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Wednesday, June 08, 2005

You're almost at the finish line of this twisted "tele-novela-ish" story. Positive things to come after, promise!!! I have good friends, after all ;p

It's imperative that you read the previous post on friend # 2 to fully understand this one. Thanks!

Friend # 3: The Leech

One that preys on or clings to another; a parasite.

I met her towards the end of college but we became friends after I graduated. I don't recall how it started but when it was good, it was the best friendship I've had. We were more than friends, we were sisters. My parents treated her like family and hers did the same for me. Countless fun memories still make me smile to this day. We did EVERYTHING together, shared deepest, darkest secrets, supported each other's plans and comforted each other during the hardest times.

Although I spent a lot of time with my parents and Brox, home just didn't feel the same after my Ate (Leira) married and left home, and it even got lonelier when my younger sister (Rhanesa) left for the States. I shared a room with my sisters almost all my life and when they left, I refused to stay home unless necessary. And I found solace in being with my friends.

My dad doted on and trusted her. She was the reasons I actually got some nightlife. She was one of the few people my dad allowed me to go out with (my dad's hella strict so that means a lot!)

I did a lot for her, things I've never even done for my sisters. I drove her around whenever I could, took her everywhere, helped her with her studies (we have the same degree), and basically, helped her out with everything (no more details, nobody has that much idle time anyway). And we had a blast! So how and exactly when the friendship ended still baffles me. What I remember is this: it was an accumulation of things that must've seemed trivial to her, issues I never addressed, that one day, I just decided that it was over.

For instance, her father became very ill, and even the doctors told them to prepare for his death. And since his father needed blood, I volunteered and requested my sister and at least three friends to donate some blood. We were all rejected for various reasons, except for one. My other best friend Arnie successfully donated blood and she was thankful... Her dad's condition was a mystery to the medical staff because no one understood what he suffered from AND he recovered for some reason. Anyway, when it was Arnie's turn to be hospitalized, she promised to visit and she didn't. I knew she spent that weekend in her boyfriend's house because the guy I was dating lived in the same house. (3 guys lived in the same crib, her BF, the snake's BF, and the guy I was dating) So I guess you can pretty much imagine how close we all were. I knew EVERYTHING that went on in that house. Anyway, she apologized to Arnie for not visiting and said that she was in their provincial home during the weekend. In short, she started lying about a lot of things, as if there's no way for me to find out, which of course is more insulting than plainly being lied to.

Things turned for the worse when she moved in with Friend #2. The condo they shared was the birthplace of all the treachery/betrayal. You see, the leech and I hated the snake. We used to make fun of the snake's stupidity (in terms of decision-making). I had my reasons, she had none. We both knew that the snake's boyfriend was cheating on her, and since we hated her, we kept quiet about it. We also knew why her BF (my guy best friend) never took her seriously, his doubts about her and the baby's paternity... but since she stabbed me in the back before, the snake didn't deserve to know, that's how the leech and I felt.

There's a saying: When two people part, it's because somebody moved. I didn't. I hardly saw her ever since she moved in to that condo. I tried ny best to see her but she was busy or outta town, but most of the time she wouldn't reply to my texts. She'd text me only when she needed something, thus the term leech. I was disappointed at her lack of effort to keep in touch, and I knew exactly what she was doing, i felt it for some reason, and my suspicions of course, turned out to be true.

It's amazing what some people would do for free shit. She used me the same way. Wherever we went, I paid for everything. Even the stuff she "bought" for her boyfriend, I paid for those. And when I finally ran out of resources, she jumped on the next available, unsuspecting idiot.

The leech didn't have a lot of money, so she had nothing to offer the snake in return for her kindness--the free lodging (she had a room of her own in that condo), food, electric and water bills, etc.... So she told the snake about EVERYTHING I ever said about her in return. I didn't care, I had my reasons and both of them knew it. But since the snake has always been nice to her, she didn't confess to all the nasty stuff she said behind her back. That's when they became best friends. Did I care? No. They deserved each other.

