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
stuff and stuff and stuff
Saturday, May 3, 2008
everybody’s looking for that something
one thing that makes it complete
you’ll find it strange places
places you never knew it could be
seizing the day…
ok. so AFS camp last week. the system changed. i mean, last year when we had the afs camp, the ‘old’ students and the new ones were together in the camp. this time, only the new students had the real camp. Saturday and Sunday. then the ‘old students’ or those who arrived last year went to the camp on Sunday.
there are reasons for that though.
an afs volunteer told me that afs doesnt want the new students mingling with the some of the old stus. well, there had been problems with some of the students who arrived last year. i mean, our group ’07-’08 is divided into two:
those who get drunk every single day and insult their host families upon arriving in the morning, totally wasted...
and those who don’t.
basically, im in the ‘good’ group.
well, we’re not exactly THAT good.
we just know where the line is.
and we dont cross it.
not that often. *grin*
okay. so this year’s camp is a hell lot better than the camp that we had last year. i mean, last year, it was so freaking cold! and by ‘freaking cold’, i mean like we were wearing already wearing four jackets and we were still shivering...
and it was raining so hard. and the floor was wet. of course they dried it up but it was still moist...
and we slept on that moist floor.
in that freaking low temperature.
we were wearing jackets and we were using 3 thick ‘colchones’ (i cant remember the english word. it’s like a bed sheet but it’s a hell lot thicker.)
and since the old and new students were together during that camp, we were like 50 people gathered in one place. we sort of slept at around 3 in the morning.
well, no one sleeps early at camps!!
besides, even if someone wanted to, he couldnt have slept either.
why?
people were having this weird race using sleeping bags...
and people were playing the guitar... and singing loudly... and it was just a huge party.
well, it was a camp after all.
this year’s camp was better. i mean, there are 9 students who arrived this february. last year, there were 15 students who arrived.
then, the weather was sooooo beautiful during this year’s camp. it wasnt cold nor hot. it was a perfect day for a camp.
and the group totally rocks.
sara (sweden) and i were talking that it could have been better if we’re in this new group.
they’re not THAT good either.
i mean, they do get drunk.
((simon once told me that in new zealand he has never drunk more than a cup of alcoholic beverage. here, he drinks whatever he sees.
i once told him that he’s a potential drunk.))
and they complain about their families (but they dont insult them in their faces). i really dont have any idea why i dont get along that well with some of those who arrived last year.
but come to think of it, there is something really positive about it. i mean, if i arrived with this new group, i wouldnt have gone out with argentines that much coz i would have been going out with the exchange students all the time.
ok. so last Saturday i slept at sara’s house so that we could go together to the camp on Sunday morning.
Sunday morning. we were supposed to meet up sebastian in a bus stop at 9:45. sara and i woke up at 9:50.
she woke me up, actually.
i was sleeping and then i was hearing someone saying “kimberly. wake up. kimberly.”
and i was like, “shut up...”
then i heard that person say, “it’s 9:50”
and i sort of jumped out of the bed, literally.
i mean, what the hell...
so we sort of worried about sebastian but in the end he didnt go to the camp coz he had a stomachache.
so in the camp, we just sort of fooled around while waiting for the rest to arrive. then they separated the new students from the ‘old’ ones.
we, the old students, had a talk about stuff regarding our stay here in argentina and stuff. they asked us about our objectives, if those objectives changed, if we fulfilled our objectives, what are the stuff that we dont like here, what part of the culture aould we want to bring back to our countries, and stuff like this... after the ‘session’, we went outside, sat beneath the shade of the trees, rolled over the grass...
basically, we just fooled around.
lawrence (australia) was lifting me everytime he could that i told him that if he wants to lift weights there are places called gyms to do that. i mean, when we meet up in town, all of a sudden im just going to feel that my feet dont touch the ground anymore. then whenever he picks me up bride-style he passes me on to simon. i mean, what’s up with me??? why me??????????
simon (NZ) kept on putting pieces of grass on my hair. and when he lied down beside me, i put grass on his mouth. and he was like “hey! kim! im not a horse!”
hehehe... i said i dont care and i kept on throwing grass at him. then i saw the blue pen on the ground.
the thing is simon and i go to the same school and we sort of have a weird pasttime writing and drawing stuff on our hands. people told us that we’re like kids coz there’s always something written or drawn on our hands everyday after school. so he was lying down and his arm was on my knees. so i took the pen and started writing whatever comes to my head.
