The Coolest Animal Ever. EVAR.

...is King Kong. Hands down. The dude's got mad strength, can tear up t-rexes and still be a softie for the ladies. He is THE MAN.

So if you haven't guessed... if you're that thick... I just got back from seeing King Kong at SM Mall with my cousin Ken and King's (the guy who's lived in our house for the last two years) younger sister Tata (it's just a nickname). On a sidenote, King is here in Davao now! It's awesome. He's like a brother to me, so it's really cool to see him again.

This movie rocked my socks so hard I had to buy another pair. Let me just tell you guys that I haven't had this much fun in a movie since... well since I can remember. It's a great ride for 95% of the film. The beginning had my guessing whether or not the rest of the movie was going to be good... I wasn't digging the screenplay in the beginning and some of the camera tricks used later in the film were just kinda weird and distracting to me... eh. But don't get me wrong. The movie is freakin AWESOME. Hats off to Peter Jackson.

So everyone, sorry about the lack of blogs this week. I've been studying like a madman for my prelim exams. The semester here is divided into three grading periods: Prelims, Midterms, and Finals. This last week before Christmas break (merry jesusbirthday by the way) I had six planned exams. I say "planned" because yesterday I was happily surprised that our Algebra teacher decided not to give us one. She said that she was "tired of grading wrong papers". Don't misunderstand that. She's a great teacher, but she has crappy students. Me of course, not being one of them. They don't study, they don't show up for class, and they don't bother to make an effort. Well, they can have fun taking the same class next semester. This teacher is not going to pass them.

So exams this week were so surprisingly and ridiculously easy. I don't know why, but for some reason in EVERY class (I kid you not), I was the first person to finish the exam. And in every class mostly everyone looked at me in awe/surprise/disgust while I turned in my paper. I don't get it, but I think Filipinos were just taught differently on how to take tests. I have a feeling that they all read through all the questions first and then answer them... slowly. That's not how I do things. I like my time, thanks. But they were easy. I'm pretty sure I passed with flying colors. It's in the bag. I was most worried about my history exam today, because I had absolutely NO prior knowledge of Philippine History before coming here... but the test was shockingly easy. All mutliple choice and a lot of the questions had these kinds of options:

a) A blatantly wrong answer
b) The correct answer
c) Maybe
d) I guess

I was chuckling as I made my way through the test. About 6 of 50 questions were riddles or trick questions, such as "If a rooster lays 48 eggs in one day, how many eggs does he lay in 1 hour?"

a) 2
b) 3
c) 6
d) 0

If you answered (d) then you're a smart cookie. Roosters don't lay eggs, dummy. So yeah, questions like that. And the last question was (and this seems to be a popular question of EVERY teacher) "What is your teacher's full name?". I've gotten this question in most of my other classes (actually oddly enough only classes that are taught by women) in previous quizzes and in exams this week. Sadly though, I blanked on the answer more than once for those classes. Yeah, I don't know my teacher's names. Sad, I know. Here, we call them "Sir" and "Maam" so much that that becomes their name. "Did you talk to Sir yesterday?", "What assignment did maam give out last meeting?"... Different.

This week has been a lot of fun. I'm glad it's over though and that Christmas break is finally here. OH! Some really cool news today. Kaloi... you remember him owner of KIC (Kaloi's Internet Cafe) told me that he and Lea talked and they want me to be a groomsman in their wedding. WOW. What is it with me and being in people's weddings? I'm really honored, though. Now, I definitely have to learn a saxaphone piece for their wedding.

Tomorrow, I'm waking up early because we're doing a community service thing with the church. This week we did a used clothing and can goods drive, so tomorrow will be giving it out. It'll be really great.

On a related note, today I took a taxi to school because I was running late. As I got out of the cab, a homeless lady with a child in her arms approached me for a handout. Reflecting back on the time I denied a kid one peso (I actually saw him again, gave him money, then took some pictures of him... those later), I was convicted to be more compassionate. I gave the woman a 20 peso bill. Others saw this, and immediately, I was bum rushed by a mob of poor people. Seriously. There were hands... everywhere. Grabbing too. I reached into my pocket and grabbed a handful of change. I tried giving a peso out to each person, but that was a little difficult as everyone was swarming around me and pushing each other out of the way. Before it got too messy I said sternly, wala gyud. No more. And I walked swiftly to the gate. I was kinda frazzled by the whole thing. Man, poverty is powerful.

King Kong is set in the time of the depression era of the U.S. Compared to the current state of the Philippines, the homeless during the depression era is nothing compared to the homeless of the Philippines and other third-world countries today. Just an observation.

Well, I gotta get up early tomorrow, so that's all for tonight. And by all, I mean this is a freakin long blog. Good night.

Cy

Relax, It's Gonna Be Okay.

...seriously folks. This is the conclusion I have come to. No matter what happens, hey, it's gonna be fine. Life happens, you know? How can we have a say or choice in the things that happen externally? We can't. But what we can do, is learn to cope and adapt to those things.

Yep, so I've got joy again. I'm hopeful again. That's all I have to say. God is good. I'm affirmed of that everyday now.

It's so funny how he uses some pretty awkward or terrible (seeming) situations to really teach us and mold us for what's better. It's neat.

"If God will bring you to it, He'll bring you through it" - Thanks Sarah Grover for that one.

More on this later. I have exams to study for this week... then CHRISTMAS BREAK! WO0T!

Cy

Circumstance

Today after school, I sat on the steps in front of campus waiting for my dad to pick me up. As I sat, I contemplated my life. I thought about the person I am. The person I've become. I need to figure myself out.

As I was waiting, I saw a little boy. He had to be maybe 8 or 9 years old. His face and his shaggy hair was darkened from the dirt that covered him. He was homeless. He wore an old and tattered t-shirt. The shirt was also filthy and had several large holes in it. He wore a pair of raggedy shorts and flip-flops.

When I sat down, this boy came up to me and said, "Kuya, isang piso?". He was asking me for a peso to spare him. Kuya is a term used for respect. You say it to someone older than you, but not that much older than you. What shocked me was that I was so quick to say back to him "wala gyud"... meaning that I don't have any on me. This was a lie. Why was I so cold to his need? Thinking about it now makes me sick. He looked at me and walked off to ask others the same question.

This boy was so desperate, yet he didn't seem desperate. He was cracking jokes with some of the students coming out. He was throwing the coins he did receive around on the ground - tossing them just for fun. He was trying to get people to avail of the taxis parked in front of the campus. I observed him open the door for one student and she gave him a peso. From this, he learned something. I watched him as he tried to open and close any door of any car that pulled up to the sidewalk. This boy was in need.

My heart went out to him, but yet I was still so greedy. If I see him tomorrow, I'll have to give him some money.

While this boy was begging, another boy walked down the street holding his mom's hand. He looked to be about the same age as the homeless boy. He was dressed in his school uniform. Clean. Obviously took a shower that morning. His hair kept clean and cut. And he had someone - his mom. The homeless boy had no one.

It was an interesting thing to watch. One boy so affected by poverty and another boy so fortunate. What was the difference in these two lives? Could they possibly have had the same opportunities? Or are they victims of circumstance?

It's been occuring to me that some things are not in our control. Actually, quite a lot of things in life are not manageable or predictable. I wonder. If I had a different family, how much different would I be? If I had not gone through the experiences I have, would I know the things I know now? What other possibilities could there be?

God says he has a plan for our lives. That's it's not to harm us, but rather to prosper us. Was his plan for that homeless boy to beg for money to eat dinner that night? Was his plan for the fortunate boy to be well off enough to actually have an education? Why did he choose them? Why did God choose the path he did for these two boys?

Why has God chosen the path he has for my life? Why has he put this and that circumstance in my path? Why have I been elected to be faced with certain trials that others never have to even think about? Right now, I wish I struggled with different things. I wish I had a different set of trials. A different set of temptations. But I suppose that I need to grin and bear what I am going through. I've been through difficult situations before and thankfully I have been able to look back and see lessons learned from them. I know that that is also true for what I am going through right now.

Is my circumstance unique? I doubt it. I'm wondering what the outcome will be from this. God knows everything that has, will, and is happening. I trust in that. But I'm curious, is there really circumstances? Or do we shape our own problems and outcomes. I'm not sure, but our actions and our choices shape what happen to us in the future. So my question is... Will I make those right choices and take the right actions? What is right anyway? Isn't all things brought into our life, whether from good choices or bad, meant to teach us?

My thoughts are a mess right now. Thinking can get you into places you don't want to go... but I don't think we can be mindless sheep.

Hmm.
Cy

ARRGGHH

Why the heck am I like this? Why do I do the things I don't want to do?? I know I'm a sinful being. I know it's our nature to act like this, but why the heck cant i change!? Am I doomed to a life full of the same sickening routine? Up mountains, down in the pits and back up again?? I hate myself. I hate the person that I am. I hate how I can't simply say no. Why I'm not strong enough to stand firm. Why I can't just be a good Christian!!

My life feels like its crashing. People close to me are turning into betrayers and people I can't trust. I have no love in my heart. I have no sense of self-worth in my being.

Yeah I know, you might be thinking "Wow, this is not like Cy... or man, what's going on here."

Let me tell you guys something. I've got secrets. I've got some pretty sickening darkness within myself. Yeah, I've told people... yeah my desire is to change, but what the heck! I keep screwing it up. I screw up relationships. I'm screwing up my life! It's in times like this that I need God the most, but I am way too prideful to admit to that right away.

