I've never had an adventure like this in months!

I will never forget this day until my ghost haunts the Solomon Hall or roam the streets of Manville.

First of all, the moment I woke up I felt the worst sense of dread knowing that I am facing my ultimate end. Being (or just trying to be) slightly optimistic and (not trying at all to be) slightly pessimistic, I texted all my Smart (could either mean the network or intelligent.. eitherway it would be true.) classmates "Good morning! Today is the beginning of our end. hehe. God bless us all BN2A!" while trying my best to remember the things which I have not studied. Oh yeah. It's easier to remember the things I have studied than the ones I have not. Aside from the obvious fact that one can hardly remember what he/she did not try to put into his/her mind, I can just count with my fingers and toes the things that I intentionally memorized slash understood.

Second, having to take two minor subjects and one major subject in one day with only 2-hour intervals entails a big sacrifice. One could choose to sacrifice his sleeping time, eating time, blogging time, favorite TV show, favorite book, favorite music, chatting time, etcetera, but I chose not to sacrifice any of the things above. I chose to give up studying for my Strat and History exams for the sake of Anatomy. Okay, so I just read my Strat handouts and did not bother to read the History handouts at all. I decided to start burying myself in my Anatomy book at 8 PM. I did study, but by 10 PM, my eyes were already drooping and my trapezius was already doing a very bad job in extending my neck. It seemed my Platysma was doing most of the work. So I decided to take a nap which eventually became a 5-hour sleep. LOL. I woke up at 3:30 and continued studying.

Third, I arrived at school very unprepared for the Strat exam, but I was relieved to find out that most of us are not ready at all. We all looked hopeless. With all our eyebags and haggard looking faces, we just laughed and kept asking for the day to be over.

Fourth, after the Strat exam, I went to the IS Library hoping to find a quiet place to memorize muscles, bones, and cranial nerves. I wasn't disappointed. I was the only student in the library.

Fifth, judgment hour came and I was there confined in the four walls with no escape. I had to answer the 100-item Lecture exam and 100-item Lab exam or face the world without a future. All my brain cells died! Gawd was it hard. But when it was over, I felt a sudden rush of life flow through my dead body. I even committed blasphemy when I told Melissa, "Daug ta pa ni si Jesus. Kapila na ta ya napatay kag nabanhaw!"

Sixth, you already know that I sacrificed History last night, but I just can't bear the thought of me failing a minor subject and history at that, so I tried to study in just an hour and a half. Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish studying, so I only got to remember the first few pages of my notes. And guess what the type of exam was. FILL IN THE BLANKS. and it wasn't just any simple fill in the blanks. The handouts given to us was right there in front of more or less 90 eyes in S12, VERBATIM with 100 blanks. Poor us. But of course, when Mr. Bayona is your teacher, you would always expect some twists. It's hard not to expect something unexpected with Super Bayona. *wink wink*

Seventh, I was soaked when i got home. Well, you (I'm referring to my friends) all know how long and winding the road of Manville is, right. So, there was bagyong Egay part 2 this afternoon and I didn't have any rain gear with me. My biggest problem even when I was just in the jeepney was how to get home witthout getting wet. I texted our helper to fetch me with an umbrella if there was no tricycle available, but the rain was just intolerable that our helper just took refuge in the guard house which explains why I saw no sign of her when I went down the jeepney. Having enough sense I did not run in the rain, instead went to the store nearby and waited for the helper to arrive. She, however did not arrive. Instead, she texted me saying she can't fetch me because there was only one umbrella and the tricycle driver can't either because the rain was like a super typhoon. After a few minutes, though, the driver decided to just come and fetch me because it seemed that there was no chance at all that the rain would stop. So there. It did not stop me from getting wet from the waist down, though. And yeah, I was trying so hard to protect my Anatomy books. They're worth 1 million, you know!

In a nutshell, today was just unbelievable!

PS: I want to meet Ping Medina.

The Day I Met Someone From My History Book

                    Dr. Antoon Postma and me.                              Talking with Dr. Postma.

Two days ago, Mr. Jojo Bayona, my Philippine History teacher informed us that our class was among those classes that were chosen to attend the symposium at Santuario de La Salle today. As to what symposium that would be, we did not know, nor did Mr. Bayona.

On the evening of that same day, my Sociology and Anthropology teacher, Mr. Virgilio Aguilar told us the same thing. The only difference was that he told us what the symposium would be about. It turned out that we were invited to see and listen to Dr. Antoon Postma, a sociologist and the noted scholar of the Mangyan Culture.

The words of Mr. Aguilar sent impulses to my sympathetic nervous system! I couldn't believe what I just heard - the famous researcher in history books comes to give us a talk??? I couldn't describe how excited I became right at that moment. For some of my classmates, perhaps, it wasn't such a big thing, but for me who had always been fascinated by anything  that and anyone who has something to do with history, it was such a great opportunity I wouldn't trade for anything.

This morning was the big day I was waiting for. I was glad that we came early to Santuario so we had good seats. I honestly wanted to sit on the one of the chairs in the first row right in front of the podium, but my classmates started occupying the seats in the second row. Partly embarrassed and partly afraid that the first row seats were reserved for some people, I sat with my friends in the second row. Mr. Bayona, however, told us to occupy the seats in front, so we did!

We waited for a few minutes before Dr. Postma came, and bless me! He sat right beside Fritz who was just two seats away from me! Oh my, was I ecstatic, and I was then telling Fritz to let me have his seat so I could talk with Dr. Postma. I was so thankful he agreed. So then, there I was sitting beside Dr. Postma not knowing what to say to him exactly. Finally I said something (though it was a bit stupid. I even forgot to introduce myself. haha).

"Good morning, sir. That's your daughter in the museum right?" I asked. The next moment I was already talking to him animatedly before the symposium began. On the occasions that I became really excited about what I was asking and telling him, my voice became higher. It became highest when I told him I was really interested in Mangyan script because the characters look like Chinese and Arabic in one. lol.

He told me about how he came to the Philippines, showed me the primer on Mangyan Script (which he was surprised to find out that I have one at home), surprised to know that owl in Hiligaynon is also bukaw like in Mangyan, said "Why do you still call it a dialect?! It's a language!" when I referred to Hiligaynon as a dialect, etc. etc.

Dr. Postma was a kind and funny man. I'll never forget this day. And by the way, I got his autograph too. haha.

The Special Feature on the Laguna Copperplate in my brother's book.