What have I done to deserve this?!

This will be my last post before I transfer school or worse, exile to Timbuktu.
Ok, so it was a little bit exaggerated but that’s exactly how I felt last Tuesday night.
Law Building, 8:50 pm, Remedial Law class…
I was busy memorizing Rule 7 of Civil Procedure because of fear to be haunted by the curse of being the last one to be called in recitations when my professor said “cross-claim”. I don’t know if it was my inattentiveness or due to other insuperable cause but I swear, he said it in a manner wherein one could’ve easily mistaken it as “Rose Lyn”. Looking like a lost and befuddled senior, I stood up and waited for the commencement of my curse. After five seconds of deafening silence and amused stares from my classmates, the class burst into fits of laughter. Of course, I did not end my moment there because I even had the audacity to naively ask why. To make the long story short, I just had the most embarrassing night of my life. Well, if you would exclude the time when our Associate Dean caught me performing like a trying-hard-amateur-theater-actress-in-a-musical-play or the time when I screamed like a big baby after tripping in the middle of a busy street or the time when... Aw, forget it! I guess I must have done a lot of embarrassing-stupid or stupid-embarrassing things in the past to consider Tuesday’s event to be permissible but my last antic will really go down memory lane especially with my ever-so-supportive classmates who recently baptized me as what do you… CROSS-CLAIM!

I guess mine is a Happy Feet...

I watched Happy Feet last saturday with Joevz. Actually, I was supposed to watch Borat with She and Vanj but it did not materialize so I dragged my friend instead after his training with the school rep for the YMCA Congress. Sleazy! haha...

Superficially, it was a nice flick in a kiddy-sissy way. But looking at the story itself, it went beyond cute baby penguins and nice soundtrack. It was an enlightening movie. It was like telling everybody that being different is not a disease and anybody, regardless of one's defiance to norms, is capable of being a catalyst for a bigger change susceptible of affecting the society at large.

Ok, so I'm getting a little emo about a supposedly very juvenile flick when all I wanted to say was it was a nice movie so get your eyes off my post and go catch it! haha

Triple treat

I had the most relaxing day. Hanging out with two of my closest friends in law school (Vanj and Sherwin) was a blast! It was kinda unplanned because the idea was brought up by She after hearing me whine for being so pressured and all- so thoughtful and nice of him to suggest an afternoon swim to unwind and just chill.

I enjoyed it because…
1. Vanj was able to meet my mom for the first time (mom accompanied me to glorietta- our meeting place).
2. She and I had super fun teasing Vanj with------ and ------ (haha) which lasted until our Starbucks break.
3. It was a covered pool so sunburn was not a problem.
4. The slumbookish convo i.e. Do you have any regrets that you’re in law school?
5. According to She it was our first time together that no calamity took place (i.e. earthquake) so I guess we’re not a “disaster in progress”. haha

Time to hit the books… We are excused form attending class tomorrow because of the event in Manila Hotel so it means that I have to read for Wednesday’s class in advance. Bummer!

A heavy heart and an empty stomach...

Ring...Ring...Ring...
Moi: Hello. Good evening!
Adam: Good evening. May I speak with Mr. Dante Rabanera (my father)?
Moi: I'm sorry but he's in the province right now. May I know who's calling please?
Adam: Ay ganon... This is Adam. Do you happen to know when is he coming back to Manila?
Moi: I'm not sure e. Is this Adam as in the son of tito Paul Reyes?
Adam: Yes...
Moi: Hey kuya. This is Rose Lyn. We've heard the news about your dad. Condolence ha?
Adam: Alam nyo na pala... Thanks. It was actually a peaceful death. Liver failure. He said din pala na walag iiyak or else mumultuhin nya. haha
Moi: I see...
Adam: I called just to inform your dad sana. Just tell him that we're having a small gathering with dad's closest friends next saturday night here in our house but it might be a 2-day event coz some of dad's classmates in Beda are coming.
Moi: Yeah. Napanood ni mommy sa tv 'yung news... Sige, I'll just tell him.
Adam: Alright. Thanks Rose Lyn. Goodnight...
Moi: No problem. Goodnight. bye

I got the call a few minutes after I arrived home (while preparing to eat my SUPER late dinner). It was a very depressing call considering that tito paul was very close to our family. Before he died he would often call and ask how's law school and if I happen to be interested in working for GMA 7. We also shared the same interest in paranormals which others may perceive as kinda weird. Well, I have to admit that IT IS weird.Oh well, I guess good guys really die young. I'm just thankful that he died peacefully.

So there, now my tummy's really growling but eating is definitely not in my list at this point. hay...

Outpouring...

Sometimes I feel like I want to streamline my life. If only it's as easy as a snap of a finger...
Sometimes I question why some things don't go my way even if I try really, really hard. It is starting to burn me out...
I can't just make my beliefs take the backseat even in times when I feel that sacrificing them will save my ass. Sign of strong conviction...
I am deeply wounded but I can still manage to smile and console those who can't handle it the way I do. I wish there is someone who can see beneath those smiles...

Argh! Enough with the drama. Moping around and crying over my very own series of unfortunate events won't do me any good. Good thing I know what I want and I know how to get it. No amount of rejection, depression nor fear can block my way in achieving my goal. I may be stripped off of my self confidence, my ego may be crushed and my pride be severely injured but there are two things that I will never lose in my journey... HEART and FAITH.

The 8th National Debate Championship

The 8th National Debate Championship was held last October 22-28, 2006 at the University of Baguio. The theme was “Rational Excellence through Competitive Eloquence”. Pretty big huh! *grin*

I definitely had a FUN time during the duration of the tourney. We stayed at Summer Place hotel (the best hotel in Baguio for 2006... according to them). The place was cool. It was cozy and very modern. I’m sure the guys (Joevz, Justin, William and Gian) had a grand time playing fooze-ball (I settled for billiards :)). The hotel food was blah. Good thing we packed some goodies.