Guys, this is a really dark period in my life right now... It's not like it's been this way since I've been in the Philippines, but a recent confrontation has brought out the demons within me again. I need to rely on God's strength to get out of this. To ask for forgiveness, bask in his grace, and move on with being a loving disciple.

WHY IS THERE SO MUCH CONFLICT IN LIFE?? WHY DO WE HURT SO MUCH? WHY IS THERE SO MUCH PAIN! WHY DO THE PEOPLE WE TRUST DISAPPOINT US IN THE HARDEST WAYS!

It's because it helps us to see God more, right? That's the stock Christian answer. But dang. It's a lot easier said than done when you're in the heat of the battle. Have I given up? Definitely not. I haven't even begun to fight.

Sorry everyone for the unique tone of this post. It's what I'm feeling in my heart right now that NEEDS to be let out.

Last night, I cried in my room for 30 freakin minutes. Ashamed of myself. Ashamed of someone close to me. Ashamed of my situation. Ashamed of my weakness and my stupidity.

I need to make my body my slave. I need to get this thing under control. For God. For myself. For my family. For my friends. I'm hurting people I love and that is not my intention.

Thoughts are just coming off the top of my head right now. I'm anticipating in the near future some bad things. Bad things are happening, but I don't know if they'll turn out for the best or not. Things I'm used to. The life i knew is about to be turned upside down. It's going to be entirely different. And because of that, I am scared to death

I guess I have to trust in God. Have faith in him. But wow, it's hard. It is so hard.

I need to change. I need to repent... I want to. I have to. It's the right thing to do. How can I continue living in a life of lies and unhappiness? I can't. Not anymore. NOT ANYMORE! Something must be done.

The battle has begun.

Pray for me.
Cy

by the way. I'm a fake.

D8s

Have I mentioned that I'm learning A LOT here? It's crazy. Not only am I learning some interesting stuff in school, but I'm just learning a lot about myself, about people, about this country, about God's nature. Man. It's a crazy journey.

So last night I had a date with this really cool girl from my church named Aby. She's really nice and sweet and just cool to hang around. She's also 18... but she's in her second year of college.

Let me fill you guys in: Here in the Homeland, most kids graduate high school when they are 16. It's not because they all start really young, either. It's because they don't have Jr. High. Which I think is awesome. I hated Junior High. It was pretty much "Drama Fest Spectacular". Let me tell you something. Junior High kids are MEAN. And like an immature mean. They can tear you up and feed you to the dogs. They're bad.

I remember this one time last year when our Student Ministries class went over to the Middle School (Desert Christian has Preschool to 12th grade over three campuses) to just hang out with the kids, play games, beat them at football/basketball... and the like. Prior to this trip, I had already done worship a couple times for the Junior High chapels...

Ok so this particular day, we're hanging out with some of the little brats (i say with all lovingness in my heart) and one kid comes up... a 7th grader I think... and goes, "Oh yeah! I remember you! You sang in chapel a couple weeks ago."... "yeah, that's right" I respond... the kid replies sharply, "Oh man! You suck!".

I wanted to slap the little satan. Just kidding. But seriously, little kids can be cruel.

Ok, back to the date... yeah she's 18. Before our date at 6pm, It starts raining like OH-MY-GOSH-WHAT-THE-HECK-TROPICAL-STORM! No joke. From inside my room, the rain pounding on the roof sounds like we're being attacked by ze germans. When I leave my house at around 5:30pm to catch a jeep to downtown, I open the gate and immediately see that there's this huge flood rolling down the street. It didn't exactly look all that deep, but when I stepped in it, pretty much my whole feet plunged straight into water. Wet socks. Great.

Man, wet socks are the worst. There's only a couple things I hate more than wet socks... one being jr. highers. (kidding.)

Luckily, I have my umbrella. So I save myself from being totally drenched, but with the angle this rain is coming down at, it was darn near impossible to stay dry. I hailed a jeep got in as fast as I could and took my seat... My jeans were soaked. Ugh. Wet socks, wet jeans. This is the ills. (btw, i'm starting to say "the ills" for anything that's not all that cool... downers.)

During the commute to downtown, it was kinda funny to watch people scrambling across the streets using any single item to keep themselves partially dry... purses, books, backpacks, cardboard, plastic bags...

A couple cars got stuck in some heavily flooded areas. Man, it was crazy.

So I finally get to Kaloi's Internet Cafe (or KIC) and wait for everyone else to show up so we can get this double date rolling... Apparently, everyone had trouble getting to downtown because of the rain.

Originally for the date we were supposed to go to this restaurant on this large hill overlooking downtown called "Jack's Ridge", but we decided to forego that because of the rain. Instead we went to Picobello, this awesome itallian restaurant on the 5th floor of the mall right next to KIC. We had some great genuine italian pizza, talked for a little, then roamed the malls. Oh and I treated everyone to dinner. Seriously though, for 200 pesos a pizza (roughly $4 for a large size), how can I not treat everyone? I plan on eating lunch there tomorrow.

So Aby and I had a good time together. At least on my part I think so... Kaloi and Lea walked around the mall finding stuff to buy for their soon to be home (they're getting married February 5th, 2006 and want me to play the sax at their wedding... yikes), so Aby and I had some coffee, talked a little bit about the dramas of life and how God is awesome... then went to the arcade where she kicked my butt at pretty much all of the games... but I think I let her win... or did I. I dunno. She was good.

After that, we walked across the street to McDonalds or McDo (mick-doh) as it's referred to around here, and had some desert. I got an Oreo Mcflurry and she got just a regular sundae. We talked a lot about the language... I pretty much just got tutored in Tagalog... it was awesome. I'm really starting to learn a lot of the language.

Funny story. While we were chatting, there were these two girls outside... maybe 12 or 13 each and they were trying to get someone's attention who was eating inside... So this one girl, kinda chubby, starts dancing around... or more like flailing around in front of this window. I was trying my darned hardest to keep my attention focused on Aby, but I just had to point it out to her and we started laughing so hard. Great times.

So yeah the date was awesome possum... also, Lea and Kaloi really want the two of us to be close friends... I know they do. Jeez, those guys are so obvious...

Anyway, that was last night... Today I didn't really do much except go to church, have some discipling time with the campus guys, and play DotA... a Warcraft III mod... it's interesting I guess... it's like cocaine here for all the teenage guys though. Thousands of Filipino kids are wasting their life away playing DotA. Hey, I can't blame them though... I pretty much waste my life away on World of Warcraft.

So... I pretty much love the campus ministry here. These guys are so cool. They definitely rock my socks.

Here's a little thing I threw together on Photoshop:


Aby is the girl second from the right. Lea is second from the left. Kaloi is in the middle (on the guy's picture. duh)

The rest of em, I'll introduce another time. Anyway, I have some homework to finish up, so I'll let you guys go. For now. Yeah.

W00t!
Cy

I'm so pumped...

...because I have internet at the house now! This means that I can talk on AIM more... I can consistently post blogs, and I can start taking more pictures and get back to that hobby.

Man! I'm excited!

I also learned that I can upload videos taken with my camera phone... I think they're viewable with quicktime... so I'll have to try that out soon too.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Cy Responds to Your Comments!

I feel this is needed and fun (as well as needed fun). Maybe i'll do this once a week...

--
Abe said...

"What! They didn't invite you to the reception! You're the coolest kid there! Well they missed out. Hmm double date huh? Sounds like they are trying to set you up already. Unless you want to be setup - beware! YEAH for Jeepneys!"

Jeepneys be the ish fo sho. lol as for the reception i kinda didn't want to stay anyway... haha. I'm not exactly sure if I want to be set up either. Man. craziness

--
Tom said...

"Can I be your children's god-father?"

I would say yes, but I'm not catholic. You know that, Tom.

--
Mom said...

"Since the flu bug and the pertussis bug came upon [the Slater-Lunsford family], they are being quaratined for this season. But the after Thanksgiving day SALE will go on and that you will surely miss. I will let you know what's up and give you a chance to shop away from home. How's that for an advance x-mas / b-day present rolled into one?... You make me smile as I read thru [your blog]...reminds me of my college days."

It wasn't the bird flu was it? I think it's awesome I'm getting my presents in advanced. That rocks. I'm glad I can make you smile from thousands of miles away, mom.

--
Justin said...

"You, Cy Serrano, have the BEST tone I have ever heard! Dang it's rough around here without ya - Can't wait to see FD3 with ya when you get back."

That history-making comment from Jamie Baker will never leave me. You better wait off before seeing FD3, bud.

--
Justin said...

"Somehow I figure that we're gonna end up renting MISSING IN ACTION when you get back."

Oh most definitely. It's a trilogy, so we'll be sure to watch all three.

--
Justin also said...

"Me and Heather went out with Chary and Nate Dogg - No joke!"

I saw that stirring.

--
Tom said...

"Gahhh! My arm is twitching and won't stop! I'm serious, man this is sooo annoying."

I suggest the next time it happens, you use an axe. Take care of that problem permanently.

--
Tom also said...

"I will never take my dogs to visit The Homeland (that's how I'm going to refer to the Phillipines from now on)."

Dude, cmon. Dude and Prince would totally love it here. Let it also be known that the Philippines will now also be referred to as The Homeland.

--
Abe said...

""(for mom: I didn't sleep in class though. I just laid my head down.)" . . . right."

Man! I'm so serious! I didn't sleep! I'm doing really good. For real.

--
Alex said...

