Hospital Duty

I guess you can say that we had a real taste of nursing over the past weekend. I know it did not last long, and the next time we will have hospital exposure will be in a few months. It was still exciting even for me. I got to work in the OB ward, and I think if I became a future nurse i would like to work there. Or just work with babies. They are so cute and don't complain hehe. But even in the OB ward I got to help the patients with their babies, and teach them how to do things that they might not even know yet.
Even though, of course, I have a bit of "required" useless paperwork to turn in. And I put it like that, because it would seem I am apart of the only group that has to do this. Sometimes I am not that sure what I am doing, because the teachers don't tell us anything. It would seem that the school just hires nurses to teach us, but they have absolutely no teaching skills whatsoever. So every time I walk into one of their classrooms, I am walking in blind and just expecting a quiz.
But in the ward, it is different. We deal with real people and its like I am back at work again. Having to think logically and critically, instead of worrying about spelling. Even though I had the graveyard shift, I still was excited to go to my next shift.
Oh, and those of you who are reading this, pls dont comment on my spelling >.< You know who you are.

I know everyone has been waiting for this blog

WE are back! Actually we came back last week from Boracay. I thought it was a blast. I was contemplating whether or not I should write in my blog about it because Joaquin had written an epic about it. The question is who reads who's blog more? So anyway, first we of course took the bus to Manila and its a long ride (about 6 hours). We spent the night at my Uncle Mike's then we flew to Caticlan the next day. We had a bit of a delay (about an hour) but supposedly that is normal. I do remember as a kid, the delays would be hours long. So this time, it wasn't so bad.

March 28: We stayed in this place in the beginning named Orchids Resort and I actually HIGHLY recommend it. It is extremely affordable, clean, great atmosphere with complimentary FULL breakfast every morning. We were greeted in the Caticlan airport by a representative of the resort. Without him, I do not know how the other tourists can figure out what to do. You gotta take a tricycle to the boat port, pay all these fees (port fees, boat fees, environmental fees, etc), get on a banca, be let off at the port in boracay, take another tricycle and walk along the beach to the resort. And in my experience, this is actually the least hassle. But normally, tourists travel with someone, and they are too busy checking out the scenery that they don't realize how much of a hassle this is. When all is said and done, the hassle is totally worth it.
The Orchids had the friendliest people, and our check in was so simple. The guy who took us to the resort led us right to our room, and i signed a paper saying that I arrived. period. So simple that it was a bit scarey. We were hungry so we got a bite to eat, bought new sunglasses (two for $10), and went back to the room to take a nap. When we woke up, we ate dinner and had a few drinks to start off our vacation. When we came back to the hotel, we were greeted by the owner of the Resort and showed us true Boracay hospitality.

March 29: I find out from my Uncle that he has a place for me to stay. Joaquin and I decided that we loved the Orchids so much that we would transfer the next day instead of right away. This day was a good relaxing beach day. After breakfast, we walked around so that I can of course spend more money. Went to the shopping area and got real hot. So we had to take a few swim breaks. We ate Mexican for lunch, then I got a massage on the beach while Joaquin swam some more . Then we went back to the hotel, and proceded to our daily nap. When we woke up, Joaquin had sunburn. We ate dinner at a wonderful Indian resteraunt, and a few drinks again, then went back to the hotel.
Keep in mind, we are doing a TON of walking. Especially along the beach. Getting from one place to another takes at least 15-20 min walking. So even though we are eating a lot, and sleeping a lot, we still are getting plenty of exercise.

March 30: We transfered to my Tito Leonard's place the White House. We had our own corner room. By the time we got there and checked in, it was already lunch time. Also we went to the airline ticketing office to extend our vacation. Originally we were suppose to leave April 2, but we changed it to April 4 since my uncle graciously gave us the room.
We ate leftover Indian food for lunch (by this time we are becoming more warey about money), and then we met my Uncle at the Manoc-Manoc to watch some good ole fashion cock fighting. I am totally against this, but I was sure that this would be interesting for Joaquin to see. He loved it (I think anyway). We saw roosters kill each other for over 2 hours. Not exactly my cup of tea. I had tears in my eyes at the first fight.

