Pre-Immersion

Pre-Immersion



Hummin': Brothers Under the Sun by Bryan Adams

At six o' clock in the morning, I, along with 16 others will be leaving Manila for Samal, Bataan where our Ateneo Immersion will be held. We will be riding a bus, a jeepney and a tricycle, and then walk on foot before we reach the farming community.

For two and a half days, we will stay with a foster family, learn to live with them and like them. We will eat only when they eat, sleep where they do and experience their lifestyle and livelihood firsthand.

I have a few experiences in interacting with our less-fortunate brothers. I have joined a couple of church outreaches where we visited orphanages, homes for the aged, and cancer and pregnancy wards of certain hospitals. However, I am hoping that as I spend my time there, I will be able to learn even more on how they survive on a daily basis, having so much less than what most of us do.

Equipped with the best intentions, I also hope that my time there will be fruitful in the sense that I will also be able to impart some knowledge or maybe touch their lives in the smallest ways. I hope that I can also correct some misconceptions that they may have about "us" and vice versa.

As I grow from sharing this experience with them, I am hoping that they also receive something in return--maybe the hopes that people like us who have more opportunities could someday provide the same for them.

Wish me luck!

Weakling

Weakling




Isn't it so hard to turn away from temptation when it's already laid out in front you?

I can try to flee away from those that make me stumble. I can try to turn a blind eye on those that make me fall. But when it's there in front of me, winking at me and coaxing me with that little finger, I just can't help but dumbly follow.

I'm sooo not doing well with self-control.

See, I'm supposed to be working to lose weight right now, and maybe giving myself a break once in a while. But for the past couple of weeks, my mom has been the one doing the groceries (and my mom is SUPER IMPULSIVE so we have a lot of junk and whatnots within reach) and my sister has been cooking and baking like crazy! I've been doing nothing, but pigging out, much like the habit of eating I used to have.

The bad thing is, I HAVE A DEADLINE TO CATCH!

I've really decided on doing all this hard work for an event in the near future. I wanted to be thinner by then and make all those "nasty people" eat all the insults they gave me. Ha! I'll make them eat so much that they'll lose appetite. (Well, that's the plan.)

But from the pattern that's forming now, I'll never be able to reach that goal on time! *wails* NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Where are you, Determination?