a smile to it all

My week was a roller coaster ride of ups and downs. It also ended with confusion and exhaustion.

Had an eye check up last Saturday. My right eye was hit by my hyperactive student with a pencil last Wednesday and since then, it won’t stop excreting a little water and getting itchy at times. Good thing it didn’t hit my iris. As my MR student’s dad is an eye specialist, my boss wrote a note and had my eye checked for free. I had lead infection he said and gave me an antibacterial eye drop, for free again.

However, this afternoon, an incident gave me an opportunity to smile gracefully and made me empty my mind on the things that concerns me much this week. Well, he just came in the middle of our jamming, grabbed his guitar in the middle of a song to teach our guitarist at that time (not our usual guitarist) the chords of the song we played then gave him back his guitar and grabbed the microphone and sang. I just listened to him sing his heart out, and he was even in tune though it was not the usual songs I would hear him sing. It was a joy to witness him do that. Since I came to know him, he has not only changed and matured, he has also developed his musical skills.

Wanna guess who the guy is? He is one of the Cugman Boiz, of course.

holy week itinerary

Get this..

Our school’s moving up / closing program will be in the afternoon of April 4 and will end probably in the early hours of the night. Our Mindanao youth camp is set on April 30 – May 4. But its camp training will be on April 6 – 8 at Davao City and its a possibility also that I will be at Davao City earlier, April 5. April 9 – 10 will be Cebu City’s youth camp’s staff retreat in preparation for the Cebu City’s youth camp on May 27 – June 1. This retreat is crucial for Cebu City’s youth camp volunteer staffs. Be home probably on the 11th. Then summer class in our school starts on the 13th, Monday.

See my travel plans on the holy week? My much expected and awaited week-long vacation will never be realized. Hahayz.. But NO complaints about it. This is what I love to do, this is what energizes me at times, part of what I do with the youths. Just have to bear with these.

* I do need to breath, relax and unwind. *

these kids..

Kids nowadays are so eager to grow up, try on grown-up things, clothes behaviors, play grown-up roles, etc. Can’t they be kids and enjoy the liberty of it? Explore and learn more of their age-appropriate games which they would eventually miss when they grow up. Fly kites this summer, run along the riverside, play takyang, patintero on the street, run in the streets, get dirtied, etc. There’s fun being a kid and not just try to relive those days when they are grown up already. I pity girls wearing heeled sandals and shoes as they’ll have difficulty running when they want to run and if they could run, it’ll hurt their feet as well. I pity girls wearing tubes, not because I can’t dare to wear one but because their delicate body needs protection. I pity girls painted on make-up even just going to the malls, they are beautiful and need not cover their little, cute faces with cosmetics. I pity boys who were confined to computer games at home when they could have run around and play with their neighbors or playmates or siblings. They could have practiced their balance by playing some tag or walking along a level line and makae a game on it. In that way, they could develop more of their muscles at an early age, develop social skills and any other aspects as well, further logical and cognitive skills at their age maybe.

Wish they won’t grow up so fast that they’ll miss some of the things we used to enjoy at their age. Society-wise, there are just some things which can’t be done anymore. But it should not be a hindrance to deprive the kids with these developmentally important plays in their young age.

* a close-similar article is also posted in wanderer's blog.

my teary Tuesday

Spitted on me. Pushed me to the wall. Pushed my chair and laughed when I fell on the floor. Threw the blocks I let her work on, sometimes on my face. Punched my face and my left arm, it even lose its strength. Attempted to push her finger into my mouth and nose. Bit my stomach and legs. With that, I isolated my student with mental retardation into the corner with her chair, only. And those were not enough. She stood up, picked her plastic chair and threw it to me and her classmate diagnosed with Down syndrome. Then she came to us, lifted the plastic table and threw it in the direction of her classmate. It hit her in the foot. I don’t know what else to do so I isolated her again in the corner. Without even looking at her direction, no attention at all, not even a glance or any concern from her classmate, no word, none whatsoever. It may be harsh but I had to isolate her to make her feel and know that she is misbehaving, in the hope that she’ll feel it. Facing the wall, she started murmuring about something. I think she was imitating an authority figure in her life and pretending it talking to her. Some words got my attention. It were not something I wanted to be said to her, a child suffering from seizures and mental retardation. After much words, I stood up and walked to her. Moved her chair to face me, she still continued on with her murmurs while pointing fingers on my face, pushing her finger actually. When she stood up, I just hugged her. She still continued on murmuring. She’s the same student I had who always gave me a warm hug whenever she arrives at school. My heart really sank for her. I wish her parents would know how she is really. How she is when her seizure occurs and how she is cognitively. Her parents are so dependent on her yaya which became more like a mother to her since her yaya knows her more than her parents does and had witnessed her seizure lapses nd all. I hope she could stillimprove despite having her body drowned in medicines. Her hyperactivity and wildness nowadays were due to the medicines she’s taking to control her seizures, and most of those were on trial basis. Poor student, she’s like an experiment. Please include her in your prayers.

Monday-itis

Or what I sometimes call, Monday blues.

Yups.. It’s still Monday, the first workday of the week yet I feel drained already. It’s like all of my energy and enthusiasm were left in my bed pressed down with my blanket. Hahayz..