March 31: We decided that today would be a good day to do "island hopping" with some snorkeling. We didn't exactly go from island to island since we were either in the boat or in the water. We did have so much fun. It lasted for about 3 hours. I didn't realize until we were done for the day, and we were eating lunch at Jonah's Fruitshakes that I had the worst sunburn. Here is a pic of our guid hehe
I realized at that moment two thing: #1 Dont buy Beach Hut SPF 36, because the minute you touch water it is NOT waterproof. I never heard of SPF 36 anyway, so I dont know what the hell I was thinking. #2 We will now eat Jonah's Fruitshakes everyday for Breakfast.
Joaquin discovered an Andok's Manoc, his favorite fastfood chicken place. Since I was dying in bed with sunburn unable to roll onto my back, he went and got that for dinner.

April 1: April FOOLS! I have the WORST sunburn and want to die hehe. I think it was pay back for all the april fool jokes. So we pretty much lazed around in the hotel room the whole day, watching animal planet and CSI. Of course, we left the room for breakfast. Had Andok's breakfast, and Jonah's shake for a chaser.
I was interested in going to a cave or something fun for the next day, so we looked around the shopping area for some ideas. I was told to take a tricycle there and walk to the caves.

April 2: We discovered that my uncle has a DUNE BUGGY! So much fun. We thought we should be a bit adventurous. So we took the dune buggy for a spin, and discovered that we were able to take it to the bat caves.
It was so much fun, but so scarey for me. I am in a bit of denial about my fear of heights. But when we got there and realized that we had to ROCK CLIMB down into the cave, which was slippery and wet. And I could fall to my death on top of a bunch of bat crap, I grew very nervous. If it wasn't for our guide, I dont think I would be writing in this blog right now.
Finally at the bottom, in pitch blackness, and only one flashlight we made it. The guide pointed his flashlight at the ceiling of the cave only to discover thousands and thousands of bats. Wet stuff was dripping on my arms, and I had an idea of what it was. I just kept my mouth closed.
He took us to the underwater water hole, and it looked clear and fresh. I wanted to swim in it, and was so ready to because i was sweating profusly from the horrific climb down. Joaquin went closer to touch the water. Suddenly the guide says "Sir, are you afraid of snakes?" We both looked at him, and I thought he would tell us a story or something. Joaquin replies "Um...No" Then the guide flashes his light onto a LONG snake. I gasped, because it was so close and it was so dark. The guide then says "Don't worry sir, its only a water CORAL SNAKE. It wont bite you" I don't care if there is a "chance" that it won't bite me, but from what I know about coral snakes, they are poisonous and deadly. Plus I didn't want to stick around if it bites or not. When he turns off the flashlight, there is nothing but darkness. Who knows how close those snakes were to my ankles. I just wanted out. The guide procedes to show us an even bigger one, and my heart is just pounding in my chest.
Finally, we left, and had to climb up the mountainous rocks. I did climb them much faster then when I went down. I am not sure if it was knowing my footing this time around, or the fear of snakes. My mother would of buckled and cried hehe.
April 3: We decided to rent some snorkels, go around on the Dune buggy, and make it an ultimate beach day. Of course after breakfast and shakes at Jonah's. We received more massages and finally got the sunset picture that we were procastinating to take.

April 4: Boo, we finally went home. The only thing that I could say about this day, is that we turned almost Filipino. There was a huge line to go back to Baguio at the bus station. Several hours long. As I waited in line, Joaquin waited in front of the bus because we know a secret. The buses stop accepting tickets at a certain number of seats because they pick up people along the way. But if we just get on, we can pay for the bus on it as if we were just picked up. It saved us at least 2 more hours in line, and 4 more hours until the next available bus. Only a Filipino could of pulled off a stunt like that. Being American/Filipino, only makes us more pros and more of a threat to everyone else hehe.

