I am fascinated with this bridge. Crossing it means that I am near my destination, be it homeward bound or towards the office. It has also become my natural calendar because a change in its waters indicates the rainy season or dry spells.
When Typhoon Violeta hit Nueva Ecija in 2004, the waters of this river swelled, it filled the entire length of land under the bridge. Gone were the vegetable plants: eggplant shrubs and ampalaya vines. I witnessed a boy high up in the bamboos waiting to be rescued. Roofs of nipa huts and fallen tree trunks were swept by the rampaging waters. It was frightening.
Now that only afternoon rains visit our province, it's no surprise to see the river almost dry. Notice the brights sky and fluffy clouds? This picture was taken on my way home from the office a few weeks ago. Makes me realize that indeed, summer has overstayed too long.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Why I Let Myself Be Swept By The Harry Pottermania
I am no Harry Potter Pureblood. This is my first purchase of a Harry Potter book and I only watched 3 movies: The Chamber of Secrets, The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Order of the Phoenix. Luckily, I got to read The Goblet of Fire and the Half Blood Prince without spending much money. But since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was the final installment, I promised my self I'll buy an all original version regardless of the fact that it's worth two weeks supply of my youngest son's formula milk. I drove away my mommy guilt by telling myself that by the time Enzo is old enough to read and enjoy Harry Potter, the book's cost may be way beyond my reach. It's a phenomenon and a classic, I doubt if there'll ever be a time when we can buy brand new, hardbound HP books at lower prices.
Reading HP and the Goblet of Fire got me into the Pottermania. Of course I enjoyed HP2 and HP3 movies but reading the HP4 and HP6 books made me "feel" and imagine what Harry Potter was all about. It was awe inspiring how J.K. Rowling created characters with enough exposures that allowed the readers empathize with them. I. for one, felt more for the adult characters and looked at Harry, Ron and Hermione as my children. That's because I started reading HP when I was already a mom. If I were asked who would be my favorite HP characters, I would say Molly Weasly and Nymphadora Tonks. They who had my kind of Women Power! And of course, my papa-ble won't be Harry Potter, it would be Sirius Black. Naturally, I knew who would survive in the end but it's the curiosity about the parents'/ adults' histories and futures that made me read on. I guess having a character that one finds an affinity with is what made the series appeal to all readers regardless of age or gender.
Another reason for my being a Harry Potter fan is basically a responsible- parent- realization. Because children are so in to it, I suddenly thought that parents should also be able to understand what this is all about. What are their children up to? It's also about learning their language. So in the future when a parent hears one of their kids screaming "Crucio" they know it's a curse and not a gay lingo for one's crush.
Ahh, and there's the moral lessons about love, friendship, sacrifice and a very good education (not to mean schooling though). Again, (Filipino) parents should find this not as something new, but an affirmation of what they've always knew in the deepest part of their hearts and soul. More recent books speaks of death, revolutions and the greater good which reminded me of my college and early NGO years.
I reserved a copy of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Friday, July 20 at the National Bookstore in the largest mall here in our city. A sign said it's opening at 7am on July 21. I wanted to be one of the first to get the copies and take pictures for my blog and we live in a town that is about 45 minutes drive to the city. So, I got up early and we left the house at around 8:00 am. That was a Saturday and I was supposed to review my kids for their exams. So, imagine my frustration when we arrived at the mall and saw that the gates and NBS were still closed. The security guards said it won't open till 10:00 am. I wanted to sue them! My husband advised for us to just leave the premises for a while. It's more embarrassing if I stayed in front of NBS and wait til it opens, he said. I agreed. No one in this city seemed to care if they're the first to get a copy of HP 7 or not. So we went to a kumpare's house and came back at around 10:30. There was already a short queue. I already lost all interest in lining up for the book so I left my hubby to stand and wait for my copy while I go ahead and buy the groceries.
But my disappointment over the absence of a Potter opening day excitement was quickly replaced with another rush of anticipation when I finally held my hardbound copy. I started reading it on the way home and continued reading while I reviewed the kids ( I told them, read your books and I'll read mine). I was halfway finished by Sunday noon when my hubby sent me a text about a spoiler. I didn't mind. The way the book was written became more important than what the ending was. It was the trip, actually, not the destination. Good thing was, the spoiler was misinformed.
I read it all by Monday evening. Lucky me, there was a whole day brownout in the office. We can't do anything with our computers but we can surely read.