For an entire year, I've been devising ways to settle the score between the snake and I but I couldn't since she was my bestfriend's baby mama and I was supposed to be godmother to the child, so I couldn't. Plus it wasn't my style. I pretty much left Karma deal with her. Karma was taking its sweet time though, and when the snake and the leech became best friends, I KNEW, that was my payback! THAT was the snake's karma, and it was gonna be beautiful!

The leech must've thought I was oblivious to her disloyalty because she'd get in touch with me once in a while to ask for something, like a teaching job to the school i was overseeing, or to swim in my building (of course, I had to lend her and her sister a bathing suit, too), and a couple of times to borrow money. A lot of Nigguh Shit! I totally lost respect for her. I told myself I wasn't gonna do her any more favors. But I sometimes relapsed and still shared private stuff with her. She and her friends saw me at Friday's once, ate my food, ordered drinks then BOUNCED and I was left with the bill. Perfect! I'm just stupid like that sometimes.

The very next day, I visited the snake's blog site, she wasn't making sense, and was just talking nasty, and then i realized she was referring to me. The leech obviously told her that I said something bad about her. And as usual, I was right. I was irate!!! Why was I angry? The parasite has told her a lot of stuff anyway... I was pissed because this time, the stuff said about me were untrue. And if there's one thing I hate more than being lied to, it's being lied ABOUT! They crossed the line and it was time for a confrontation.

I called them both up and told them exactly what I thought about them. I asked the leech why she betrayed me and she couldn't give me a decent answer. She said someone told her that I was badmouthing her, blah, blah, blah...she couldn't think of anything to tell me. I didn't have time for her bullshit, so I just reminded them of everything I did for them, told them what makes me the better of the three, then wished them luck....

I can't even describe how I felt that day. Twas like-- heart the snake broke, the leech shattered. I confronted them with all the shit they threw my way and that was the end of it. I never thought I could hate anyone as much as I did them. I'm so glad it happened though. I was finally able to express everything I had bottled inside me. The snake didn't apologize (at least she stood her ground, good for her) BUT she deleted the blog she posted about me a day after that last conversation. I saw her a couple of times but I didn't have the patience to be plastic so I just ignored her. I never saw the leech again, but she apologized profusely, more like , she begged for forgiveness, which was probably better, for her at least, hehe.

I often wondered what happened to them, and what I learned disgusted me. The leech, who professed her loyalty to the snake had to move out of the condo because the pregnant snake decided to move back in with her family. The leech was godmother to the baby and so was I. I was Ninang because my guy best friend (baby father) insisted on it, they must've hated it, haha. The leech remained as one of the snake's "best friends" But when there was no more condo, no more free shit, she decided, "fuck that! I'm sleeping with the snake's boyfriend and baby father" and she did. And I lived happily ever after. The end.

the leech and the snake during better days

Posted by Teacher Grishan :: 8.6.05 :: 4 Comments:

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Tuesday, June 07, 2005

User-Friendly (2nd of 3 Parts)

Friend # 2: The Snake

A deceitful or treacherous person

I met this girl in 2002. She was then doing my male best friend who happened to be a big slut ( he's a great friend though). I knew from the start she was different from all his other hoes. She's attractive, well-mannered, smart, extremely talented and soulful. Even though I'm a year older, I looked up to her. She was so many things I wanted to be, specially with regards to her poetic ability.

We'd talk on the phone and text each other non-stop, but we mostly talked about him. She was so in love and I genuinely wished for her to be the one to turn him around, to make him wanna settle down and stop sleeping around, and I honestly believed she was THE ONE. But I was wrong. They were dating for half a year already and he was still sleeping around, with girls she knew, and skanks who knew they were dating. I felt so sorry for her. I warned her. I sacrificed my relationship with my male best friend because I strongly believe in Karma and I didn't wanna be in that position where everyone knows but me.... The only thing I asked of her was to not say it came from me.

She was devastated. She was crying the WHOLE day and demanded him to go to her house and talk. He admitted everything to her that night and THAT was the night they officially became a "couple". I couldn't believe it. All the respect I had for her vanished. I thought her to be a strong individual who wouldn't let anyone treat her like shit and yet, she decided that she was gonna have him any way she could. It's depressing. I cringe every time I think about it. Yuk!!!