and the pen-pulling-grass-throwing battle started.
again.
then i started throwing grass at miku (japan) and may (thailand) and a bigger battle started.
im so good... hehehe...
then, we were all whining that we’re hungry. so lunch time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the truth is that we were all fooling around for the entire day.
it was so fun.
the ‘empanadas’ were totally delicious. empanada is one of the typical food in argentina. i so love it that i ate 9 pieces once.
then, we ran out of empanadas on our table. simon asked may to get him one. she did. then i also asked her to get me one. may was like “why me??”. and suddenly simon gave me his empanada.
what a gentleman...
and he asked may to get him one again.
yeah... what a real gentleman. hahaha...
in the end simon was the one who got up to get more empanadas. then when he returned to our table, he was grinning like crazy so i asked him what’s up. he told me that he stole empanadas from the other tables...
sweet.
after lunch, the new and old students were separated again. the new students had to prepare a sort of a talent show and the old students had another ‘talk’.
first, an afs volunteer read chapter 21 of The Little Prince by saint exupery. but it was, of course, in spanish. so i was like thinking of what i have read during my freshman year...
then, the volunteer started calling our names and giving each of us copies of chapter 21. and i was like ‘why dont he just pass the paper at once? it’s not necessary to call us one by one.’
then cedric showed me the paper that was given to him. it was in deutsch.
oh. ok. that’s why.
there were 4 languages. german, english, spanish, and french.
chapter 21 was about the little prince and the fox. that was when the little prince realized that even though there are a million roses in the world, his rose is unique because of the time that he spends with it. that’s also the part where the fox wanted the little prince to ‘tame’ him. the little prince did. and then when he was about to leave, the fox told him that he would cry and then the little prince said that then it served the fox no good. the fox told him that yes it did him good coz whenever he would see a wheatfield he would remember that somewhere the little prince exists.
after that, we were asked about the relationship between the excerpt and us.
we are like the little prince who came from somewhere else. we are not going to stay permanently here in argentina but the friendships that we’ve made will last because now little things would mean something for us just like what the wheatfield means for the fox. (if anyone wants to know, the wheatfield reminds the fox of the little prince because of the color of his hair.)
okay. then after that nice chat, we went back inside to see the talent show prepared by the new students.
kyle (USA) did some ball tricks using a soccer ball.
miku (japan) did some tricks using chopsticks.
may (thailand) danced.
lawrence improvised. he used something that is very similar to a bamboo but smaller. he said that it’s supposed to be a typical australian instrument. then he placed the end of the improvised ‘great flute’ in the corner of his mouth. then he began to create sounds...
it was impressive, really.
then simon showed up without a shirt and his pants were rolled up his knees. well, before he presented his so-called talent, he already told me what he’s going to do. i cant recall what it’s called but it’s the sort of a ritual that rugby players do before a match.
lots of groaning, shouting, screaming, hitting fists against chest, hitting fists against the floor...
it was impressive.
i’ve seen him do that before. and i was like ‘what the hell are you doing?’ then he explained it to me. ok. rugby is not exactly a popular sport in my country so it’s totally acceptable that i didnt have any idea about it.
after simon’s presentation, he was red all over. his knuckles, his chest, his arms.
i mean, he was hitting himself (not to mention the floor) with full force.
it has got to be like that.
the ‘ritual’ is done before a rugby game so you have to show that you’re ready for battle.
it was amazing to watch. i wish i took a video of it...
generally, the camp has been really cool.
some find the cheer in every morning
some in the solitary night
i totally love lawrence’s eyes!!!
it’s a sort of a cool combination of green and blue...
i told him that i want to gouge out his eyes before i go and im going to place it inside a jar and bring it back to the philippines with me.
and he was like “that’s a bit morbid, dont you think so?”
i told him “no it’s not.”
and he told me that his eyes are boring.
what the hell....
those are the prettiest eyes among the exchange students!
then he told me that in australia everyone has eyes like his.
okaaaaaaay.....................................................................
btw, lawrence and simon loves shopping.
it’s just sooo good to know that boys who love shopping exist!!!
so we’re icecream buddies (we’re addicted to icecream. we ALWAYS meet up in an icecream shop. always.)
