adobo is the pet dog of residents semesters in and out at the International House (IH) of the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna. Just like you, when I first learned of his name, I was amused. Later, I asked why and how did he ever got his name. It was a long and funny story however.

No one knows exactly how old the dog is but basing on the story how and when he arrived at the residence hall, I am certain that he is more than 10 years old now.

During my first days of stay in IH I have seen how Adobo was taken cared of by several of the residents. Anything that a dog can eat was always available on his plate. One of the residents Kuya Rene, was his constant company going out for an early morning jog. During my later weeks during my first semester in the hall, I also became fond of Adobo. I usually played with him running and jumping during the late afternoons at the parking lot infront of the hall if not going for an early morning or late afternoon jog. And whenever I came back from the province, he would usually meet me under the mango tree wagging his tail and rolling on the ground happy to welcome me home.

I will never forget our Kuya Cons though as he is fondly called, who had been so caring of the dog when Kuya Rene was out from our hall for weeks or months. I learned great lessons from him through his taking care of dogs and cats. He understands the language of his pets. Whatever his “ulam” is would be also the “ulam” of Adobo and some cats that would stay in the IH kitchen for certain months and slip away for reasons cats would behave. He would always see to it that the dog is fed before he leaves for school. Sometimes I would entertain myself by watching Kuya Cons bathe Adobo and the cat even if they hesitate. While watching him he would lecture me on how to live with cats and dogs, their behaviours and how to handle some of their ill manners.

I would just smile to myself watching him shampoo the dog 2 to 3 times then putting some kind of aromatic gel to finish him off. Then I would laugh aloud sopped up when all of a sudden a clean Adobo with his sweet smell would immediately loose himself away from Kuya Cons and run shaking around then would roll on the grassy ground under the coconut trees infront of the hall or down the parking lot putting himself back to dirt again!

After 2 or 3 of my semesters in the hall, another guy also became so fond of Adobo adding him as one of the masters in the dog’s life. As one of Adobo’s masters, he also became one of my friends for all seasons hahahahaha…. His name is Jaime. He calls himself a guy who lives just on the next door of his neighbor !!!haha.. And...just like Adobo who becomes naughty many times, Jaime becomes one too especially in the YM....

I left IH in November last year after four long years of stay. I left Adobo behind including those people who touched my life. They’ve made my stay in the hall a very memorable one. I still have that nostalgic feeling. And as I see these three names that made Adobo a mascot dog in IH --- they seem to share a common denominator… hahahahahah……Jaime, Peace ha!

The Baby In The Manger

            I ask you a question. Have you ever heard of news during your generation or witnessed a human baby born in a stable or under where animals are kept and placed in a trough or manger?

Answering this question for myself, I haven’t yet. When I gave birth to my now seven-year-old girl, it was in a hospital with a private obstetrician. On the minute light illumined on her form at the delivery room, she was immediately wiped by the doctor’s assistants, wrapped with a sanitized cloth and placed in a small crib in the hospital’s pedia ward for proper SOP’s for newborns before she was finally given to me.

            For what on earth then is my giving birth got to do with a baby born in an animal house and placed in a trough or manger?

           December is the finale of the year when both colorful decors and lively choruses warm the breeze of the season signifying the celebration of Christmas. This month made it’s way to the details of the story of the nativity as told in the first chapter in the book of Luke of the Holy Bible.

            Years ago since I first heard of the nativity, I haven’t felt strangely about it until one particular morning during a new children’s Bible Study held in our house every Saturday that began around mid-November this year with a group of kids from our neighborhood. It was the fourth Bible Study that started with who Jesus is, how He came to earth, what He wants for us and finally about His ministry. When our lesson was about Jesus’s birth, I described the part by how He was conceived until the point of Him being placed on a manger likely with dried hay as bed on a very cold night in a stable where sheep and other ruminants that time were kept and probably with many mosquitoes whizzing around. A strange feeling immediately crept inside me while narrating the story of which deeply touched my being and bringing me into tears. It was a feeling I never experienced before. I was with children about 10 of them aged 4-11 including my very own daughter and I was very certain that they were born in a hospice in the care of birthing aides. If ever one of those kids in front of me got born among cows, goats or horses kept in a stable, I’m sure he/she would have been the top list story in the community and his/her parents might have been the center of unfathomable ridicule. It was at this very point then that I got teary and felt somewhat physically drained. (I managed though to hide my face from the children). I found and felt the truest humility ever of God turning Himself into a human form and born into this world without any assistance from a doctor nor laying down on sterilized birthing accessories.