Of course, the male best friend asked me if I was the one who told her, and sticking to the plan the snake and I conjured, I lied, (and it almost killed me coz I've never lied to him before. We were always honest with each other, no B.S.), not knowing that she used that moment to get me out of the picture. Her plan was brilliant and it succeeded. I instantly noticed the change in male best friend's behavior towards me. He wasn't replying to my texts, and that's how he acts when he's pissed at me. I asked the snake what she told him, and she said she didn't name her source but I knew already, and I kept my mouth shut.

One of her close friends told me that she was crazy jealous of me but I didn't believe it till that moment. I thought it was ridiculous since there was nothing between the male friend and myself. She obviously didn't believe that and saw me as a threat. So she used me to get info about him and then turned on me the first chance she got. Conniving!

I still hung out with them after that incident. I'd go to her BF's house, and it'll be like the old days whether or not she was around. I was indifferent towards her after the whole betrayal issue. I didn't feel like confronting her because I didn't wanna hear more lies from her. I didn't speak to her much after that. I felt like all of a sudden, we had nothing to talk about. And when I did talk to her, I was being plastic (understandably).

I remember, we'd be in the guy's house, chillin, and all of us would have so much fun, laughing, talking and she'd be in the corner-- quiet. Katz, one of the mainstays in her boyfriend's house often referred to her as a plant or a furniture. That's how quiet she was, we sometimes forgot she practically lived there.

She'd sleep there almost every night, and the nights she didn't, somebody else did. His unfaithful ways continued on till, during and even after the snake got herself pregnant. Did I tell her? Nope! Why should I? She knew what she was getting into, right? But somebody else made the same mistake I did. Poor girl didn't know better.

Her name is Carla. They used to be good friends and they both dated Male Best Friend. There was a lot of drama between them in the past but Carla has moved on and left the country. From the States, she heard about the snake being pregnant and the baby father sleeping with a girl they both used to hang out with. In short, she felt sorry for the snake and spilled the beans. Dad-to-be admitted his wrongdoings and what does the snake do? She turned on Carla. She even blogged about how Carla was just jealous and wanted to ruin what they had, some shit like that. Pathetic!!! That's her M.O. though. She turns on everyone who tries to help her.

She wrote about me on her blog too. She called me a liar, plastic and accused me of pretending to be her friend and out to ruin her relationship with the baby father. I was shocked, so I called her, and she stood by the words she used to describe me and that was the last time we talked.

I've never encountered anyone with more denial issues. I'm still angry but I'm more sorry for her. When her daughter's grown-up and in love, I wonder what mom's gonna tell her. "Stick by your man even when he cheats on you" or "Hate on everyone who tries to help you." I hope she's making better choices now. If not for her, at least for her daughter. And I mean that.

Posted by Teacher Grishan :: 7.6.05 :: 3 Comments:

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Monday, June 06, 2005

User-Friendly (1st of 3 Parts)

Are You Ready for a Long One?

I've always been an outgoing person. I looove meeting new people and making friends wherever I go. And I have made a lot of them. I've so many groups of friends from high school to college classmates, basketball teammates, volleyball teammates, TGI Fridays crew, Club V/Porch peeps and of course, the PUA crowd.

If there's one thing I'm proud of, it's that I have always been good to my friends. I'm honest, awfully helpful, supportive and I love all my friends to death. Unfortunately, some of the ones I held dearest to me turned out to be two-faced, traitors and unbelievably heartless.

I may sound bitter and that's because I WAS for a long time I've been through a lot of B.S. courtesy of some people I once called "friends". I must have very poor judgment of character, I don't know. But there's one thing I know for sure: Ultimately, It's better to be at the receiving end.

I'm so glad I'm thousands of miles away from them now. I've moved on. I thought it would be impossible at first. I've had my heart broken twice, not by men, but by 2 friends that I called my soulmates/sisters. And lately, someone I looked up to turned out to be a scheming bitch, and I was her target. Sad, huh?

These people I liken to animals. I can't think of any other way to describe them, so bear with me.....

