Saturday, 9 February 2013

Two Women: One Heart


Two Women: One Heart
          How would you feel if the person you love the most is leaving – and might never come back? Of course you would try to make them stay. And that’s what Creusa and Andromache did. They are two different women but they have the same heart of a loving wife.

          When Hector was about to go to war, Andromache begged him to stay. She pleaded him to stay with her and their son. But Hector knows that his country needs him so he broke his wife’s heart by leaving her in safety while he put his own self in the war zone.

          The same thing happened to Creusa and Aeneas. When Aeneas was about to go to the battle, Creusa beseeched him to stay with her and Ascanius. But Aeneas loves his homeland as much as he loves his family. He figured out that if he can save his country, he can save his family. So he left, thinking that what he is doing is for both his family and his country.

          Two great leaders- with their wives and sons. They chose to go to war to save their family and their country. They are both patriotic to their nation and their family.
          Two women who has sons. Their husbands are going to war for their nation. They know that when they leave – they may not be coming back. They try to stop them but they failed. All was left for them was hope – hope that Aeneas and Hector will come back.

Defeat and Victory

Defeat and Victory

        Troy burned down and Aeneas was torn between defending Troy and saving his race. If he chose to fight hopeless battle, he will die in his native soil and the Trojan bloodline will cease to exist. If he chose to escape with his family and other comrades, he will be able to save their race but Troy will be completely destroyed by the Greeks and all the Trojans in the city will be slaughtered. He chose the latter and journeyed to fulfill his prophecy – his hope of a new home.

          Aeneas sailed from Troy to Italy, with so many stopovers along the way. He went to Carthage and met Dido, who he loved but he was forced to leave her to find Italy and build his new city. He met friends and foes. He fought and won battles. He faced mortals and immortals.

          If Troy hadn’t burned down, Aeneas wouldn’t have to endure the long journey with so many obstacles laid for him. But if that didn’t happen he wouldn’t have found Italy and build his new home that will be the foundation of the great Roman Empire. He wouldn’t learn the lessons that shaped his life. His defeat – the fall of Troy – led to his victory.

Aeneas: The Mighty and The Brave



Aeneas: The Mighty and The Brave

            How would you feel if you woke up and saw your city burning? Your people screaming, running, struggling to escape their deaths? Terrified? Angry? Brave?

            Aeneas had experienced that. He slept at night with the hope of living the next day normally. But he woke before sunrise, and witnessed the carnage of his own city. He flee with his father, son and a few companions but without his beloved wife. How can you manage to save yourself knowing that the woman you love is still in a full-scale battle?
            I myself won’t be able to endure that. I might break down in the middle of my burning city. I might just kill myself and get it over with. But on the second thought, I might stay strong for my people – for my frail father and my innocent son.  I’ll never be sure on what I’ll do because I do not wish to be on Aeneas’ shoes at the moment.

            I felt pity for them, for they were slaughtered mercilessly by the deceitful Greeks. The Greeks accepted Sinon because they thought he was abused by his own kin. But he was the key to the Trojan’s destruction. One thing I really noticed is that Minerva contributed to the fall of the Trojans. The wooden horse was said to be an offering to her that’s why the Trojans brought it to their city. But then, the goddess knows it’s a coy but she didn’t let the Trojans know that. She let her jealousy against Venus destroy lives of innocent Trojans.

            On the brighter side, the annihilation of Troy lead to Aeneas adventures. He saw diverse cultures and met friends. But he also fought battles and confronted enemies. In spite of divine opposition, Aeneas’ destiny prevails. He was able to find Italy and will later on build his city that will be the foundation of Rome.

            I feel proud of Aeneas because he was able to withstand the blows fate and the gods gave him. There are times that he wanted to give up and defy fate but then his inner-self boosts his courage up. With the help of his father, son, companions and other gods, he was able to recover Troy’s pride and glory by defeating the Latins.

Thursday, 3 January 2013

Special in A Simple Way



Special in A Simple Way

          Enigmatic smile? Mysterious identity?  What’s so valuable about Mona Lisa? I’m not contradicting others’ opinion but for me, Mona Lisa is just another painting.