       As a mother having experienced pregnancy, I imagined myself as Mary with my husband Joseph knocking on doors of a strange village on a very cold night praying that someone would shelter us because I was in severe pain laboring for birth. But nobody did so we ended in a cows’ and horses’ shaded corral. We were wearing thick rugs and our feet so dusty. We smell sour because of sweat maybe. With human feelings I pitied myself. I felt so insecure. I felt a tinge of anger against the innkeepers and the villagers. I shed a tear. Then I gave birth. The pain slowly ceased when I heard my baby cry for the very first time. Jesus our God and Saviour was born fully as a human being.

          In the context of social science, one can never understand the behavior of a person or group of persons without putting himself in the shoes of the sample vis a vis the sample with the sampler. This situation is a metaphor of God turning Himself into human form. The reason? Because of His unconditional love to you. To me. And to the whole humanity. He loves us very, very much.

        Like us though, He experienced hunger. He experienced thirst. He experienced pain. He laughed and cried and even got angry. He was ridiculed. He had to walk kilometers or possibly even miles and miles on mountains, plains and deserts during His ministry. He never slept in a cozy bedroom. He was born not in a palace. Educated not in Harvard University nor at the University of the Philippines nor at the Hebrew University in Israel nor at any prestigious school around the world. Yet He knows all. He knows every detail of your and my system. He knows you and me. He does not do magic yet He can cause the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear and the dumb to talk. He is immortal.

         To most of the children whom I was telling the story was their first time to hear of the entirety of it. They only know the names of the figurines of the nativity scene that is popularly displayed every December - where there is Joseph and Mary, the baby Jesus, the sheep around and the “three kings” (the children haven’t heard of the wise men) who brought them gifts.

        If God had not become a man, I would never understand His sacrifice just to save me from my evil ways. He had to obey death – death on the cross. He is the reason why there is CHRIST in Christmas! He was the baby born on a very cold night in Bethlehem. He was the baby in the trough. He is the Almighty God and I worship Him. Amen.

Playing God or Just Weird?

Technologies today rapidly change the manner of living into systems that were unimaginable 10 or 20 years ago driving humans to live an odd life eventually changing our world into an uncanny one especially in the empires of computers and biosciences.

Since the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA by Watson and Crick in 1953, researchers continue to operate through their creepy imaginations where newer tools of genetic science are now on the racetrack. Scientists today play God by trying to mix and match almost any unmatchable units of life and try to fit into another genome and finally declaring in the whole universe that they’ve created a new species! Think of the recombinant DNA technology in which a copy of a piece of DNA containing one or few genes then transferred between organisms or "recombined" within an organism. Think of the stem-cell researches that would eventually solve terminal diseases of the human race as claimed. Think of xenotransplantation, an alternative to allotransplantation, that involves transplanting or grafting of animal organs, tissues, or cells to replace failing organs or to treat disease in humans. Researchers however continue to stabilize the rejection problem of transplanting animal organs into the human system. One example of xenotransplantation is the transplanting of a healthy heart of a pig into a human being who has a failing heart to further extend life.

Other examples of somewhat weird products of advanced bioscience researches are transgenic animals that carry foreign genes deliberately inserted into each one’s genome i.e. sheep, cows and goats to express foreign proteins in their milk as well as chickens that synthesize human proteins in their egg whites. Think also of the goat that produces spider silk as raw material for security vests, ropes for towing ships and materials for currency bills. Think of “Dolly” the cloned sheep in 1996. Think of the potato and the tomato that was called pomato, which can bear fruit when fused together. Think of the flavor-savor tomato. Think of the seedless yet still sweet watermelon. Think of the crops and animals that are and were bred so they can resist pests and pathogens or can withstand adverse environments: i.e. BT corn that can resist corn borer, rice and corn that can yield in saline waters, cows and sheep that can give liters and liters of milk or can give leaner meat than fatty meat and many other crops and animals that yield beyond the normal amount, size and weight! Scientists then call these organisms that carry manipulated DNA, Genetically Modified Organisms! And who could have thought that all of these things will practically happen after ten, fifteen or twenty years ago!

I consider the process of how GMO’s produced as eerie because they don’t undergo the normal divine steps of growing. There’s human manipulation! The impossible square peg that can’t fit into a round one can now be disproved! (The main goal however of crop and animal biotechnology researches as scientists claim is increased food security for the growing population).

And…as my Mangyan friend once jokingly told me of his weird imagination - when will rice breeders breed a rice variety that will yield single large grains so that each grain could fit into a large cooking pot enough to feed a family of twelve in one meal?! It would be an amazing research! Well, it all seems that nothing is impossible these days my friend! There’d be no more rice crisis in the Philippines if that would be so, where even the headquarters of the International Rice Research Institute is based! When that time comes though if I would still be alive, hope I won’t get frightened if I’ll see one!