March 30, 2008 : SJRM Medical Mission

Barangay Health Center (beside post office in the St. Jerome Church area). first come first serve, hauled in 300 people - mostly children - for free check-ups and pharmacy services.

we need manpower and donations - why stop at 300 if we have more generous hearts to accommodate them? we need LIFE - there were a lot of kids today, they really lit up when we started giving them attention.

if you weren't here this time, this program will be on until november 2008, every last sunday of the month. :)

March 19, 2008 : Intramusday

or Wedstramuros. Wenztramuros. or whatever. basta it was a Wednesday and i finally set foot in Intramuros. yeah... i'm that much of a foreigner.

starbucks before and after. the adorable, domed, stone-walled starbucks in the morning.

in Manila Cathedral we met Ken Weber, a keyboardist whose passion flew him all the way from the United States to the very hot Philippines. "I read about this pipe ogran on the Internet and I knew I just HAD to play it," he said, with much fervor.

walked around the Walled City. vintage architecture (evinced in photos, i need to learn how to stand straight), antique shops and museums, stone roads and brick walls. art oozed into as far as toilet cubicles. a (probably crazy) man looking through a hole in the wall.

opening secluded doors, going through windows, there IS air, you will NOT die (hahaha) ! the sound a horse's hooves make. the kalesa man in checkered green and yellow who knew the city like a well-read book. "To foretell the destiny of a nation, it is necessary to open the book that tells of her past," Jose Rizal wrote.

thank you for adopting me for a day, kath. love.

March 15, 2008 : I'm No Moses (day 1)

1) obviously these photos were on joey's album first
2) please donate to the Get Adi a 400D drive
3) spot the difference between the originals and the tweaked
4) the one photo not here is in abundance (hahaha) in the Kevin Mayuga Face Challenge album
5) this weekend was fantastique
6) most of these are sequences
7) see #2

YOUTH ENCOUNTER 6

VIEW BROCHURE

(APPLICATION FORM ATTACHED)

deadlineof submission of application forms and payment is on April 7.
first come, first serve! so the sooner you submit and pay, the better.


i'm telling you, this experience is worth it.

Attachment: YE Application Form.doc

CONSTANTINE CAVAFY / Ithaca

When you set out on your journey to Ithaca,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the angry Poseidon -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty, if a fine
emotion touches your spirit and your body.
The Lestrygonians and the Cyclops,
the fierce Poseidon you will never encounter,
if you do not carry them within your soul,
if your soul does not set them up before you.

Pray that the road is long.
That the summer mornings are many, when,
with such pleasure, with such joy
you will enter ports seen for the first time;
stop at Phoenician markets,
and purchase fine merchandise,
mother-of-pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and sensual perfumes of all kinds,
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
visit many Egyptian cities,
to learn and learn from scholars.

Always keep Ithaca in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to anchor at the island when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that Ithaca will offer you riches.
Ithaca has given you the beautiful voyage.
Without her you would have never set out on the road.
She has nothing more to give you.

And if you find her poor, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what Ithacas mean.




--

i looked up the origin of the word/name "Ithaca" and there were several interpretations. i found it rather beautiful that how i interpreted the poem resonated with this one:

the Greek adjective "ithys" which means "straight" (or, metaphorically, just or true)

and that the last line of the poem affirmed it.

i bought paulo coelho's "the zahir" (where i discovered this poem) yesterday, after finally finishing "by the river piedra i sat down and wept" last friday. there was a reason why i stopped reading it halfway almost five months ago. i would have never appreciated this poem if things hadn't turned out the way they had last week to today. last week up to today has been the only light of this year so far. i pray that it sticks around.

March 8, 2008 : Teach Out!

at Zenaida H. Gaña Memorial Elementary School
in Dasmariñas, Cavite.

there's a nice feeling that comes out of the end of these activities. it makes itself known when we're about to part. what they show in asking for your cellphone number. in asking where they can see the photos. in their expression of goodbyes is something that tells us, Thank you. we loved having you here. it's a nice feeling.

photo credit:
D - dru
j - javi
G - gian
J - jarro
R - ren

February 29. 2008 : Threshold 2008

can anyone say, BAD MUSIC? or bad DJ. or whatever. basta it was crap.
most of the time, i didn't even look through the viewfinder to take a photo, so pardon the bad framing and sometimes out-of-focus subjects. meh.

credit: C = cara