The Sophomores Hit Sagada

Ilocos 2013

Shortly after our Ilocos Trip last year, the Arki sophomores were already looking forward to our next big thing. Back then, I wrote about new friends and good vibes, as I had only met everyone two months before it. It was super fun, yes, but, this trip was known to be even better. :)

At around 3 PM on the day of our departure, hardly anyone could pay any more attention to the Building Materials lecture being given by our professor. By that time, you could already hear the random screams from both Arki buildings. You could already see the random bursts of excitement. From everyone. It was crystal clear on all our faces.

People left their respective classrooms with giant smiles and eventually, left the school campus and headed for the grocery to shop. Yes, food for the bus is a very important part of a field trip. People left to pack and others left to buy things last minute. No one was thinking of academics anymore. No one could. Because it was time.

It was finally time for Sagada. :)

I'm about to turn this into a photo blog because there's just too much to say about the trip and I don't want to bore you with words, haha. But since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are a some of my favorite photos from our trip! [Heehee it was really great, I'm still so happy. I can't get over it.]

From back to front : Dav, Renzo, Kyle, Gabby, Lance, Big, Kat

Left: Madrid/ Joson students modeling by the gabions. Cause they knew what it was. Cause they learned about it in their class. Huhuhu

Right: Being tired from trekking = Lying down on the grass = Taking a cheesy friendship photo. <3

"Parang isa lang yung barber dito." (Dela Rosa, 2014)

No matter what their gender was, the little kids were super cute, with rosy cheeks and hair like that cutie in the photo above. Hahaha. 

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Okay, here. One of my favorite parts of our trip was the traditional wedding we attended. Apparently, weddings last for around 3 days over there. The first day is for the couple - it's the ceremony itself. The next two days, however, are for the community. It's all fun and festive, with lots of gong - playing and dancing, eating and drinking... so much happy vibes. 

 After a few rounds of watching them do their thing, it was our turn. And that was the fun part! We all kind of just stepped in the circle and did what we were told. I'm pretty sure we all looked as stupid as we felt while dancing but, man, it was pretty fun to do so!

Gabe, learning the dance 

Anna and Tomoko

I think it's pretty obvious how happy we were and how much fun we were having. Haha. After a while, they sort of cleared the floor and a man started dancing alone in the center. Then, I kind of freaked out a bit because he looked at me and told me to join him. And so I did...

Thank you, Gabe, for taking my pictures during this dance!

 

I'm sorry for being so awkward and nervous. For some dance steps, he needed to hold my hand and come pretty close and stuff. Hahaha.

I had fun and I was super happy!

Until I realized that it was an engagement dance...

HAHAHA KIDDING

But, that's what people were joking me about after.

Whoops, what if I accidentally got engaged for real?

Scary. Haha. Anyway, after that, the boys had their turn of playing the gongs too.

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We weren't really lucky with during the sunset and sunrise, haha. It was all clouds and fog but, yeah yeah yeah, because of the company, it was beautiful and meaningful nonetheless. #cheesy

Happy Lance.

Serious Mico.

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From Sagada, we took an 8 hour bus ride back to Baguio. The trip was pretty tiring, I gotta admit. It was my first time back in Baguio in a long while and man, it's changed a lot. There were so many people. The traffic was pretty bad. And there's now a giant SM over there. Huhuhu.

My heart always breaks a little whenever I see a place that's been transformed by commercialism and modernization - especially, when I witnessed what it once was. It used to be so beautiful. Huhu. It makes me so sad and so, so, SO scared for places that haven't been affected in that way yet.

I got so scared for Sagada.

It's such a simple community but, they're efficient and they're "modern" in their own way. Just enough, I guess. I'm gonna pray every single day now - that their culture and way of life is preserved and respected - enough for others NOT to try to change things up over there. I'm aware that there's always a good side to moving forward but, the manner by which it's done always leaves room for a billion consequences.

Hopefully, when I go back up there ten years from now with my future kids, they'll still be able to witness a traditional wedding and dance with the locals. And God, I'm hoping and praying that when I do go back ten years from know, there won't be a giant shopping mall blocking the view from our little inn. Hopefully, there'll still be that Sagada Lemon Pie House, the Yogurt House, that Sagada Weaving place and that we'll still be forced to walk everywhere, haha... hopefully, the people there love their culture enough not to let it go. Ever.

Huhuhu so much feels...

If you're still reading, thank you. This blog entry is much longer than I intended for it to be. But, don't worry, it's about done. I'm about to finish here because I really need to start working on my homework, haha. Thank you Lord for that wonderful break from Thursday night to Monday morning, for the amazing people I shared this experience with and for giving me the privilege of witnessing the beautiful culture of the people in Sagada. 

And just as I do whenever I have as much happy vibes as I do now, I shall end this blog with the simplest one liner that, I'm hoping, captures all the contentment and happiness in the world...

Oh, life is good. :)

Sagada 2014, Photo taken by Gilbert Bercero

Post - Sem Realizations

This post is a week late but, I've been wanting to write about everything for toooo long.
Because tooo much has happened and toooo much is happening.
And I really need to pause and process everything. Haha.

This is how our dining table looked during the finals week of last semester,
on the night before the deadline of all three final plates.
x_x

All throughout the sem, I was tired and sleep - deprived but still, I couldn't complain. Well, fine. I did complain but, I shouldn't have because it was my fault for choosing to get into so many non - academic activities. And I guess I was surviving. Haha. However, in the latter part of September, instructions for all the final requirements were given and the deadlines were set. After compiling it all in one neat list, I got totally overwhelmed.

