The Disgraceful Fall from Grace (and a sundry of things)
Today marks my second week in law school as a sophomore. So far, it’s been great though some sh** happened along the way.
For two weeks now, I’d have just 3-4 hours of sleep as I have more subjects and they’re all major courses. Thus, I have to make sure that none of them gets neglected. I’m still working on that. It’s actually quite overwhelming but I’m assured that I’ll get by just fine (God willing).
I haven’t been called for recitation yet in most of my subjects, except for Criminal Procedure. I’m actually getting frustrated–it’s not that I’m so ready for it or anything. I just want it…FINISHED. Anyway, I think there’s still some good thing about that. I get to study almost all subjects everyday and come exam time, I won’t find it much hard to review (God willing).
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Oh yes, I’m going to make the qualifying exam for the Law Review on Monday! Haha! I’m so excited! I’ll make it uberhard, make sure that the examinees skulls crack into two! Haha! Just kidding. I’m not that diabolical *hides her two devillish horns*. 
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I was on my way to the Library (located at Dapitan St.) from the Espana gate as I would do every morning. It’s a long walk, actually, about 10 minutes. When I was almost at the entarnce of the library, I passed by this group of college boys and some of them said something that flattered me. I smiled to myself, took a deep relaxed breath and thought, this is going to be a good day. I walked on, with my chin up, feeling the positive vibe of the day when suddenly…
TOINK!
I suddenly disappeared!
I TRIPPED!
Hahaha! I suddenly found myself on the floor, with my bag and all my books scattered around me as if we’ve all fallen from the sky! I tried to get up but my left foot hurt! What made it worse was I couldn’t stop laughing at myself so all the energy I had left to put my feet back on the ground was all drained away from me.
And as if taking the persona of a deus ex machina, the library guard came to my rescue and helped me stand up! Hahaha!
I was pretty embarrassed (who wouldn’t be?) and I turned all red like fully ripe summer tomatoes. But I just laughed it off and didn’t allow it to ruin my day. In fact, it actually made me feel lighter amidst all the pressure, tension and stress in law school.
Up to this time, I still laugh, even when alone, whenever I remember it. 
Anyone cares to be my date? Haha! (like I have the time.) :D
I WANNA WATCH RATATOUILLE!!! My sure problem is…I don’t have the time. 
I read in almost all reviews that it’s a great animated movie, somewhat at par with the likes of The Incredibles. "Ratatouille is a feast!" exclaimed one review. *SIGH*.
Anyone cares to be my date?
——————-COMPLACENCY IS MY GREATEST ENEMY————–
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I need to be holistically overhauled.
Captain Barbosa, The Fortune Teller and the Writer Who’s Inspired Me (and oh yeah, I’m in love! :D)
I can finally give out a big exhale after a long, arduous first real week in law school. It’s Saturday tomorrow and I only have one two-hour class.
A sundry of things happened in just one week. But before I tell you those sundry of things, let me first do what I’ve always loved doing–talking about my professors! Haha.
I am grateful that some of them have already been my professors for the past school term (four of them). At least I already have an idea on their style of terrorizing and torturing students.
The other three professors, who are to be my professors for the first time appear very interesting to me–at least as to how I picture them in my head.
They all look like the typical law professor–old, boring, dreary, stiff and wearing spectacles that reveal almost nothing of their faces. But the images I managed to come up with and attach to them saves me from being whisked off into the Kingdom of Boredom.
One of them, a lady, speaks so slowly that I cannot imagine how she argues in court or even persuade a judge to rule the case in her client’s favor. When I first heard her talk, the first image that came to mind is: A FORTUNE TELLER!
I can almost see her, seated there in front of the class with a crystal ball on her table and making some hand gestures over said crystal ball. The crystal ball says that today is a lucky day for Ms. Cali as she will be grilled for two hours…
But she’s fine. Not that I’m complaining about how she talks or anything but…I just find it rather funny.