So, that's about it on our vacation, we go back to on Tuesday =(

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Waiting for Downloads

I went and had my laptop completely cleaned up, reformatted and wiped clean over the weekend. We have been using it at school, and I think the thumbdrives of my fellow students had viruses on them. Since I started using it in school for our school projects, I have spotted 2 viruses so far using my AVG virus detector thingy. I am pretty sure that this computer has never been "cleaned up" so I had it done. So now I am waiting for a few downloads of skype, and other things that I thought I saved on a HardDisk, but it did not (with my luck, I wasn't the least bit surprised).
A lot of my music was lost, but luckily I already saved it on my other computer. I also saved the songs my sister left on this comp considering #1 I dont know if she still wants it, and #2 I think she has pretty good taste in music. I also lost a few pics that were on this comp, but again I had made a back up on my "Big Comp".
So anyway, finals are this week and I just finished my case presentation last Saturday. We didn't too bad, especially after all the problems the panels gave the other students. They just made us revise it. I am still waiting for the final copy so that I may proofread it, but the procrastination bug seems to have bitten a lot of the student body.
We are looking forward to going on our own little vacation, just Joaquin and I to Boracay.
It will be a lot of fun, and I know that maybe Joaquin will need this vacation more than I do. Well, next time everyone sees us, hopefully we will actually be tanned for once.

Almost Finals

Today, I must of had the most productive day in duty...and its our last meeting. We went around the community and took pictures of us looking like we are doing things. We are preparing for a major case presentation, which will be held next Saturday. I was asked by my Billiards teacher to represent our class in the Billiards Olympics next Saturday (don't ask) so hopefully I will be able to attend. My case is during the morning and the Olympics will be in the after noon.
I am so glad this semester is almost over. It has been quite stressful. During the summer semester my schedule will be MTW 10:30AM-4:30Pm, then ThFS in the hospital 7:30AM - 8PM. It is not going to be fun. But after that we will be having a much needed vacation back to the states. I am not sure the exact dates, but shoot for mid may. We are doing the best that we can, but its starting to get a bit nutty. Time for more people to visit us instead.

Keeping up with Blogging

So now, Jesse and Yavon have a blog, so no I really have to write more lol. It's been a while, I know. What else is knew. But I have an excuse...same ole "I am just too busy" excuse. Maybe too busy playing WoW. But also been really busy with school. I have done at least 10 group projects in the past 2 weeks. I know that before I came here, I have not done a single group project since elementary school. Drives me nuts sometimes. Especially when no one shows up to your meetings and you are just sitting there like a crazy person knowing that you will end up doing all the work anyway. But I think I beat the whole group project system. I tell them what I am going to do and what I am not going to do from the very beginning. I know that working too hard is useless since you will probably be the only one. And the teacher's don't really appreciate when you do go "above and beyond".
Last week, I had to act in a play, do a PowerPoint presentation, and sing in a stupid jingle that I wrote. This week, I have case study busy work, finish a comic book, do a collage, and do an ethics case presentation. Who knows what will be in store for next week. We NEVER know in advance. If I knew, then all this will be done by now.
Luckily, we only have 2 more weeks. Then we get a 2 week break. Its hard for us to go anywhere because it is holy week. SO a lot of places are booked. I really want to though. 2 weeks of sitting at home in Baguio isn't exactly the life of the party.
Oh, since last weekend, Baguio had our famous Flower Festival. Starts with one day of parade, then a week of heavy traffic and BBQ. When you walk up our main street, the vendors are all the same selling BBQ BBQ BBQ Flowers BBQ BBQ BBQ Flowers. You would think that people would not make any money here because they all sell the same thing, but you would be wrong.
I am all for festivals, but when you are going to school taking 30 credits and its only a few weeks from finals, it can be a bit of a hastle.
Its been a while since we took any pictures, unless you want me to post the goofy ones of me and my uniform which is quite embarrassing. So we will leave it as it is =)

Cleaning up emails

Is it time to get a life when you sit down for over an hour organizing what folder things should go into in your email? Sorry that it has been a while since the last update. Honestly we have not been doing much. We are having a stressful time at school...well I am anyway. Stuff about how the school should not work, yada yada...Ive over done myself with the complaints.
On the bright side, my duty has been going well. I am almost done with all my requirements and I think that I am doing fine. I am only having a difficult time with my healthcare lecture class because my teacher decides to quiz us on things that SHE taught last sem...it sucks i know

Happy New Year!

