Odyssey

Writing for me is like staring in a white bull. It takes me a while to write especially knowing that people might read your work.

I may not be a good writer, yet I'm striving to become one. Now, I'm trying my luck to fulfill this rêve in this universe of blogs.

Blogging is like writing in your diary, right? It has been a while since I owned and actually wrote religiously about my mantras in life.

Well..here are the vestige of thoughts/actions:

First off, after almost two years living in Holy Land, I decided to quit my studies. Yes, my dream of becoming one of the mediators of the UN may be postponed-that is for now-due to some circumstances that I willingly embraced. Studying in "Ba Aretz" (as the Jews call Israel) was intellectually stimulating except for the countless intimidations I got from few "uneducated Zionist jingoist".

To fight intimidation, my one goal was to speak their language. I studied Hebrew for two months and learned the old scriptures handwriting. Then, I learned how to curse cab drivers and shout at some sales ladies who constantly turn you down thinking that you can't afford a Narciso Rodriquez dress. Fun fun fun!

Nevertheless, I made some really good Jewish and non-Jewish friends at school. Most of them were really accommodating and did I say younger than me (most of them are barely 20)?

Scenario:

English guy: Hey mate! Manishma (that is Hebrew for how are you)? You are look cold.

Inday: I'm doing good though I'm freezing my ass. This is my first winter experience. (it was 5 degrees).

English guy: Oh, really? I guess you are not a Jew? Where do you come from?

American girl: You're from the Philippines, right? So you are the same country as Angelo ( the Philippine ambassadress' son to Israel)?

Inday: mmmm..yes.

English guy: But Angelo sounds American. He has an American accent while you don’t have.

Inday: Yeah, I guess so. I was born, raised and studied there my whole life. Angelo rarely visits the Philippines because his mom is a diplomat.

English guy: (Shouting at Angelo) Shame on you mate! You're an American whore.

Obviously, that felt great!


One unforgettable moment at school is my first recital. My friends know I'm not fond of talking in front of the public. Unsurprisingly, I was hysterical. Well, I surely did stutter, and I felt my face was incongruous with my voice.

My classmates' feedback? Well, they just said, I sound Chinese. So every time someone new asks me where I came from, my classmates would say, " Jef is from China, well, at least some part in Asia".

Didn’t I say some of the classes were dreary and some were really intellectually orgasmic. Dreary means fucking ECONOMICS and STATISTICS. Yes, I took Microeconomics again. Yes! it may be the same Econ that I took in SU but I'm talking about a different teacher here unlike the teacher we had in SU (what was his name again?). Thank God I passed, who could've imagine that? Without cheating and I mean all kinds of cheating- the thing we usually do way back in SU- I crossed the enemy lines. The hell! I passed STAT!!! I couldn't be more proud of myself.


Interestingly enough, my international relations and history classes kept my eyes wide open, not to mention the former is 4 hours and the latter 3 hours. Maybe I took up World History before but, the hell, I forgot why WWI and WWII started and why it was called Cold War. I admit, I got a high grade probably in my World or Middle East history class way back when but my brain bank was empty. Shame on me!

I might give you the wrong impression, but my school is not full of school nerds and walking encyclopedias. They may be brainiac but they do party hard! Liberals!

The school government sells draft beer in campus, there is a cigarette vending machine and party fliers scatter everywhere almost everyday. The school doesn’t hold parties such as our Freshmen's Night inside the campus. I'm talking here about Ibiza-like parties!! well, the big difference is we held it in the middle of the dessert which is really more amusing plus music that you've never heard before (Chris Brown was never played). Plus occasional school parties in different clubs—for free! Amazing!

Ignorant as I am, the first time I got into a school-sponsored party, I wore jeans. Inappropriate!

My odyssey in Israel didn't start and end there. Mmmm….should I write how I met him?

There you go! I've tried my luck. Will that still make me a coward writer?