"And about Harry Potter, you should really read those books if you get the chance. They're really good!"

Um... I'm not so sure yet.

--
Mom said...

"Be good at your classes Cy. You're not in high school anymore. Not a very good example to the rest of the class. Should I say more???"

Seriously! I'm fine. In all honesty, the class isn't really paying much attention to me anyway. And it was only in that Algebra class. I wasn't feeling great.

--
Cory said...

"Although you never told me you have a different AOL name. I see how I rank. :~)

You might be tired but just think back to how much sleep you get at WLC and you will perk right up."

This is cake compared to WLC... which i'm super pumped about for 2006. Also you have my first AIM screen name (Liryc4ever)... believe it or not, I filled up the capacity for the buddy list and had to get another screen name. So... it means that I've known you longer. You should consider yourself ranked high. :)

--
Well, that's all for now kids! Today was fairly uneventful. School is becoming routine, which I'm actually welcoming with open arms.

Peace out for now,
Cy

the ills.

Oh man. I've been really careful with what I eat and drink here. You know there's always that fear when visiting another country that you might get terribly sick from eating bad fish, drinking bad water, or coming in contact with some bad germs... Right now, my stomach is feeling tore up. It's doing that rumbling thing and that tightening thing. Must've been something I ingested.

Today was a tough day for me. I was just so doggone tired. (sidetrip: I've never used the phrase "doggone" in my life until just now.) My first class of the day was at 11am. I woke up at about 7am, but I was barely able to lift my head off the pillow. I went back to sleep. Luckily for me, I woke up at 9:40am. this gave me an hour and 20 minutes to get to class on time. (sidetrip: being on time is pretty important at our school. Too many tardies and you might find yourself failing the class. They even have a bell system here (sidetrip within a sidetrip: their bell system is no ordinary bell system. The first bell is some classical song... i forget which. But the second bell is 20 seconds of the star wars theme).) I showered, downed a pb&j, some juice and headed out the door to catch a jeep. I got to school on time.

In class, I was dead tired. This is my fourth week of school now and today was the first time I laid my head on my desk. Now in High School I actually had a reputation for sleeping in class... most of that is because Dr. Roland pretty much told all his classes about me. I wasn't going to keep that reputation in college... but today was just so hard. The desk was calling. The room was so hot. I had to. Besides, it's only algebra. psh. that stuff is cake. We're doing synthetic division. Wow. It's pretty much a repeater class. 90% of the students in there have failed algebra at least once already. So it's going ssslllooowww. (for mom: I didn't sleep in class though. I just laid my head down.)

It pretty much continued like that for the rest of the day. My classes just seemed to breeze by. My marketing class was ok. The teacher got pretty mad because most of the students didn't have a copy of the next lesson. Me included. (sidetrip: It's not customary for students to buy textbooks. They can and it's preferred, but pretty much all of the textbooks are availible for copying) After class, some of my groupmates and I went around campus looking for a projector that we could reserve for our presentation that was supposed to be this Thursday. But by the grace of God, all the projectors were already reserved so we had to postpone our presentation to next Tuesday. Score.

After that class I took another jeep and headed to National Bookstore located in Gaisano Mall (one of many malls in Davao) to buy a book on Entrepreneurship (that is one of the most interestingly spelled words). Thinking that this place was called National Bookstore, I expected there to be a lot of books like Barnes and Noble. I was surprised to find that they sold more calculators, stationary, school supplies, and photo albums than they did books. They did have the newest edition of Harry Potter though. I'm not a big fan of the series, but while I was there I had the strangest desire to actually read one of the books. I asked if they had a copy of the first one Harry Potter and the Sorcerrer's Stone, but they did not. I don't know if that was an unfortunate or fortunate thing for me. I don't know if I want to be caught up in the Harry Potter hype.

I took a taxi back to school because I had no clue how to get back by jeep. I arrived just in time for my Entrepreneurship class... which is one of my favorite classes. My classmates are pretty darn hillarious. The teacher is also very interesting and also funny at times... We were coming up with some business ideas and some were pretty funny. Computers, drug trafficing, restaurants, day care centers, prostitution, and many more came up. We laugh alot in that class.

Now I'm back at Kaloi's internet cafe... which will here on out be referred to as KIC. It's raining pretty hardcore. Rain in tagalog is "Ulan". Remember. Think of spanish vowels. Ah Ey Ee Oh Oo. Phonetically, rain in tagalog is "oolahn".

Alrighty, well there's not much more to talk about today. This blog is already pretty darn long. As I sit here and sip my ice tea (which is pretty much the most popular drink here), I bid you all adieu.

That's French.
Cy

...Some Catholic Holiday.

That's what i've been referring to it as... I think it's St. Bonifacio or something...

...but anyway, I've been talking with a lot of people on different instant messenging programs, primarily AOL Instant Messenger. Becky, Becca, Tom, Alex, Leah, Candi... lots of people. So look me up sometime... my screen name is cyserrano. Original, eh? I'm pretty much on on the weekend sometimes.

Back to the title. It's "some Catholic Holiday" today. That's why I'm spending a lot of time online. That's why there's no school today.

I'm in downtown right now at Kaloi's internet cafe again. I would've just stayed home today, but I had to meet with my marketing class group today to discuss our presentation on Thursday. We made a lot of progress... It was weird... at some point, because there's 6 of us, the two Korean girls were talking in Korean, two of the Filipino guys were talking in Visaya (a dialect that's a version of Tagalog), and me and the other guy were talking in English. It was like language wars or something.

I've been trying to get my mom on AIM (AOL Instant Messenger), but I don't think she knows what she's doing. I need one of my tech savvy friends to go over to my house and show her.

Well not much has been happening these days... actually there is something. Maybe you can pray for it if that's your thing...

My cousin Jong has been missing the last two days. He didn't go to his mom's house and he didn't come to our house. Last week he took a carpenter's bike and didn't return it. We think he lost it. So then, because of that, I think he didn't come back home because he was afraid. His brother found him and told him to come home... I'm not too sure what's going on right now... but I know the consensus at my house is that Jong isn't allowed in the house... This isn't the first time something like this has happened, so it's justifiable for the moment I suppose... I dunno. Just pray for the kid.

Alright enough of the family drama. I am now a master of the public transportation system. I can pretty much get to anywhere I want now. One of these days, I'm just going to grab my camera and a handful of pesos and just go around on the jeepneys shooting pics whereever I can. Sounds fun.

Sadly, this blog is ending on a sad note. Continuing with the topic of "not coming home"... Waggily the dog pictured on the right:


... hasn't been home in the last week. Unfortunately, he has probably become a tasty and satisfying meal of one of the neighbors. I know it's horrible to think about that, but it's the truth. That's the culture here. Dog is a meat. Trust me. I won't be eating any Dog while i'm here. ech.

Alrighty, I'm starving now, so I'm gonna get some grub (not dog).

Take it easy everyone.
Cy

My Voice Hurts.

Man... Videoke last night was crazy. It's funny. Because it's so popular here, they actually have Videoke bars... a lot of em actually. Last night, we went to this really upscale Videoke place. It has a main room/bar and several private rooms that each have Videoke units in it.

When I first walked in the door, I instantly thought of Rush Hour 2. You know, when Chris Tucker is singing Michael Jackson at that kareoke place. It was great.

So yeah... man I sung my heart out last night. My voice is sore right now. I think I actually sang too hard that I wore myself out too much... I slept through my alarm this morning and missed church. That bad. heh.

Also... it seems Kaloi and Lea (the campus ministry leaders) are intent on setting me up with this one girl Aby. She's actually pretty cool... so I guess we have a double date this Saturday... oh boy.

So there's not too much going on. I don't have school tomorrow because it's some Catholic holiday. If you didn't know, the major religion in the Philippines is Roman Catholicism.

Alrighty, that's all for now.
Cy

Is Dat Fish?

haha. This is one of the lamest jokes I've ever heard in my life, but for some reason it makes me laugh every time...

In my history class I have a friend named Rey. This guy is hillarious. He likes to jokingly brag about his super good looks. At an assembly we went to, he told me that he doesn't like going to big functions like that because he has to hide his head. Otherwise, too many girls will see him, try to get closer to him, and thus crowd around him. He said it's just too annoying. haha.

So anyway, he comes up with this stupid joke. He's telling me something interesting about the school and I respond with "Is that right?". You know... one of those acknowledgement blurts. He catches this and quickly responds with "Is that fish?".

In Tagalog, "isdat" literally means "fish". Because of the accent, saying "is that" really sounds like "isdat" or "fish". So it's pretty funny, but lame funny.

--

School is starting to get a little difficult. I now have projects to complete, quizzes to study for, and ammounts of homework to do. It's actually starting to feel like school.

--

I've been getting headaches the last couple days. I don't know why.

--

Oh. My Myspace is totally pimp now. I love it.

--


On Asian HBO the other day, I watched the most ridiculous movie ever. First of all, the star of the movie was Chuck Norris, star of Walker, Texas Ranger. For those of you who know who I'm talking about, you already know this is a bad movie. The name of the movie was Missing in Action, an action movie made in 1984. It was pretty bad. And the ending is terrible. This is an awesome movie to watch with friends when it's late at night and you're feeling really cynical.

--

Tonight, the campus ministry is going out to have some fun. Meaning... VIDEOKE.

--

Take care,
Cy

Worlds Apart...