Last week was torture. Everyday is a battle field. One of my student not only had to be restraint. I had to avoid her spits, punches on my face and upper body, pushes, slams on the wall and even learns to scratch my face. Where did she learned all of these? Imagine having a student like that who wouldn’t even understand what you were talking about. Sometimes I would just want to punch her back to make her feel the pain. Hehehe.. The perks of our job.

Hahayz.. I better get over these. Thinking of her right now makes me want to call my workplace and fake being sick. I want to rest. Treat me for an ice cream will yah.

imprompto but so much F-U-N

Listening to music is evidently my stress reliever. Yesterday, had a one-hour jamming sessions with 2 of the Cugma Boiz and 2 frequent visitors with nice voice who jammed with us for the first time. Yes I had the bass again and some glances at the copies of the songs or to the guitarist. It was amazing!! The songs, our bonding, our time together, the understood glances, the smiles, the laughter, not to mention, it was imprompto and yet brought so much fun. Playing music indeed has become a stress reliever for me as well. For an amateur like me, that is something. Looking forward to more jamming sessions again someday with the Cugman Boiz.

what is they call about Tuesdays??

I forgot. My brain’s not processing the way it used to be. Argghh..

It ’s still the 2nd work day of the week, though it feels like Friday to me. I’m so tired. My hands lost its strength after a struggle from my student on my first class today. She zapped all my energy and enthusiasm to attend to the rest of my tasks. She’s just so hyperactive today that she would throw everything to the floor and my other student picking the thrown things for me. Pour her drink on her shirt and pull her pants down, I’m glad she doesn’t yet know how to unlock her belt. I also have to restrain her so she won’t litter in the hallway, which would disturb other classes. She also has a recurring seizure so I can’t leave her, I have to always be by her side whenever she’s standing just in case she has an attack, at least I can catch her. What a day. Hope your Tuesday is not as tiring as mine.

Work as usual.

back in the water

Finally had my swim early this morning. Though only for a short time. I might strain my muscles and hinder my energy for my work later. I did the usual; warm-up, laps, drills, underwater and warm-down of all strokes. I almost didn’t make the 22-meter underwater swim. Before, I used to do an average of 4 underwater laps, this morning I only did 1 lap. Hahayz.. I’m really getting fatter and had lesser air. Which gets me motivated to swim some more till I get back to my 4 or 6 22-meter underwater laps (I assumed the pool’s length is 22 meters, as the staff also assumed).

I haven’t been swimming for the past months. Swimming for me meant, laps and drills of all strokes. As if training for a competition, except for the sprinting. No wonder I get short of breath in the underwater this time.

Who wants to join me next time? =)

cherished time

At last, at long last. I had a jamming session with 2 of the Cugman Boiz last Saturday night and 4 of them yesterday afternoon. I so missed being with them, much more, doing our common interest, MUSIC. It started off as a practice for our songs yesterday. Macky in his usual instrument, the drums, Ryjy on the guitar and doing the vocals and since Breaker was not around so I did the bass guitar while singing. During our break, we had a role reversal. Usually, it’ll only be Macky and Ryjy swapping roles, but this time, I was part of that swap. I had the guitar, Macky had the bass and Ryjy on the drums for this particular song only. I only did strums, one strum at a time though. Hehe.. I enjoyed it immensely. Then we had our run off.

Yesterday was different though, Breaker was there. He had the guitar, I had the bass and Ryjy had the drums, Macky was on the microphone with another Cugman Boiz who frequently came also for our practices.

I sorely missed jamming with them. I miss them. I’m glad also that they had patience in teaching me to do the bass. Yesterday, while Breaker was strumming, he would shout the chords so I would hit the right string and fret. They are that patient with me. Hats off to them.

random act

I don’t know what came into my mind this morning. There was this student who tried to talk to me last week. He said I looked familiar and asked if we went to the same school. He might have thought we were of the same age level or something. This morning, we met again at the hall where our session was held. This time, he asked about the humidity in the hall and if I’m comfortable in the far corner where I’m seated. I often saw him doing something and oftentimes blankly staring at something. Before our session ended, I made a note in the hope that it would encourage him. But he was busy tinkering with his things and doing about his duties when our session ended. So I let the moment pass thinking that He might not let me pass on this simple note. So I went out of the hall. I was already out of the building when I felt the need to ask one of the student organizer if the office would be available at this particular time. So I went back into the hall, inquired on the office schedule then turned towards the door. It happened that he was almost at the door looking at us, so I unhesitatingly approached him as he was by that time smiling at me and handed him the note.

Thank you for your unconditional service. You’ve reached out to people, to us, with what you do here. Continue to be a hardworking person, acting on your responsibilities and extending a hand even without being asked. It will surely carry you through life, with God’s grace. God bless you, your family and your studies. He will never leave you. He will always be with you, even if it feels and seems so otherwise. *smiley* (I didn’t wrote my name)

This was not the first time I’ve passed on a note. The other was to a 7-months pregnant crew at McDonald’s DiviSoria. She was standing the whole time, though it shows in her face that she’s really tired yet she still wore a friendly smile and a ready hand to give assistance to their customers on one busy night. McDonald’s DiviSoria was so full at that time that customers lined up for reservations outside.

I hope the notes I gave served its purpose.