Merci beaucoup, mes amis :)

It's over.

Rona: Yeah. It is.

Tempus fugit. Freshman year had been a blur. Parang rumaragasang Porsche Carrera GT lang. Wooosh. Speed.

Should I recap the events, my (mis)adventures and frien(emies) that I made?

Blah. Wag na.

Ngayon nga lang, hirap na hirap ako magisip ng sasabihin. Siguro dahil sabaw pa ang utak ko dahil sa finals. Oh baka dahil talagang nagbakasyon ang utak ko, inunahan pa 'ko. Sana neither.

Nga pala, salamat kay Thea at Cheska sa masasayang pagkakataong sinipag akong umattend ng English 1. Wala tayong ginawa kundi magdaldalan sa likod (at kumain, courtesy of Cheska). Ang dami nga nating natutunan. Hindi nga lang galing kay Ma'am. :D

Salamat kina Morgan, Ivy, Kenji at Nikki na kasama kong kinabahan sa mga pamatay na graded recitations ni Ma'am Gripaldo sa Kas1. Mamimiss ko ang pagiging boy-crazy niyo, lalo na sina Ivy't Kenji. :D

Salamat kina Venice (seatmate!), Danielle at Roxie dahil nagenjoy ako sa pangbabalahura natin kay Ma'am at sa kanyang aversion to heat and ceiling fan noise. Pinapatay niya lagi yung ceiling fan kasi maingay daw, pero naiinitan naman siya. Ano daw? Pati na rin kina Harmond, Vic at Precious na talaga namang masayang kausap, salamat. Mamimiss ko ang ating English 12. Except kay Ma'am. At ang tendency ng kanyang mind to...wander to places we (the students) cannot reach. :D

Salamat kay Ate (!), Cheska (ulit) at Jomar dahil at least di ako nakatulog sa NatSci1 dahil sa kakornihan ni Dr. Abastillas. Pero aminin na natin na ang kanyang halakhak ay certified shock inducer haha.

Salamat kina Carlito, Alvin, Pam, Alyssa, Noelle, Regine, Alyanna, Lord (tao ito), Hender, Rainbow, Eliza, Maricris at Angel dahil naging bongga ang French 10 at 11 ko dahil sa mga dynamic at kakaiba niyong personalities.

Salamat kina Jen, Andrew, Hazel, Ian Kim, Rosie, Claire at Chindie. Kayo ang mga kasama ko nang una kong maexperience ang ma-boycott ng isang propesor. You know what I'm talkin about. Enough said. :D

Salamat kina Morgan (ulit), Cheska (ULIT. haha) at Zy dahil sama-sama tayong nagrelax sa Bio1 natin kay Herrera. Uy ang taas ng grade ko dun, walang report-report yan. :P

Hindi ko maaaring makalimutan si Neil. Salamat sa 'yo. :)

Salamat kina Slegna, Martha, Miho, Lei, Kuya Justin, Armand at Lea. Masaya ang MS1. Si Ma'am, hindi.

Salamat kina Meilee, Ramil, Rea at Neil (ulit. *insert lovestruck sigh here*). Mabuhay si Ma'am Roderos. Pero ang mga exams niya, please lang. Kinailangan ko ng blood transfusion matapos lumabas sa classroom niya. (read: execution chamber). Kahit dugo ng manok pinatos ko na.

Salamat kina Trish, Faye, Aicel, Julie, Laura, Daryl, Melissa, Criselda, Nico, Jaimee, Abi, Ate Abi, Claire, Karla, Gorby, Philip, Angelica at Steff. Goodluck naman sa atin. Feeling ko probi ako. T___T

At syempre pa, hindi ko maaaring malimutan sina JIHAN, SARAH at ROSELLE na simula pa lang ay kasama ko na sa masalimuot na mundo ng EL. Mahal ko kayo, mga kaibigan. :D

Naging makabuluhan ba ang unang semestre?

Ikaw ang magsabi.

Coming Out the Closet

I am an atheist.

Whew. Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?

Self, I beg to differ. I might as well have said that I am a lesbian (which I am not), and I would have received a much calmer, and certainly warmer, acceptance.

Scratch that, I wouldn’t have been accepted. Period.

That is not my melodramatic self talking, nor is it the manifestation of my tendency to exaggerate. We would have to accept (and admit) the fact that atheism in the Philippine setting is like trying to piece together wrong puzzle pieces. The Philippines is a widely Christian country and a Muslim minority where religion is an integral part of society and culture. Our history is heavily influenced by religion; though we cannot be certain whether the effects of which have done more good than harm, it has, nevertheless, augmented the growth of our country. Moreover, it is apparent in Philippine history that the Church has had an encompassing influence over the governance of provinces.

Having established that, I can reiterate that atheism does not have a place in Philippine society, considering the fact that its foundations are deeply entrenched in dogma. It cannot flourish as a justifiable substitute for those who are starting to question their beliefs and it certainly does not help that most theists’ reactions are those of disdain or even disgust when an individual divulges his being an atheist. It is treated like a disease; probably on a level of intolerance that homosexuality receives. This pushes most non-believers into “hiding”- choosing to remain silent and “in the closet”, instead of speaking up, lest they be treated differently by their peers and family.

http://s202.photobucket.com/albums/aa144/Primate_bucket/?action=view&current=cartoon20060222.gif

On a more personal note, when I expressed indifference about a Christian-themed T.V. series that a family member absolutely adores, she said things that bordered on bigotry and discrimination. Naturally, they hurt coming from a family member, yet no matter how I forced the thoughts away, I just couldn’t help but think, Wow, those are your so-called Christian virtues, huh?

I ended up trying to keep my mouth shut and taking all the things she said in stride. Had you heard the words, you would have thought that I was in a cult worshipping Satan and killing innocents as offerings. Yep. It was that bad. (I just want to clarify that I have nothing against Satanists; we all have our beliefs, anyway. Or in my case, non-belief.)

There. I have “come out of the proverbial closet”, so to speak. Now, I am only waiting for the raised eyebrows (best case scenario) and disownment (REALLY worst case scenario) that I might receive from certain people.

Plato help me.

Expect a month-long hiatus. College is squeezing my brain out of my nostrils, frying my hair into non-existence, crushing my metacarpals into fine dust, turning my eyes into a lovely shade of crimson...well, you get the idea.

If you ever find yourself in this situation (which is highly probable if you are in the same university as I am), fear not. There shall be light at the end of that dark, dank, stinky and professor-infested tunnel. At first, it will seem like the tunnel goes on and on and on and- well, you get the idea. Trust in...in the..erm..blue books. Yeah that's right. There shall be light.

And so my hibernation begins.