CWF

Today we had our 1st Khmer lesson at CWF. I got the chance to meet the other volunteers as well. Most of them are young, in their 20s but there are three who are elders and one from Singapore who is maybe three years older than me. Most are from Australia, but there are also from US, Singapore (as previously mentioned), New Zealand, Britain and Italy. I hope to get to know them more as our term progresses. Our English classes would start on 9th June pohon. Vive le Cambodge!

The elders are: Jane from New Zealand, Neville and Rodney from Australia

The Americans are Joe and Greg

The other Aussies are Abbey and Chris from the Australian Army, and Amy who used to work in property and is on her way to the UK

The Singaporean is Teresa

There's Sarah from UK and Giada from Italy who just completed their TEFL training

That's about the gang :-)

Trio Pa Rin

After a really long time, Christian accepted my friend request in Friendster. Si Jayeel also accepted my Friend request just today. Sheryl is alrdy on my Friendster list, a long time ago. Trio pa rin, memorable NUS times. Hehe, good luck to us all!

Sheryl

Last night, I got a very surprising message from Sheryl, my good friend from NUS days. She said I am very welcome to live w/ them at the Ruth Ministry House in Lakeside for a while. Wow, she's really an amazing friend who just refuses to give up on me! She, I really hope to see you in Sing again in future. God bless us always!

PhD

It keeps coming back to haunt me, because what will I do for the rest of my life if I don't stay in the academe/university? Yes, I think that I would still be doing PhD in future, I can try again after my NUS fiasco. Besides, I REALLY do miss studying in Europe. I just need to rest for a while then I can fight again.

I emailed my good friend Reginald, from Kenya for his thoughts. He's finishing his PhD at the Oxford Mission Studies Centre. He gave me real nice insights. Good luck to us my dear friend!

I just keep the faith.

Small World

I started on the YM with Angel Espiritu yesterday. Tua na man diay sya sa Ortigas. He said magiging colleague daw nya soon si Stephanie Anne Sala or Tippy for short. Wow, haven't heard from her for a very long time indeed! She even became my student in Econ 51. Angel said she's been living in New York but she came home to get married. To whom he doesn't know. Small world ra jud no?

Banneaux

My good friend, Uncle Linus, who lives in London said he'll be joining the annual pilgrimage of the Tamils to Our Lady of Banneaux in Belgium this Friday. He's been joining every year, that's how I met him seven years ago, when he joined the pilgrimage to Lourdes and Fatima. He was also a chatterbox like me.

In an earlier post, I said that it was one for the books. And indeed it was! For two weeks we went to Lourdes, France and Fatima, Portugal. It did not only feature really long bus drives but aberiyas along the way. We started off from the Netherlands; stopped in Paris for dinner then travelled overnight to Lourdes. We stayed in Lourdes for a week, we stayed at Secours Catholique, on the hill. Medyo layo2 pa from the grotto. But the food was good and we always had wine every meal. Feeling jud namo that we are in France! :-)

Upon leaving Lourdes, we stopped for about 30 mins coz something went wrong w/ the bus brake daw. I remember that we were in Tour de France territory, I saw the landmark there e. Yellow rings ba yun or one big yellow ring lang as in that of Lance Armstrong?

We stayed in Fatima also for one week, at the Pope John VI Centre, if I got the name right, only walking distance to the shrine. Gillian and I made sidetrips to Lisboa and Sintra, and Tomar. And la na mi kaagwanta, ngita na mi internet in Portugal! We found it in the post office, Correos de Portugal, after walking under the scorching heat for half an hour! 23opm gud to.

On the way back, we got stranded in Vilar Formoso, near the border between Portugal and Spain for eight long hours, from 2pm to 10pm! Then we got on a different bus and at 8am the next day, transferred to another bus in Bordeaux. With that bus, we arrived in Paris at 1630h. Ah, kahinay pud ato nga bus. Or that's just how far Bordeaux is from Paris, around 800kms I guess. Three hours gud ang express train, TGV from Paris to Lourdes. (TGV sad gisakyan ni Matt Damon in "The Bourne Identity" di ba? Hehe..)

Best of all, on our return to the Hague, since they dropped us off in Dordrecht, our taxi driver got caught by the police since we gave him the wrong direction and got him to enter a 'No Entry' road. That was alrdy 3am and just minutes after he did the crime, the police car was alrdy behind us! They let him off because it was his first time to drive in the Hague man and we told the police it was our fault, we insisted he take that road. The police then gave him the right direction. In Dutch of course...

