My SSEAYP Experience (Part III)

Shared by the blogsite owner, RICHJUNE

at Friday, March 19, 2010

Forgive me for the chopped articles but I dont have the time to write it all in one sitting, too complicated. Anyway, we stopped with the fundraising and so it was, like a beggar asking help from a lot of donors. In exchange of their help, we came up with a souvenir program that featured all that gave to the batch. Now I am asking, why is the government asking for brilliant delegates only to be short of the financial aspects and make them dance, sing and beg? If the government can only shoulder this much, so be it. No more, no less. Talk about teaching the young ones the art of begging, a formal term solicitation.

After the PDT, was a very nerve wrecking truth, what will I do in Manila while we practice for our cultural presentation, courtesy calls, insitutional visits and more solicitation? Where would I stay for more than a month until we all depart for Indonesia, which was our first stop.

But God is great, he gave us Frankie. A batchmate I could never exchange for anything as he was at that time my saviour. I stayed with him throughout the duration of the wait with Edu, a doctor from Tarlac and Iking, now abroad for further studies who is also from Baguio.

Frank's family was warm, his sister Jane amiable and especially his mother, very loving and concerned. Admittedly, as I wrote this, I miss Frank, Jane and Mom, my thoughts are with them.

The venue for the practice for our cultural presentation was then a problem but we have a batchmate whose father is a general in the Phil Army, she offered that we can do practice inside the Logistics Command Headquarters at Camp Aguinaldo for free, and so we did.

The trainer was Mr Edru Abraham, a well reknowned director and arts defender from UP. We all poured in also ideas as we were a breed of talents and the best.

Everyday we troop to the camp, for training and if it were a military training we would have been generals then but it was a cultural thing, i never became the band majorette. We finish at night, some remain to bathe in the pool which was Taikee's thing and while others go home and sometimes we go out for a respite like what we did with Elnora, we went to Megamall to watch a movie clad in our malongs (literally) as our clothes were wet from the pool. We rode the bus to the mall with us shining and glittering like fairies with our malongs, and mind you, I didnt have any underwear on.

Solicitation was also a challenge especially with the Manila traffic. Once I was with the team and we all got stuck in the traffic and I was dared by May, to forget the traffic to alight from our vehicle and dance at Ortigas Avenue and so I did, who cares? No one knows me anyway! I danced to the music with all gusto until the traffic flowed with all the honks and yells of the other drivers.