Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Immersion at San Mateo, Rizal
I've been neglecting my blog. What with the immersion last weekend, getting sick and school responsibilities, I hadn't been able able to find the time. Actually, I did try to write a long entry about my immersion last Monday, but my head was already spinning halfway through it, and the entry was so boring that I couldn't go on. So, I'll try to remedy that tonight. I've learned my lesson though. No more detailed, chronological descriptions. I'll make it simpler.
About the immersion. Well it turned out to be quite fun actually. Laugh trip rin kasi yung mga nakatira dun. I enjoyed talking to them and just plain hanging out with them. It didn't hurt that I had seven other Ateneans with me there. Actually, there were 10 of us, but the other two seemed to have spent a pretty serious weekend with their foster family as I didn't see them until Sunday mass.
I was assigned to this house along with three girls: Darls, Herschel and Cla(?). Actually, we didn't much hang around in that house we slept in, because the kids we were teaching belonged to Ate Tess, who lived nearby. We just slept in her brother-in-law's house because there was more space there. Actually, I felt a lot more comfortable with Ate Tess' family. The brother-in-law who was the real owner of the other house hadn't been there that weekend, and the one staying there was the other brother-in-law who had hassled us about not having a spokesperson the last time we were in San Mateo. He kind of made me feel like such a ingrateful trespasser, who just used his house for storage space, but didn't bother to spend more time there.
But the rest of it was fun. We got to meet the four kids of Ate Tess: Risa (20), Rocky (16), John-John (13), and Ronan (11). Risa works in a cellphone shop in Riverside, Marikina, and was only home a few hours at a time, so we didn't get to hang out much with her. Rocky's kind of shy around girls and spent most of the weekend avoiding us, especially during tutoring time. John-John's the kid I taught. He's quiet, but funny. I kept teasing him coz he gave up on me after hours of trying to study Least Common Denominator. Man, those grade 5 stuff are so long ago. I had to borrow John-John's textbook to remember how to solve the LCD. Ronan, meanwhile, is a hoot. He's the youngest, most hyper. The pets (and there are lots of them) love him and sleep beside him.
We also met the "foster siblings" of Karlo and Erwin. Marlene is 16. She's working, too. I kept teasing Karlo because I already suspected that the girl had a crush on him. Hah! Served him right for being such a flirt. Erwin, meanwhile, seemed to be
having a string of bad luck. First, he gets Karlo for his roommate hehe. I don't mean it that way. It's just that Karlo was doing his best to get on Erwin's nerves by acting gay and cozying up to him. Second, he got a slipper on his gut while he was sleeping at about 4:30 am. One of the "foster sibs" came home for the first time that weekend and tried to get into the room where Erwin and Karlo were sleeping. Erwin was sleeping on the floor, and the sib thought he was his brother and threw a slipper at him. Erwin: Sino ka? Sib: Sino ka? Kwarto ko eh! Erwin: Huh? Ah...eh...mga taga-Ateneo po kami! So, what was Karlo doing all that time? He was pretending to be asleep, but he was actually laughing like hell. Third, seems like the dogs in that house don't like Erwin or Karlo. They kept getting chased. Fourth, Erwin skinned his finger and the skin underneath his nail came off. But then, he seemed to enjoy telling us all about how he tucked the skin back in.
The food, by the way, was great. We were lucky to have a foster mother who's an excellent cook. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite so grateful a day after I got back home. Looks like I got food poisoning there. Or maybe it was the water.
We had a culminating mass last Sunday. The priest was wierd. Or maybe it was because it was a children's mass. But I kept feeling as if I was in kindergarten or something. More like a recollection for kids. But Mr. Tejido was even wierder. The priest gave the mic to him during homily, and he began talking about the immersion. He kept saying stuff about how we weren't different from those who lived in San Mateo. Strangely enough, the way he said it made it sound as if he was actually emphasizing the difference between the rich and poor. He sounded so pompous and condescending. But the kicker was when he suddenly said, "Sa totoo lang, mayayaman ang mga batang ito eh." Oh jeez. We weren't even using the word immersion with our foster family, because it sounded bad. But Mr. Tejido had to say that. Of course, the woman sitting next to me turned to me and stared at me. Some of the kids turned to some of our classmates, asking, "Ate, mayaman raw kayo?" A kid turned to Ina and asked, "Ate, pano ka naging mayaman?" Gee...good job, Mr. Tejido. Some immersion.
But as I said, other than the wierd brother-in-law and Mr. Tejido, the whole weekend turned out well. Karlo's already talking about going back, and I have to admit that I'd like to myself. They did ask us if we would go back, and it was a bit awkward. I didn't want to make any promises. But I'd like to.
