MEENATAUR'S PITHOS

Thursday, July 12, 2012

MY SPARKLE PENCIL

courtesy: tidingsofmagpies
A few days ago, I reunited with my childhood friend, Cathy, thru Facebook. We have been friends since Kinder (we were around 4 or 5 then) until the time my family transferred to another city when I was nine. It was a painful parting. We have seen each other only once after then, just a few months after we have settled to our new home (there was no Friendster, FB, email or even cellphone then, so we completely lost track of one another).

From the moment I got my Facebook account (and even during the Friendster and Multiply era), I’ve been searching for her. It was just last week that I opened my FB messages and found out that Cathy’s father (or mother) have left two messages asking if I was the person they know, and even mentioned my parents’ names for reference. My heart skipped a beat, because I knew that it was them, the family who was and is our family’s family friend. A day later, Cathy had an FB invitation which I gladly accepted.

courtesy: pytk ni bebet / adobo express
I had lots of good memories with Cathy. We always go to school together, along with my brother and her sister. We always walked from our house to the public elementary school at 5:30 in the morning, traversing along the busy (or sometimes flooded) streets of our small town. Then we crossed a timeworn railroad where numerous trolleys (pedaled by shirtless and sweaty ‘chauffeurs’) went across, along with a dilapidated train that passes every 6:00 AM, which always causes an earthquake of intensity 5 on the Richter scale of the decrepit houses on both sides. We sometimes ate breakfast (pan de sal with dari crème or cheese) while walking. At some mornings, instead of eating pan de sal, I will bring out from the pockets of my school skirt 2 or 3 not-so-ripe tomatoes and salt, and insatiably chomped at each with gusto (while Cathy, her sister and my brother cringed at the sight of something as sour as unripe tomato).  
At school, Cathy and I were never apart from each other. We both belong in the pilot section of our levels, and even our grades came out almost the same. After school, before our journey back home, we would spend our remaining coins on buying toys and trinkets or street food.  We often buy sundot kulangot (sweet coco jam inside a small bamboo twig, where you use a toothpick-like stick to get the jam inside), mansanitas (small yellow, orange or red fruits of a local shrub that taste very sour), sago-sago (edible palm tree fruit, with a green shell and white, soft flesh inside), sitsirya (junk food) like ET or accordion pictures of Barbie (worth 25c). Cathy and I always share together whatever loot we have amassed from the meager coins we have.

courtesy: priscillasbeauty
Cathy’s father is an OFW. So, whenever he comes home, Cathy always got me this shiny pencil with perfumed erasers that I really am crazy about. Each of my classmates whose father works in Saudi owns a similar pencil (or so I thought). I was extremely delighted to have one not out of conceit, but because I really love sparkly stuffs. I remember feeling so lucky then, that I got a friend who is munificent enough to share such a marvelous thingy to her friend.


Cathy will always be my best childhood BFF. She will be my sparkle pencil for all time, one who has added glitter and glimmer in my colorful life as a child.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

KOMENTS


Hindi madali ang magturo. Ang mga guro ay kadalasang maganda, maayos at mabango bago pumasok sa kanilang klase. Ngunit sa gitna ng isang makabagbag-damdaming leksyon, nagbabagong anyo ang isang guro. Kapag nasa loob na ng klase: Tagaktak ang pawis. Basa ang kili-kili. Talsik pati ang laway. Puro pulbos ng yeso ang mukha. Nangangalit ang mga ugat sa leeg. Tuyo na ang labi at lalamunan. Pigang-piga ang utak. Said na said ang pasensya.

Anumang istilo ng pagtuturo at pambobola ang gamitin ng isang guro, ito pa rin ang karaniwang ending: karamihan sa mga bata sa klase ay nakanganga. Hindi ko alam kung napanganga sa kahusayan ng pagtuturo ng guro, o napanganga sa pagkamangha sa mga bagong aral na natutunan o sadyang nakanganga lang dahil walang naintindihan. Ang mas malala, maghapon na ngang nakanganga, umaangal pa.

Kapag binigyan ng takda: “Ang hirap naman”
Kapag sinaway: “Ang higpit naman”
Kapag pinagbawalan: “Ang KJ naman”
Kapag pinagalitan: “Ang sungit naman”
Kapag nahuli: “Ang malas naman”
Kapag naparusahan: “Ang bad trip naman”
Ilan lang ang mga ito sa madalas na komento ng mga kamote – este, estudyante. (kung makapag-comment, kala mo nag-effort ng bongga…)

Kung imbentor lang ako (yan ay KUNG), magiimbento ako ng robot na guro na may mga nakarecord nang instant comments maliban sa ‘Very Good!’ o ‘Mahusay!’ (Makabawi man lang… harhar!)

Kapag tinawag at nakasagot: “Ang galing naman”
Kapag tinawag at nakasagot pero mali: “Ang hina naman”
Kapag tinawag at matagal nakasagot: “Ang arte naman”
Kapag tinawag at hindi nakasagot: “Ang engot naman”
Kapag binigyan ng direksiyon at nakasunod: “Ang attentive naman”
Kapag binigyan ng direksiyon at nagtanong ulit: “Ang bungol naman”
Kapag binigyan ng direksiyon at hindi sinunod: “Ang slow naman”
Kapag nagpasa sa oras: “Ang sipag naman”
Kapag hindi nagpasa: “Ang tamad naman”
Kapag hindi nagsasalita: “Ang  lowbat naman”
Kapag salita nang salita: “Ang epal naman”
Kapag nangopya: “Ang kapal naman”
Kapag nangopya sa harap ng guro: “Ang malas mo naman”


Yun nga lang, hindi naman mangyayari ito. Kasama kasi sa mga karakter na inaasahan sa isang guro ang pagiging pasensyosa, maunawain at mapaggabay sa mga bata, maging mabait o makulit man sila, masipag o pasaway, tahimik o maingay, matalino o kulang sa talino. Kaya kahit ubos na ang pasensya ng isang guro, nakangiti pa rin siya (bumigay na yata...).

Pasalamat kayo, guro ako... at hindi imbentor.