| Flatter the sea but stand on earth |

wonderwall

Thursday, May 15, 2008

...i dont believe that anybody feels the way i do about you now...

okay.
so what happened to me this past few days??
geez... i’ve got less than 2 months left...
time doesnt only flies....
IT FREAKING SOARS.
it’s not that i dont want to go back to the philippines...
hey, that’s still my native land! no matter what.
but, at the same time, i dont want to leave argentina.
not yet.
i mean, i dont have the slightest idea when i can go back here again.
argentina is located on the other side of the planet.
a direct flight from the philippines to argentina doesnt exist so i have to take a connecting flight in europe or in the US.
well, those are not exactly problems if only im rich...
take note: IF ONLY...
well, im not rich.
not yet.
hehehe...

i remember what i said before i came here.
“time flies when you’re having fun”
well, im having a BLAST.
so let’s rephrase that.
“time SOARS when you’re having a BLAST”

my german sister, beccy, told me that she’s going to ask her mother if they can visit me in the philippines on year 2009 summer.
cool.
well, 1 euro is like 60 php right now.
right?
1 US dollar is around 36 php...
the Us dollar is falling... and euro is all over the place.
lucky europeans...

btw, before i became an exchange students, i dont want anything regarding geography.
now, geography sounds fascinating to me.
including the history of other countries.
before, history is my most hated subject.
well, it depends on how it’s being taught. you all know what i mean by that. =D

may 1, there was a party set up by the students of another school. well, the thing was that tall guy from new zealand, simon, changed families. then, at school he told me that his new neighbor is a student in this school named Escuela Normal. then, he also told me that this new neighbor invited him to a party. he invited me.
then, i was supposed to have a PE class. the girls in first year invited me to eat out with them but the thing was my class was dismissed earlier so i’ve had to wait for more than an hour. simon told me that he’ll hang out with me.
we went to the supermarket coz that boy was starving.
he bought chocolates and kept on insisting that i should eat too.
then we took a stroll along the town square.
then, we came upon his new neighbor. her name is valnea. that’s her nickname. i dont actually know her real name. then she also invited me to the party.
okay. cool. sure. parties are cool.

so we were supposed to meet up in the town square at 8:30 in the evening. i was there, then a minute later, keith arrived.
then, we were talking for a minute then we saw another exchange student, anneke (US). she was with her schoolmates, playing the guitar. she’s not with AFS though, she’s with rotary.
then, a few minutes later, i saw simon, lawrence, and lawrence’s hostbro walking by. i didnt say a word. i mean, they could just be taking a stroll...
who knows...
then, a few seconds, they were walking by again... just about 15 meters from where we were.
then, simon phoned me.
him: where are you?
me: we’re right here. in the meeting place.
him: what? where?
me: to your right.
him: (glanced to the right but not enough) where?
me: look to your right, idiot.
then, suddenly, keith stood up and yelled “SIMON!!”
that was when simon realized that we were just about 15 meters from him.
then after a few minutes, kyle (US) arrived.
so we were 5 exchange students.
and lawrence’s hostbro almost slit our throats...
why?
well, we were 5 exchange students.
5 exchange students who speak english.
lawrence’s hostbro doesnt.
i swear, if he had a knife or something sharp, he could have killed us all.

anneke and i havent spoken english for such a long time...
it was funny, really, when we were all speaking english that night then all of a sudden anneke asked us how do you say ‘bombero’ in english.
fireman.
it was hilarious.
i mean, her native tongue is english.
and she forgot the word fireman.
it’s really possible though.
i mean, i havent spoken english since 8 months ago. with sebastian (austria), sara (sweden) and the others, i speak to them in spanish.
well, when the new students arrived, i started speaking english.
when simon, lawrence, and i speak english, everyone’s annoying us that we should speak spanish.
one time, i cant remember who said it, but someone told us that sebastian and i always speak spanish and that’s why we learned quickly.
then, lawrence commented out loud, “it’s because sebastian cant speak english well...”
luckily for him, sebastian wasnt there at that moment.