we’re also cake buddies. (addicted to sweets...)
we’re also going to be shopping buddies!
when im walking with simon, sometimes i cant hear what he’s saying. it’s not that he speaks softly. it’s just that he’s 189cm tall that the sound waves barely reach my ears!!! (sound waves??)
you’ll find it in the deepest friendship
the kind you cherish all your life
btw, i know tonguetwisters and some basic phrases in deustch!!! rebecca’s teaching me. and im teaching her filipino phrases. she likes my language...
i like the german language. i swear, im going to learn that someday. besides, i’ve promised some friends that im going to visit their countries someday... germany and austria, for example. and people in those countries speak deutsch. well, deutsch for germany and ôsterreich-deutsch in austria.
i swear, im going to learn nihongo then deutsch.
as of now, im trilingual.
i want to know more languages. i want to be a sort of a linguist.
at least 5 languages. english, filipino, spanish, japanese, german. at least 5...
an afs volunteer’s father told me that my accent is like that of a french who learned spanish.
okay.... i said that i dont speak french. they told me that if i study french im going to have a perfect pronunciation.
sweet.
let’s put french after german. so that’s 3 more languages to go... cool.
and, if you know spanish, italian is going to be a hell lot easier to learn.
so that’s another language to go.
4 languages pending...
when my parents call me, i now speak in a weird combination of 3 languages. and when no one speaks on the other line, im going to realize that im talking in spanish.
and then i cant remember some words in filipino. like the word ‘fracaso’. that means ‘failure’ in english. but for the life of me, i cant remember the filipino translation. could anyone tell me????
i remember that i ALMOST forgot the filipino word for ‘health’. i was thinking ‘karunungan’ but that’s wisdom. then, the word popped up!!
kalusugan.
that was strange. i mean, how could i forget words in my native tongue???
so im thinking... how do linguists manage to keep their heads straight with all those languages stored in their brains?????????????
i mean, for 8 months i’ve been speaking in spanish. my brain is like in spanish mode. then when all of a sudden someone speaks to me in english, im like ‘wait. was that spanish? no, it wasnt. okay. english mode.’
and when im already talking in english then someone comes and started speaking to me in spanish, im like ‘that wasnt english, right? yeah, it wasnt. click spanish mode.’
the first three seconds of ‘language switch’ is driving me crazy.
for example, an argentine suddenly comes over and started speaking in english.
this one drives me crazy.
i mean, some argentines (a very very few of them) knows english pretty well but they still have THAT spanish accent. and when they speak english, it sounds spanish even though it’s not. so for a second im like “what??? that doesnt exist in spanish. oh. you’re speaking in english.”
the same goes vice versa.
like, say, when im talking with exchange students who still have really strong accents. like keith (usa), when im talking to him in english then he’ll suddenly switch to spanish, it totally drives me crazy. i mean, when he speaks spanish, it sounds like freaking english!
places i want to visit someday:
>>> canada (vancouver, québec, toronto, and ontario)
>>> germany (specifically augsburg and hamburg)
>>> austria (vienna)
>>> japan
>>> australia
>>> new zealand (wellington and the place where Lord of the Rings and Narnia were filmed)
>>> switzerland
>>> england (i dont know any exchange stus from england but i still want to go there)
((geez. im going to tour the world someday.))
lawrence told me that he’s going to come for me in the philippines then we’ll go to japan together.
if only it’s that easy...
i mean, philippine peso has a lower monetary value than thailand baht! is there a country with a lower monetary value than php????
i want to know what country is that.
i want to upload heaps of photos in my multiply site but uploading photos takes sooooooo long...
i dont believe that anybody feels the way i do about you now
and all the roads we have to walk are winding
and all the lights that lead us there are blinding
btw, there’s a sort of a not-so-cold ‘cold war’ between sebastian and me.
he’s got an argentine girlfriend as of this moment. and they were together for like a month or something.
but that’s not the point.
im happy for my ‘little austrian brother’.
it’s just that he has changed DRASTICALLY ever since he has been going out with that girl (name is belen)
well, when he was still like the old sebastian, he told me that he was spending 300 euros per month.
wtf....................................