The new year just started and so far its been pretty good. My New Year's Resolution is to lose 30 lbs and to stop eating meat except seafood. I really am hoping that I can do it this time. I am sure that I can. Only problem for me is the whole exercise thing, but then again I am climbing giant hills and 9 flights of stairs everyday. Eating no meat has been easy for me. The vegetables are so fresh here. I spent 3 hours the other day making dinner, and surprisingly (totally by accident) everything was completely vegan. Well, except for the yogurt that I also made.
So, I am sure that you read Joaquin's blog by now. IF not, then you will. He pretty much told and provided all the pics from our Christmas break. I got an ipod nano =D from Joaquin for my birthday! And I have to say that being 25 is no different then 24. But in a nutshell, we went to manila Dec 21-Dec 25, back to baguio, Dec 27-Dec 29 in Segada, back to baguio, Dec 31-Jan 1 Aringay, La Union. So, as you can see we were very busy. I dont think that I would of changed anything, except that if my dad could of stayed longer.

The end is here =(

Just writing in here to let everyone know that I did not forget my blog. We just have been so busy. I have to leave for class now, and when i get back, i will update =D

Kate you would be so proud!

Well, I decided to try to change my blog around. You would think that I was some kind of computer expert cuz i had to figure out all these codes (color codes, background) to make my blog become animated. But I owe most of the credit to my sister, kate. I clicked on a link she sent me through myspace. Myspace is great and all, but i like blogspot so much better. So if anyone has any ideas on what I should try to put on my blog (videos and suck) just let me know and quite possibly how to do it =)

Christmas is coming near!

Today, we will buy a Christmas tree and the works. We are starting to have a lot of people over, friends and such, and it's kinda embarassing that it looks like we are not in the Christmas spirit. Over the next few days, we have no school. But at the same time we have a SUPER TYPHOON. How convenient for the school that the typhoon is hitting when we already have no school. Only in the Philippines, can they decide two days prior that we will be having 5 days of no school. Which, I am all for the whole "no school" thing but the problem is that they had to cancel my duty...again. So now I have to stay in school an extra week during the Christmas holiday, and have my duty on Dec. 23 the day after my birthday >.<. Too bad that is the day after my birthday. What can I do, though? My duty is like work, I just dont get paid. Joaquin asked me why we have to do this "duty" thing. And I told him that here in the Philippines, we are free labor. So they need us to find out information about our community. And since there are so many of "us" (nurses) they might as well take advantage. But eversince we started this sem, I am really beginning to feel like a real nurse. But don't tell my mother that.
Yesterday, at the school, there was a bomb threat. Probably some kid making a prank. But the thing is, why would they make a prank on a day that everyone has off? When my old highschool had bomb threats (I think we had a record of 32 one year) it was never on a weekend! Ah, the Philippines. Full of wonder. I think this place is growing on me lol

Another Day...

So far, school has been...well not as stressful as last semester. I have Sundays and Mondays off so its kinda like having a weekend. Soon winter break will arrive, then we only will have Jan, Feb and half of March to go. Time seems to go by so fast here. I think maybe it's because I actually like it...
Well, this semester we start our duties. Mine is on Saturdays, and Joaquin's is on Wednesday. Kinda makes us fee special. I have to wear my nursing shirt, gray pants, black shoes, black socks, NO MAKEUP, my hair in a bun with only black hair things, and...a HAIRNET! What am I? A Nurse? or the next school cafeteria lady?
There is absolutely no romancing this photo.
I might as well taken a picture of my stupid hairnet hair. Oh well. We have to carry around a black bag like we are doctors cuz it has all sorts of stuff in it...surgical gloves, syringes, gauze, bandage scissors, etc...and all we do with it is keep our paperwork in them >.<
So after duty, we decided to go to a little party downstairs. We needed to unwind a bit. We ate Kabbobs and had a great time with our Persian friends. They really mean a lot to us, and helped us in many ways. We are so lucky to have friends like that...and they can cook! Ok, I was going to put some more pics up but for some reason its not working...so you have to deal with this stupid one of me =P

The K is back!

