MARGIENARY

This is my favorite passage of all the chapters of God's Word that we checked last week. You can read it in your own Bibles, in your own languages, and versions. :) (Really, I have never appreciated these verses until I read them in Kalanguya... honest, I'm not just being a nice translator playing loyal to the philosophy of Bible Translation.hehehe!! Noh! I really love reading it in my heart language. I hope my fellow Kalanguyas will do too.) 6 “Hipa na-mo têpay i itakin ko no nak mandayaw ni hi APO DIYOH ni wadad nangkayang? Hapa on-annay na-moy kilkilaw ni bakan nak idaton ni hi-gato? 7 Hapa mapnêk hi DIYOH no idaton kon hi-gatoy libolibon bomalon kalnido? Hapa mapnêk no idatonan kon lanan olibo ni ag onhaldêng i ayoh to? Ono hapa on-annay no idaton koy pangolwan ni ongak ni hongbalit ni nangkolangan kon APO DIYOH? 8 Andi! Ag on-annay ida man. Nalawag ni impaamtan APO DIYOH no hipay pêhêd. Hiyayada hota piyan APO DIYOH ni bagay to koman amêgên tayo: Piyan ton mambiyag kiho...

I just discovered yesterday that a camote in my kitchen has grown some leaves. It is an evidence that I have not been cooking for the past two months. I didn't need to. We have a chef in the house. These last five weeks, we have been checking OT books. Now, after those five weeks, we are still not quite done. We prepared 110 chapters to be checked and we've done 101. One hundred one chapters in five weeks? Not bad! There's still 9 left, yes, and we'll have to squeeze that into this week's busy days. Actually, we only have less than two days to finish it. We have the whole day of Monday to work, then Tuesday is Sarah's graduation (at last ), so we'll have to be there with her; Wednesday, I would like to have that all to myself and my Paratext to do all the necessary checks before we travel down to Manila on Thursday to submit our manuscript for typesetting the next day. And so hopefully, by the end of the second quarter, the books of Judges, Jeremi...

The sweet potato, nationally known as camote, and locally called obi is an emblem of Kalanguyaness. It was a staple food for the Kalanguyas even decades before upland rice came into the picture. It has kept alive generations and generations of Kalanguya particularly those who settled in the mountainous regions of the eastern part of the municipality of Kayapa. I have a theory that people who eats more camote live longer lives. :) See, all my grandparents and my great grandparents lived to more than a hundred. :) Why in the world am I writing about this strange-looking root crop? I don't know. It's just that when I bent down yesterday at my 'spice basket' to get some garlic for my neighbor, I saw a camote with my onions, ginger and other spices in my kitchen with young green leaves growing from it. So I took a cam and snapped a pic of it. It is a testimony that I have not been cooking for the last two months or so. I was busy (kano!:) Anyway, I thought I'...

Sorry everyone, I still can't get over the fact that I am now thirty... ehehehe... Well, not really, drama lang yan! Pasakalye lang. What I really wanted to do is to look beyond everything that is happening right now in my family, my clan, my church, my life and in my head and in my hypothalamus (the seat of temperature and emotions-is that right? ) and appreciate the people who has played major parts in the story of my life. No, I'm not gonna talk about the people who kept me from taking drugs in my teenage years (not that somebody did or that I tried to) or from killing myself, or who helped me make a major decision in life. No, not that kind of major role players, but those people who did something that they thought ordinary but has made you want to hug them and cry. There are quite a few people in my life who fall on this category. I'll start with last Saturday during my birthday 'party.' But before that, let me give you a bit of a context. When I was gro...

(or at least what's left in my memory of the events of 1988-1998) Tagaytay City . She just turned 11 that year when High School brought her to a new place 13 hours drive away from her hometown. That is an hour walk down the mountains plus a 7-hour bus ride to the capital city of the country and another 4 hours in a crowded little bus to a beautiful little city perched atop a stiff overhang. Down the gorge is the magnificently silent Taal Volcano in the middle of a beautiful lake that separates Laguna and Batangas. Period of Adjustment. Memories of those four long and eventful years brought smile, and tears to her eyes; a period of transition from childhood to teenage life. Her first year was a period of difficult adjustment in all aspects; the new environment, the new faces, new phase of education and the new language and the new food, and the new language and the new language, and the new language. It was horribly a tough time for an eleven-year-old village girl. First ...