Reminds me of our experience in PSA when I sent my brother and his crewmates to their ship after meeting up in Lucky Plaza for only two hours. We ended up in the wrong gate so the guard there instructed our taxi driver how to reach their gate. Mabait ang taxi driver na un, $10 lang pinabayad nya, $12.50 ung bill, since bago pa lng daw ako sa Sing. And to think he was Muslim ha!

God bless us all po!

POLSCI

Grabe, gibaha ako Friendster of friend requests from my former students in Econ Devt, mga Polsci seniors. It started with Honey Leigh Sevilla then sunod2 na. Ug nila pa lagi before, buotan man gud kuno ko kaayo sa ila klase. Anyway, I told one of them, si Ace Baruc IV that one of my friends in NUS will be coming to USC soon. Naexcite ra cguro to sila. Good luck to you, guys. Kaya nyo yan!

SAMAPI Sportsfest

My sister and I have been watching the SAMAPI games since 20 April. Sa hapon na mi, basketball and volleyball na amo matan-aw. Since then, we've been watching every Sunday afternoons.

Yesterday was the finals for volleyball. Napildi amo team, Naga ang nakadaug (Minglanilla, Naga, San Fernando). Sagdi lng, ilaha lng ang trophy this year. Basin next year diay sila P na ang makadaug di ba? There's always a chance..

King's Birthday

Holiday here in Cambo for King's birthday, May 13-15.

I had a very encouraging chat w/ Madon today. Kababalik lng nya ng Pakistan from her usual R & R. She's still a very reliable friend and I'm so lucky to have her close, despite the distance. Last time I saw her was in July 2006 when I just came home from Singapore, bone-thin and all. Kontrata na bya namo that I would get her as my ninang sa kasal in future and if ever.

God bless you and your family always, Madon! Will keep you posted.

SURRENDER

Last night I surrendered my life to God. I have been avoiding it since 2006 pa man gud and it is not anymore healthy so I did it. I know the Lord has good plans for me, far beyond what I could even conceive of, so I will follow His will from now on. I like my life! God bless everyone!

It's Over

Today I officially withdrew my candidature from NUS. Kapoy na man gud kaayo. It has to end so that I could move on. The good thing is that I won't be getting an F coz ako man giwithdraw officially. Naa lang koy bayranan nuon to them but makit-an ra lagi na paagi. Thank you for everything Lord!

CFC Weekend

This weekend we hosted Tito Lito Tayag, Home Office Director of CFC in Philippines. He explained to us all the issues around the so-called split that's happening to the organization now. Nalingaw sya namo nga kasagaran kuno mga bagets. He said he has been in the ministry for 24 years now and he shared to us his experiences, starting in Ilocos in the north then covering the whole Philippines and the world.

This morning we took him to the GK Rafaella site then we sent him off at the airport. God bless you and your family always po!

I asked God for signs for me to stay in KH or go back to SG. I'm just waiting now, I keep the faith.

Plans and Families

Hahay, makatawa ko sa amo family and w/ the plans of family members. These are the spices of life! :-)

Called up home yesterday, greeted mother a 'Happy Mother's Day'. Ngutana sya musta na kuno ko. Okay ra man, kalooy sa Diyos. Talked to my brother too. Ask sya unsay nawong sa Phnom Penh. Told him morag Tagbilaran oi. Katawa sya! Mao diay nagdali sya kay uli pa man to Matabao. Talked to Biboy too. Hahay, tabian na jud ang bata. Si Bantil ray la niuli kay mauwaw sya kung pangutan-on na sya mga tawo asa sya nagtrabaho and unsa iya plans for her life. Wish you all the best, Bantil. Leave it all up to God!

In Time

I know that I came to the right place to start anew. And I know that in time, I will find happiness --not the happiness that most people say starts with you, but the happiness borne of the fact that you're living your life in accordance with God's will. I need to heal man gud, coz I made mistakes in the past. And when that is all over, I can move on, and it will be unlike anything before. I keep the faith!

I also need to heal because I have been making the wrong choices w/ guys! As I said in a previous post, I do not know anything about love. And that is a BLOODY shame! Many times I have turned away the right ones and chose the wrong ones. But again, everyday is a new beginning, the right person will come. God is good, all the time.