so, we just hang around from 8:30 to 11:30.
it was actually really cold that night. but i was with my hostmom in the supermarket so i didnt know that it was cold outside.
i was wearing a flimsy jacket over a green shirt.
after 30 minutes out there, i was starting to shiver...
lucky for me, lawrence has his own efficient body heating system that he doesnt need any jacket.
he lent me his jacket.
i just could understand why he didnt feel cold that night.
it was cold. i swear.
maybe it’s because he’s already used to it. i mean, he’s from tazmania. that island of australia located on the south. but still... when it’s cold, it’s cold.
it doesnt matter where you’re from.

11:30, the six of us started to walk. the party was around 24 blocks or more from where the town square.
24 blocks is pretty much to walk.
but here, almost every exchange student loves to walk.
maybe it’s because tucuman is so small.
and the streets are like specially-made for foreigners.
i mean, the streets are straight! they actually have blocks. the town map looks like a freaking chessboard!
sounds funny but i know tucuman’s streets better than mandaluyong’s streets.
i even corrected a classmate once about the streets. they were actually surprised how most of the exchange students know tucuman better than those who have been living here all their lives.
most of the exchange stus that i know love walking. and, generally, the people of tucuman loves to walk too.
it’s becoming a habit for me.
they were all teasing me that im lazy coz i didnt want to walk. for me, 8 blocks is already too much to walk. (that’s like from my house to anne’s house... more or less. it’s difficult to explain in terms of the streets in the philippines.)
for them, if someone lives 20 blocks from their house, it’s still freaking near!!!!
say, simon lives about 18 blocks from our school. he lives 10 blocks from my house. everyday, he walks from his house to the school.
and back again.
well, that guy’s sort of addicted to being fit.
im not walking 28 blocks if i can just take the bus.
they told me that before i go back to my country, i should try, at least once, walking from my house to the town or vice versa.
......................
might happen.
take note: MIGHT.
walking is becoming a habit for me, i already mentioned that earlier. now, thinking of it, anne’s house is not far from my house.
mandsci is not that far either. yeah, a bit far. but not THAT far.
my sense of distance measurement has changed.
but im still not walking 28 blocks.

back to the story, i was the only girl coz anneke wasnt invited. but it didnt matter. those guys might be childish but they’re trustworthy.
while walking, keith and i were talking about our countries. he told me that the philippines has lots of US culture that we almost seem to be a province of US.
the part about us having heaps of US culture, i dont deny.
the part about us being a province of them, i DO deny.
lawrence, simon, and kyle didnt want me to listen to their conversation but as far as keith and i can overhear, they were talking about the topic that most boys want to talk about: girls.
then, they got tired of talking. they started to get oranges from the trees lining the roads and use them as bowling balls.
have i already said that they’re childish???
im saying it again. they ARE childish.
then, when we were about 8 blocks or so from the place, lawrence’s hostbro told us that we should take a taxi coz the place is a pretty dangerous at night.
we managed to convince the taxi driver to let us all in. all 6 of us. he agreed but told us that we should give 2 argpesos additional.
it’s that there is a law that says that taxis can only accomodate 4 people. 3 at the back and one in the passenger’s seat.

when we were right outside the house where the party was, kyle told the other guys, “just speak english. when the girls hear that, they will come for you.”
i laughed at that.
he told me, “it’s true.”
i know. it’s actually true. very true. generally, argentine girls go crazy for guys from other countries.
say, when they see a tall blond guy with clear eyes, they would throw themselves to that guy.
and sometimes, they dont even care if that tall blond guy with clear eyes is cute or not.
they see someone blond, and they go whacko.
i’ve been to lots of parties and bars here and i swear (well, not every single girl is like that but still... well...) argentine girls are generally stupid when it comes to blond guys.
((and their sense of color sucks. most of the exchange stus arent blonds but brunettes. but for most of the girls, brunette is a shade of blond. geez...))

