RUSSEL/GMD - SU

These days nga pandemic, naappreciate jud tawn naho lagi ang patience and industry ni Russel Rhay Basiao, ang assitant ni Dr Rivera sa Grants Management Division sa Silliman University. Last year he sent me the necessary documents man while I was in Bohol. This time nga gidukdok n lagi pud mis CHED kay magsubmit nas mga extension documents, siya n pud akong sig kontak. I even sent him a shirt and I also gave him a small token as appreciation for all his efforts in helping me fulfill my documentary requirements sa CHED-7. Gimeeting mn jud lagi mi last Monday 11/29/21 afternoon to tell us dalion lagi ug sumbit among documents kay basin morevert daw sa Manila among kwarta. Sus, simbako intawn. Pera n, naging bato p! But I sent the file asking for extension already to Miss Berns today. For signature n lng tos among dean and president. Then I will need to bring all documents to the lawyer for notarization. Di cguro pud n daku kaju ug bayad. Then I plan to check my balance sa bangko and offer. Ay I will warn my sister diay about my dream ni JM last night nga nahulog kuno gikan sa among bay sa Tinangnan. Jia you to us always!

AAS

Today when I opened my email, I saw the message of Patricia Sloane-White (Univ of Delaware) about a possible travel funding in order to present a paper at Association of Asian Studies (AAS) annual meeting in March next year in Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA. Oh my God, where did it come from? Ang akong madumduman is namahaw lagi ko ug New Economic Policy (NEP) sa Malaysia ato nga webinar last August coz it happened at 7am coz taga Delaware lagi ang organizer. I can only recall emailing Dr Patricia Sloane-White after the event. Then sign up2 ra ko atos ilang annual conference announcement then the next thing I know, mao n ni. 2 slots daw ang available, hopefully para nako ang isa. I will finish my paper soon so that I can submit early so sure n ang akong slot pohon. I told my CDU friends that macadamia chocolate n lng ilang pasalubong phn or keychain. Hahah. I told Reymar and Boyet n pud and Boyet said 'char oi'. Ana jud lagi n, Boyet. Echoserang frog ra jud lagi ta ani. Heheh. God is good all the time. Amen. Anyway, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei (MSB) man ang study group ni Dr Patricia Sloane-White so I will focus my paper on RP and SG. I will tie it up n lng pud with my migration stint with LDE so Filipino domestic workers akong nahuna2an. Kay daghan mn ko ug literature makuha. So if need ni nako trabahuon during Christmas break pohon, I will do so, Lord. Unja n ko uli Bohol after New Year cguro, after ko himo grado. I am very proud man gud of my NUS affiliation bisan wa ko kahuman didto. Kay NUS is one of the top 20 universities lagi in the world. Didto jud lagi ko gifinishingan. Heheh. Si Ruthie messaged me about our high school batch's get-together daw ig December 27 pohon at Magsaysay Drive in order to discuss our possible event in May 2022 pohon. I said I cannot promise. I will send a little money as contribution n lng. God bless us always! :)

LDE CENTRE GMD

Actually medyo controversial nga field ang akong nasudlan ron on Governance of Migration and Diversity (GMD). But ISS is offering this track along with EUR, Delft and Leiden. So karon p jud lagi ko kaila ani nila. Wala pud koy communication from Vanessa so I can proceed ra jud with my commitments here in Philippines. I remember lagi that Maastricht School of Management (MSM) used to have a program on migration and sige jud lagi ko ug email nila and di ko nila pansinon. (This time si Prof Jose Tongzon is Adjunct Professor raba jud diay sa Maastricht School of Management. He's currently in the Kazakhstan campus of Inha University. Transport and logistics mn ng iyang field as far as I know. Sa Tasmania iyang PhD. Naa bya Centre for Maritime Studies ang NUS). So diri ra diay japon sa The Hague area akong swerte. My contribution to this effort is about the migration of Filipinos, especially health care professionals. Pila k tuig n gud ko sig discuss anis akong classes on Health Economics. Even in my IS course nga Health Care, apil pud n ang migrant Human Resources for Health (HRH). There's a study that I use in class (National Profile published by the EU, 2009 p lagi) but gamit mn kaju sijas taga CDU lagi nga oriented towards migration jud, specifically USA. So I think mao jud cguro to ang reason nga gidawat kos LDE Centre GMD lagi. So far lagi kay wala p may kisaw so iparenew to nako akong passport pohon. Then I will endeavour to finish this current semester sa CDU and my doctorate studies pud sa Silliman. Meetingon raba mis CHED-7 lagi karong hapon. So all up to You, Lord lagi kung asa ko ani sunod. I put my trust in You. Jeremiah 29:11 lang lagi. Amen.