We arrived in Baguio around 1 in the afternoon. We were welcomed by the organizers and were billeted right away. We ate out and got ourselves comfy for the next day’s activity.

Day 2 of the tourney was really exciting. We went to Tam-awan Village for the tour organized by UB and PMA. The afternoon was allotted for tournament briefing and Debate and Adjudication Seminar. Actually, The Mock Debate used for the Adjudication Exam was a taped debate which made it really hard to comprehend. Oh well…
Then the actual tournament…
The motion for Round 1 was “This House celebrates bigotry’s place in mass media”. (soo Isagani Cruz...).I adjudicated the match of UB-D, USI-D, ADMU-C and MMUM-B.
Opening Dinner followed round 1. Yummy food :)

For Day 3, the motions were as follows:
Round 2: “This House would ban 1st World dumping of hazardous materials in the 3rd World”. (I feel that it was a little bit pro-government unless the opposition will give a killer counterprop.) I adjudicated the match of SLU-C, UPD-B, DLSU-B and UST-C.
Round 3: “This House regrets Jose Rizal’s place of pride in the Filipino consciousness”. (The motion was a product of Ateneo Napoleonic Complex. haha) I adjudicated the match of UB-C, DLSU-C, UPB-F and Lyceum-A
Round 4: “This House regrets the role of bilateral aid agencies in the Philippine development”. (I despised this motion for lack of knowledge about the issue. haha) I adjudicated the match of ADMU-F, UB-C, UPLB-A and ADNU-B.

Day 4 was devoted to 3 rounds. One with oral adjudication and 2 silent rounds which made it a little less stressful for the adjudicators. *grin*
Round 5: “ This House believes that religiously-affiliated organizations should be covered by homosexual anti-discrimination laws”. (It was a nice motion. Loved the idea of harmonizing RAO's belief and that of the homos. Interesting.) I adjudicated the match of UPB-E, UPB-C, UPM-B and ADMU-E.
Round 6: “This House would tie development aid to the establishment of microcredit programs”. (Inspired by the news on the Noble prize winner, this motion was a giveaway for the debaters.) I adjudicated ADMU-F, SLU-C, UPM-D and FSSU-A.
Round 7: “This House would mandate permanent peacekeeping for international humanitarian organizations that operate in conflict zones”. (One of my favorites! I just love international/ political debates. I got a really-really nice round.) I adjudicated MMU-A, MMU-C, UPD-F and UPD-B.

The highlight of Day 4 was the break night party. It was held at Red Lions. This was a night devoted for booze, celebration and facing defeat (for some). Announcement for the breaking teams and adjudicators was made by the Deputy Chief Adjudicators. We also managed a post-break night party in the hotel. Ian really had it! Haha…

Day 5 was the day of the octofinals and quarterfinals. Motions were:
Octos: “This House would celebrate the wearing of veils by Muslim immigrants in western societies”. (For me it's an old issue but still very much debatable.) This was the match of UPB-D, SBC-A, UPB and UST-B. The chief adjudicator, Leloy from Ateneo, was our chair.
Quarters: “This House believes that international sporting bodies should sanction athletes who use official sporting events to make controversial political statements”. (I just hate sports debate but the addition of political color made it very interesting.) Match of UPD-A, UST-B, ADMU- F and ADMU-A. Duffie from DLSU Chaired the panel.

Day 6 was the semifinals and the championship day. I managed to adjudicate until the grand finals, an overwhelming and stressful experience at the same time.
Semis: “ This House believes that sado-masochism sex is a tool of patriarchy.” (An absolutely favorite motion by the entire debate community! haha. It was the match when all I ever wanted to do was drop my pen and listen to the debate.) ADDU-B, UPM-F, ADMU-C and UPD-B. Duffie was once again the Chair :).
Grand finals: “ This House believes that lobbying the European Union to sanction the Philippines for extra-judicial killings is in the best interest of Filipino activists.” (Very-very apt motion. With all the extra-judicial killings going on, Im sure everybody found the debate socially relevant.) UPM-F, UPD-A, ADDU-A and ADMU-C. Duffie was the Chair.)

Championship dinner followed the grand finals. Initially, I was pissed because Joevz didn’t allow me to go freshen up in the hotel after the semis. If it was the teeny-weeny brat in me or just the sheer thought of unfulfilled promise that made me act that way, I still don’t know… Oh well, friendship prevailed and my seething mode disappeared during the deliberation. Plus, we were able to make a hasty outfit change prior to the dinner.

Dinner was ok but the awarding was FAB! UP Diliman bagged the crown but Mark and I made it to the Top 10 Best Adjudicators. Yay! I guess that concretized the claim that FEU is the home of good adjudicators.*grin*

What I enjoyed the most in the tourney was the post-championship dinner party. Multi Media University of Malaysia hosted it and it was a very nice way to end the Nationals. Popeye invited me to the party which I gladly accepted. I had some nice convos with Baby Blue, Disco Top, Popeye and Licky. Malaysians are nice... So there, while some of the delegates were getting wasted, FEU guys preferred a cool and soo-FRIENDSy way of celebrating…FOOZE-BALL! It was a great balancing act because when Ian and Jox were ultra-wasted (I was wasted but I managed to recover in a couple of hours...on MY own...hehe) these nice guys of ours took care of them. Gian, Joevz, Kevz and I slept around 4 in the morning after feasting on some packed munchies and cup noodles.

Day 7 was the saddest day of the tourney… I don’t wanna elaborate but it was the bye-bye day. sigh :(

*This is just a partial post. Will post all the juicy details (pictures and what-nots) next time.*