so, there were HEAPS of people in the party. it was crazy. we cant even walk.
then, i saw someone really blond.
he was looking at me then he asked me where am i from.
him: where are you from?
me: costa rica.
him: well, then, im from south africa.
then we talked for a moment. then he repeated the question about my place of origin. fine, im from the philippines, i told him. then he also told me that he’s from denmark.
name is christian.
he’s totally so blond. one look at him and you’ll say “that one’s not from around here”
then someone tall came. and that someone asked me where am i from.
me: philippines.
him: kimberly??
me: ........... uh..................
him: you dont remember me? im christiaan. from belgium. pellegrini!
me: oh................

that christiaan (yeah, two A’s) from belgium also went to pellegrini last year. then he changed schools. i also changed schools.
and we havent seen each other for like 5 months.
see? small world, right?
the blond christian of denmark and that christiaan of belgium arent with AFS. they’re with YFU (youth for understanding).

lots of exchange students in tucuman. with AFS, we’re already 25 here. with rotary, around 6 or 7. with YFU, i dont know. with COINED, 5.
and other organizations might also exist.

that night, kyle and the blond danish guy were pretty drunk.
when kyle is drunk, he hugs any girl that he can see. he was like hugging 8 girls at one time. that player... tsk.
so when he’s drunk and you see him coming, better watch out.
but then, almost all of the girls in his school are lining up for him so they actually take advantage of a drunk kyle... haha...
the blond danish (name is christian but there are 2 christians so we all him ‘el rubio’ which literally translates to ‘the blond’) loves to talk.
even when he’s sober, he’s a motormouth. he loves to talk.
but when alcohol comes into play, he wont stop talking anymore.
he sang to me in danish. i dont have any idea why or what for.
just like what i said, they were pretty drunk.

the party was cut short at 1:30 coz two girls were punching each other.
haha... i didnt see it but the owner of the house told us.
the owner of the house sent everyone outside. party’s over.
then, the exchange students are special. we were sent inside the house.
sweet.
it was crazy. almost everyone was wasted. simon’s neighbor, that girl who invited us to the party, she was vomiting.
she couldnt stand up.
so we left her in the house to calm her down a bit.
i mean, it wont do her any good if we take her with us, right?

well, no one wanted to go home yet. the night was young.
so when they finally allowed the exchange stus to come out of the house, we decided to go to a bar.
it was really difficult to gather everyone together.
lawrence’s hostbro, juan, and the other argentines who werent drunk almost gave up.
it was really difficult to gather everyone together.
everyone’s walking around, everyone’s minding his own business and no one was paying attention to anybody.
it was funny when lawrence’s hostbro looked up at the sky and cried “why me?? what have i done wrong?? why am i with these annoying exchange students??!!”
haha...
poor, poor, poor guy...
hahaha...

when they managed to gather everyone, we took 3 taxis to a bar. known as Waldo.
simon came to me and asked me how much have i drank.
i told him “not much”.
he said “good. kim, when things go out of hand, could you help me control everyone?”
sure. no prob.
so we danced but we didnt drink anymore.
we were actually telling everyone not to drink anymore. we didnt want to pick up unconscious people, hey...
at 4, every single bar in tucuman closes down.

