Another Quickie

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July 4, 2006
Tuesday

Two weeks has passed since I began hunting for jobs at nursing homes and, still, no calls. Oh well, I'm realizing again that "heaven and hell" is indeed everywhere we are. We cannot expect so much. Today, my friend Jimmy will accompany me again to some places to fill out application forms or drop off resumes. As always, I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my hopes reasonably high.

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No Internet yet at the house; I hope the service provider arrives this week to install the connection. Having no Internet--my ultimate connection with my loved ones and friends from far away--is making me feel unwillingly detached from the world at large. But, fortunately, I could still function fairly well in my alternate world here.

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Last Sunday, some relatives and friends invited me to join them to Portage la Prairie, a park and resort, sort of, about an hour-drive away from where we stay. It was a therapeutic breather for me. For an entire day, I was able to divert my mind from the exhaustion from having to stay at the hospital the whole day, to feed and look after Grandfather. We had picnic at the park, went strawberry picking (my first time! awesome). Filling up a small rectangular box cost C$6.50. Not bad. One could also eat strawberries while picking. Summertime, the temperature was hot; I just closed my eyes and I felt I was home in the Philippines. This is the reason you can never hear me complain about the heat these days--I feel I'm home, and above all, having experienced long Winter for already a couple years, I would never trade again the warmth of Summer for the cold pangs of Winter snow.

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I would have not joined the gang swimming, but the heat and dirt of strawberry picking compelled me to. Usually, I feel embarrassed to remove my shirt every time I go swimming, but I noticed that my body is no longer thin as a stick like the way it used to be several years ago. So, swimming clad only in shorts no longer bothered me. Besides, I've come to an age when I'm already confident with who and what I really am. The pool water was warm, but the lash of the after-six-p.m. winds on my body made me shiver. Still, the weather was tolerable.

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Last Friday, I slept over at the house of my friend Emong Payaso, and we tried to finish the song we have been recording for on-and-off for almost seven months now. The song, "Parang karnabal--ganyan ang buhay ng tao", is currently 95% done. After this, we will move on to record the two instrumentals--"Mahiwagang gitara ni Emong Payaso" and "Tuluy-tuloy ang palabas sa entablado"--which will finally complete my 3-song EP as haLf man half eLf, The Woes of Emong Payaso. Another six months? Oh well.

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Yesterday, I had my first driving-lesson session. I never drove in the Philippines so that was my first time. Of course, I was nervous at first, but as the session progressed, I felt more comfortable and relaxed. I learned the basics--starting on the engine, stopping, turning, and parking. It was only day one and I was really enjoying it. The one-hour session was not enough. I'll be having the next lesson on Saturday. While on the steering wheel, I kept on thinking that driving a vehicle in North America is a necessity (not a luxury), so I must really learn how to drive. Besides, purchasing a vehicle here is affordable as long as one has a job--any job, even a minimum-wage job.

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Yesterday was a holiday, a carry-over holiday--because July 1, Saturday, was Canada Day, so I got to spend an off from having to stay at the hospital with Grandfather. Today is Tuesday, another "workday" for me. Arriving early at the hospital, 10 a.m., I decided to dropped by Garden Shopping Centre to check my e-mails at the small Internet shop there. Browsing my blog site, I could help but write a new entry. I'm not used to having weeks passed by without any updates about myself. Even I need to read something about my current life. I enjoy "watching" myself struggle, as if I'm a separate entity observing the ups and downs of my human self. It's nice to see my life from outside the box. This keeps me conscious about what and what not to do. Life is really a trial and error, but, of course, the less error, the better. And one way of having the ability to commit less errors is to always have the time to stop or slow down to be able to assess your own progress in life.