Friend # 1: The Crab


Someone who'd drag you down, step on you, to position him/herself higher than you.

I met her on my freshman year in College. She was cool, outgoing, fun and very attractive. We became friends when I joined the volleyball team, and have gotten closer when I shifted from Economics to Education. We did everything together. We'd use up all our allowed absences in the first few weeks of the term and go everywhere together, we'd spend the day at the mall then find ways to make up for missed quizzes and low grades. I was there when she got her heart broken by some asshole and she was there for me when the whole Alex (a.k.a. the sperm donor, another asshole) episode finally ended. We had so much in common. We could read each other's minds, feel each other's pain and stand up for each other. She used to tell me she'd die without me. That's how close we were. Girls hated us for some reason we couldn't fathom but we had fun anyway. We had so much fun that we neglected our studies. There were 11 students in our block and we were the only ones with barely passing grades. But unlike her, I always managed to pull my grades up for the finals. That's how things were for a couple of years.

Then on our Junior year, I started getting my name into the Dean's List without even trying. I don't mean to brag but I've always gotten high academic remarks without studying. All I had to do was show up and that's what I did. I stopped cutting classes, showed up for most of my classes and there! I was on the Honor Roll. My chairperson refused to believe it at first....

Anyway, going back, I remember my chairperson asking me to run for a position in the Young Educators' Society and Friend#1 blurted out, "Me too, Ms., I wanna run" to which the chairperson replied: "Not you, si Grishan lang coz she has good grades and I see the huge improvement and potential (something to that effect)" I will never forget her reaction. She looked angry -- at me! And I let that one slide.

Towards the end of that semester, we were asked to submit a paper in lieu of a final written exam in Theology 6. It was probably the most disastrous day I've had, kinda like the "Series of Unfortunate Events" but all in one day. Anyway, to make the long story short, It was the worst day of my academic life. I couldn't submit the paper. So a few moments before the paper was due, I seeked my friend out for some sort of support. I saw her at the Village Park and she wished me luck, and there was a LOOK on her face that puzzled me. She almost said it sarcastically but I didn't give it much thought coz I was already dreading the meeting with my Theology6 professor.

My professor didn't even ask me to hand in the paper. The first words that came out of her mouth were' "You're so smart, talented, attractive (naks!), but need new friends." I was speechless! She went on saying that Friend#1 approached her earlier that day and said nasty stuff about me, about my academic practices, and other personal stuff. I don't wanna go into the details, basta they were all lies and the action was uncalled for. I was stunned. Tears were streaming down my face, and I didn't even realize I was crying. In short, she was trying to sabotage my grades. Why? Who knows! It's f*cked up!

When I calmed down, my professor asked me to do an alternative project. Then she put me on the spot by asking me what grade I wanted. I felt undeserving of passing the subject because I failed to turn in the paper, but at the same time, I didn't wanna have a failing grade because I was on Academic/Athletic scholarship. So I asked for a 3.5 (4.o was the lowest). And then to my surprise, she gave me a 2.5!!! Whew, right?! She warned me not to tell "Friend#1" about the conversation and the grade I received. I thanked her, placed the report card in my filofax and went on my way.

I was relieved at the same time I felt so lost. I refused to believe she'd do something like that because I've never done anything to deserve that. I was trying so hard not to cry as I walked back to the park. She was waiting for me. Her face lit up as she asked me what happened at the meeting. I just told her that I wasn't given a grade yet. Then she took my filofax and the report card fell. When she saw it, she immediately stuck it back in my organizer, snapped it shut and slammed it on the table. She was pissed! And all doubts I had about what my teacher said vanished.

I was incredibly upset but kept my mouth shut. That's when memories came flooding back, like when she was kicked out of the volleyball team and I wasn't, the time I passed a certain subject that we both failed and had to take again (and she didn't), and many others. On that day, I promised myself two things: 1. That I wasn't gonna waste more time on her, and 2. I will never cry about it again... Fortunately, It was the last day of the term and I didn't have to see her till the next one.

Amazingly, she managed to spread more lies about me, much worse than earlier mentioned. Her actions nearly got me expelled. At the same time, the steps I took to disprove her lies revealed a medical condition that needed attention. More good came out of it than bad and of course, it made her angrier.

