Hindi Ko Alam

... that means "I don't know"

Yeah so I'm learning Tagalog while I'm here. It's a little hard though. A second language is always tough to pick up.

I'll give you a little free pointer though. The vowels here are pronounced like Spanish. So it's ah ey ee oh oo

Things are still going well here. Today I finished my enrollment at Ateneo de Davao today. Turns out... and this was a surprise to me as well... I will be taking (get this) SEVEN classes. That's 22 units!

Originally, I was only planning on taking about 8 units or so... but one of the department heads sweet-talked his way into getting me to take more classes. I guess because I feel like there's not all that much to do here anyway, that taking 7 classes should be ok.

I forgot to bring a list of my classes to the internet cafe here, so I can't really list them from memory... but expect that in the coming updates.

Last Friday I went to this concert at a place here called "The Venue". This band Hale was performing. They're a really popular band here in the Philippines, so I thought it'd be cool to go. They had a really long set. My dad and I got in the venue at about 9pm or so and they were still playing. They finished at about 10:30, so it was a pretty long concert. Their stuff is pretty good... nothing fantastic... but one of their songs... they intro'd like this: "This next song is off of our album X and Y"

And I thought to myself, hmmm that's odd. (X&Y is the newest coldplay album) They then proceeded to play "Fix You"... I of course didn't like it because... come on. No one can be Coldplay.

Later on in the set they played "Trouble". Another Coldplay song off of their album "Parachutes".

I kinda had to laugh to myself... I was starting to view them as a lame Coldplay cover band. Haha. But it's all good. They're fans just like me.

Today at AdDU (Ateneo de Davao University) I had to sit in on this quick 10 minute orientation video for their Guidance/Counseling Center. Though it was made in 2003... it seemed like one of those old vintage videos from the 70s, complete with the cheesy synthesized music. It was great. I couldn't help but crack a smile, trying not to laugh out loud.

Anyway, tonight my dad is playing at this bar called "Chico's". Their set starts in 3 hours, so I'm kinda killing time right now. He came here with his friend Jesse Vasquez. A friend of ours who lives in Palmdale. He's this big Mexican guy who rocks on the bass. He's been here for 3 weeks now I think... and he's adjusted pretty well. He said the first week he was here he REALLY wanted to go back home. Kinda how I feel/felt. Then the second week, he got a phone call. His oldest brother had died of a heart attack. Then that same week, someone stole Jesse's and my dad's plane tickets. So it's been rough.

Well... I miss all of you back in the states. I hope that these updates are cool for you as they are for me.

So until... later...
Cy