...not only is this an incredibly awesome intensive song from Jars of Clay, but it's also the name of pretty neat TV show I watched the other night. One family from Alabama was selected to take a one week vacation in Africa. The catch was that they wouldn't be staying at some nice resort. They would be staying with a family living in a province in Western Africa. For nine days, they experienced African culture first hand. They ate the food, they *tried* to dance the ritualistic tribal dances, they farmed, they herded cattle, they cleaned, and they cooked. You could see the culture shock on their faces. After a couple of days, they were ready to go home... they definitely felt out of place. However, on the ninth day, even though they were still excited to be going home, they felt grateful for the experience they had. They said it was very humbling.

That's kinda how I'm feeling here. There is so much poverty around. It's very disheartening. With Christmas coming around, the need of people is definitely becoming more and more evident. Thanksgiving is in 2 days in the States. That holiday is obviously not celebrated in the Philippines (we didn't have pilgrims), so I'm missing out on some good grub. I've definitely become more grateful for the things I have.

Moving on... school's been pretty good. My history class is hands down my favorite class. It's the class I look forward to every week. It meets three times a week for one hour. If you've known me for a while, you probably know that history is not a subject I enjoy. I'm more of a math/science person. So... this class isn't my favorite because of the subject, but because of the people. My classmates are so rad and my teacher is pretty awesome too.

Yesterday we had to do skits on different aspects of the life of the pre-colonial philippine tribes. My group was assigned to portray the economic aspect. The teacher asked the group leaders to come forward and draw a number out of a hat. Our group leader picked the number 4. We were going last. As I watched the other groups perform their 10-15 minute skits on religion, government, and society, I was amazed at the fact that even though I couldn't understand really much of what they were saying, I pretty much picked up the gist of what their presentations were about. They were well acted out... and they were FUNNY. The whole class was laughing throughout the entire period it was so good.

Man... there's a lot to talk about, but I don't have a lot of time right now. I have a class in 10 minutes...

Oh yeah, so I'm riding the jeepneys quite frequently now. I used to take taxis mostly or have my dad drive me around, but now I know the routes to get to school and to get back home, so I'm doing that now. It's a lot cheaper, but it takes a lot longer. The other night, on the way home from school, I closed my eyes as I rode the jeep... it was interesting to hear so many different sounds... one thing I have to point out is that Filipinos love their kareoke. I think I said that in my last post... and they love "Just Once" by James Ingram (i think). I heard that song literally three times as I rode on the jeep with my eyes closed.

Ok. I gotta stop typing. Alrighty yall. For everyone in the states, have an awesome thanksgiving.

Latas.
Cy

PS: If you want to comment and you're not a member of blogger.com, it is possible. Just post as anonymous and make sure in your post you state your name so I know who you are!

A Busy Weekend

Man... it's been a crazy weekend...

So I've joined the Metro Davao Christian Church. It's affiliated with the church I go to in Lancaster. I'm officially part of the campus ministry. It's lead by this guy named Kaloi and his fiancee Leah. They pretty much rock my socks.

Ok so Friday, I took this really interesting personality test in my Organizational Behavior class. I'll post more about that later.

Friday night I pretty much spent a lot of time online, doing email, checking message boards, and etc... but no BLOG. I was at Kaloi's internet cafe and we were also working on deciding on specifications for a new computer that I'm building. I got home about 11pm or so. I was so wiped out.

Saturday morning I woke up at 6AM(!) for a quiet-time/prayer thing that was going on with the church. That was cool. We ate breakfast afterwards and I got back home around 9AM. I was so tired still, so I took a nap.

I woke up at 12PM, took a shower and got ready for a wedding I was invited to. Kaloi picked me up at 12:30PM, we picked up Leah soonafter, then we all had lunch at his parents' eatery. After that, we hung out at his internet cafe again.

at 3:15PM we left for the wedding. It was at a clubhouse in this really up-scale neighborhood called "Woodridge". A lot of wealthy people live here.

The wedding was really nice and fairly different from the traditional American wedding. Before the wedding even started I could tell it was different. At the front or the "stage" there were a bunch of chairs. Apparently the whole wedding party, the groom, bride, groomsmen, and bridesmaids all sit during the ceremony. The processional was pretty long... as each person was announced as they walked down the aisle. There were also different parts in the wedding that aren't in our American weddings... for instance... here they put a veil over the couple. It goes over the groom's shoulders and over the bride's head. This symbolizes that the woman is under the authority of the man. They also have a chord made of pearls or beads or something that they place around the couple. It symbolizes that they are bound together in marriage. They also give them a little purse filled with pesos. It represents God's future blessings in their lives.

Interesting eh?

We didn't stay for the reception after the wedding because it was an invitation only kinda thing. They didn't have a lot of space for extra people. So Kaloi, Leah, another woman in the church named Joy, and I went to go watch Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It was OK I guess... I mean I'm not really into the Harry Potter series... but I guess that's because I haven't read any of the books nor have I seen any of the first three movies.

The movie was at 10pm and we got to the mall where the movies are at like 8pm. So we had two hours to pass. The girls went to the department store to browse while Kaloi and I hit up the arcade. We played a lot of Time Crisis 4. I am now convinced that I rock at that game. I died like only 2 times and got pretty far.

The movie theaters here are pretty nice... and different. haha. All their theaters are pretty large. The odd thing though is that they play the national anthem before the movie starts. Everyone has to stand during the anthem. Kaloi told me that someone was arrested one time for not standing. That's pretty extreme.

The movie finished about 12:30 or something and I got home around 1am. Man, we were tired.

The next morning I woke up for 9AM church at 8AM. My dad was at the gym so he couldn't give me and my cousin a ride, so we took a Jeepney (click the word jeepney to see a picture of a typical one). Jeepneys are the main mode of transportation in the Philippines as most people can't afford their own cars. It costs 7 pesos for most trips. The roads here are jam packed with jeepneys. All the jeepneys have different routes that will take you different places. Kinda like Metro Bus Lines.

So my cousin and I took a jeepney at about 8:50am and arrived at the church at 9:40. It was a looonnngg ride. Typically by taxi or by car, we can make the same trip in 15 minutes. But jeepneys stop quite frequently to pick up and drop off passengers. There's no "jeepney stop" so it's pretty much drop off/pick up anywhere.

After church we hung out at Kaloi's again. at 4pm I had a double date with some people in the church. My date was this sister named Maricel. I think she's 23 and she's a Certified Public Accountant (or a CPA as I've come to learn in my accounting class). The date was pretty chill. We were at the other girl's house. We had dinner, sang Videoke (Kareoke with Video.) and then shared a little bit of our spiritual walk, encouraged each other, then prayed with each other. It was pretty cool.

On the subject of Videoke... In the Philippines, Videoke is like gold to these people. They love it, they cherish it, it's the coolest thing to do. Almost all Filipinos LOVE to sing regardless of whether they have the ability to or not.

So our date ended around 7:15pm. We took a taxi back to Kaloi's cafe. I browsed around for a couple hours, then went home at 9:30pm. I promptly went to sleep. I was so exhausted.

So here I am now at school... well between classes. So I hope you enjoyed that update. There should be some pictures coming soon. I promise.

And that personality test too.

Peace out.
Cy

We Cause Scenes.

...that's the tagline for Improv Everywhere, a theater group based out in NYC that is focused on creating "scenes" in public to bring smiles to people.

Some of my favorite "missions":
- The Mp3 Experiment 2.0
- Look Up More
- The Moebius

That's just to name a couple. Their "missions" are so creative and outrageous, that they make me smile and laugh when I read about them. I'm already trying to think of ways to do some of them back in Lancaster.

Anyway, just a little tidbit on what I've browsing on the web.

Check it out: Improv Everywhere.

Cy.

There's fun to be had by all.

Hello world. Welcome to another exciting edition of my life.

I know you can't get enough of it, and that's ok. As long as you know you have a problem, that's the first step to recovery. However, I actually encourage this addiction.

Moving on...

School has been... well... eventful. It seems like everyone is having a grand time with an American classmate.

You ever get the feeling that people are talking about you, but you're not sure, cause you can't hear them? Well that's how I feel, except... I can hear them. I just can't understand them. And after someone says something that you're pretty sure is about you and the whole class gets a big laugh from that... you know.

But it's all good. I can handle that. And they say it's in good fun.

The truth is, thought, that a lot of Filipinos are ashamed of their english speaking skills. They become very self-conscious when they're required to talk in english... so I can feel for them.

It seems that the language barrier works both ways.

I decided to stick to my Marketing Management class. (The one where I can hardly understand the professor because of his very thick accent.) I figure if two Korean girls who don't understand Tagalog and have english as their second language can manage, I can too. Actually, the three of us and two others are in a group together for an assignment.

My History class has to be one of my favorite classes. Only because of the teacher and the students. They're really making an effort to reach out to me and make me feel comfortable and at the same time, have a good time. The teacher is cool. Even though I probably failed my quiz today, the class still rocks.

Funny story. The teacher is about 5'5'' or something. When she sits behind her desk, most of the time, she sits with her legs on the chair, probably sitting on her legs. From the our view, you can see the legs of the chair behind the desk, but you don't see the teacher's legs. So it looks like she's either floating or she's very short and is standing on the chair. I kinda chuckle everytime I think of it.

Here's an interesting fact: 85% of the Philippine population lives below the poverty line. I believe that.

Also an interesting fact: The new Harry Potter movie comes out on the 18th in the States. It came out today (the 16th) in the Philippines.