The school required the whole Education batch to be together for a retreat the following year. The wounds (as some people call it) were still fresh and I didn't wanna see or talk to her but I knew it was inevitable. It was a requirement for graduating students (although her back subjects wouldn't allow her to graduate with us). There was an activity where the facilitator placed necklaces on the floor. We were supposed to get one from the pile (if we were ready), place it around the neck of a person that we wanted to address, whether to thank someone, or apologize for something, or say anything we could think of.

She approached me. And I started sobbing. All the emotions I kept locked in for almost a year just revealed itself and I could neither speak nor breathe. She was crying as she apologized. I told her she broke my heart and I wanted to know why and she couldn't give me a reason. Her exact words were: "Remember when I told you that I'd die without you, I felt like a part of me did."

And that was it. We were never friends again. We saw each other in some classes but I didn't talk to or look at her unless I had to. She'd sometimes approach me when she needed help with schoolwork and I obliged but I got tired of that too. I don't know what happened to her, if she ever finished college or not. And though I'm still somewhat cross about being treated that way for no reason at all, I still hope she's doing well. I mean that.

"Hearts and thoughts they fade, fade away" --Eddie Vedder

Posted by Teacher Grishan :: 6.6.05 :: 1 Comments:

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Saturday, June 04, 2005

I'm FAT, Thank You :)

Yes, I'm still alive.. I've been extremely lazy to post anything.

I haven't made a lot of friends since I moved here... I've been busy and the people i stay with aren't exactly thrilled to get out of the house, not even to the mall... It's hard for me since i'm too kinesthetic... I've never been one to stay home and lay in bed, watching TV... I've always been a mallrat and an athlete-- not necessarily a great one but I have been into sports all my life. I used to play indoor/beach volleyball and basketball for my college and got into Ultimate Frisbee a year ago.

I loooooove sports. And it's the one thing that I sorely miss. I currently have no form of exercise whatsoever. I must have gained 20-30 lbs. since I got here, it's a damn shame. This is the heaviest i've ever been.... I've always had a skinny to athletic built and now, I'm just FAT! I don't mean to offend anyone who's bigger or heavier than me, but that's just the way I feel about myself right now.

I need to work out since i refuse to diet but my schedule doesn't allow me to. i leave at 7am and get home 12 hours after. I'd go to the beach to play beach ultimate but I don't have anyone to go with. It's sad, really. I hate staying home specially on weekends but I don't wanna ask my sister or her husband to take me to the beach either.

Sigh... I wish I could go out, do some sports (my attempts at the driving range don't count) and meet new people more often... I've been here 6 months and I've hooked up with old friends TWICE! I saw Richard and Gump a couple of weeks back. Most of the people I wanna see live in the Bay Area and we were supposed to go there during the Memorial Day weekend but the kitchen rennovation was scheduled at the same time so I missed that trip again! Grrr!

I need to get me a car so I can go as often as I please and hopefully meet new people. That's first on my list right now. I'm pretty sure I can afford it. It's just that I've never had to save money for anything, particularly a car. My dad took care of that department. But he's not here right now and I've made the decision to be independent for a change so I shall stay away from ANY shopping establishment and buy myself a decent ride. Wish me luck!

Posted by Teacher Grishan :: 4.6.05 :: 0 Comments:

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Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Incident on the 5

Started work last Thrusday. I'm in the process of turning a Daycare center into a K-2 center which means being certified to teach from Kinder to 2nd grade.... I live in San Fernando Valley while this school is 40 miles away. Hassle talaga if you think about it. Luckily, my sister works somewhere in that area too, so ok lang since we're allowed to get on the carpool lane. My Tita is currently doing her externship at my sister's office in Pomona so every morning, we pick her up from Glendale before heading to work, then take her home before heading home at night. Even though we're forced to leave very early in the morning, and come home late at night, at least, fun naman. Kinda like having a daily "road trip." My sister who works from 9-5 is forced to do a 9-6 because that's my schedule, although, i'm nahihiya for the hassle, we're happy coz she gets paid for the extra hour.