My last entry mirrors the state of mind I was in these last few days. I intended to follow up on the 'good and bad news' I blogged about two weeks or so ago but I can't seem to get myself into that frame of mind where I can write objectively (although I can't imagine how one can write dispassionately about something that touches too much of his/her 'myocardium'), not to mention that I was warned to keep my mouth shut or else.... I have like 4 drafts in my blog entry list right now and I can't bring myself to continue writing something about the topics I meant to rant about. So anyway, I just keep prowling around fellow bloggers' pages. So people on my blog roll, napuntahan ko na lahat at nabasa ko mga entries nyo pati nang blogs ng ilan sa mga nasa listahan n'yo pati mga comments na pagkadamidami kaya lang kung bakit di man lang ako makacomment kaya sabi ko sa sarili ko, teka, kelangan yata magsulat ng kahit ano ngayon... Una, nakakapagod pala m...

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday! [4:46:21 PM] CY says: I hope it is a good one and that you do something special!!! That's a greeting I got from a mentor and a friend via Skype at 4 this afternoon while UB, S, and I were in our last lap in consultant checking the book of Judges. We did the 21 chaps in 3 days and PTL for His never ending guidance. At past 7 in the evening, we wrapped it up and then the party... but I'm gonna talk about that in another entry. Yes, today is my birthday and I'm at that point where most people would no longer want to count... and honestly I'm one of 'most people' but that does not mean that I am not thankful to my Savior for bringing me this far. I turned thirty today and I'm tired. Well, not tired like tired of life, just tired as in my eyes and my mind is a little bit bushed, and when I am all-in, I become reflective. Hehehe! So anyway, being thirty made me look back at my life and I conclude that thus far, I have had a...

THE ELEVEN COMMANDMENTS OF AN ENTHUSIASTIC TEAM By Ian Percy   Help each other to be right, not wrong. Look for ways to make new ideas work, not for reasons they won’t. If in doubt, check it out!   Don’t make negative assumptions about each other. Help each other win and take pride in each other’s victories. Speak positively about each other and your organization at every opportunity. Maintain a positive mental attitude no matter what the circumstances. Act with initiative and courage as if it all depends on you. Do everything with enthusiasm, it’s contagious. Whatever you want; give it away.   Don’t lose faith; never give up.   Have fun!

Where and when should service end? In my younger years, I took for granted the involvement of people I love in the local politics. Ten years ago, I started to care. With this caring came the realization that in a 'self-preservation-instinct-kind-of-way, I was right in adapting an uncaring attitude. Uncaring in the sense that I do not want to be informed of the political aspect (i.e. the enemies one makes, the bad publicity one gets, and the multitude of misinterpreted comments made by honest public servants which are used to destroy them, etc.) of public service nor do I volunteer to participate in any of the 'pre-election activities' of political supporters. In our little K-town, politics is overly celebrated. Everybody has a bet and an opinion. And ten years ago people had thrown in their lots on this one person whom they have trusted to bring wakefulness and motion to this town which has been sleeping for decades. Good for them, bad for us. My family's political...

I was asked to remove my two entries if I don't want to jeopardize someone else's life. Woooow, I didn't know that it would get so serious as to put a person in danger. Still, I refuse to lay down my arms just like that but OK, for the sake of peace, I will hold my peace. T eacher, thank you for telling the people the whole unbiased story. That's all 'we' care about. UM, thank you for the warning and for caring not to allow me to get myself in trouble. I know that you know that I won't apologize for anything I said. Someday, I will tell 'your' story.