File:Mona Lisa headcrop.jpg          In my point of view, Mona Lisa’s smile is just a simple smile which every can do in their own way. There are no such different emotions from different angles because the portrait is two-dimensional; it looks the same in every angle.

          I think different speculations about the Mona Lisa were created because of too much analyzing. At first glance, you’ll see a plain lady smiling. At second glance, you’ll see that the lady is smiling even though the background is dramatically sad. If you will not say that the painting portrays Mona Lisa with her enigmatic smile, a non-artist will never know it.

          Maybe for the one who analyzed it, Mona Lisa’s smile is beautiful and mysterious. But that is his opinion. We should see it the ways our eyes capture it and not based on what we hear from other people.

          I think Mona Lisa is a simple painting that portrays a lady who smiles even if everything around her is melancholic. And for me, the message the painter is trying to show is that even though we have problems, we should smile once in a while and know that storms end with a rainbow.

Just Us



Just Us

          January 03, 2013. First day of classes for this year. We need a recorded conversation to put in our blogs and here it is.

It was already 5:04 PM and we were just walking around aimlessly. I told them that we’ll go to the town proper and when Toni asked me why, I told her that I need to buy some colored papers and index cards. Donna said that we should go and she’ll also buy food from seven-eleven. Then Toni said that she didn't bring money. Since we all know that Toni just brings her wallet once in a million years, I said that she always don’t have money.

While walking Toni told us that her godmother made iced tea last New Year and it tasted like scented candles. We laughed and asked her why. She said that it’s with jasmine. I said that scented candles are sometimes with jasmine and maybe that explains the resemblance. We went to the store and bought colored papers and index cards. We also went to seven-eleven to buy some food.

We figured out that we really don’t need to fake an interesting conversation between us. Because even though we've shared nonsense talks, nonsense laughs, and nonsense things, we know that this makes us what we are – teenagers living high school life with their best friends.

Friday, 28 December 2012

Infinite



Infinite

          December 12, 2012. 5:04 PM. My phone went ringing. It blasted of All Time Low’s Somewhere in Neverland.

“Hello? Yeah, speaking. Who’s this? Oh really? How did you know that? Where and when? Okay, see you!”
 
Wonder who called? I don’t know if you’ll believe me but it’s Galileo Galilei. Haha, I’m funny right? Too bad, I’m not joking. This is what he said.

“Hello. May I speak to Airah? Oh this id Galileo Galilei. You can call me Gale. I’m not kidding. I really am Galileo and I know that you’re thinking that I copied Hans Lippershey’s work. Oh it’s getting tired. I’ve told. It’s because I’m Galileo. By the way, can you meet me tomorrow afternoon? I just want to hang out with the new generation. I want to feel young again. I know you have questions for me. Meet me at Mines View Park at Baguio. Could you make it? Okay then, see you too.”

Would you believe it? I have a date with “Gale” tomorrow.

So here I am in Mines View Park, looking for a guy that might be a figment of my imagination or a prankster. Just then, a teen guy approached me. “Are you Airah?” he said and I nodded. “I’m Gale, Galileo Galilei”. I analyzed his face and realized that he is a younger version of the Galileo’s I’ve seen in pictures or portraits. “Oh, hi, nice meeting you.”


 We sat there at the park and ate some junk foods. He really liked them because they’re new to him. I started interrogating him. I asked him if he really copied Lippershey’s work, the telescope. He said that he didn’t. It was really his idea and he didn’t know that Lippershey had already done it. And besides, Gale is still the first one who used it to view the celestial bodies.


We talked about random things then until it got dark. He brought out a telescope and we gazed at the stars. They are really beautiful. I asked him how he felt when he first saw the stars in his telescope but he didn’t answer. I was able to locate only one constellation, the Orion, and one star, Alnilam which is the middle star in Orion’s belt. He laughed and taught me about the constellations and stars. He also told me about the myths about those. I felt like it was the most magical and wonderful night of my life.

Gale drove me home in his black and electric blue Lamborghini Gallardo. He opened the car door for me and walked me to our doorstep. Before he left he said the when he first saw the stars up close “I felt infinite”.