And so the story of the Boy Who Lived has finally ended but instead of grieving, I wondered, who would take on Dan Radcliffe's role when the movies are remade ten years from now? Like Superman in our generation, I know Harry Potter will continue to live and capture the imagination of even my children's children.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Eyesight and eyeglasses
"What's wrong with your eyes? Have you been glued to the cable TV all summer?", I asked Trinity after she came home from her vacation with my parents last May. She has been blinking non-stop and worse, her eyeballs roll. They move from side to side as she chatters about anything that her mind wanders off to. Mostly about Naruto and those Cartoon Network characters.
" I must have caught Tito Ew's mannerisms. Nahawa ata ako." She replied.
That was my brother she was talking about, and yes, my brother blinks a lot. Ordinarily, I would have laughed at her quip, she's good at those things. But this time I was worried because her eye movements reminded me of Newton's cradle.
I was afraid my daughter's eyes are getting attracted to each other. So we banned her from playing with computer games and watching TV. Our antenna was broken so that's one less aggravating past time for her. But playing with the computer, that was more difficult. She has learned how to operate it. She's more computer literate than her yaya, so it was really no surprise when the yaya told me that she still plays with it when we're gone.
And so, Tati Zos, decided once and for all to delete all games in the computer and that did it. The blinking stopped but the frequent Newton cradle-like movement remained. I told her to control it which she sometimes does.Two weeks ago, the blinking returned and worsened because it was coupled with a right-eye-non-stop-winking. I tried to seriously ask her what the problem was or if her eyes were hurting. But the winking was so funny the giggler in me can't keep a straight-face.
"What's wrong with your eyes? Stop winking, your classmates may think you've got a crush on them." I said close to laughing hysterically. She hit me in the arm.
"But I don't know why." She whined.
I asked her to wink once. She tried but she can't. I was surprised she can't do it voluntarily. When she started talking to me so did the blinking and winking.
" There! You winked again. Do it again, let me take a look." I said.
She tried, but she can't. So I told myself, o-oh, we really have eye problems here. I sent an SMS to a nephew who works with an eye center in the city to ask him if we can bring Trinity for check-up. He replied, "OK tta. brng her on Thu."
Th eye center is located in the provincial hospital along the highway in the city. It is a foundation that caters mostly to senior citizens suffering from glaucoma and cataracts. The center's ophthalmologists still come from Manila so imagine the long hours that we endured before she was finally examined. We arrived before 9:00 in the morning and there were all the lolos and lolas waiting in line... or rather in herds. I noticed the pairs of slippers at the entrance and realized that everyone who went inside had to leave their footwear at the door. It was either because of the clinic's sterilized floor or because (like what Britney once said) we're country. Slippers are often left outside the door.
Trinity was asked to read the Snellen chart. Before that she was asked to wear eyeglasses that looks like the ones worn by Yzma and Cronk of the Disney Channel cartoon show The Emperor's New Groove. Thinking about that provoked my sense of humor. Trinity read well up to the letters above the green line. Below that, she started squinting, obviously finding it difficult to recognize the letters. Then she read the F as P and O as G. My humor left me. I felt sorry for my girl. And because the room was full of people waiting for their turn, there were lots of "miron" commenting as if they have all the rights in the world to comment. I got so annoyed I wanted to scream at them. Who wouldn't with comments like:
" Naku, hindi na mabasa. (Oh, she can't read it anymore.)"
" Kawawang bata. Kabata pa e, sira na ang mata. (The poor girl has poor eyesight at so young an age.)"
Do they think my daughter can't understand what they're saying? They were so insensitive but they were far older than me so I decided to ignore them. Unlike them, at least my daughter didn't need operations yet. But, she needs glasses, the ophthalmologist said. She has 20/30 vision (I also saw a 20/20 and 20/ something minus 1 in her record) and a 125 "grado ng mata". The ophthalmologist said that it's normal for some children to experience poor eyesight (mataas and grado) and wearing eyeglasses can correct it. Well, I didn't really know because I still have clear eyesight. She also explained that the reason why Trinity blinks is because her eyes are looking for the light. Shutting her eyes or letting it move from side to side helps but has it has turned into a habit. Wearing glasses should correct this, I was told. And because she can't avoid using the computer for her classes, it's better if she gets the multi-coated ones. So, even if it meant me losing my chance to buy a copy of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, I readily gave my downpayment. By this week, my daughter's having her first ever eyeglasses.