We just arrived from the States and we had an awesome vacation. At times it was a bit stressful because we have been running around all over the place. Ok, Im an idiot, I cant figure out how to change my profile photo, so it will have to do.
Today is Monday, and tomorrow is my first day of school. Of course the school is giving us a hardtime. They keep trying not to accept more of my classes, even though I spoke with the dean several time. But I am happy with my current classes so I guess I will deal with my "problems" later.
My friend Kristine here is so nice. She actually made me a pair of earings while I was gone. She switched her schedule so that we would have the same healthcare. I need her as my translater anyway. Im glad i brought her a lot of "pasalubong".
Here is a great pic of all of us at Catfish Dewey's! Joaquin and Jesse had a catfish eating contest...I know, its weird.


Mmmmmmm....yummy...catfish =P


While we were on vacation, we went camping...something that I havent done in a long time. We had a great time
even though this pic doesn't exactly spell out "fun".


aw, how cute, hencho en mexico finally gets the girl lol



I love you all and miss you!

The Update You All Have Been Waiting For

Yes, finally, I am writing in the blog again. We just finished taking our midterms. Now all we have left are our finals =/ We are preparing to go home Oct. 16. I am still working out the details, but I believe we are leaving LA on Oct. 19 or 20th (we gotta help Joaquin's grandma prepare for her flight to Canada and I think she leaves Oct. 19) for Utah. Then on Oct 22nd I will fly to Florida. Joaquin will meet up later, and we will leave for LA most likely on Nov. 1. We have to leave the country by Nov. 1 and it looks like our flight will be Nov. 1 but at 11:50pm. Then back here again to our stressful student living.
We are currently looking for another apartment, and I think we found one. It is a little smaller than our current one, but it is way closer to the school and we should be able to get DSL =D Then we can put pictures up again and the works. Im so excited lol
On a serious note, I've had a crazy cough for over two weeks now. I saw the student doctor, and she told me my throat is just irritated. Joaquin is afraid because of the last incident. I am not afraid because I dont have a fever or anything.
We have a lot of friends now who have been very helpful. We are even becoming popular amongst the Foreign Students (not including the Phil Ams). School is a bit tough, but we found out that its among all Foreign students. Why is it that amongst the Foreign students we have the same habits (freaking out about rediculously long lines, stupid group projects, us ALWAYS doing all the work in group projects...) I thought it was just a problem because I am American and I freak out about time and order, but it seems its amongst ALL the foreign students. So I find it funny that it seems that EVERY country practices the same habits except here =/ Its kinda a running joke amongst us, and now I cant help but laugh. I cant picture any of my friends in the States really surviving here without truely FREAKING out. But I am used to it, and I rather enjoy it here, especially in Baguio. Even my Filipino friends think that things are pretty weird, but they just dont know what to do about it. Everyone just accepts things how they are and dont ask why.
It is hard to imagine that I am not going to be in these classes after next month (unless something terribly goes wrong). No one passed the "Devil's" exam. Only here have I seen anyone give exams on things that they never taught. I am hoping that everything will be curved and I am just stressing out for nothing. But I know that next Sem, I definately gotta do something about my schedule because this one really sucks lol

Joaquin Kline for President!