So Last Friday night, my sister Rhanesa and my Tita Rosa picked me up from my 2nd day of work. We went straight to Glendale to drop my Tita off. We had dinner with the entire household, chilled with some friends who dropped by, then bounced at around 11pm. My sister drove cause her husband had beers with Tito RG (Rosa's husband) in the balcony.

We just got on the 5 freeway from the 134 interchange, we were cruising on the right-most lane somewhere between Western and Alameda exits, minding our own business when suddenly, something smashes on the right side of my sister's SUV! The impact caused us to swerve one lane to the left. Luckily, Rhanesa had the presence of mind to not brake abruptly or she would've lost control of the wheel. We were also fortunate because there were no cars parallel us when this happened. As soon as i felt we were safe na, i looked back to see what hit us-- a small truck turning-turtle at least three times towards the left-most lane. car parts flying all over, grabe! The truck stopped flipping only as it hit the wall that divided the 2 traffic directions. The truck ended up lying sideways.

Since none of us were injured and I noticed some drivers pulling up to help the stupid truck driver, I called tito RG first so he could come get us in case our vehicle decides to die. He thought i wasn't serious at first. When he realized I was, he panicked. I could hear everyone in the background gasping and asking what happened. Three firetrucks arrived even before I finished my account. The rescue team immediately checked on the other guy who amazingly did not sustain ANY injuries! Unbelieveable! The firefighters stopped the traffic to sweep the debris. At this time, only the shoulder lane was moving. Then they checked up on us. Luckily, noone was hurt, and there were no other vehicles involved in the accident.

After a few minutes, an officer came by to get our information (license, registration and insurance). As we were telling him what happened, Nick and Penny (sister of RG) arrived. Ang bilis! Penny rushed there coz that's her expertise, para syang lawyer for auto accidents and insurance thingamajigs. But the cop instructed them to meet us on the next freeway exit so they had to leave. The CHP (Cali Highway patrol ???) officer assured us that he will be responsible for collecting the other party's information. As soon as he said we were free to go, we hooked up with relatives waiting at the Alameda Exit. That's where we saw the extent of the damages sustained by Mushu (that's what my sister calls her '03 Toyota Highlander). Poor Mushu. None of the doors on the right worked. Both door panels were smashed. Buti na lang, we were struck on the part where the two doors meet, smack in the middle. If the crazy driver hit us on the front part or back, I'm sure we would've gone in circles and gotten hit by incoming cars. I don't even wanna think about it anymore.

I'm not one to pray for safe trips, but when this happened, I said my prayer of thanks talaga. I'm so relieved and grateful that noone got hurt. What did I learn from this experience?..... It doesn't matter how careful you are, some lunatic may just ruin it for you.

Everytime we take the 5 freeway, or see a similar truck, we get jitters all over again. But what can one do, right? We can't let 1 incident change our entire routine naman. I guess it won't hurt to be more paranoid than before.

Geoff (my new brother-in-law) took Mushu to the shop and they replaced it with a rental. We were also instructed by the lawyer to visit a chiropractor to get a check-up. The three of us were feeling some pain (sore backs and necks). The chiropractor advised us to visit her at least 3 times a week. It is a hassle since her clinic hours are 10am,-6pm which means we have to go to work earlier than usual. Instead of a 9am-6pm shift, I'll be forced to do a 8am-4pm schedule. Oh well...We try to move on.

Posted by Teacher Grishan :: 25.1.05 :: 0 Comments:

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Wednesday, January 19, 2005

New Home, New Life

As most of you may know, I'm in LA right now.... I left Manila end of November to attend my sister's wedding and to hopefully start a new life. I kinda got sick of my life in the Philippines. I realized that my life had no direction. I was heavily dependent on my parents for a lot of things. Whenever I wasn't teaching, my dad would give me a "job". I was getting paid a lot of money for doing almost nothing. I know some people would be pleased with that arrangement, some would think of that as their "dream job" but not me. Don't get me wrong, I love my dad for that and I'm very grateful, but I'm the type of person who needs to have some sense of fulfillment in what I do. All i did in the office was send/receive faxes, emails, deliveries, collections and other things everyone else can do and I was getting paid twice as much as any hardworking executive would earn. I appreciated it, of course but I wanted something more rewarding, which is exactly why I took up Early Childhood Education in college.