VISAYAS ALUM ASS'N

Today I thought of creating a Cebu or even Central Visayas chapter of the Dutch Fellows Foundation of the Philippines. Coz makaavail mn lagi ug grants from NUFFIC ang alumni orgs, basta di lng social gathering kuno. So pwede conferences etc as long as dili party lang. I msgd Kaira, Luchie, Regina, Mam Jessica already. Si Mam Jessica gave me 2 names and they are now part of our group chat (GC). Puros Grace p jud sila - Grace Carreon and Maria Grace Diaz. Si Jiah Sayson is part of the group n pud. Si Luchie gave me the name of somebody who studied in IHS. Si Mam Chloe Osano to. I msgd Mike Daisy Cusi and they agreed to be part of the group. They are now in Australia but interesado japon sa grupo. Salamat po. I emailed the president of the alumni association, si Mam Mary Ann Sayoc and she told me that minimum 20 daw ang needed in order to start a new chapter. So amo ng gipangita ang 20, with the help of Mam Chloe Osano, Mike Daisy Cusi and everybody. As of this count, we are at 25 n gani. Naay daghang taga Region 6 actually. I emailed Mam Mary Ann again and asked her what to do next. Excited mn ang mga tawo sa Visayas Chapter. I even modified my ISS FB page to suit our needs. So pwede n nga didto ang among messages lagi buhaton. Sila Rommel Bacabac and Raymund Sarmiento were open to join, ang taga-ChE kay di jud. Sila lang, we respect their decisions of course. Na'man gud pud silay new dynamic lagi didto. Jia you to us always, keep posted lang. Hup Holland Hup! :)

MESDAMES JENNY, GLYNNIS, MARICEL, HELENA, AND NICK

This morning I told Madam Jenny Elmaco, Glynnis Casiño, Mam Maricel Flores, Mam Helena Yap and Nicky Simpson about my news. Sila Mam Maricel and Mam Helena wished me the best. Si Mam Glynnis pud. She has a job offer daw pud in Korea but morag wala p xay contract nadawat. I still have to hear from Mam Jenny. Sa Spain diay xa mostly and Peace Studies iyang background. Si Nicolas I hope mobawos ra to nako phn. Wa nmn lagi siya managad, dugay ra. BTW, si Bantil told us in our group chat nga nagkacovid daw siya. Sus intawn. But bakunado mn to siya so flu-like symptoms ra kuno siya. Salamat tawn sa Ginoo, please take care of her Lord. Amen. Happy Friday to us all! :)

INTER NATIONS

Tonight 11/25/21 at 6pm here in Philippines, I joined the 2nd session of Kelly Brandi's Finding The One. The first session was last 10/22/21 at 6pm also. Twas raining so hard then. Wala gud ko ato kaduwas akong Daily Word Search kay busy mn kaju ko that day. After that I had a one-on-one session with Neelke Velherst on 10/28/21 at 3pm. I had a very nice session then but then I cannot afford man gud the program kay pila to k thousand euros. Tonight they laughed when they saw my message that said I am from the Philippines. Ngano oi, people from Philippines have no right to be in a session like this? Cge lang, I am listening to the session now. Jia you Doki!

RISA

She is in Munich, Germany n diay kuno ron oi. The last time we talked she was in Australia p mn gud. I msgd her about my news, lipay ra pud siya. Well, hope to see her in future indeed. I've been in Munich n man last time, in our memorable Germany-Austria trip around Assumption Weekend with Madon and Tina. One for the books jud to buyag. Jia you to us always. Love love! ;)

MAM LANI

She is now in Portugal coz she got married to a Portuguese man. I told her of my news, happy ra pud xa for me. Sige Mam, hope jud magkita ta phn. All in due time Mam Lani. Keep the faith lng ta. Amen!