Yup, you guessed it, Joaquin became president of something else...Foreign Students. And he begged them not to nominate him, but it was unanimous. Well, he is very intelligent and political and I would have voted for him as well. I said to him, if you are president does that make me "First Lady of the Foreign Students"? I don't know if I like that idea lol. Then people will be watching me and what i wear...like the Prettier Imelda Marcos lol
Joaquin's friend is coming by tomorrow and I know that Joaquin is so excited. So on to some strange news...Tuesday is my first "bed bathing " return demo. That's right, we have to demonstrate on how to bathe a patient...and our patients are not maniquins =( I have to bathe my partner and its not Joaquin lol We are allowed to wear shorts but thats about it. So, my classmate (good thing we are friends now) is gonna "clean" my... areas.
Damn, I dont know why this is happening to me, but I am in an internet cafe, and I already moved my seat once because the person sitting next to me smelt really heavily of cigarettes. SO I move to an isolated corner, and of all the chairs, someone else sits next to my exposed side, and he smells like cigarettes! Good thing I am not eating anywhere near here or I wouldnt be hungry anymore. Actually, this current person is not as bad as the last so its more tolerable.
guess what, Im sick again lol Its from the freakin mold in my house. We have someone cleaning it twice a week. ANd we are getting a dehumidifyer. Yet, I am sick again. Same problems...painful throat, uncontrollable coughing spasms at night, slight fever, headaches...blah blah blah. WOrse part is that we all know what happens when I miss school =( So I gotta put up with it. At least my allergies are not acting up.
We are probably going to move. WE keep getting weird problems. We received our electric bill and found out that its triple the amount that it normally is! We spoke with our landlord and we all think that maybe someone is tapping into our wire...again lol It just doesnt make any sense because last month we had 3 people living in one house, which one was home most of the time. Now its only two of us and we are ALWAYS at school. So we are not sure what's going on.
Mid terms are about 2 weeks away so I am gradually studying. My Philippine History teacher is still psychotic and I have no idea what she is talking about. She compares the constitution to a seashore...
I just know that next semester I am not taking any class earlier than 1030 and I am not going to have any breaks in between so that it goes by fast...faster. I cant believe its almost September. I am so excited to go home!

Time for the blog

Well, what can I say today? I have a few exams to take today, and unfortunately they are in classes that it doesnt really matter what my grade is. My physics teacher said to me "why are you going to be a nurse, if you are so good in physics?" I just shrugged my shoulders...dont tell anyone I am good in physics. I dont want my secret out. Physics is one of those classes that I dont even need to do that well in. So, i decided to concentrate on my major classes and not study so hard for physics (unfortunately, im not even studying for physics and I have an A =( so I guess it doesnt really matter). My Philippine History teacher is still psychotic, making it mandatory to watch stupid movies on OUR own time...or skip our other classes to watch it. That was basically what she said. Fortunately the time that she had scheduled, I already had the time off.
We are having people over this weekend so that should be fun. Speaking of those people, one of them says he has a "guy" to get us broadband.. So Joaquin has a "guy" who has a "guy" who can get us broadband. So far with my experience with a "guy" it seems that its all in the imagination... But we will see. But Monday we have the day off because it is "Ninoy Aquino Assaniation Day". Sounds weird, but at least I get a day off =)
Joaquin and I havent been doing much lately. Just playing video games and surfing the web. Its a student life, which we dont have much of hehe. So I have been thinking a lot about going home, Christmas, etc...things that will come much sooner than we all think. Especially since the weeks have gone by so fast. Well, I dont have much more to say, so I am going to start posting my Christmas/Bday wish list =)
1. IPod Nano
2. Scrap book stuff
3. Clothes
4. Hair assessories (very big here)
5. Sweat shirts
6. Will post later if I can think of anything else...oh a hair straightener =)

Please, if anyone has a blog and wants to put their holiday wish list on it, let me know so I can see =) Remember I am coming home for about 3 weeks in October and that is it, so if you want your pasalobong let me know now. Or I am just gonna get you whatever...again

PS. The mold is still bad, and its evolving =(

Living in Baguio and loving it

Just so that everyone knows, my last post was totally not ranting on about how I dont like the Philippines. On the contrary, I actually really like where I live right now. I think that before I was so miserable because the weather was so damn hot and you just sweat a lot. I was also in a school that was very small and they weren't exactly up to date on things. Here at least things make sense, and I would recommend Baguio City as a great retirement for anyone who doesnt like it too hot or too cold.
And Kate, for the record, I read your blog (and believe you might notice I also comment) everytime you post it. It gets emailed to me =) But if you decide to start using blogger, it's better for you because it is free.