Oh well, the things a mom would give up for their children. Anyway, I'd rather give up the hard bound copy of HP 7 rather than seeing my daughter's eyeballs turning to pinballs. I guess I'll have to wait for the paperback version.
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" I must have caught Tito Ew's mannerisms. Nahawa ata ako." She replied.
That was my brother she was talking about, and yes, my brother blinks a lot. Ordinarily, I would have laughed at her quip, she's good at those things. But this time I was worried because her eye movements reminded me of Newton's cradle.
I was afraid my daughter's eyes are getting attracted to each other. So we banned her from playing with computer games and watching TV. Our antenna was broken so that's one less aggravating past time for her. But playing with the computer, that was more difficult. She has learned how to operate it. She's more computer literate than her yaya, so it was really no surprise when the yaya told me that she still plays with it when we're gone.
And so, Tati Zos, decided once and for all to delete all games in the computer and that did it. The blinking stopped but the frequent Newton cradle-like movement remained. I told her to control it which she sometimes does.Two weeks ago, the blinking returned and worsened because it was coupled with a right-eye-non-stop-winking. I tried to seriously ask her what the problem was or if her eyes were hurting. But the winking was so funny the giggler in me can't keep a straight-face.
"What's wrong with your eyes? Stop winking, your classmates may think you've got a crush on them." I said close to laughing hysterically. She hit me in the arm.
"But I don't know why." She whined.
I asked her to wink once. She tried but she can't. I was surprised she can't do it voluntarily. When she started talking to me so did the blinking and winking.
" There! You winked again. Do it again, let me take a look." I said.
She tried, but she can't. So I told myself, o-oh, we really have eye problems here. I sent an SMS to a nephew who works with an eye center in the city to ask him if we can bring Trinity for check-up. He replied, "OK tta. brng her on Thu."
Th eye center is located in the provincial hospital along the highway in the city. It is a foundation that caters mostly to senior citizens suffering from glaucoma and cataracts. The center's ophthalmologists still come from Manila so imagine the long hours that we endured before she was finally examined. We arrived before 9:00 in the morning and there were all the lolos and lolas waiting in line... or rather in herds. I noticed the pairs of slippers at the entrance and realized that everyone who went inside had to leave their footwear at the door. It was either because of the clinic's sterilized floor or because (like what Britney once said) we're country. Slippers are often left outside the door.
Trinity was asked to read the Snellen chart. Before that she was asked to wear eyeglasses that looks like the ones worn by Yzma and Cronk of the Disney Channel cartoon show The Emperor's New Groove. Thinking about that provoked my sense of humor. Trinity read well up to the letters above the green line. Below that, she started squinting, obviously finding it difficult to recognize the letters. Then she read the F as P and O as G. My humor left me. I felt sorry for my girl. And because the room was full of people waiting for their turn, there were lots of "miron" commenting as if they have all the rights in the world to comment. I got so annoyed I wanted to scream at them. Who wouldn't with comments like:
" Naku, hindi na mabasa. (Oh, she can't read it anymore.)"
" Kawawang bata. Kabata pa e, sira na ang mata. (The poor girl has poor eyesight at so young an age.)"
Do they think my daughter can't understand what they're saying? They were so insensitive but they were far older than me so I decided to ignore them. Unlike them, at least my daughter didn't need operations yet. But, she needs glasses, the ophthalmologist said. She has 20/30 vision (I also saw a 20/20 and 20/ something minus 1 in her record) and a 125 "grado ng mata". The ophthalmologist said that it's normal for some children to experience poor eyesight (mataas and grado) and wearing eyeglasses can correct it. Well, I didn't really know because I still have clear eyesight. She also explained that the reason why Trinity blinks is because her eyes are looking for the light. Shutting her eyes or letting it move from side to side helps but has it has turned into a habit. Wearing glasses should correct this, I was told. And because she can't avoid using the computer for her classes, it's better if she gets the multi-coated ones. So, even if it meant me losing my chance to buy a copy of the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, I readily gave my downpayment. By this week, my daughter's having her first ever eyeglasses.
Oh well, the things a mom would give up for their children. Anyway, I'd rather give up the hard bound copy of HP 7 rather than seeing my daughter's eyeballs turning to pinballs. I guess I'll have to wait for the paperback version.
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Tuesday, July 3, 2007
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