The other one, a gentleman, is a genius (according to Atty. Calilung. By the way, I heard Atty. Calilung is no longer teaching in the faculty. Awww…I will miss him :D). The first time he walked into the room (in a rather eccentric way), I thought, CAPTAIN BARBOSA! He looks so much like Captain Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush) that I was almost convinced that I was seeing the character in flesh and I, on the other hand, was Elizabeth Swan, ready to fight with him side by side and take down Davy Jones! Haha! But thank God though…none of my professors look like Davy Jones! Anyway, I have no problem with him looking like Captain Barbosa. Actually, I’m glad that my Negotiable Instruments Law is under his captainship! Aye, aye, Captain!
The third one is Court of Appeals Associate Justice Rosalinda Vicente. I like her most, of all my professors. The first time she met us, she assured us that she "doesn’t practice terrorism". She’s very gentle and deals with us as if we were her own children. She’s inspired me more when she told us that she’s never practiced law, i.e., never been a trial lawyer because her personality is not really that of a public speaker. She’s more of a writer. She said she just wanted to write and write and write! Wow, look at her! She’s never been a trial lawyer, she just did what she loved doing, i.e., writing and now she’s an associate justice of the Court of Appeals! Maybe I can do that!, I thought. And I think that’s what I’ll do. Like I’ve said in an array of my posts here, I express my thoughts better using the written language.
As for the "other things" that happened, well it’s nothing new really. Law school is still as pleasantly torturous as it is, though a notch higher. I have no minor subject whatsoever so I have to make sure that each one of my subjects receive equal attention from me (though that’s very difficult to do).
Well, all in all, it’s been good. I am really looking forward to getting busy again, working at the Law Review, writing my article for said publication and looking for new jurisprudence as part of my task as a member of the editorial board. For three consecutive nights, I’ve had only 2-3 hours of sleep. But I don’t mind, really.
Hay, I’m in love. So much in love…with…LAW…school.
Tata! :)
I’ll be going back to where I truly belong tomorrow and face the battles that I have to fight. It’s still a long way to realizing my and my family’s dream. I pray for Allah’s guidance, protection and help along the way. May I reclaim what I have fortuitously lost.
To my dear readers, you might be seeing nothing but blank and white walls for a long time. But I’ll try to insert in my crazy schedule to post something for your entertainment and hopefully for your enlightenment too! Thanks to everyone who sent me a message, telling me how much they enjoy what I write (which I call crap! Hehe). Who knows, after I become a lawyer (INSHAALLAH) I’ll write short stories and perhaps novels too? Haha. Like I actually can. But thanks to all of you, I really appreciate your encouragement. Writing to me is my home. I feel a lot safer and more comfortable when I clothe my thoughts with written words than when I make them come out of my mouth. So to hear those laudatory remarks from you guys means a lot to a struggling writer like myself. (I have a professor, a justice of the Court of Appeals, who told us that she’s NEVER practiced at all but devoted her time to writing legal stuff instead. She inspired me. Maybe I’ll follow her footsteps! :D)
I will miss you guys. The girl with a cluttered head will be gone for a while. Wish her love and luck! Wohoo! Here’s to a good new school year in law school!
