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.

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.

          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.

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.

Untitled Love Letter

Untitled Love Letter

Dear Shorty Shepherd,

          I know, I know, I don’t have the right to call you shorty because you’re taller than me. But this is my letter and I’ll call whatever I want. Lalalalala~

I admit that I have this little crush thingy for you. Listen up because this might be the last time I’ll say this to you – you are really nice, cute and funny to be with.

The first time I saw you, you were picking up medals in every contest you join. I know you are freakin’ intelligent and I sometimes wonder why it took you centuries to figure out that I like you – really like you.

You told me that you have a crush on me. Well, you even told me you “love” me. That’s a big bomb that exploded right in front of me. It was like my mind is yelling that there must be some mistake or something.  But there was no mistake. You’re really there telling me all those sweet little things.

You make my heart flutter and beat faster. You even cause butterflies to fly in my stomach. You make me feel liked and cared for. And finally, you make me feel that I belong – that there is a place in this world where I am welcome.

I really like the way you make snide comments even though they are sometimes irritating. I love the way you smell and the softness of your voice.

Okay. I know I’m a little bit exaggerated here but that’s what you do to me. I tend to be a little out of my mind whenever I think of you.

My most unforgettable moment with you happened last field trip. I really felt drained, drowsy and dizzy. You let me sleep leaning on your shoulders. I really think that was so sweet of you. Thank you.

But I’m not sure about the “love” thing. I think were too young to understand what it really is. I once believed that when two people love each other, everything was going to be fine. I was wrong.

I want you to be sure of your feelings. When you tell me that you love me, I want you to mean it, not just say it for the sake of saying something. If you’re thinking that I’m saying this because of what “he” did, you’re wrong. I’m saying this because I care for you. I don’t want you to be hurt.

So when things settle down and you realize what you really feel, tell me. I’ll be there to listen and understand. If you insist that you really love me, don’t just say it - prove it.

Stay awesome, Edward.~

Yours truly,

Nymph Jean ^.^

  

My Hero, Our Heroes

`“Where are you now? ‘Cause I’m thinking of you...you showed me how...how to live like I do.”

`Do you still remember your kindergarten teacher? I know we don’t give it much thought- how our first teachers taught us the most basic thing we need to learn, things that we still remember now.

`I could still remember all the teachers I’ve had. Ma’am Pearly was my teacher in kindergarten; Ma’am Alaman in grade 1 and 2; Ma’am Feby in grade 3 and grade 6; Ma’am Irene in grade 4; Ma’am Ava in grade 5; Ma’am Jennylou in first year high school; Ma’am Jennette in second year and, of course, Ma’am Arceo in third year.

Every single teacher we’ve had taught us more than one important lesson. They let us learn from our mistakes and stand up every time we fall. Teachers don’t just teach knowledge from the book. There are things more important than finding LCDs and knowing the path of blood in the body. These things are the lessons from experience- from life itself.

Teachers are our second parents. We actually spend more waking hours in school than in our own house. Teachers watch us grow- physically and mentally. They teach us, they guide us, they love us.

One teacher I really can’t forget is Ma’am Pareja. She may be a strict teacher but that’s just because she wants us to be disciplined. She said to us more than once “You will not feel fear if you did not do anything wrong.” I’ve learned so many things from her- things which I doubt if the thickest book in the library had.

My mom, who is also a teacher, asked me once why Ma’am Pareja wasn’t applying as a principal. So, I asked Ma’am Pareja and her answer was she just wants to teach as a plain teacher. She wants to get close to students. I also asked her why she is teaching freshmen instead of older students and she said that younger students are easier to mold than the older ones-they are more obedient. She is the wisest teacher I’ve met. She knows how to make a student admit the wrong thing he did by just talking to him. She knows students’ body language. She knows if they are listening or not, if they understand or not and whatever going on in the student’s mind during her class.

Teachers are not just teachers. They are mothers. They are friends. They are heroes. They save students from ignorance. They open their eyes to knowledge. And they also teach the students how to face the “real world”. They give us lessons that can’t be reflected in class cards but those which reflect on how we carry ourselves in our daily lives.

“If it wasn’t for you I’ll I would never be who I am...”