My week in pictures...

What started off as a boring week turned out to be one of the most devastating and memorable days of my life.

The first few days of the week, I was bored out of my skull. I was really happy to finally get out of the house and watch Prince Caspian with friends but they are busy with work. Guess I'm the only one with a lot of free time, huh? :(

Anyway, by Friday I was back in UP... not to enroll, mind you. I had to finish teaching those apprentices how to use the ISE with different settings. And I am just glad that I don't have to wait for long hours for the form 5 and other enrollment issues. Yay for being a graduate! Turns out that one of the apprentices had an emergency, one had to finish filing for student loans and I was left with only one apprentice to teach. Wow.

Friday night I watched MMK and cried buckets of tears because of their featured story. I surfed for a while and fell asleep while the laptop was turned on. I woke up around 4am because I suddenly remembered the laptop and quickly turned it off. Then there was a phone call...

It was the most heartbreaking news I've ever heard. Ate Lhet was crying and saying "My house... it's burning..." I was completely shocked. We went there last week and they were still renovating their house. Not only that, they were 6 families living side by side so my 4 other cousins and my uncle were left with nothing. Absolutely nothing but the clothes on their backs.

I was so shocked for about 5 minutes and then I asked my mom what do we plan to do. I told her we should get the kids and keep them in the house for the meantime and then she said that those people need food and shelter. I was still in my sleeping attire (meaning tshirt and shorts) and I just changed my pants, got a taxi and rushed over there.

By the time we got there, the firefighters were still trying to control the fire. All their houses, all their things... everything... burned down to the ground. They were not even able to grab slippers because of panic. Thank God that no one was hurt. Some kids suffered a few scratches but nobody was hurt.

I'm super close to my cousins (on my Mom's side) because they've been taking care of me since I've been born. We even lived with them until I turned 1 year old because our house was under construction.

It was so painful to see all of them crying while sharing their stories on how they barely survived and got out of the big fire. The kids were terrified, I was so worried about them. I tried to make the kids eat, but they all refused. Genevel was throwing up because of shock and fear. They were wet and shivering because the firefighters were spraying water all over and they got soaked. Mom asked me to go with Ate Lyn to buy some food from the market for their lunch. Ate Lyn was still crying while we were on our way to the market. :(

After breakfast, Mom and I went back home to gather clothes that they could use. Then we stopped by the terminal because our cousins back in the province were able to send rice, clothes and pillows. Thank God for their speedy reply. As soon as I texted them, they called me and offered their help. :)

We brought the clothes and other supplies to my cousins. Then we gathered some of the kids and brought them home. Right now, they're all sound asleep... which is good because after the incident they were unable to sleep or think about anything else. :(

Another thing is... school starts in a few days. And all of their things... books, uniform, school supplies... everything... gone. :(

Please pray for my cousins... that they may be able to recover soon and get through this hardship together.

Thesis gonna be the end of me...

Really, I never fully understood why my friends had to stay really late in school for something like this.

NOW I KNOW.

*cries*

I'm rushing with my thesis right now. I still have 7 experiments to do. Each experiment needs about 5-6 hours to complete if I'm lucky... if not then I have to wait for 8 hours like yesterday. T_T

On top of that, I'm getting a bit sick. :( See... my immune system isn't that great, and when I got caught in the middle a heavy rainfall last Thursday I began having coughing fits. ;_; Aside from that, I got an eye irritation because I kept rubbing my eye yesterday and now my left eye is all swollen. Then there is not eating on time (because of waiting for the experiment) and if I ever eat, it's something unhealthy and easy to finish (because I have to go back to the lab for the next experiment). And I also lack sleep because I have to study or make reports for other academic subjects. ._.

I wish there was 100 hours in a day, that way I'd be able to finish all the experiments in one day and I'd have enough time to think about other things for the remaining time. T_T

I still need to characterize the samples (AFM at Ateneo) and I need a working vacuum evaporator. Haaaaaah. Stress. T__________________________T

*prays to finish the thesis this sem*

HOME SWEET HOME.

A lot of things have happened these past few weeks. A lot of firsts too. Let me try to jot them down.

1. Went to my first training. It was very informative and surprising (we had exams before the training. O_o;).

2. Got my first assignment as an On-The-Job Trainee. Although it was a general topic and badly needed narrowing down, I tried hard to finish it with as much information as possible.

3. Got my very first paycheck, but I gave all of it to my parents... just because. ;)

4. My patience was definitely tested... a lot of times. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and smile. :)

5. Was able to play trial games (those with 1 hour limits)... unlimited number of times. :D

6. Shared a room with another girl with the same age.

7. Went to Laguna at 9pm and got to the boarding house around 12 midnight. I almost missed my stop! Well, okay so I missed my stop, but it was only two blocks away and I was so sleepy in the jeepney.

8. Got a big bump on the back of my head from sleeping in the ferry. Ouch! >.<

9. Talked to the boss of each department. And yes, I'm scared of one boss... Wah! T_T

10. Got to visit a (different) plant as an engineer. Hehehe... :D

11. Ate lunch at Umenoya! I had shrimp tempura... Yummy! :9

12. Shared my dinner with another guy... literally. We had our food split into two down to the side veggies. It was funny! XD

13. Got sick and still went to work. (I had coughs and colds... but I couldn't miss work! >.<)

14. Went parasailing... whee! :D

My faith in God was tested during the whole experience. There were a lot of times I wanted to quit because of various reasons but then I'll just pray and ask for strength. And true to his words, he gave me strength... and more. I received a lot of blessings and I'm so thankful for EVERYTHING.

The OJT was hard, but my colleagues, friends and family gave me the inspiration and encouragement I needed. My fellow trainees also made the experience fun as we shared funny moments during lunch time. :)

I'm not sure if the training is finished because my supervisor told me that he'll keep in touch to document the report I wasn't able to finish. (The test was going to be finished on JULY according to our Gantt chart.) But I'm so happy that I was able to complete the number of hours required. :)

On Tuesday, another sem is going to start. I'm finally graduating next year, yay! At first I was dreading this year because my close friends are no longer in school but I have to think positive. This is my opportunity to create new friends in school, right? ;)

I also hesitated in renewing my membership in ERG. I have a lot of things to finish and with a full load... I can only focus on a few things, ERG will probably fall in the last place on my priority list. :( So I talked with the TNA head so I could figure things out, and he pointed out why I should renew. :)

Things are falling into place and I couldn't be more thankful for my wonderful architect, God. ^_^