I know, its been a while

I've been trying to find a cafe that had good internet. I finally found one, so I should be able to keep up on my blog. To bring everyone up to speed...I lost the damn pageant, Joaquin had to speak in front of the entire Nursing student body for no apparent reason at all, and I filed a formal complaint on two of my teachers. Oh yeah, we have rediculous amount of mold growing all over our house and its driving us nuts.
The pageant is forgotten, so Im not gonna talk about that. Im just glad that is over with. So on to Joaquin's public speaking. Joaquin had made some friends in some high places in the school. I dont know if that is a good thing or a bad thing. They nominated him to speak for our Nursing Day...without him even knowing there was a nomination. They dont tell him what to say, so there is nothing prepared. We show up, on our day off none the less (Sunday), and he introduced Nursing Day. All went well, there were games and competitions. To our dismay, he ended up hardly speaking at all. So it was a complete waste of our time because we live a bit far from the school and Sunday is our only day off during the week. I went home and he stayed to help his friend make a slide show for the presentation. The Nursing Day event lasted from 9AM-11PM and for most of the part it was MANDATORY to go. I just signed my name and I am sure I will be fine.
On to the formal complaint. I got sick again last week. I couldnt swallow, I had fever, and all my lymph nodes in my neck were swollen (which reminds me I have a quiz on that today). So I happen to miss three days of school, meaning I missed 2 consecutive classes in a row for my MWF class. Now, the school policy is that if you miss 3 consecutive classes in a row, the teacher has the "option" to drop you. And I agree with that, especially if you are unexcused. So I show up to my General Zoology lab, and my teacher tells me that I need to go to the guidance office to get readmited back into the school. It was the craziest thing that I have ever heard of. Now this particular teacher always gives me a hard time. I dont know why, but every semester I find one of these. I tell him "Sir, I only missed 2 days, not 3". He tells me that it doesnt matter and I need to see a guidance counselor. Well, I find out that I have a 90 in that class so why is he giving me a hard time? And it wasn't like I was skipping, I really was sick and I even had an excuse slip from the school clinic that I could not go to school.
So I go to the guidance office, mind you he is making me miss my current class as it is, and I fill out a million paperwork because people love paperwork here. Finally I get to see the guidance counselor, and she signs the paper. Before I leave, I say to her "you know what, I am seriously going to file a complaint on this teacher." She says "so you are going to fill out a formal complaint?" So I tell her everything. I tell her about why I was there. That he always gives me a hard time, talking to me in a demeaning manner and such. Blah blah blah. And I explain to her that I am actually top of my classes, so why am I being harassed? I can understand if I am skipping school all the time and I am failing but I was not. She tells me that she will definately talk to him because it seems that he is not following school policy and that I should not be in the guidance office in the first place. I also had a complaint about my other teacher, but that is even a longer story.
Now this only happened at 930 in the morning Monday. I am not even done explainig how weird my day was. So I go to my Philippine History class at 130 after lunch and telling Joaquin what happened to me. All of a sudden a woman walks in, and I have a male teacher. I guess, there was a schedule conflict with my current teacher and he was in a "case" whatever that means. So, she was now our new teacher for the next semester. Ok, that's not too weird because this is the Philippines and unexpected things happen all the time. But then she gives us an assignment, that we have to act out a play for 20min about Philippine history, and its due next meeting! And of course I am automatically picked as leader which I wasnt that upset over because I just wrote the script and I am making the rest of the group members act it out.
Lastly, on to the mold growing all over the house. Its from the crazy moisture thats in the air. We have something like 94% humidity all the time because of rainy season. So the mold is growing. Anything that is real leather, has mold (now I know what is real and what is not). Thank God, I left my pink suede purse at home in the states or it would totally be ruined. I am having enough trouble as it is with that purse. Anything that is made of wood has mold...my dresser, our desks, the vanity, and the freaking wall. Just last Sunday, I bleached anything that had mold on it (and I inhaled a good amount of it too) and wiped everything down. And now, I see that it's growing back! I am not sure what to do. I blame it on our "lack of a maid" situation. Not sure if everyone heard the story about the last one, but lets just say it didnt work out. SO we went to the sari-sari store next door and started advertising for a maid to come twice a week. I think we might have found someone, but we are not sure. It's just that I dont have time to keep up with the damn mold, and I think that is why i got sick last week. It's so disgusting, and we dont want to move because we really like our cozy apartment.
Ok, I hope this brought everyone up to date. Until another day.