LINKED

I noticed that LDE Centre GMD connected my profile in their website to my LinkedIn profile. They just used the email I gave them. Napugos ko ug update sa akong LinkedIn oi. Di raba jud ko active ato nga account, ang sa Yahoo nga account maoy active ko. Anyway, naa diay silay Masters in GMD. So didto diay cguro ko mosud phn if ever man. Basta kay huwat ra lagi jud ko ug abiso aning akong new opp nga napalgan, Lord. Parenew n lng gud ko ug passport lagi so that ready ko mogora if they say fly phn. Jia you to us always!

TULIP FIELDS

Amazing jud ang Holland. Yes, low sky siya as in 4pm p lng during winter ngitngit n lagi jud. Pero ang bawi lagi ig spring nga mobukad n ang tulips in the fields. Kaingon gud si Manang Bebie ato nga mao jud lagi kuno to nga view ang imong makita sa postcard. Nga mora kuno ug giruler. Heheh. I sent a long postcard pud of tulips to Aunty Helen in Hawaii and she said iya jud lagi kuno gibutang sa iyang table sa office. Char! Jia to us always, love love love! :)

ESOTERIC

Katawa kos ingon ni Boyet nga naa daw taga-PIDS nga didtos NUS for MA Econ and niwithdraw daw after 1 week. Kay esoteric daw. I had to google the meanig of the term n pud. Hinuon sakto pud siya. Basin di pud lagi maoy iyang field, basin applied econ iyang gusto. Basta ako giganahan ra mn ta ko didto. Di lng ko kaapas lagis maths requirement sa program kay wa n may numero lagi, puros equations n mn lng. Still, I survived it. Jia you Doki!

ISS STINT - 2000 TO 2001

I was among the MA Development Studies participants on a fellowship grant to the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in September 2000 to December 2001. I was doing MA Development Studies Major in Agriculture and Rural Development (ARD) with 19 other participants mostly from the developing world. Sila Shioko and Ayumi ra maoy gikan sa developed country namo ato. Anyway, our convenor then was a very tall British professor, si David Dunham. He would eventually become my research supervisor too, along with Ashwani Saith. Daku2 gud pud ko ug grado ato. Basta, I remember sitting in for INT 107 b to or INT 108 Microeconomics of Development in which napugos jud mi ug work out sa problems kay iapil man sa exam lagi. Then we had RMD 121 Exploratory Data Analysis pud under former Dean Marc Wuyts in which he made us use STATA jud. I remember our project then was about food production per capita in India. From there I went for STATISTICA training in UP in May 2003 plus so many other trainings. Formal course in econometrics n lng lagi ahong kuwang diay. Kay di mn ko kamao jud lagi ug economic modelling. Jia you lang Doki, di lagi ka pasagdan ni Lord aning imong new opportunity. Kani kay hinatag gud Niya, matawhay ra jud ko lagi ani. I just need to keep the faith. Amen.

NUS/Singapore

Does my NUS stay deserve a spot in this blog? Yes indeed. Here you'll see a pic of my former flatmates, Preeti and Deepti from India. This was taken by our friend Deepak at the NUS Comp Ctr bus stop on 27 August 2005. Only the other half of my face was taken. Hehe.. We went to Suntec after this where we bought tables and chairs for our individual rooms. Basta, tagsa mn ta mi ug unit lagis Gillman Heights Condominium but then nireklamo mn si Preeti sa iyang unit maong nakumbinsi pud ko nga mobalhin mis Clementi. Apil pud tos lessons learned in SG - that since di p sure ang akong source of income, di jud ko pwede modesisyon ug kalit2 lagi. 'Who told you to move in with Preeti' gud lagi ang sulti ato ni Sumantra. Basta Lord, I know that nasara n to nga chapter of my life. Onward ever, backward never n lagi ko ron. Amen!