so we were outside the bar, they were trying to gather everyone again.
actually, we were just waiting for the blond danish and another girl.
it was freaking cold but i had fun watching kyle, simon, and 2 argentine girls.
simon was staring at the sky. he wasnt drunk but he was tipsy. at least, that’s what he told me. hehe... kyle had his arm around a girl’s shoulders (let’s call her girlA coz i forgot her name). girl b’s nickname is coty.
this was in spanish, ok. just translated it.
kyle: i will kiss her (girl A) if you kiss simon.
coty: fine. you go first.
simon: what? what? what?
then kyle kissed girl A. then coty grabbed simon’s face and made him lean closer coz he’s 6 feet 2 inches tall.
((now im used to seeing people kissing everywhere))
((btw, the word kiss here means ‘to give a peck’.))
then, the fun part.
coty: now, you two boys kiss ecah other.
kyle: only if you two girls do it first.
coty: we will do it. we can do that. there’s nothing wrong with it. we always do it. but if we do it first, you boys arent going to do it anymore.
simon: nah... nah... nah!
coty: dont be such a gay!
hahaha...
then kyle and simon gave each other a kiss.
BUT there was kyle’s fingers serving as a barrier.
hahaha...
kyle and simon wont do it.
well, with kyle, im not sure coz i dont know him that well. but simon wont do it in a hundred years...
unless they’re both totally, absolutely downright wasted as hell.
in that moment, consciousness will no longer be accessible.
yeah, they were drunk that night. simon told me that he wasnt but i dont believe him. kyle was wasted. but not THAT wasted to kiss a man.
but it was still fun to watch kyle place his fingers between simon and him.
hahaha...
i should have taken a video of it! damn...

then, the danish and the girl (forgot her name too!!) arrived.
they made out somewhere else, apparently.
then, when we were about to go home, kyle was making out with girl A. the danish said “kyle, hey, 30 minutes of kissing is enough. let’s go. damn...”
something like that.
i looked at him and said “look who’s talking.”

then, we took a taxi home.
i was in the same taxi as the belgium guy, the danish, and his hostbrother.
the danish was telling me what happened.
he told me that he was really drunk that he asked the girl if she wants to make love with him. the girl says yes. then he asked if she has time tomorrow. the girl says no coz she has to study. he asked what for.
well, you get the idea.
the funny thing was that the danish cant even remember the name of the girl.
funny but that was expected.

i said maybe
you’re gonna be the one that saves me
and after all
you’re my wonderwall

may 3, we went out again.
the guy from belgium (how do you call the people of belgium?), the danish, and his hostbro came over to my house first. they live 8 blocks.
then we all went together to marilia’s house which is 5 blocks from my house.
then, simon rang me up using keith’s phone. the thing was simon, keith, kyle, and lawrence were together in the town square that moment and that they’ll just wait for us in town.
i gave the phone to marilia.
i dont know what she said but she managed to convince those 4 to come over to her house first.
we ate burgers first, drank some vodka, fooled around.
then we took taxis to go to a bar.
the danish and i were talking in english. i asked him why are we talking in english.
it’s not as if we cant talk in spanish.
he told me that he likes talking in english coz when you walk down the street everyone pays you attention.
i told him that he doesnt have to speak english to gain peole’s attention.
i mean, he’s blond. really blond.
he’s like the male version of barbie.
he told me that people cant sense blonds walking by but if they hear someone talking in english they will turn around and stare.
haha... someone loves the limelight!

i cant remember what was i supposed to write...
i mean, i write my blog entries at home then i save it in my usb stick then i upload it when i go to an internet shop.
i rarely update my blog these past few days.
but i update my classic paper-and-pen diary every single day. =D

may 11, my hostsister’s birthday, florencia.
she just turned 21!
we went shopping the day before her birthday.
beccy, my german sister, went with us.
she was actually supposed to buy some sneakers but in the end she bought a shirt and a cute jacket.
minus the sneakers.
this is what happens when people go shopping with my family.
so, i bought a jacket too coz winter is approaching and there are days when it’s freezing cold.