300 euros. that’s 1500 argentine pesos.
and that’s freaking too much to spend in a month.
i swear.
the thing is that he goes out with that girl every single day. and he pays for everything.
absolutely everything.
and the girl is just too spoiled.
i mean, he told me once that they were in a shopping center then they took a taxi to the town and then the girl wanted to grab some icecream in another town.
it’s hard to explain.
imagine that you’re in megamall and then you go to rockwell by taxi then you go to MOA by taxi jsut to grab an icecream.
geez.
i mean, there are icecream shops in town! why should they go to another town???
it’s just pure whim.
then, last Monday i was with sara (sweden), lawrence (australia), león (arg), beccy (germany). we’ve just grabbed some icecream and then we were walking towards the radio station coz we were supposed to speak on a radio program about our voluntary work with the foundation.
we were walking, then we came upon sebastian and andrea.
andrea is an argentine.
she was a friend of mine.
TAKE NOTE: WAS................
im not going to put into detail what she had done to me. let’s just say that she can absolutely win the nobel prize for making up stories.
imagine that. a new nobel prize category just for her.
she should be proud...... *sarcasm drip... drip.... drip....*
ok. so the next day, Tuesday, i’ve been talking to lawrence so when my phone rang, i thought it was him.
i thought wrong, basically.
it was andrea.
obviously, the message was in spanish. (for the life of her, she cant understand any english)
im going to try to translate the message as precisely as i can. "we're andrea and belen. we're totally pissed off with u. we cant believe that ur like this. especially me, im so disappointed with u. u judge belen even though u dont even know her. u dont know that she has done good to seba. i dont know but the only thing that i can tell u right now is that the only thing that uv managed to do is separate urself from us"
so that was the message.
it is a hell lot more annoying in spanish.
i swear. i was eating pasta when i received that message.
i was like “wtf... what did i do???”
so i asked her.
her reply was <<>>
freaking hell.
i didnt reply after that.
i told lawrence and simon about that. simon didnt know the girl but lawrence do. he was with us when we came upon seba and andrea.
lawrence replied, “what’s her problem? you barely see seba nor his girlfriend. that chick is weird. maybe she’s just sick of her shitty life and needs to let loose.”
hahaha....
and simon’s reply was the best: “wtf. she’s random. tell her either get your facts straight or shut the f up.”
even though i wasnt feeling that good coz someone was accusing me of something that i didnt even have the slightest idea, i actually laughed when i received lawrence and simon’s messages.
then, earlier that day, we were walking (simon, beccy, seba, and me) to the hospital. every Tuesday and Friday at 12 noon we go to the hospital for the volunteer work.
so i was walking with simon and beccy was walking with seba. all of the sudden, sebastian started walking faster.
i asked beccy what happened. she told me that sebastian was telling her that we should do the volunteer work faster coz he wants to go home early.
beccy started teasing him. she told him that if he really likes the volunteer work and that he doesnt want to stop doing it, just like what he said in the radio program, why is it that he always wants to go home early.
then, seba got mad.
i dont have any freaking idea what the hell happened.
then last Friday, simon, beccy, and i were waiting for lawrence outside the school. i saw seba so i asked him if he’s going with us to the hospital. he said no. so i asked him why. he said that marilia’s going to be there so he’s not going.
wtf....
the thing was they were supposed to meet up to talk last Wednesday. marilia was already waiting in town, then she sent seba a message asking him why is he late. then seba replied that he cant go coz he has to help a friend translate a letter to german. obviously, marilia got pissed off and sent him a message saying ‘thank you very much for telling me that. now dont ask when people tell you that you’re a liar’
then, when lawrence arrived, we were about to leave but seba got hold of my hand and told me that we need to talk.
fine.
then he asked me,”what’s wrong with you?”
geez. i was like “what’s wrong with me? there’s nothing wrong with me. try asking yourself. you, what is wrong with you?”
then he told me that i was ignoring andrea last Monday and that even he noticed that and that i dont like his girlfriend and that beccy was accusing him that he was a liar and that i didnt even talk to him during the volunteer work last Tuesday and that marilia told him that he’s a liar and that im acting as if that was true and that i didnt go to his house a couple of weeks ago when he had the burger party coz i dont want to be with andrea and belen and that we’re all implying that he should break up with his girlfriend and that he should only hang out with us and that he has a life and other friends not only us so we cant oblige him to always hang out with us...
wtf............................................................
i wasnt ignoring andrea. i greeted her. and i was trying to talk to her. yeah, i didnt want to talk to her but just to be nice i was trying to talk to her last Monday. but i was with the others and seba and andrea were talking about something else.