I love teaching. It gives me a certain high. I am proudest when I'm either watching my kids (students) perform or learn something new, or the littlest things like seeing them smile and their parents telling me that they're eager to go to school and hate weekends because there's no school. There's an overwhelming feeling of contentment knowing that I did something right. It's the only thing that I really, really miss (even better than shopping with no credit limit! but that's another loooong story!).

As much as I love teaching, the monetary compensation sucks big time. Fortunately, I've never had a problem with this since my Dad takes care of all my of my expenses anyway (like gas, house, food, Brox's wants and even e-pass!). What can I say? My Dad kinda spoiled me after my older sister got married and my younger sister left for the States. I'm sure he didn't make an effort to do so, it just became unnoticeable i guess, hehe.... This is the major reason why I felt that I had to leave that house for awhile. Another thing was seeing Brox learning that kind of lifestyle. I mean, my dad didn't use to spend that much money on us and look how I turned out! And Brox gets everything he wants (being only 10 years old)! -- 2-3 yayas at his beck and call plus his Papa (my dad) buying him everything he needs AND wants.

So leaving Brox with them was out of the question. I wanted us to have a new life together away from My Dad. It wasn't a tough decision to make. But of course I had to ask Brox how he felt about my plans. I remember asking him, "Would you rather stay in the States with Mommy or do you wanna go back to the Philippines with Papa?" and his reply was, "That's a difficult question, If i stay here with you, noone's gonna buy me anything ever! But yeah, I'll go wherever you go." So, we're here on vacation (in every sense of the word). Everybody happy.

Brox and I are in love with LA. He has actually started school last Tuesday (since i didn't want him to just be watching TV the whole time we're here), after all the Medical exams, vaccines and Tuberculin Test. He's loving the free food and he's not having problems with his lessons. Thank God the lessons back home are more advanced. He'll probably experience some difficulty in American history and geography soon but i'm sure he'll cope, he's smart naman eh, and he looooves to read and learn new stuff.


What I've Learned in LA (among other things):

• To Smile More often -- Most of the People here are so friendly, I couldn't believe it at first. They're so laid-back (compared to New York, but that's another long story) that people have time to say "Hi! How do you do?" or "Have a Nice Day." I love it!
• Only pedestrians have the "right-of-way." -- I've been driving in Manila for 10 years and i realized those skills don't mean shit out here. The only advantage derived from my experience is that I'm more used to traffic jams and stupid drivers than the locals. I'm amazed at the respect people out here have for pedestrians.
• Equal Opportunities -- Everyone is entitled to the same benefit/assistance regardless of age, race, sex, etc. For instance, when you're applying for a job, you are not required to state your age, sex and marital status. The employers are not supposed to inquire about these things and and they are not permitted to ask for a photo (unlike back home) since it might affect the employer's decisions whether to hire you or not. Of course that goes for other states as well....it reduces the possiblility of racism, sexism, ageism, etc. ...I especially love the support given to the elderly and the disabled, whether while taking public transportation or visiting theme parks. Being old or incapacitated or both doesn't hinder a person from performing daily tasks. When I become old and weak, this is exactly where I'd want to be.
• Shopping -- I always had this notion that "branded" stuff are expensive back home because they're imported. So i was shocked to find out that the prices are actually the same if you convert it from $ to peso. And i realize-- Of course! it only seems cheaper here because people are paid MORE! Plus of course when they say SALE, they mean it and i love it!
• Customer is always right -- Consumer rights here is impressive! It's not just that you can return your purchases anytime, no questions asked, But if You lose your credit card and someone uses it to buy stuff, you are not required to pay for it regardless of the amount. Wow, right?

So far, those are some of the things I've learned since i got here. I know I sound so "promdi" but i don't care, I'm giddy! I'm learning so much, the weather is great and Brox and I appreciate each other more now.

Posted by Teacher Grishan :: 19.1.05 :: 0 Comments:

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