Whew! I can't believe it! I actually finished writing this entry! After--what?--four days? Edlyn, you're pathetic!
About the immersion. Well it turned out to be quite fun actually. Laugh trip rin kasi yung mga nakatira dun. I enjoyed talking to them and just plain hanging out with them. It didn't hurt that I had seven other Ateneans with me there. Actually, there were 10 of us, but the other two seemed to have spent a pretty serious weekend with their foster family as I didn't see them until Sunday mass.
I was assigned to this house along with three girls: Darls, Herschel and Cla(?). Actually, we didn't much hang around in that house we slept in, because the kids we were teaching belonged to Ate Tess, who lived nearby. We just slept in her brother-in-law's house because there was more space there. Actually, I felt a lot more comfortable with Ate Tess' family. The brother-in-law who was the real owner of the other house hadn't been there that weekend, and the one staying there was the other brother-in-law who had hassled us about not having a spokesperson the last time we were in San Mateo. He kind of made me feel like such a ingrateful trespasser, who just used his house for storage space, but didn't bother to spend more time there.
But the rest of it was fun. We got to meet the four kids of Ate Tess: Risa (20), Rocky (16), John-John (13), and Ronan (11). Risa works in a cellphone shop in Riverside, Marikina, and was only home a few hours at a time, so we didn't get to hang out much with her. Rocky's kind of shy around girls and spent most of the weekend avoiding us, especially during tutoring time. John-John's the kid I taught. He's quiet, but funny. I kept teasing him coz he gave up on me after hours of trying to study Least Common Denominator. Man, those grade 5 stuff are so long ago. I had to borrow John-John's textbook to remember how to solve the LCD. Ronan, meanwhile, is a hoot. He's the youngest, most hyper. The pets (and there are lots of them) love him and sleep beside him.
We also met the "foster siblings" of Karlo and Erwin. Marlene is 16. She's working, too. I kept teasing Karlo because I already suspected that the girl had a crush on him. Hah! Served him right for being such a flirt. Erwin, meanwhile, seemed to be
having a string of bad luck. First, he gets Karlo for his roommate hehe. I don't mean it that way. It's just that Karlo was doing his best to get on Erwin's nerves by acting gay and cozying up to him. Second, he got a slipper on his gut while he was sleeping at about 4:30 am. One of the "foster sibs" came home for the first time that weekend and tried to get into the room where Erwin and Karlo were sleeping. Erwin was sleeping on the floor, and the sib thought he was his brother and threw a slipper at him. Erwin: Sino ka? Sib: Sino ka? Kwarto ko eh! Erwin: Huh? Ah...eh...mga taga-Ateneo po kami! So, what was Karlo doing all that time? He was pretending to be asleep, but he was actually laughing like hell. Third, seems like the dogs in that house don't like Erwin or Karlo. They kept getting chased. Fourth, Erwin skinned his finger and the skin underneath his nail came off. But then, he seemed to enjoy telling us all about how he tucked the skin back in.
The food, by the way, was great. We were lucky to have a foster mother who's an excellent cook. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite so grateful a day after I got back home. Looks like I got food poisoning there. Or maybe it was the water.
We had a culminating mass last Sunday. The priest was wierd. Or maybe it was because it was a children's mass. But I kept feeling as if I was in kindergarten or something. More like a recollection for kids. But Mr. Tejido was even wierder. The priest gave the mic to him during homily, and he began talking about the immersion. He kept saying stuff about how we weren't different from those who lived in San Mateo. Strangely enough, the way he said it made it sound as if he was actually emphasizing the difference between the rich and poor. He sounded so pompous and condescending. But the kicker was when he suddenly said, "Sa totoo lang, mayayaman ang mga batang ito eh." Oh jeez. We weren't even using the word immersion with our foster family, because it sounded bad. But Mr. Tejido had to say that. Of course, the woman sitting next to me turned to me and stared at me. Some of the kids turned to some of our classmates, asking, "Ate, mayaman raw kayo?" A kid turned to Ina and asked, "Ate, pano ka naging mayaman?" Gee...good job, Mr. Tejido. Some immersion.
But as I said, other than the wierd brother-in-law and Mr. Tejido, the whole weekend turned out well. Karlo's already talking about going back, and I have to admit that I'd like to myself. They did ask us if we would go back, and it was a bit awkward. I didn't want to make any promises. But I'd like to.
Whew! I can't believe it! I actually finished writing this entry! After--what?--four days? Edlyn, you're pathetic!
# Lyn found a missing piece @ 6:48 PM 