Fear and Love

I once read it written that our two strongest emotions are fear and love. Once I told a friend that "we all live because of love", and it's true. I remember my conversations w/ our secretary, si Tata Cabalhin. Told her how amazing the power and might of God is. I just gave the example of faces; that at first, you think all people look the same, like the Chinese in Singapore, but if you really look closely, you'll find that each one of them (and each one of us) looks different. She eventually said, "Adto man jud sa love paingon ning istoryaha ba?" Haha, true. Coz to be honest, I fell in love in Singapore man jud to Christian Bustamante who was already with someone. Gibisita gud siya lagi sa SG sa iyang wife ron nga si Mischelle Ulanday. That was the only Easter time lagi nga I went to mass twice. But I cried so hard because he wanted to introduce me unta lagi to her. I avoided meeting her. They got married on March or April 18, 2008. I was in Cambodia then. Wedding day pud ni ni Sopheap Hour, our volunteer coordinator. She is now in Canada and Christian and Mischelle now have 3 kids together: si Jandi, Jacob and Joshua. Kahibaw man gud ko lagi Lord that somehow he wanted to spend time with me b. Ang iya gud ingon ato was nakikita kong nahihirapan k, but di k sumusuko. Nag-abot man gud mis Bus 96 when I was on my way to NUS after I was offered the downgrade. Nanghipos n gud ko ato lagi aron mouli kay diha n man koy ticket to go home. Like I said, I must have looked so happy then. Mao tong when I took my time in going home from NUS, I was surprised to see him in my block lagi. He went to the Fair Price man in our neighborhood. He said then that masakit daw masyado sa ulo if nasa malayo ang girlfriend mo. What does that mean, uyabon ko nimo? Kahibaw man gud ko lagi of what he went through Lord when his ex-girlfriend Janice Isabelle Lao studied in Oxford before. Pirmi daw tawn niya tawagan lagi. Kulba-kulbaan gud lagi kuno siya every time he receives his bill from Globe. Anyway, I msgd him on LinkedIn today. Told him of my updates. The last time he said man lagi that he feels uncomfortable with my giving him updates. Maong I tried not to msg him anymore. Today I broke that resolve. We are friends man jud klaro from our student times in NUS, back in 2005 to 2006. Sila gud akong support system; sila Leeyaj, Sheryl ug Christian plus my Indian circle and other NUS classmates. Why not keep that bridge di b? Si Nicolas n lng ang bridge nga nadisconnect ron. Di siguro siya gusto nga mobisita ra kos Cambodia. Basin gusto siya nga mobalik ko ug work didto? Wala p may offer po, Teacher Mr. Nick. Alangan mamugos ta di b? God bless you Tatskie, Nicky, Christian and your families and loved ones. God bless us all always. I'll see you when I see you n lng pohon!

Only One by Lionel Richie

Let me tell you now
:
:
There can only be
You for me
I need you more and more
Cause baby

(Chorus)

You, took me inside out
And you showed me
What life was about
Only you
The only one who stole my heart away
And I wanna do all I can
Just to show you
And to understand
Only you
The only one who took my heart away

In my mind
There's no other love...
:
I'm thinking of
Only you, only me
:

Volunteer

Accidentally I found a place where I could volunteer. I had always wanted to do this. Since 2004 pa tawn when I got tired of teaching in USC. I even emailed Vinati, my Indian friend to help me, and she got me in touch w/ people there from the Gandhi Peace Foundation. But then it didn't push through. This time I hope it would really push through. I have been looking for change and this could be it! I keep the faith.

The name of the organization is Conversations w/ Foreigners (CWF), only two blocks from where I live. I didn't realize that it's gonna be this formal for them to volunteer; they emailed my references (Ashwani, David, and I'm sure Mam Ching) to ask for my suitability for the post. They are a fund-raising arm man gud for the Cambodia Rural Development Team. Hehe, this must be tough work. But I'd welcome the change. Coz swak w/ my MA training di ba? I'll think na lang that I could always include this in my CV pohon. I keep the faith.

Successful daw ako application so far. I'd wait for further commu from them. And I'll wait for the program to start this May 27th pohon. As far as I know, as volunteer English teacher, I'll be teaching English for 5hrs/day for 3months. Different levels. I know God will sustain me in this. He is good, always.