School Rules Are Not Made To Be Broken

Mistakes. We do these things every day. We slip, we flip, we trip. Nobody’s perfect and I guess everybody knows that. Life may be a long difficult test where we make mistakes but there would always be a lesson after each fault.

School is a place almost all naughty children hate. It’s a society where we thrive to survive. And of course, there are the mistakes we do – even if we’re aware of it or no.

I’m lazy. I know I am and I’m a little bit disappointed with myself but I can’t seem to change it. So let’s imagine that we get punished each time we show a sign of slothfulness. Is being electrified a fair punishment? Nah-ah. I’m just kidding. Let’s just say that if there is someone “sloth-ing” around in school, he’ll be cleaning the classroom for a whole week and he’ll be called twenty times in recitation in each class and he must answer correctly or he’ll answer more questions next meeting. In that way he’ll know how hard it is to clean and he’ll study in every class. I’m sure survival instincts will kick in and he’ll never be lazy again.

Traffic is really not an excuse when you’re late. If you know there’s traffic on your way to school, you know better than to sleep until noon. You should wake up early so you won’t be caught in the rush hour or if you would be, you have enough time to spare. And when you’re caught tardy, I guess you’ll have to have your own flag ceremony in the cafeteria during lunch break. You know the hang of it – you’ll have a prayer then the national anthem, then the school hymn, then exercise and some food for thought. I guess you words of wisdom there should be about tardiness.

Lying is one of the worst things in the world. Even a white lie could create great problems so you should avoid lying in the first place.  Honesty is the best policy right? It may sound like a cliché but it’s so true. If anyone would be caught red-handed lying, he would walk around the school for a week with an “I’m a liar” banner on his uniform. That way, people would be careful in trusting him.

Being rude doesn’t really make you look cool. It makes you look like a kid who grew up in the streets with no parents to teach him how to respect others. Don’t do unto others what you don’t want others to do unto you. If you want anyone o respect you, you should learn how to respect others first. If anyone would be rude to other people in school, he’ll need to send his parents to the guidance office. He’ll also need to say greetings to anyone he meet or pass by in school. If anyone would report that he did not greet him, he’ll be suspended for a week.


Anger and Violence are the next two things they may sound like the same thing but they aren’t. Anger is about have this fire on you that you can’t tame. It’s an emotion which is hard to control. Violence is about hurting other people – intentional or not. You can be angry but not violent, you can be violent without being angry and you can be angry and violent at the same time. If you committed the “anger sin” you’ll have a class in the library – all alone with the grouchiest teacher in school. I know for a fact that he’ll keep on ranting on you. So you need to control your anger or you’ll be rude which will be a different story. If you’ll be violent, you’ll need to spend all your school hours inside the principal’s office. You’ll study there – self-study for a month. You will also have a test in all subjects every end of the day. You can ask the principal for clarifications – if you want and if you’re courageous enough.


Greed is another sin hateful to me. Why is there a need to be greedy? Why can’t everyone just have an equal share and that’s it. For me, greed is an irrational emotion – I think it comes straight from hell. It’s never for a good cause and will never be right. Now so much for my I-hate-greed speech, I need to carry on. If anyone will be greedy in the campus - and hope there won’t be any- he’ll need to eat every wood in the forest. Hehe. That would be gross. Seriously speaking, he’ll give back seven-hold of the thing he wants or greed for. I think he would never be greedy for anything again.

Cutting is something I had never done and would never do in my life. You’re a given a chance to go to school, feed that hollow brain of yours with your parents working hard for your needs. And how do you pay them back? By getting out of school to escape your classes! Where’s the sense in that? You would never learn anything if you do that. So if anyone would be caught cutting classes, he would have his classes just outside the school gate. If he won’t be there when the school guard check, he would need another school to accept him.

Cheating is a crime. All your classmates work hard for the exams and then you would cheat? You’re not that lucky to get away with it. I really don’t want to talk about cheaters because they make me want to throw up on the faces. They’ll be hanged to lessen the population. But kidding aside, they would be kicked out of the school right away.

Committing a sin is never a good thing but you must learn from it. Never do the same mistake again because that would be a good evidence to show how foolish you are. Who knows maybe hell is true and you’ll spend an eternity being punished.