Being here in the "Homeland" has been great. Even for the four weeks that I've already been here, I've learned a lot of the language, I've been introduced to new concepts, and I've really gained an appreciation for what I have in the States (hot showers being one of those things). It's truly humbling, being out here.

Now... what you've all been waiting for...

PICTURES!

This is the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila:


This is me, bored during my 5 hour delay in Manila:


This is some family at my great grandpa's grave:


This is the cemetery:


My Grandmas:


Some of my cousins:


Me, bowling a 172. YESSS:


There are a lot of chicks at our house:


Also at our house, these dogs have learned the art of lazy fighting. Their names are Doggie (left) and Waggily (right):


At the mall, for their Halloween promotion, people would get inside these pumpkins and dance for 30 minutes:



Crazy eh?

Well that's it for now.

Cy

Quick Take.

Don't have a lot of time to write a blog right now.
The church I'm attending here is the Metro Davao Christian Church.
I am a member of the campus ministry.
The leader of the campus ministry is Kaloi.
Kaloi owns an internet cafe called "Watchamakulit"
It's 5 minutes away from my school.
I come here whenever I have free time like now.
I have 20 minutes before my next class.
I haven't eaten lunch yet.
It's 1:05pm here on Wednesday.
I installed World of Warcraft on one of his computers.
The patches are all up to date on the game.
That computer is being used right now.
I expect to play it after school today.
There will be another blog in 4 hours.
I'm hungry.
Class is ok.
It's hot.
Bye.
Cy.

Feeling better.

That's a good thing.

So the school week is over. It started out pretty rough, but looks like it's on the up and up. I've met some pretty cool classmates who seem like they're going to look out for me. That's a good thing.

I pretty much like all of my professors except for one. They all seem pretty chill and accommodating. That's also a good thing.

I finally got my uniform today for school. No longer will I have to be the odd one out (visually) at school. That's a good thing.

My cousin Maryann is taking me out tonight. That should be a good thing. If you read my blog maybe a year ago, this is the same cousin that took me clubbin' two years ago. Anyway... I'm going out on faith on this one.

I'm talking to friends online. That's a good thing.

I talked to mom on the phone this morning. That was a good thing. She's coming in January for my birthday. An even better thing.

DSL should be coming to the house this week. Also a good thing.


Things are good
Cy

Gah!

I'm sick. meh... sneezing, runny nose. blah!

It's a miserable feeling.

Ugh... also my Marketing Management teacher is SO hard to understand. Yeah... he can speak in English, but his accent is SO strong that it's even hard to understand him in English.

It's going to be a difficult class.

Anyway, I don't have a lot of time, so a short blog today.

ACHOO,
Cy

The New Kid: Part 2

So... today's been going a lot better than the last two days. I've pretty much made friends in both of my classes so far, which is nice... and in both of those classes, everyone knows that I can't understand/speak tagalog very fluently.

So the truth is out.

In my first class HBO (or Human Behavior in Organizations), the teacher seems really really cool. She's an alumna herself of the university. And she just seems really chill.. which is cool. Before class started, I found two girls who were kinda sitting by themselves, so I asked them "Excuse me, is this the Human Behavior in Organizations class?" You know.. to kinda open it up for discussion... and they replied that it was. Then I explained to them my whole situation... and they asked...

"So you don't have any friends yet!?"

I nodded my head in the negative.

"Sit by us!!!"

So... that's kinda cool.

My second class of the day was my Philippine History class... you remember, the one filled with all the young kids who are loud and obnoxious? yeah that one.

I sat alone again in the back. A couple minutes later this girl comes in and sits two chairs away from me. I see she has the same temporary ID that identifies new students... so I ask her "Are you new here too?" We talked for a little and it turns out she's from Manila (capital of the Philippines), she took a semester off, and is now studying here in Davao because it's peaceful.

The teacher came in 15 minutes late. And she's pretty cool too. She's really funny. She gave us a seating chart which kinda forced me into spilling the truth to everyone there...

I told her, "Maam, I'm from the States and don't understand or speak Tagalog very well. Conti lang (only a little)"... so from there it kinda went downhill or uphill or however you choose to look at it. She asked me if I had friends, I said no.

That's when the class went into an uproar. Shouts of "I'll be your friend!", "We're your friends!", "We have an american friend!", and the like arose from the class...

One particular girl (who actually seemed to be the class clown) kept making passes at me out loud, but not in a serious way really... more like she was trying to get laughs from the class.

The teacher told the students that if they have free time to show me around and stuff... the girl shouted out "I'M ALWAYS AVAILABLE!" Everyone laughed.

...so yeah... i'm kinda the talk of the town... or class i guess. After class, people came to me asking me questions about America... most of the questions were about the girls of America... haha... it was something like...

"Are the girls there everything we imagined them to be!? Everything we see on TV?!"

I had to laugh... I told em "Hey. There are beautiful people everywhere." Good answer right?

I have a two hour accounting class at 5:50pm... which i'm not looking forward to. It might be cool though. who knows.

Btw... a lot of the guys here have a very.. um... dirty mindset. And it seems that the girls tolerate it... I dont know. It's just kinda different from what i was used to at DCS.

So I got this book... it's one of the best books I've read.. or am reading. It's called Not Even a Hint : Guarding Your Heart Against Lust by Joshua Harris (You know... that guy who wrote the kissing dating goodbye book). The first part of the book is a great study on what lust really is, our incredible incapability of overcoming sin on our own, and God's grace and what exactly that is. The second part includes practicals on fighting lust (or any sin for that matter). The third part has more practicals on keeping strong and standing firm against sin. Good stuff.



I recommend it. It's really eye-opening too. Convicting... you know? Sometimes something comes along, beit a good book, a good sermon, maybe a couple words - something comes along every once in a while that completely convicts you and changes your heart... this book is that for me right now.

Anyway... I don't like reading really long blogs, so I won't put you through anymore. This blog is long enough. So good night and stuff.

I'll leave you with this quote from C.J. Mahaney which is used in the book:

"Legalism is seeking to achieve forgiveness from God and acceptance by God through my obedience to God"

Cy

5 Readers!

Wow, last night I got 5 whole comments! That's a record or something!

Right now... it's 12:20pm on Tuesday... I'm at Netopia which is "the largest internet cafe chain in the country". I think they're actually afiliated with the Ateneo University system.

I'm in between classes and didn't feel like eating alone today, so I opted to browse online. My next class is at 1pm.

I'm listening to my iPod Nano right now too... if I didn't tell you guys, some people from church pitched some money together and got me it as a going away present. A couple blogs ago, I said how much I wanted one. Now I have one... and that's pretty cool. :)

Still no opportunity for me to upload pictures yet. I have to wait until we get internet at the house... which *hopefully* should be tomorrow!

I might go grab a quick snack right now, because I am pretty hungry... hmm...

So anyway, I just got out of my algebra class... which is being offered this semester for people from the first semester who failed. I talked to the teacher afterwards and told her how I'm from the States and that I can't speak/understand Tagalog very well, so she said she would remember to speak in English. Pretty much the majority of the class was her explaining to her students to be committed to coming to class every time it meets. While I was talking to her, she apologized in advance because the class is going to be going at a slower pace. Should be fine for me... passing my AP Calculus exam with a 4 my senior year... (which funny enough... doesn't get me out of college algebra at Azusa Pacific University. But it does get me out of calculus. Weird.)

I've still been watching Lost on DVD... I've already finished the season and the special features... now I'm watching the episodes that have commentaries on them. And Man. They are HILLARIOUS. It's really neat listening to the behind the scenes stuff and the inside jokes. It's cool like that. Very awesome DVD. There's also easter eggs on the discs! ('easter eggs' are hidden special features)...

Well... I better get outta here... do the email and myspace thing... then grab some quick grub.

Peace out yall.
Cy

Yeah, I'm the new guy

Ugh. The first day of school was... not so good.

Being the new guy who can't even understand/speak the language is tough. I haven't been the new guy since 1st grade. I ate lunch at around 12 in the cafeteria... and I had no one to sit with... so I ate alone :(

My first class was at 1:30pm.

MKTG 415 - Global Marketing

This is a 4th year class that I chose to take. There were about 6 of us total. After the 30 minute introduction, he dismissed the class. I stayed after to talk to him about my chance in the class. He advised me to drop the class.

2:35pm was my next class.

HIST 111 - Philippine History

This is a first year class that is offered both 1st and 2nd semester. (btw. The semesters here are different from the States. 1st Semester starts in May. 2nd Semester starts in November) There were about 35 people in this class... all of them young.

1st year students here (freshmen) are typically 16-17 years old. They don't have Jr. High here, so they go straight from 6 years of elementary to 4 years of high school, then college.

Ok so the history class. Someone saw me walking around aimlessly outside the classroom and asked me if I was the professor. Well didn't really ask me, but he assumed I was the prof and he pointed me to the right room. I told him I wasn't the teacher. See... I don't have the uniform yet, so I'm in my normal clothes. And I guess I look older. So we all wait in the classroom (btw. 5/7 of my classes aren't air conditioned) for a good 20 minutes. The teacher doesn't show up, so we all leave.

My next class isn't until 5:50pm, so I decide to drop my Global Marketing and change it for something more useful. That process took about an hour (after I did more aimless wandering looking for the place).

My new class is in the same time slot... but in a different room (with air conditioning. YES)

MGT 221 - Human Behavior in Organizations

Should be interesting.

I get hungry again, so I go to the caf and eat alone for the second time today. *sigh*

I go to my class at 5:50 and there are about 15 other kids.