Letters from the Republic of the Philippine Islands to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
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I was with Baby Lou, Baby Chuckie and Tere (interesting!) this afternoon. We stayed at the Law Review office and Baby Lou surfed the internet while we waited for some notes to be photocopied. Having ran out of anything more entertaining to do, she typed our names in the search box of Yahoo! to see how many websites our names were in. When she typed mine, I saw that it appeared in the Arabnews website. I checked it when I got home and I was surprised that it was a letter I sent to said website! I never learned that they actually published it until today! Hahaha! Here it is: ________________________________________________________ Let Us Defeat Hate With violence and bloodshed dominating the news, reading newspapers or watching TV is no longer a pleasant hobby, but a depressing experience that one faces with dread and apprehension. War here, there and everywhere. Violence is eating up all that is left of our world. The reports of the recent bombing in Riyadh and the shootout in Jeddah caused me great sadness. I was a resident in the Kingdom for over 10 years and during my stay there, I considered it the safest place on earth. Violence was unheard of in those days and crimes were rare events. That those days are gone and people have to live in the shadow of terrorism is a tragedy. However, surrendering to this new culture is not an option for any one of us, for Saudis or Filipinos like me, or anyone else. There is no country that can claim to be free from this cancer. Shooting down a few terrorists will not solve the problem. The only solution is for all of us to ensure that our societies do not provide terrorism a fertile soil in which to grow. Hatred and lack of tolerance are what breed and nurture terrorism, and this is what needs to change. The efforts of governments alone will not bring about this change. If we want evil to be exterminated, we should start by looking at ourselves. It is within the power of each one of us, regardless of our status, to turn the tide. Let us learn, and teach those around us, to respect and love one other. We must be open-minded and free from prejudice, be it religious, linguistic, racial, cultural or whatever. We should not coerce others to accept our beliefs or systems. If we want our governments to act in a certain way or want to change the government itself, we should not act like animals. We must act as rational human beings and negotiate in peace. History has taught us that violence does not bring happiness. It yields only chaos and pain, for both victor and vanquished. Finally, we must pray for a peaceful and safe world. When we allow passion to govern our actions and settle scores through violence, let one thought guide us: What kind of a world do we wish to bequeath to our children — a world of love and happiness or one of hatred and misery? |
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Nesrin B. Cali • Philippines published 1 May 2004 |
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I was blown away after reading it! No, don’t get me wrong. It’s not some self-laudatory reaction. I was just so appalled that I made a lot of sense three years ago than now! Hahaha! I never thought I could write something like that. Now I don’t make any sense at all. Everything that comes out of my mind is rubbish! My mind is cluttered so what do you expect? It made me realize that I have to gather myself…where have all my senses and wisdom gone, I wonder!
I just hope that the message I tried to get across was at least heard. It’s really sad to know that the kind of world we now live in is a far cry from what we have always known it to be.
(Thanks to Arabnews for publishing my letter! It’s always been my favorite newspaper. It gives you everything you need to know about the world, about what’s surrounding you…unlike the newspapers we have here which are laden with too much entertainment pages and sprawling spaces for advertisement!)
I shed a tear.
His mother was already at the entrance gate of the departure area of the airport…she was about to leave. The authorized person at the gates checked her passport, ticket and other necessary papers as he and his father saw her off. His father was carrying him…his tiny, fragile arms placed around his father’s neck tightly as if to say, Don’t leave me too, Papa.
He kissed his mother one last time…a tear dropped from one of his eyes. And then he hugged his father again, turning away from his mother. He didn’t want to go through the pain of seeing her go, of seeing her image go smaller and smaller…until she completely vanishes. He still held on to his father as she went inside the airport…and disappeared among the crowds.
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This is what I saw a few days ago when I was at the NAIA. It really broke my heart to see that six to seven-year-old boy go through such immense pain. I told myself, If I, a 21-year-old, still find it painful to see my parents go away every time even after 5 years of doing so, how could such a fragile, delicate child, who still doesn’t understand most of the crazy things that happen in this world, take the burden of seeing his mother leave? At least I understand that my parents stay elsewhere because it’s what’s best for all of us. BUT HOW CAN YOU MAKE A CHILD UNDERSTAND THAT HIS MOTHER LEAVING HIM IS WHAT’S BEST FOR HIM WHEN ALL HE KNOWS AND ALL HE BELIEVES IN IS THAT HIS MOTHER SHOULD ALWAYS BE WITH HIM?
It was a poignant scene to witness. I couldn’t help it…I shed a tear not just for what I saw but for the bigger problem, for the bigger issue that it presents: Millions of Filipinos take part in "the exodus" because they cannot find what it really means to LIVE in their own home.
I shed a tear for the child and his mother who have no other choice but to be apart so they can live meaningful and dignified lives. I shed a tear for every Filipino who cannot find meaningful existence in their own home and has to seek it in foreign lands. I shed a tear for every Filipino who leaves his country because he cannot take its sorry state–politically and economically. I shed a tear for our country…for she’s like a bad mother who cannot take care of her own children that they have to seek motherly love, affection and care in the arms of strangers.