yeah, i didnt want to talk to her. not after what she had done to me before. but i wasnt ignoring her.
hell, if i WAS ignoring her, i shouldnt even have greeted her.
i dont like his girlfriend?? i dont even know her... yeah, ive seen her but never talked to her in the sense of ‘talking’...
every single person in the foundation keeps on cracking jokes about belen not because we hate her but because sebastian has changed a lot ever since he’s with her.
majo always tells him that he’s under a martial law, governed by belen.
that’s true but we’re just fooling around.
and beccy wasnt accusing him of being a liar!
beccy was just kidding!! wtf...
no one talked to him last Tuesday coz he was really annoyed. i was asking him what the hell was wrong with him but he told me to leave him alone.
so i did.
then now he’s annoyed coz i didnt talk to him???
he didnt want to talk with anyone! he was annoyed with what beccy told him! freaking shit....
yeah, marilia sent him a message about that liar stuff but i dont have anything to do with that.
im not marilia. and i dont have control over what she wants to say.
and, hell, im acting as if what beccy and marilia said is true???
if he feels guilty, it’s not my problem.
and no one’s implying that he should break up with his girl. and yeah, he’s got other friends. we freaking know that! no one’s telling him to hang out with us all the time...
f..................................
im pissed off.
still pissed off.
while we were arguing outside the school, simon and beccy went to the breadshop to get the bread donations. lawrence stayed with me. he was sitting on the steps of the school entrance but he can obviosuly hear everything.
i was pissed off. totally. so i told sebastian ‘chau’.
without the normal cheek-kiss (argentine culture)
and while we were walking, lawrence’s arm was around my shoulder. he told me that he heard everything. then he told me (in english) “dont worry about that mad austrian bloke. you have us. dont mind him.”
i was pretty upset but i sort of laughed a bit with that.
then i was telling beccy what happened.
the story took longer than normal coz i was telling it to beccy in spanish. then simon’s gonna lean closer and say ‘what?’ so im going to repeat it in english.
then, i told marilia about it.
she wrote a text message and saved it in my phone. she told me that if that andrea bothers me again, i have to send it to her.
the message goes like this: <<>>
i really dont know what happened to sebastian. he’s picking fights with everyone. and the thing is that in 2 months he’s going to go back to austria and that girl is going to stay in argentina.
it’s not as if they’re going to marry or something.
well, let him think whatever he wants to think.
he’s 15 and gullible.
but i swear, if i have the money and contacts to hire an assassin, i would have done it right now.
or, better said, if i could, i would have killed that andrea now.
last Friday, after the grand shouting match outside the school, when we were walking to the hospital, i was saying that im going to kill andrea before i go.
lawrence told me that he’s going to buy me a gun.
beccy said no. she told me that an ice stalactite would be a better weapon. the ice would melt and would leave no evidence behind.
hehehehe....
we’re potential killers.
geez. how i hate that bitch.
a long time ago, when i still trusted her, i told her that im interested in keith. then, she told sebastian about it. that was fine coz seba’s my friend. but she shouldnt have done that without my permission. that was a secret.
ok. fine. she’s a big blabbermouth.
then, she told me that seba told her that keith told him that keith likes her.
so i was like ‘okaaaaaaaaaaay........’
i mean, i dont have anything against that. it’s not as if i like keith. im just interested. he was pretty interesting for someone from the US. really.
then, i asked seba about it. he told me that keith has never told him anything and that he has never told andrea anything either.
there was like a massive flaming red sign hanging over andrea’s head.
the sign says : IM A BIG FAT LIAR.
then, seba told me that andrea told him that she wants something to happen between keith and her. seba told her that no, she cant do that coz it’s unfair coz she knows that im interested in him. she told seba that she’s still going to kiss keith regardless of whatever. seba told her not to do that. then she got mad at seba coz she thinks that seba cares more for me than for her.
what a freakingly stupid girl.
then, a couple of days later, she told us that keith is gay.
now, the sign over her head says : IM A BIG FAT DESPERATE LIAR. ANYONE WHO REJECTS ME IS GAY.
i would have said, ‘anyone who DOESNT reject you is either blind and totally dumb OR more desperate than you.’
this entry is freaking long.
till here.
XOXO
7:18 AM
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