Just a little more details and thoughts regarding the Bad News. If there is truth in the articles, it is the fact that indeed, the good mayor has been sentenced to a year in prison for, take note, UNAUTHORIZED TRANSFER OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS FROM ONE FOOTBRIDGE PROJECT (Pingkian) TO ANOTHER FOOTBRIDGE PROJECT (Acnip), DEFINITELY NOT graft and corruption as the news article referred to in the previous entry claimed. They of course filed an appeal and so the sentence was lowered to a year of probation. It is absolutely not a case of graft and corruption because no penny was taken. Mayor Dupiano will nonetheless finish his term (therefore he is not an EX-MAYOR, halerrrrr!). I do not pretend to understand much of the law but I know that probation is a lighter sentence, much much lighter in fact, where one is free but must walk on a line and when one made good during the probationary period, then the sentence is through. Tell me, no judge in his right mind would lessen a sentence t...

This weekend was a blessing in disguised. I went to Mapayao, a village accesible by truck, to assist my friend, MB to make the people in that area be responsible parents. Hehehe!!! Yup, I went there with the rest of the ladies in our compound to help conduct a seminar on Responsible Parenthood. Of course I could not have anything to say about that topic because I am not yet a parent so even if I might have an idea or two, I feel that I don't have the authority to say it, obviously due to the fact that I am not one. It is good that the speaker included a subtopic: "How to be a good wife." Ahahaha! But it is good my husband was not there or else he'll get some ideas what a bad wife I am. Well, he came a few hours later so I behaved the rest of the day. (Best, Peace!) What was that thing that I am supposed to talk about? Oh yeah, the blessing in disguised. You see, I went there with a bit of an empty mind. I had no expectation and nothing much is expected from...

A panic was felt among the Kayapanons when they heard a news that their mayor is in jail fro graft and corruption. I sent a message to someone close to the mayor to ask if the news is true. The person I asked directed me to search the internet to read the article about it. You can read it here and here . First of all, Mayor Tony Dupiano of Kayapa is not in jail. Fyi Journal Online, ang Nueva Ecija po at ang Nueva Vizcaya ay magkaiba! At anong ill-gotten wealth po ang sinasabi n'yo? FYI, gma7/inquirer, Mayor Tony is still our Mayor. Your EX-MAYOR title there is misleading! Ok, let's face it, the mayor committed a naive mistake by using materials bought for one project for another project but it doesn't mean na ibinulsa niya ang pera. Ako na isang mamayan ng Kayapa ang higit na nakakaalam kung ano ang kaledad ng pagkatao at panunungkulan ng aming butihing mayor. Sa isang programa sa lokal na radyo (DWRV, Bayombong), inamin niya na ang pangyayaring iyan ay ...

I was commenting on Bill's Igorots in EDSA 1 and noticed that I was going off topic so I cut the rest of my comment and pasted it here and now I am forced to expand it a bit. I would like to ask any reader if they ever saw an elementary school textbook where Igorots were pictured as little black people with frizzy hairs and thick lips and flat noses. Last time I was down South (in Zamboanga del Norte to be exact), my husband and I went to this church where I was given an opportunity to talk about what I do. Being the proud Igorota that I am, I started off by saying, "If you haven't yet seen a pure-blooded Igorot, before you is one." Can you imagine what response I got? Laughter. I was startled for a moment so I decided to talk about other things. I finished my little speech and Mr. MC took the podium. He thanked me for visiting them but here's what made me flabbergasted! He said: "And thank you for that nice joke! " There I was telling the tru...

Somebody asked me yesterday if I am happy in my work, home and generally, my life. It made me think. What is happiness? I was browsing a card section at a bookstore sometime ago and in one card, I have read these sentences, “…what is happiness anyway but a figment of one’s imagination…” and it goes on to say that as long as people follow their heart, they will arrive nowhere but in the arms of the one they love. I felt sad for the writer of the message in that card and for all those people who believe that happiness is just an idea that the overwrought human brain has cooked up for lack of something better to do. Happiness is a hidden treasure that the Maker has planted to each one of us a desire for it and one of the greatest journies that mankind has embarked on since the dawn of time is to find it. Different people have taken different roads and tunnels in search of true happiness. Some took the road of riches and comfort and I do not know if they were able to find happine...