ACC 101 - Fundamentals of Accounting

This is a 2 hour class that I have every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Great.

Anyway, again... we wait... for 20 minutes... then everyone leaves. Two of my three classes today, the teacher doesn't show up.

Needless to say, this day's been pretty boring. Plus, I still don't really know anyone. I hope tomorrow's a better day :)

...

Yeah.
Cy

So I got a new cell phone.

It's mad sexy.






It's the Sony Ericson K700i - my new baby.

The thing is... it cost me 10,680P - that's about $195

Since I worked this fall at Anchor Blue... I actually could afford it. That was kinda cool.

So yeah... new phone. It's rad.

Take it easy. :)
Cy

Last night was pretty eh.

Yeah so last night kinda sucked. We took a taxi to Chico's where my dad was playing and in the taxi, I left my cell phone. HUGE DOWNER.

So now, I'm cell phone-less. Don't try calling or texting me. It won't be in service. Some guy (another passenger) picked it up. We tried calling the phone continuously and he answered twice, but wouldn't say ANYTHING. So... I'm lookin on the market for a new phone. I guess the one I had was worth 10,000 pesos. Which makes it valuable. Bummer.

Then after that fiasco... I went home at about 2am and turns out... the gates were locked and no one had a key. Which left us outside for another good 30 minutes. No one had any "load" in their cell phone, and I didn't have mine (which i just loaded with 500 pesos THAT DAY)... so we were stuck. I had to send my younger cousin to go buy 20 P worth of load at 2:20am. It was a major dangit. We finally did get in though after we had to call the house and wake my Lola (grandma) up... I felt bad about that. The dogs were barking so you know the whole neighborhood was upset.

Gah.

Today, I'll be going to the malls looking for a new phone :)

Monday I start classes :)

Maybe some new friends :)

I found a church here. Trying it out on Sunday :)

Peace Out!
Cy

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

I'm itchy

heh... it's true.

Here comes another report comin at you straight from "Counterstrike Internet Cafe"...

Some updates for you:

-I have over 10 mosquito bites. Legs, arms, neck. It's great. They itch like mad.
-I'm talking to some friends over Ventrilo. It's a voice communication system. It's main usage is for gaming, but right now I'm using it to talk to people back home. It's nice.
-I've finished the entire first season of LOST. Not knowing what's going on right now in the second season kinda sucks.

It's officially been a week. I got a call from one of my HOBY buddies Cory Dippold. Coolest guy in Ohio. It was nice to talk to someone from home. It's funny that I feel that the entire U.S. is home to me right now.

I've been feeling really homesick, but I'm sure that it'll just be this first week or so. Cory gave me advice not to sulk around, but to enjoy the experience to the fullest, which is what I plan on doing.

Tomorrow, I will be choosing my classes for college and will also be going to the phone company to get the whole DSL process going. Hopefully I'll have it next week.

Hey, so things are going well. I really really want to show you guys the pictures I've been taking. They're great.

Oh yeah... I bowled a 176 on Saturday. Was pretty freakin happy about that.

All for now.
Cy

Can You Hear Me?

Hey so I'm sitting in a different internet cafe. Though it's not really a cafe. There's no coffee or anything. Just maybe 25 other computers occupied by teenagers playing Warcraft III and other cool games like that. I feel at home. Heh.

It's noisy. That's one thing about the Philippines. It's a noisy place. No Smog checks or anything like that either. Right now I hear a bunch of people yelling. Loud music blaring from somewhere. and some really loud spray thing.... like one of those high powered water blaster things. In the morning at home, I wake up to people pounding metal into shape for a thing they're putting on top of the wall. Like a security thing. Long sharp poles. You get the idea. At night while trying to fall asleep, Every minute or so, I hear motor vehicles pass the house. They are LOUD.

The only time it's ever really quiet is... well... never. I'm looking forward to my trip to the countryside. My mom's hometown is more rural, so less noise, more peace. /sigh

And this internet cafe is in a mall. NCCC Mall Davao to be specific. There's maybe 6 malls here. A lot different from the Antelope Valley where we have 1. Each mall pretty much has the same stuff. A grocery store, retail outlets, two food courts, internet cafes, etc. And... they're noisy.

Again... I miss everyone. Pretty homesick and all. Hope everyone's doing well. I'm really trying hard to put up a blog every chance I get.

PS: LOST has been INSANE.
Cy

So... I'm here... in the homeland.

Hey all you crazy viewers out there. Yep. It's me. Cy. And I finally found some time to sit at an internet cafe and type out a Blog.

It's Thursday the 27th at 7:40pm as I write this, and if you look at the bottom of this blog, you'll see what time this was posted U.S. time.

My flight:
From the time leaving LAX to arriving at DVO (Davao Int'l Airport), I was traveling for 26 hours. Yikes. It was exhausting.

Today I enrolled (sorta) for classes at Ateneo de Davao University. It was confusing and I didn't really understand what was going on. I'm still not done with the process and I guess that I have to finish it sometime by next week.

So far, it's been pretty good here in the Philippines. I'm kinda homesick, but it's all good. I miss a lot of my friends out there in the U.S.. I miss my mama. I miss everyone. It's crappy. But hey, It's a good experience out here for me, eh?

Ugh, I miss playing WoW too. I know, still the nerd :P but there's people I know on there now too who I miss talking too. And my priest is 2 levels away from 60 and is a Master Sergeant now too! Man! I wanna play it so bad.

Wireless DSL should be coming to the house sometime in the next week or two if everything works out. It'll be compatible with my dad's apple laptop, but when he leaves in 4 weeks, I don't know if it'll work out with the computer we have here now (my old piece of junk we sent here last year).

This is like my only communication with everyone back home. I've got a cell phone, but it's hecka expensive for me to call anyone and sending texts back to the U.S. costs 15 pesos... My phone has 500 pesos worth of "Load" on it (think prepaid)... well it had 500 pesos. Eh. Oh and the exchange rate here? 55 pesos to a dollar. So... do the math... one text to the states is like 30 cents or something around there.

Well... I don't have a lot of time to write all this out... It's costing 15 pesos to be on this computer right now for one hour and between writing this blog, checking my myspace, and responding to emails, time is something I don't have a lot of these days. Keep sending me texts though, that's encouraging. And if you have the money, a phone call is nice too. It doesn't cost me a dime (or a peso... i guess)... but it might cost you a pretty penny. If you do want to contact me... my cell number here is 011-63-906-218-1454. Good luck with that.

When we do get internet back at the house, I'll be able to put pictures up, which I know is all you guys want to see. So until next time, just know, I'm safe. I miss everyone. I'm having a good time. I'm learning tagalog. And I am eating. haha.

Alrighty then.
Cy

PS: One of the "comforts of home" that I have right now is the Complete First Season of Lost. (The TV show). The Slater-Lunsfords bought it for me before my trip. So I'm watching it... and I'm hooked. It's a crazy show. Right now, my mom (who is still in Cali) is watching the second season of The O.C.. When my dad leaves in a couple weeks, He's gonna bring home Lost and my mom is going to send The O.C. with some friends who are staying at our house right now and are coming back to Davao in December. We're trading. How funny is that.

Ok, I'm out for real.
Cy (again)

"Champagne For My Real Friends, Real Pain For My Sham Friends"

I'm listening to Fall Out Boy right now and that's one of their songs of the new album.

I think it's a great title... for a song... for life. You know?

Last Friday, I gave my two-weeks notice to Anchor Blue. It went well. My manager was sad though. She was like, "Awww Cy, we're gonna miss you for the Holiday season!"

I felt bad.

Just got in from watching The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Man. This movie is crazy. If you have any kind of spiritual beliefs, or even if you don't... this movie gets you thinking. It has some nice jump parts in it too :)

So anyway, on friends...

It's interesting to find, when you take a second to think about it, who your true friends really are, and who are just "friends".

I use to be able to say that I have a lot of friends. However with that, I think that the word "friend" loses some of its significance with each friend I make.

Let me explain. In high school, I thought I had a lot of friends. And don't get me wrong, I still have friends from High School...

Hmm... maybe I should try to define what a friend is first. To me, I think a friend is someone on whom you can truly rely on - Spiritually, Emotionally, Physically, etc. A friend is someone who would go with you through anything.

Restricting my list of "friends" to that definition, I'd probably be able to count how many true friends I have on two hands.

I'm finding that as life goes on, you start to see who exactly your true friends are and how much you really need them.

I have this fear in the back of my mind, though. When I was younger, my set of "friends" was different from the friends I have now. Five years from now, will I have the same friends? Will my current friends be at the same level of trust and commitment in the future as they are now? Or will that be replaced? Time can only tell, I suppose.

Interesting to think about...

This thursday, I'm going to Knott's Berry Farm with a bunch of my friends from school. This little clique, if you'd call it that, has been together since my Freshman year of high school and we've all remained pretty good friends, some of which I am closer to than others. It's odd though, in this group of friends, there are some things that I can tell some of them that I can't tell others and vice versa. It's like some kind of double life within our group of friends. I don't understand it sometimes. For instance, there are friends in this group that I feel comfortable talking about spiritual things with and there are some that I don't.

Hard to explain I guess.

Then, there's my friends from Church. It seems like they are an entirely different breed.

Eh... friendships. It's an incredible concept.

I can't imagine life without friends. Without fellowship. Without going to some family restaurant to order Chili Cheese Fries and talk about "The Alliance".

