...ellipses...

…are what you won’t find in this entry.

Instead, I’m posting pictures from the past year that more or less capture what 2006 has been like for me. My only regret is that I used my camera more for work purposes this year rather than actually taking the photos that I want to take. Hence, there were several “memorable moments” that I didn’t get to capture on film (or on digicam, for that matter). Nevertheless, the series of pictures (worth a thousand words, they say) will hopefully tell the stories that I’ve been wanting to tell via this blog but haven’t been able to.

Presenting, highlights of 2006 in the life and times of POL:

Labels: Past Forward

Posted by pol at 8:35 PM | Permalink |

While everybody else is busy with his or her Christmas list, I have been obsessing about a list of my own.

I shall call this my Preparing for Zambia List (a.k.a. Things to Do Before Leaving for My VSO Placement List). Here goes:

• Fix travel papers
• Practice riding the bicycle (It’s probably been more than 20 years since the last time that I’ve actually ridden one!)
• Learn to drive the motorbike
• Take a million and one vaccine shots and/or preventive medication for Diphtheria-Polio-Tetanus, Measles, Hepa A and B, TB, Flu, Pneumonia, Yellow Fever, Rabies, Meningitis, Malaria, etc.
• Undergo a full dental check-up
• Learn basic Nyanja
  
• Read VSO reference materials (i.e., Volunteer Handbook, Health and Security Handbook, Volunteers and Development book, among others)
• Review on debate formats and rules
• Read up on Leadership theories
• Collect reference materials on Leadership, Youth development, Fund raising, etc.
  
• Read up on Zambia’s socio-political history and current events
• Watch more football (soccer) to familiarize myself with the sport (No more live basketball games for me in Zambia…boohoohoo!)
• Learn how to really cook (And I don't mean 'survival cooking,' which is the only kind of cooking I know as of yet. Harhar.)
  
• Shop for appropriate clothes (i.e., collared blouses and ankle-length skirts), footwear, and other paraphernalia (Arrgh…I hate shopping!)

This really isn’t a bad list. Not bad at all. A big chunk of it sounds like fun. The catch, however, is that I have to accomplish all these before February 19 (my departure date) on top of finishing my on-going projects (a.k.a. "rackets") with two organizations and attending another VSO training course.

No time for dilly-dallying now. Every day counts.

Labels: Etc

Posted by pol at 11:28 PM | Permalink |

The news headline this morning states that “close to 14,000 people were displaced following typhoon Reming’s onslaught in the Bicol region and southern Luzon (Inq7.net).”

I’m thinking, there’s got to be more “displaced” people than that. And definitely, those affected aren’t just from Bicol, Mindoro or Batangas, but from nearby provinces as well. After all, being “displaced” does not just consist of having one’s home or property damaged. It also has something to do with not knowing where to go or what your next move should be, for fear that you’ll be the next victim of the storm’s rampage—never mind that the sun in actually shining bright outside and there’s nary a trace of the reportedly strong rains and winds brought about by the typhoon (in Metro Manila, that is). Just the thought of going through another Milenyo-like typhoon is enough to keep the average Pinoy cautious this time around. Just ask the residents of Malabon.

I, for one, am feeling sort of “displaced” right now. I’m supposed to be in Silang, Cavite today, attending a training course with my co-volunteers in VSO. But (no) thanks to Reming, the entire course was moved up one day (hence, it will start tomorrow, Saturday), on short notice. So after the frantic day I had yesterday trying to beat deadlines and attending to last minute stuff, here I am now, trying to pass the time until I board the bus to Silang. And since I’ve already psyched myself to attend that course beginning this morning, I couldn’t seem to concentrate on anything else right now. I’m neither really here where my physical body is, nor really there where I am supposed to be.

Sure, the eye of the storm did not hit Metro Manila as originally forecasted, but it nevertheless managed to mess up with people’s schedules and to disrupt the normal course of our daily lives.

In the middle of all this restlessness, W, a very good friend of mine called me all the way from Sydney, where she is attending a conference. Suddenly, I am glad that I am where I am. (If I had been in the seminar, I would not have been able to take her call.) And just like that, I am not feeling so “displaced” anymore.

Labels: Lacuna

Posted by pol at 12:33 PM | Permalink |