It. Was. Just. Too. Much.

Do you know that feeling when you have a billion things to do but, you just can't do any of them? You just sit there and stare into space and think about which  plate to start working on or which paper to start writing. You contemplate on whether it's better to start studying for your org interview the next morning or your math finals the day after. Or if it's better to just stop everything and follow your heart... and chill with your friends or your family OR SLEEP, cause obviously that's all you wanna do. Haha!

Half the time, you're paralyzed, thinking about your game plan. You're just worrying or complaining about the amount of work there is but, it takes a while for you to actually DO anything. It's like you need just as much time for mental and emotional preparation, as for the actual execution of the tasks.

Well, at least that's how it is for me. :( I write the things to do again and again and break it all down to sub points, with the hopes that by doing so, the tasks will magically get.. uhm... easier and less scary. Haha. 

Oh yeah. What was both a blessing and a curse was the fact that I had to finish everything the day before the actual deadline because my sister and I had to leave for the airport at 3 AM on that fjdfalnmlmdk triple submission day... so, yeah.

Everyone was stressing out though. Not just me. You know that it's already finals week when the students start disappearing at the arki building. Haha. That's the indicator... it means everyone's "working" haha. There were many people suffering from Math 53, Physics 71 and Arch 4... subjects that will kill me later on in my UP Arki life. Haha.... anyway.
(Sorry I keep saying haha....)

"I lost count of how many times I've gone through the stress cycle wherein you have no idea how you're gonna pull something off at first and then you feel like you're on top of the world once you actually do."

That's what I wrote in my July blog. Imagine how many times we all went through the stress cycle since then... @-)

It feels as though it was just yesterday when I was freaking out about having to take 4 majors and panicking about how in the world I'd pull everything off.

And then, there was that beautiful, wonderful, awesome, amazing, moment... when I handed over my plates at 2:30 in the morning and thought...

"Oh my gosh. I did it."

Just like that and it's all over. I submitted the stress along with all the plates and sem break has been pretty great! For two weeks straight, I was basically in panic mode, working like a machine, with barely any sleep. (Except for the times I took naps that were ideally meant to be only 10 minutes long. Hehez.) and immediately after that, I went on a trip with my sister that made up for every single stressful moment in the past semester worth it. Hahaha.

 Isn't it weird? How fast life just switches from stress mode to chill mode and back? I can't get over it. I can't get over the fact that it's done... because honestly, I know that there are much harder things in life but... that was pretty challenging okay! :( So I'm just so, so, super happy it's done. Allow me to be happy before I start thinking of how difficult next sem will be haha.... huhu but, I guess I'll just have to take the same mindset with me. I just have to live with the awareness that whatever I'm going through is temporary. And because it's 10:09 PM and I'm getting sleepy, I shall just quote my old blog again hehehez

"Things pass. That's the lesson. No matter how stressed you are RIGHT NOW, it's going to pass. Your horrible schedule will only last for one semester and so will the reign of your terror prof. Haha! The tension you feel over an exam will vanish after you've taken it and it will be replaced by the best calmness in the world - which will also vanish when the next challenge arrives."

Again, I wanna end with my extremely effective note to self - and what I re-realized after seeing how it all panned out...

It always seems impossible until it is done.

Congrats to everyone. We're all one sem closer to getting out of college, yaaay! Heehee. Goodnight. :)

PS. I will never pray for a challenge again. Hahaha jk

Ilocos Hangover

Am I the only one that finds photos like this beautiful? 

Nothing extraordinary, I know.

But, I can't explain what it is about it that lights my heart up and stuff.

Maybe, it's how blue the sky is.

Or how smooth and vast the ocean seems.

Maybe, it's the sand or the railing on the left.

Or that little patch of green that balances it all out.

OR

Perhaps it's how that entire scene looks in comparison to what surrounds us everyday.

In contrast our daily destinations, it's so beautiful and special.

So much that it hurts.

Well...

At least, it does when you remember that it had already passed and that you're back to the routine that is your life.

HAHAHA

Okay, this is too dramatic.

I'm exaggerating a bit.

Well, that was Ilocos for me, I guess.

A weekend of amazing architecture, awesome people, and just super good vibes.

From Friday night to Monday morning, we practically lived in our bus - where we all got more sleep than we did the entire week, which was pretty obvious in everyone's candid sleeping shots. Hahaha!

We visited a billion old churches over the duration of the trip and in every single one, I thanked God for orchestrating each and every step that led me there.

(I'm trying not to be cheesy right now...)

But, yeah. I was pretty happy.

Still am.

Taken by Giselle Sta Anna

Tourist shot at the Paoay Church

One of my favorite photos by the Ilocos Windmills

Pa-cool at Pagudpod

At our bus - home for the weekend, haha.

Just new friends and good vibes!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

So much has been happening that I rarely find the time to blog but, this trip was worth blogging about, I guess. To be honest, I was actually quite surprised at how it turned out. As opposed to what I heard from upperclassmen, everyone behaved like sweet little angels on the last night, despite all the uhm.... water. Hahaha! Good friends, good conversations, good vibes. It couldn't have been better.

Now, that that's over... it's time for me to get my head out of the past and into the now!!

Because right now, I have to pack.

And prepare well for tomorrow's long awaited adventure. <3

Oh, life is good. :)