I'm thinking that when I go to the Philippines, I really see what's valuable in my life... (who and what).

meh.
Cy

It's Been One Week...

...since you looked at me
Cocked your head to the side and said "I'm angry"
Five days since you laughed at me saying
"Get that together come back and see me"
Three days since the living room
I realized it's all my fault, but couldn't tell you
Yesterday you'd forgiven me
but it'll still be two days till I say I'm sorry


Heh, yeah it's been a FULL week since I've last posted. Mainly it's because only Justin reads this, and I got tired of trying to update it every night, searching myself for something remotely interesting to post.

Well, the countdown to the Philippines is at 17 Days. Yeah, that's pretty insane. I'm excited, reserved, nervous, anxious, scared, and fired-up all at the same time. It's quite an odd mix of feelings.

Tomorrow, I have to put in my two weeks notice to Anchor Blue. This was the first job I've ever had, needless to say, I've been attached to it. I've become acustomed to my managers, Maria, Rita, Ani, and Santiago; My co-workers, Jordan, Brian, Amanda, Danielle, Bianca, Veronica, and the ROPs. It's been tons of fun though and a great first time experience for me. I'm hoping when I get back from the Philippines in March that I'll get rehired. From the comments I've gotten from my managers, it seems like I've done an awesome job working there...

No updates on HOBY news yet... but more on that as I stay in contact with Lisa...

Yesterday, I signed up for a CapitalOne Student Platinum Credit Card. Got approved, waiting for it in the mail. Yay for starting up good credit!

My bank account is growing, that's nice. Tomorrow I get paid! Yesss....

Last Sunday, I actually tithed with a CHECK. I felt so... old.

Next Thursday, I plan on going to Knott's Berry Farm's Halloween Haunt with my really close friends Justin, Heather, Justin, and Emily... It should be fun.

I'm hungry, so this is it for today, expect more updates soon :)

Cy

Soy Un Perdedor...

I'm a loser, baby. So why don't you kill me?

...from the poet Beck.


So, this week is so odd for me. I barely have any work. I workeed Sunday for 6 hours, Monday for 6 hours and I work SATURDAY for 8 hours. Meaning... I have absolutely nothing to do between now and then.

It's actually not very fun. If you've been keeping up with the posts that I have been making, you would know that I like my job very much... and not doing it consistently is weird for me.

Eh.

So tonight, I got second place in a little poker game with some of my buds. $5 buy in. I won it back. :|

Also, I woke up today at 1:30. that was awesome.

A new show that I like is Drew Carey's Green Screen show. It's mad funny. I was cracking up.

Also tonight, I watched My Name is Earl and The Office. Both are quality.

There are officially 25 days left before I leave for the Philippines. :)

Yay!

Justin left his World Poker Tour cards at my house. Eh.

I got the munchies earlier, so I cooked up these microwavable Baked Potatoes. They're pretty 'meh' by themselves, but you add some butter, cheese, salt and pepper and it's just fine. ;)

Though, I'll probably never buy them again.

I haven't had any really intensely deep thoughts as of recent, so nothing to share there. I probably have though and just can't remember.

Most of my thoughts come from the shower... (hmmm... maybe I should start a BLOG just about thoughts I have while in the shower) :)

Well, i'm tired. and it's late/early. so goodnight/morning and have a great day/night!

Lateraide,
Cy

Take my Quiz.

Take my Quiz!

Today

I ate at Johnny Carino's. Very nice food. I have leftovers :)

My friend Justin works there.

I hope you are enjoying these snippets.

I'm sleepy.

Goodnight!

Cy

A quick post.

I just got back from work. We had a visual change. (moving a lot of stuff around.) I worked from 7pm to 1am.

I need to get up at 6am to go to work at 7am.

yikes.

but i'm getting hours :)

V stands for Visual (Do things look good?)
I stands for Interaction (Do the customers feel welcomed?)
B stands for Bring It! (Do the customers feel your energy?)
E stands for Everyone Leaves with a Bag (self-explainatory)

Cy

On Racism.

So at my job, we have to ask the customer for their zip code. It's for a survey conducted by Hub Distributing Inc. (Anchor Blue's parent company) to see where our customers are from and if we need to place another store in a different location.

Anyway, pretty much everyone has no problem giving it out. Some people will ask me what it's for and I'll tell them honestly.

Others though, have a hard time giving it out or don't give it out at all. What's unique about this though is that the only people who won't give it out (in my experience) are latino people who don't speak english very well or at all.

I don't understand why this is. It could be that they just don't understand what I'm asking for. It could be that they don't even know what a zip code is.

Or maybe they do understand me, but are afraid to give it out. Illegal immigration is a huge thing in California. The thought occured to me that these people could be living in Palmdale or Lancaster illegally and are wary of giving out their zip code because maybe they think that the INS or some other authority can track them down.

I don't know. I remember reading an article in my Senior english class about Bilingualism. Being in America, the most common language is of course, English. Yet, there are people who refuse to learn and master the language. I realize that there are many who are learning and it's hard for them... but for the ones who aren't set on learning English or don't even know a couple essential phrases to buy clothes, why are they content with that?

On a message board I frequent, a user posted an experience he had at a McDonald's restaurant. The lady he was ordering from was latina. This person asked the lady for no mustard on his burger. She couldn't understand what he was talking about. She actually had to get another worker to translate for her to understand that he was talking about Mustard.

It doesn't seem fair that that McDonald's would her in a position where she would have to interact with customers when she can't speak sufficient English, nor understand it.

I understand that a lot of immigrants are here to support their families back in their homeland (heck, that's what my parents are doing), but I think they would do so much better if they would learn the common language. They'd get a lot further in the business world, anyway.

I don't know. just thoughts.
Cy

Categories: Thoughts

I Can't Believe She Just Said That...

That was what was running through my head when my boss talked to me today.

Today at Anchor Blue I worked from 9:30am to 2:35pm. I was in the back doing stock for most of the day. It took a while because I had eleven boxes to get through.

When I was all done, I went to the sales floor and organized the "rack of randomness" (that's what I call it). It has Candy, Gag Gifts, Bouncy things, all kinds of stuff...

After that, I went back to the stock area and my boss Maria told me...

"Cy, I'm SO glad you work here."

I was stunned. Well maybe not stunned, but taken aback.

I felt special and didn't really know what to say...

so I chuckled and said...

"Uh, thanks!"

ha. that was the highlight of my day.

It's hard to think that I have to put in my two-weeks notice in two and a half weeks. :(

I get paid this Friday!


W0ot!
Cy

Who's got the VIBE?

I sure do.

VIBE is the slogan or whatever for Anchor Blue...

I can't quite remember what it stands for though.

V -
I -
B -
E -

Feel free to comment with what you think it might stand for. I'll post the answers tomorrow.

So anyway, tonight was really awesome because I actually got to know a lot of my co-workers better. I worked a complete 8-hour shift today from 12:30-9pm with a 30 minute lunch.

Looonnngg shift. It's still fun though. I like my job :)

So I haven't posted the last three days, because I have been super busy with work... and sleep... and video games. haha

So my friend Alex Hagris from TX, emailed this to me. I think it's great.:


"Men Are Just Happier People-- What do you expect from such simple creatures? Your last name stays put. The garage is all yours. Wedding plans take care of themselves. Chocolate is just another snack.

You can be President. You can never be pregnant. You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park. You can wear NO shirt to a water park. Car mechanics tell you the truth.

The world is your urinal. You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky. You don't have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt. Same work, more pay. Wrinkles add character. Wedding dress $5000. Tux rental-$100. People never stare at your chest when you're talking to them.

The occasional well-rendered belch is practically expected. New shoes don't cut, blister, or mangle your feet. One mood all the time. Phone conversations are over in 30 seconds flat. You know stuff about tanks. A five-day vacation requires only one suitcase. You can open all your own jars. You get extra credit for the slightest act of thoughtfulness. If someone forgets to invite you, he or she can still be your friend.

Your underwear is $8.95 for a three-pack. Three pairs of shoes are more than enough. You almost never have strap problems in public. You are unable to see wrinkles in your clothes. Everything on your face stays its original color. The same hairstyle lasts for years, maybe decades. You only have to shave your face and neck.

You can play with toys all your life. Your belly usually hides your big hips. One wallet and one pair of shoes one color for all seasons. You can wear shorts no matter how your legs look. You can "do" your nails with a pocket knife. You have freedom of choice concerning growing a mustache.

You can do Christmas shopping for 25 relatives on December 24 in 25 minutes.

No wonder men are happier!"


Also, another friend showed me this:

The best new way to fold your T-shirt

It's pretty neat.


Alrighty. I'm off to sleep. Got church in the mornin.

Laterz
Cy

Eat Great, Even Late!

No... I haven't gone to Wendy's lately...

It's 4:27am...

I'm about to eat a PB&J sandwich.

The reason I am up so late is that I don't have work tomorrow... thus, I can sleep in.

Also, I've decided that all my mp3s need some re-organization, so I have been doing that the last two days. Organizing thousands of files isn't an easy task, but with the help of myiTunes, this process is made a slightly easier.

I've also been ripping my CDs to my computer.

All this is really in preparation for the iPod nano that I'm hoping to get before I leave for the Philippines.

So far in my iTunes library I have 1204 Songs/3.2 Days/5.48 GB of music. And that's only maybe 20% of my mp3 files and only maybe 30% of my CDs! So, I should be done with this process by Thursday or Friday if I keep at this pace. heh.