so, the day of her birthday, i went to town alone to buy her a gift. she’s quite picky with everything.
really hard to please...
my hostmom told me that they saw these woolen gloves with the fingers cut off. she told me that flor likes it.
so i went out to buy her some.
i was in the 3rd franchise store but there werent anything left.
everyone bought it!
then, i saw some woolen gloves but it wasnt pink.
it was a freaking bright, almost-blinding, phosphorescent fuchsia.
you wont even dare using that even if you live in north pole!
so i phoned my mom. then that was when she told me that she has been mistaken with the store.
geez...
so, i went to another store. this time the right one. and i bought a pair of pink woolen gloves.
sweet.
then i also found a card with a flower that pops out when you open it.
‘flor’ means flower in spanish.
oh, and the card was with a message that says, ‘espero que en este dia, tu corazon FLOREZCAN y que te tengas un FLOR de dia.’
translation: i hope that today, your heart will flourish and that you’ll have a blooming day.
something like that.
she liked it. sweet...

may 13, i met up with the other exchange students in town.
we were supposed to meet up at 6 in the square. i was 10 minutes late. geez... it’s just that im starting to get used to being really punctual.
well, argentines have the reputation of being so impunctual.
might be a thing of spanish people.
you know, we also have the so-called infamous filipino time back there.
but the thing is that these past few months, im always with punctual people.
europeans are so punctual.
well, it depends.
i mean, we are so ‘argentinized’ right now that the culture is actually getting to us.
ok. back to my story.
then, lawrence (australia), beccy (germany), kyle(US), may (thailand), miku(japan), emma(US), and i grabbed some icecream.
it’s starting to be an addiction of mine. icecream.
too late. im already addicted.
every single day, we always go out to grab some icecream.
i mean it. every single day.
icecream here totally rocks! heaps and heaps of flavors...
i mean, in the philippines, there exist chocolate, strawberry, rocky road, etc...
here, under the name chocolate, there exist like 10 flavors.
10 kinds of chocolate.
and they taste differently!
it’s so totally cool.
yum...
okay. so beccy had to go to her dance class at 7:30 so lawrence, miku, and i accompanied her. in the place where the classes are, there’s an old theater studio.
we were fooling around. doing ballet, acting, singing, dancing...
basically, fooling around.
then, simon appeared.
then, a few minutes later, kyle phoned lawrence.
then he went off to look for the others. i was actually surprised that simon stayed with us. the thing is that lawrence and simon are inseparable.
well, then, we walked (emma, miku, simon, and i) trying to look for lawrence and the others.
we came across max (US).
then we were just hanging out in the town square when lawrence and a group of people came walking by.
that group of people were obviously not from around here. some were blonds, some werent, but they just emanate a foreign aura. (where did that come from?)
turns out that they’re also AFS exchange students. they’re just staying in another province. and now they’re on a trip to visit other provinces.
it was actually great. i mean, we were like 24 exchange students that night!
we grabbed some pizza... and hang out.

i got along really well with ilgin(turkey), benedict(france), and tim(US) in less than 4 hours!
if i had arrived here on august 3 and not on september 7, i could have met them before! i could have met them in the start-of-stay camp in buenos aires.
ilgin and tim told me that we can meet again in the end-of-stay orientation.
i hope so.

it was actually quite a laugh that 24 exchange students were together at once!
ilgin told me that he cant speak turkish anymore! i mean, he can. that’s his language but it’s just that if you speak a different language for one year, you’ll be used to it that when you talk it automatically comes out.
i understand him.
when my parents phone me, im talking in a weird combination of 3 languages.
english, filipino, and spanish.
and when no one’s responding on the other line, i’ll realize that im already talking in spanish.
oh, and ilgin told me that the philippines was on his list of countries to choose from. and that many turks were on an exchange program in the philippines.
i know. there are many people from belgium and turkey in the philippines.
why is that?.......

anyway, ilgin and lawrence were really shocked when i told them that 1 US dollar is equivalent to about 38php...
i mean, for them, it’s really cheap here. what more if they’re in the philippines?
1 euro is like 60 php... so when beccy visits me next summer, i suppose, stuff in the philippines will look free to her.
i so hate it. why is it that our monetary value is so low??? geez....
never mind. it’s not as if complaining will change anything.

