I AM STRONG: La Union!

My apologies for being virtually incommunicado this past week; the lovely Oasis Country Resort in La Union provided internet access, but I would have needed a time machine, or at the very least a Time-Turner such as the one Hermione Granger used just to find the time to write.

Still, despite the interminably long and eventful ten-hour travel time, the strength sapping humidity, and a workload which recalls the statement "Death is light as a feather; duty, heavy as a mountain", I had a wonderful time working for I AM STRONG in La Union. Why? In the very best Elizabeth Barrett Browning fashion, let me count the ways:

1. I was reunited with the ever-so-jolly Dr. Antonio Torralba, who I finally reduced to some sort of speechlessness with my dinner reference to "Barrel Man-ilow". I just realized that without any knowledge of the peculiarities of the "Barrel Men" figurines of Baguio and the subtle phonetic delights in tweaking Filipino accents for English use, the joke above is probably beyond translation. And yet I try. Beating a bad joke into submission is not like me at all. Odd, that.


2. I was reunited with former students, some of whom have blossomed beautifully into happily married mothers (such as Chelina delos Trinos Gutierrez), some of whom blossom even more whenever you say the name Brian (such as Ms. Vina Arenal) and some of whom have, happily, changed not at all (such as Ivanna Aguiling, the only lady in our company who deliberately planned "spontaneous outbursts" just to prove that she isn't the reserved square we all know and love).

3. I was able to share what little I knew with the very warm-hearted public school teachers and student leaders who, despite my ineptitude, took down practically everything I said, and probably induced blindness in my right eye due to the number of photographs that they had me pose for. Digression: my right side is my best side. End digression.

4. I was able to make new friends, bury old enemies (no, just checking to see if you got this far), and have a great deal of fun doing what I love best.

Pictures are in my Multiply. Enjoy!