So as the days go by, my life becomes increasingly less interesting. But I guess that's a matter of opinion/perspective.

Today at work, a guy and his friend (who is a girl) came in and decided that they were going to look at EVERY SINGLE screen tee that we sell so that they could have a good laugh. This started at maybe 8:15. The mall closes at 9pm...

They basically destroyed the entire screen tee wall, which meant that recovery at the end of the night was going to take loooonnnnggg... But, I am the ultimate screen tee folding master and I got it done in no time. We locked up at 9:47pm. Score.

So... a new patch came out for World of Warcraft. It has a lot of changes and additions to it, which means that I will be playing a lot of it this week/weekend.

Yeah.

Someone falls to pieces
Sleeping all alone
Someone kills the pain
Spinning in the silence
She finally drifts away
Someone gets excited
In a chapel yard
And catches a bouquet
Another lays a dozen
White roses on a grave

Someone finds salvation in everyone
Another only pain
Someone tries to hide himself
Down inside himself he prays
Someone swears his true love
Until the end of time
Another runs away
Separate or united
Healthy or insane

Even when you've paid enough
Been put upon or been held up
Every single memory of the good or bad
Faces of Love
Don't lose any sleep tonight
I'm sure everything will end up alright
You may win or lose

And to be yourself is all that you can do
To be yourself is all that you can do.


Well that's it for now. Take care of yourself. And each other.
Cy

Categories: Work, Games, Music

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Naked."

Heh. I'm watching G4... the channel all about gaming. One promo for a show called "Cheats" has some gamer in a confessional saying "R1 R1 A B R2 Select Pause... I've seen the Ninja Turtles Naked."

odd.

anyway. Work was good today. I like working at Anchor Blue. After I got of work, I bought some stuff off the clearance rack at American Eagle. yep. So that was my day.

Nothing new to report.

Over and Out.
Cy

9/11

I don't want to spend a lot of time talking about what I did today as today holds more significance than any of my daily happenings. Basically did the usual Sunday thing: Church, Lunch, Lawn... same ol' same ol'. Played poker at my friend Bill's co-worker Susan's house. (Wow. that was a lot)... Got second to this new guy named Joe. Had maybe even stacks... on one hand I had a jack/eight. The flop was two 8's and a jack. Full house. The turn I can't remember, I think it was a King. The river was another 8. Four 8's. He had a King/something, so he had a full house, but didn't realize it. Basically he folded when I went all in. Bummer.

Playing with new people is a tough thing to do. Especially people who really don't know how to play all that well. Eh. Enough of that...

I woke up early today. I've been a little anxious this whole week. The first week of a freshman in high school is filled with some uncertainty, getting used to seven periods, meeting new people... I got ready for school and walked downstairs.

The TV was on. Fox News. A terrible thing has happened in New York. On the screen, shots of the World Trade Center. A plane has been hijacked and flown into the building. All the people on the plane are feared dead. Wow.

I got to school. First period. We talk about the news and pray for the people involved. Intercom comes on... another plane has been crashed into the second tower.

What is going on?

School goes through as normal. I get home and find out that the towers have collapsed. The news keeps replaying home made videos of people running, covering their heads with their briefcases, coated in dust. Other clips are shown from earlier in the day. People are jumping out of the building. Screams are heard everywhere.

Is this real?

It seems like a scene from a disaster movie.

I can't believe what's happening. People are dead. People are dying. Tons are injured. Children have lost mothers and fathers. Others have lost their significant other. Parents have lost their children. And all this happened in the course of one school day.

Eight hours. Lives changed forever. Things are not the same.


What do I do in eight hours? What am I doing with my time now? Someone could be dying right now. Another could be losing their father. Maybe another could be mourning the loss of a child as I'm typing this.

Is this all random? Well to us, I suppose so, since we don't know when any of this would happen. When is it my time? There's been rumors of a planned terrorist attack on Los Angeles tomorrow. I live an hour from LA. What if tomorrow is my last day on earth?

Am I ready for what's to come? Have I done all that I've wanted to do? What am I ashamed of? What am I proud of? Did I make a difference? Are people different because of me? Or have I hurt people?

I've been thinking a lot about this recently. The people at the World Trade Center; the people on the airplanes; the families of those who died... they had no idea what September 11, 2001 was about to become.

The people in Louisiana. No Clue.

Those in India... No Idea.

Death is something to be in awe of. It's a very powerful thing.

I'm hoping that I learn from these people who have lost their lives recently in the hurricane and also four years ago in NYC. What was it like for them the minutes before their death? Did their life flash before their eyes? Did they look back on everything they did and see victory? or did they see defeat.

I hope it doesn't take death staring me in the face for me to examine my life. By then, It'll probably be too late. I want to look back on my life and see victory.

It's too bad we make mistakes. But eh, I guess without them we would never know what perfection truly is.

I'm working on my life. I'm am far from perfect... and I don't know if I want to be perfect. Man, this sure is confusing stuff. But I guess that's life.

Meh.

What if there was no light
Nothing wrong, nothing right
What if there was no time
And no reason or rhyme

Cy

Categories: Thoughts, Poker

iPod Nano

I want one.



Read about it here.

Ding!

...that's for my buddies who play WoW with me. People say "ding" when they level up. It originates from Everquest, one of the first Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORGP) ever created. The sound was a chime or a "ding" when a player gained a new level.

So yeah, my two characters that i've been focusing on (Baurius and Khorg) have leveled significantly since the last time I mentioned them. Baurius, my Night Elf Priest, is now at level 48 and Khorg, my Orc Rogue, is now at level 19. It's been tons of fun.

So that's all I really did today since I had no work... video games. That's it.

Tomorrow I have work at 9:30am. So I'm gonna head off to bed now. Sorry for the lack of updates, but not much has been going on.

Oh yeah tomorrow, The Exorcism of Emily Rose comes out in theaters. It looks freaky as ever. Now, I'm one who believes in demons and angels, so the reality of this movie should be what scares me most. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to it. Here's the trailer:

Looks insane. Anyway, I'm off to bed. For real this time. Good night.

you and me and all of the people
with nothing to do
nothing to prove

Peace,
Cy

Categories: Games, Movies

FRUSTRATING!

Yeah so you all know that my car died on me last Saturday if you listened to my audiopost...

Today, we made arrangements for AAA to get a towing company to move my car from my aunt's house to the Saturn Dealership.

I get out of the shower at like 11:30.
My dad says that we have to be at the car in 30-40 minutes because that's the time frame the towing company gave us.

So we leave the house at maybe 11:50. On the way there, I get a phone call on my cell phone. It's the towing company. She talks...

"Hi Mr. Serrano?"
"Yes?"
"Yeah, this is the towing company. Our driver is with your vehicle now. Are you close by?"
"Yeah, we're about 10 minutes away."
"Ok, just call us when you get there."
"Uh. Ok."

That last line from her didn't make that much sense to me.

We get to my Aunt's house. No tow truck. The guy took off. So I call the towing company. She says, "Ok, we're sending him out. It'll be about 15 minutes."

So we wait for 15 minutes... 30 minutes...

She calls again.

"Sir?"
"Yes..."
"Sorry, we got really busy the last half hour. He's leaving now."
"Ok. Great."

So we wait for about another half an hour.

My dad is fed up at this point. He asks for my phone and he calls the towing company. And he rips them a new one.

Ironically enough, the tow truck happens to show up in the middle of my dad's verbal slaughtering. The tow truck guy gets out of the truck and gives me a friendly hello. My dad gets off the phone... obviously not happy.

Next thing we know, the tow truck guy gets a little nextel *beep beep* and the same lady radios to him...

"...this is ridiculous. Just leave."

That's the most I caught of the conversation. The tow truck guy is noticibly feeling the awkwardness of this situation. He says...

"I don't know what's going on..."

So he gets in his truck. Backs up as if he's positioning himself, then drives away. We wait for maybe 3 minutes. We realize he's not coming back. My dad's pretty much furious at this point and has resorted to placing the blame on me...

"If you would have woken up earlier!!!..."

I talked some sense into him... by explaining what really went down.

First off, the tow truck guy, being early, should not have left even though we weren't there yet. If he would have waited until the time they gave us, everything would have been just fine.

Secondly, this lady was obviously not dealing with us correctly. All matters are supposed to be settled through AAA. AAA contracts out the towing company, not us. So there shouldn't even have been conversation between us and the towing company (save the driver).

Eh. It was all very frustrating.

Luckily, my mom is the great negotiator/complainer/guilt tripper/chew-you-out-until-you-die-inside go-to person. She's great. We got a $100+ order of pizza for free because of her one time. I love the woman. So she works things out, files a complaint with AAA and reports the towing company. Great lady. She also got a different driver and everything to come out and tow the car later in the afternoon. So right now, my car is at the dealership where tomorrow, should be ready for pickup. It's awesomeness.

In other news... my job is amazing. I love working at Anchor Blue. The people are so chill and the responsibility I have isn't too taxing, yet I'm not just bumming around. It's perfect. Tomorrow I'm calling Olive Garden to see about that interview. Haven't heard from Red Lobster still. That's fine. They're all poo poo heads. Don't eat at the Palmdale Red Lobster. And don't use Antelope Valley Towing Company.

Haha, that's it for now.

Sorrow drips into your heart through a pinhole
Just like a faucet that leaks and there is comfort in the sound
But while you debate half empty or half full
It slowly rises, your love is gonna drown

Shalom,
Cy

PS: Buy Crash on DVD!

Categories: Work, Random