we were hanging out after eating, then ilgin took out something that looks like like tissue wrapped in a tube-like form and lighted it.
lawrence, simon, and i were hanging out with him that time.
lawrence was like, “is that pot?”
i was staring at the tissue-like something. it certainly looks like pot. and yeah, i’ve already seen one.
take note: SEEN. NOT TRIED.
ilgin said that no, it wasnt pot. it’s just cigarette. the thing is that he doesnt smoke factory cigarettes. he makes his own.
he explained it to us.
he buys that tissue-like something and tobacco. then, he puts them up. he said that it taste different.
and the thing was that tissue-like something is also used to smoke pot. that’s why it looked like one.
he told us that when he’s smoking in the streets, people stare at him. some even ask him what the hell is he smoking.
i swear, it really looks like he’s smoking pot.

then, around 10:30, we had to go. they had to go to their hotel and we had to go back to our houses.
it was hard to say bye coz we dont know if we’ll see each other again.
i hope so.
with ilgin and tim, we might. but with benedict, no chance. benedict arrived this february so... basically, no chance at all.
it makes me sad.
i dont have any idea when i can see these friends who live in other parts of the world.

today, i didnt go to school coz there was a meeting with the other foundation called Lucci.
actually, i didnt want to go but simon and lawrence were pestering me last night.
fine.
it was a 30-minute meeting.
then we ate out.
lawrence, simon, kyle, celestina(switzerland), and abbey(US).
we were all talking in english. abbey and i were talking about that we havent spoken english for like 8 months.
i mean, i havent spoken english before this new group arrived.
and celestina doesnt speak english that well and she’s one of those people who says ‘ESPAÑOL’ when we’re speaking english.
but today, everyone’s speaking english.
sweet.
and we’re learning new stuff too!
haha...
lawrence asked me what does ‘root’ means.
i was like, ‘uh, the part of the plant that is beneath the earth.’
he was like, ‘what else?’
i was like, ‘the basis of something else.’
he was like, ‘yeah. what else? something different.’
abbey, kyle, cele, and i were all like what else is there?? that’s the meaning of the word ‘root’.
then lawrence and simon told us that in their continent the word ‘root’ also means ‘to have _ _ _’
we were all dumbfounded...
root, bang, shag, and some other words all means the same thing.
i know the word ‘bang’. yeah. but the rest... never thought that they could mean something else.
it was quite a laugh, actually.

i remember one time when lawrence was asking me how do you say ‘rugmuncher’ in spanish.
i was like, ‘what the hell is that?’
he told me, ‘rugmuncher. carpet-eater. you dont know that?’
i was like, ‘no. who the hell munches rugs and eats carpets? what the hell does that mean?’
sara, the swedish girl who has been living in D.C. for 16 years doesnt know it either.
then, lawrence and simon explained it to us.
rugmuncher and carpet-eater means lesbian in australia and new zealand.
oh...
one might wonder what does rug and carpet have to do with being gay.
sara and i wondered about that too.
then, they explained it to us.
it’s not appropriate to put the explanation here. so just think about it.

lawrence told me that he believes that the words ‘okay’ and ‘fuck’ are international.
they could be understood in every country even if the language of that country is not english. we asked may (thailand), miku(japan), ilgin(turkey), christian(denmark) and they all told us that those 2 words can be understood in their countries.
sweet.

okay. till here.
i’ve got less than 2 months left so im enjoying it to the fullest!

((loving Wonderwall by Oasis... Foofighters... Fort Minor... Queen...))

“there’s nothing wrong with waiting for your Mr. Right Guy but there’s also nothing wrong with having phenomenal moments with the wrong ones while waiting for him.”
--- some movie or series that ive seen here that i cant recall...

“...if you never try you’ll never know...”
--- fix you by coldplay

5:42 AM
Y Y Y