I don't know what the hell is going on...

I am informed today, at 7:30 AM that the pageant will be held TOMORROW, not on Saturday. I am not too sure what to do. And even if it were on Saturday, my practical exam for Healthcare will be on Saturday morning. I am not too sure what to make of all this. And, if I end up winning the pageant, there will be another one to go to on Monday...Ugh. It's quite crazy. I never thought I would see the day I would have to enter pageants past the age of 15. And the other contestants do not even know of this change. I contacted one coordinator, they said its on Sat, but the other one says tomorrow. So, all I can do is go home, get my things, and pray to God I don't look like a fool tomorrow or saturday. This school needs to concentrate more on acedemics and less on extra curricular activities.

Might still be hope for wow

We finally got some sort of internet on our computer at home. So now we really have no excuse not to email anyone. Its a dial up connection, and it seems alright. I tried downloading the new patch for wow, and it seems it might take literally 100hours. So, I am going to go to an internet cafe and sneak my downloads through them. I can just save it onto me USB thumbdrive. Hopefully it works. I am so close and yet so far.
Jasmine (my dog) is doing better according to my family back home. She is going to loose all her toes in that leg, but it doesnt seem to dampen her spirits. I still love her the same.
I am really hoping that our skype will work fine. If not, we should be able to use chat.
Its been raining nonstop for days. Luckily my pageant was postponed until God knows when. Oh, if I havent mentioned this before, I was nominated to be in the Ms Nursing pageant. Like I am not stressed out enough.
Anyway, it was not just rain, it was a typhoon/monsoon. Really windy. I thought it was a hurricane. I didnt realize what was going on until I arrived at school and noticed no one was there. We had a few landslides in town, but Joaquin and I are fine. Still going out and stuff. Its kinda weird when we go to the mall, and its raining inside. We had to use our umbrellas inside the mall on our way to the movies.
Another chapter in our life was closed because during the weekend we had to let our helper go home for good. It wasn't working out to well. The whole language barrier got us and the simple fact that we found out that she is 14 not 18 =(
We saw Pirates of the Carribean over the weekend and I really liked the movie. Im not sure what is next. I am kinda glad that we are so busy with school because there really isnt much to do around here.

I MISS WOW

I am beginning to be majorly stressed out because of school. I have one day off a week. It's absolutely insane. You would think that it's illegal. Well, its not here. And to think even my bowling is becoming stressful. Basically, we have given up on trying to get a faster internet. I might go to the mall today to at least get dial up. Not much use for WoW or skype. I am thinking about writing a letter to the Senator =) Surprisingly, all of my teachers are extremely political and out spoken. I never really hear anyone here give an opinion until I came here.
They tried to get me to run for Governor (President) of the Nursing School for my year, but I am so stressed out I dont think I can handle it. I did manage to join Green Peace =) I am the auditor for my Healthcare class (Gee, I wonder why...) The only thing that I managed to do was go to the hairdresser, and that's only because I have one at my school.
I have been crying for a couple of days because of terrible news about my dog. It hasn't been a pleasant couple of weeks. SO far, the only good thing is that I am making a few friends.
I was thinking about asking one of the internet cafe's here if I could put my game on one of their computers, but all the comps here are only 256k in RAM =( I need at least 1G. I dont know what to do =(