Philippine Science High School's Team Lagablab - a group of incoming Senior students, along with their teachers, mentors, sponsors and reps from DOST-SEI, were in town to compete in FIRST Robotics Competition. The Atlanta Fil-am community, headed by PSHS alum Eleanor Mae Pascual, Willie Llarena, Sonny de Hitta, Pam Peterman, Didi O'Connor and many others went all out to support the team. We are so proud of you guys and we're happy to have been a part of your Atlanta experience! ** Photos are in reverse order - most recent photos posted first.
Aside from participating in FIRST, Brandon seemed to have another important agenda in Atlanta: seeing the panda bears at Zoo Atlanta. So Monday morning, while everyone else were either doing last-minute packing or touring Georgia Tech, he and Carlo zipped through the Zoo until they met Xi Lan, Mei Lan, Lun Lun, and Yang Yang. Mission accomplished!
It's been a month now since we got back from our trip to Israel, Jordan and Egypt. I've posted several pictures here and there. Made several attempts to start writing about the trip. But every time I sit down to write something that should encompass the entire experience, I always stop and put the laptop away. Maybe it's my extremely short attention span. Or maybe the bouts of back spasms that keep me from writing for very long. Or maybe it just seems too daunting a task to put to words the two weeks that we spent in that part of the world. It's exhausting and overwhelming just to think about it. But as I move further and further away from it, I worry that I will start to lose some of the details. Things that I discovered and learned would be gone if I don't commit them to the written word. Considering how poor my memory is, this is bound to happen sooner rather than later. So here I am, buckling down, trying to get the story out piece by piece.
Where to start? I suppose the beginning is always best. Why Israel, Jordan and Egypt? Well, it all started with plans to go to Italy and Greece. As we considered the cost, we found that the almighty US dollar still isn’t doing too well against the Euro. Which was also the reason why we opted to go to Peru last year. While on the metro (train) to Washington DC in June of 2008, a good friend from my grade school years told us about her travels as a flight attendant with a Dubai-based airline. Soon, the idea of an inter-continent trip to the edges of Africa (Egypt) and the Middle East started to take shape. It was a dream trip for Glen, a history buff and Bible geek, to visit the lands where the story of Christianity began. For me, it was going to be one huge photo safari! While our Jewish friends were all very excited and sentimental about our trip to their home land, some of our other friends and family were a bit concerned with the security situation in the region. Understandably, since most of the news that the mainstream media would put out about Israel is that of suicide bombings, missile attacks in Gaza, impending military strikes and the sort. Yes , the region continues to be the focus of dispute and hostility. It has been a land subject to much conflict starting from the Biblical times. But it is the very character of this historical region that has made it the subject of conquests, wars and uprisings. So the question shouldn’t be Why but rather Why Not?
As much as we enjoyed watching these places in HD on the Discovery and History Channels, there is truly something different about walking in the streets of Jerusalem or down the dusty road in the Valley of the Kings that brings history to life in such an awesome way. It made me want to run and find my history teachers of yore and tell them that I finally get it - the reason for their passion in the seemingly mundane details about eras long past. In the words of Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass, it was magical!
I may be baduy and cheesy but I cannot wait for the new Sarah Geronimo - John Lloyd movie to come out on DVD!
And for those in the US who want to celebrate Pinoy love, romance and kilig, here's several DVD titles that are for sale by Regalo Central (aka me):
A Very Special Love - Sarah Geronimo and John Lloyd Cruz For the First Time - KC Concepcion and Richard Gutierrez I've Fallen for You - Kim Chiu and Gerald Anderson A Love Story - Aga Muhlach, Maricel Soriano and Angelica Panganiban Paano Kita Iibigin - Regine Velasquez and Piolo Pascual - coming soon: One More Chance - John Lloyd Cruz and Bea Alonzo
Not so Valentine-y, but still worth watching: Chopsuey - Piolo Pascual Mother Nanny (Inang Yaya) - Maricel Soriano Ouija - Jolina Magdangal and Judy Ann Santos
All DVDs are $25 including standard USPS shipping (within continental US; for other countries, send me a message for pricing). Add $5 to upgrade to Priority shipping if you want to get it in time for Valentines.
Payment can be made via Paypal (credit or debit card) or personal check (if I know you personally).
No more trache tubes. No more suctioning every 5 minutes. No more therapies. No more doctor's visits. No more hospital stays. No more medicines. No more sickness. No more.
One day, I hope to see you running to greet me, saying hello in a voice I've never heard - angelic and sweet. For now, you're probably going to tell on me to big Jesus, about how mean old Tessa made you work to sit, crawl and stand when you didn't feel like it. And you can smile and let out a sigh of relief when He tells you that you're done with all of that. That where you are now, all is well and as it should it be. That you're home now.
Yesterday (Saturday), Hannah and her parents received some belated Christmas gifts (or maybe it's Chinese New Year presents) from her 3 Santas - Cathy Babao Guballa, Rapa Lopa and Menchu Sarmiento (with their families).
My heart is filled with joy and gratitude for all those who helped and prayed for this endeavor to become a reality. I may not have been there in person, but I can see Hannah's smiles in the video and photos and for now that is enough. I can't wait to meet Carlo, Joan and Hannah when I come home to visit.
Thank you everyone. Thank you Lord. Praise God for his awesome goodness and kindness!
And what do you get if you cross a Snuggie and radio/television host and political commentator Alan Combs?
According to Glen (with thanks to Stephen Colbert for the idea), the scourge of the Smurf village: Ready to order? Get it now at www.getsnuggie.com! And please, please - send me a photo if you ever get one!
I'm not one to get into fashion religiously. However, I am as impressionable as carbon paper (remember those? Which reminds me, I want some...). No matter how short-lived my foray is into any new project or object of fancy, I attack it with zeal and near-clinical OCD (if you do not believe me, check out my JLC post. Then again, that may just be my stalker tendencies).
So anyway, I started reading Texan teenager Jane's blog (seaofshoes.com) and got momentarily hooked into the whole fashionista bit. It inspired me enough to step out of my comfort zone for this outfit, with a pair of sandals that I would not have looked twice at 6 months ago:Two pairs that particularly caught my attention were:
I may be a bit crazy, but not enough to purchase either pair. I had enough sense to know that it is not a priority and way beyond my usual shoe budget.
Since I do not have the time nor expertise to crank out my own version of the Margiela sandal booties, I was ecstatic to see an affordable version by Carlos Santana (why he's into shoes, I do not know. But he has several good designs) at Off-Broadway. But when it came to deciding between that pair and the gold gladiator sandals, I went with the latter since I already knew I wanted it to go with the orange and gold dress.
I am thankful that I have such a short memory, because a few days later, I have forgotten all about it.
Until this Christmas, when I opened my last gift.
Hooray!
I am even more thankful for my wonderful husband who keeps track of things that I say in passing.
So until my next obsession comes along, you can find me walking around in my new pairs of shoes, trying to be as fasyon and chica (ala Chuvaness) as I can be :)
