Weanne Myrrh. 20. Filipina Seventh-day Adventist.
Past Posts
May 9, 2009
May 10, 2009
May 11, 2009
May 12, 2009
May 14, 2009
Oct 28, 2009
Oct 29, 2009
Nov 1, 2009
May 10, 2009
May 11, 2009
May 12, 2009
May 14, 2009
Oct 28, 2009
Oct 29, 2009
Nov 1, 2009
Wednesday, October 28
Rocking the Vote
So i know i haven't done anything on this blog for the longest time. I've had a dozen or so blog entries all written out on my cerebrum, but transcribing them would take so much time away from my facebook sleazing time. Haha. But anyways, this is what i was up to today.
i did something i had never done before.
I registered for the upcoming elections.
Totally cool right? Finally, after 20 years of existence, I could finally exercise that which women had fought tooth and nail for in the past - the right to suffrage. Oh yeah. Only I found out today that it's called suffrage for a reason.
It's because in order to be eligible to vote, you have to SUFFER.
Oh, the day started out pretty well. We left AUP at 8:30 AM riding the bus I thought had been stowed away in the junkyard twenty years ago. Haha. Dear AUPians, you know which one I'm talking about. It's the faithful light blue bus with a distinct noselike hood which I think was purchased from AIIAS two eons ago in order to bring the nursing students Batch 1942 to their affiliating hospitals. But despite the fact that merely touching the bus might actually make you contract tetanus, I kinda like that bus. It has a homey, old-fashioned feel to it.
But anyway. So we rode that bus. One hour and several bumps to the head after, we arrived at Silang at around 9:30 am. My heart started sinking as I caught a glimpse of what was the first sign of danger - a long, 10 meter line. Under the glorious 9:30AM sun. Without even a tent to cover our poor heads.
I should've turned back. Yes, Weanne, you should have known better than to siksik yourself in a line of people trained to singit. But naivete that I am, I fell into the trap.
Eight hours later, I was still in line.
Maybe it was because of the hordes of people cramming to meet the registration deadline. Maybe it was my fault - I really should have registered a couple of months ago. Maybe it was because lots of people were more gifted than me in the art of "singit." Maybe it was because after getting one official to write a couple of numbers on your form, you had to fall in line yet again to write your name on a logbook, then fall in line all over again to get your picture taken. Maybe it was because they only had ONE friggin computer and ONE friggin camera. Or maybe it's because our government conveniently forgot to allocate a few thousand pesos to the election budget while it was on its way to getting an extravagant, thousand-dollar dinner in the United States (Yes, I watch the news sometimes too).
It was a memorable day, though. I got scolded and shooed by a Chinese-Muslim (?) store owner for resting my tired legs in front of his pirated dvd store. "Wahla na makabhili, wala na makadaahn dahil upo kah diyahn!" To forget the crampiness in my legs, I immersed myself in playing Cooking Dash on my iTouch until I finished the entire game. Undeterred, I cracked open my trusty nursing review book and proceeded to memorize the names of the great Filipino nurses who contributed to our profession. Yes, thanks to that incredibly long line, I now can tell you off the top of my head that Cesaria Tan was the first Filipino nurse who got a master's degree in nursing in the United States. And just for your information, Rosario Montemayor Delgado was the first president of the Philippine Nurses' Association. HA!
Yet even after memorizing their glorified names, I still found myself stuck in the center of a large, shouting crowd. I could almost see Mycobacterium tuberculae gleefully skidding across the air shouting, "SUSCEPTIBLE HOSTS! SUSCEPTIBLE HOOOOOSSTTS!!!" All my nursing education forbade me from inhaling properly. I didn't even realize that I was breathing so shallowly until I reached AUP and my lungs felt like they were two breaths short of atelectasis. Upon stepping down from the trusty bus, I deep breathed like never before. Thank you, AUP. Thank you, green-carbon-dioxide-receiving-oxygen-giving trees. Thank you.
As of blogging time, I am now an official registered voter of the Republic of the Philippines, duly licensed to pick a worthy candidate in the upcoming elections. But forgive me for sounding like the proverbial Israelite grumbler, but really, Philippine government? That was the best you could do for your voters? For the youth, the hope of the motherland? Haha. In return for the taxpayers' money, you give us eight hours in the sun, three long lines, one camera and one computer?
But then again. Maybe that was their plan. Because, I tell you, after going through all that trouble, I am going to guard my vote with every fiber of my sunburnt body. Haha. Watch your backs Noynoy, Teodoro, Erap, and the rest of you presidential hopefuls. I am going to research your backgrounds meticulously, I am going to analyze each of your cliche promises one by one. I didn't increase my risk of skin cancer and tuberculosis just to throw away my vote on a half-hearted candidate. No way Jose. And to those who may want to buy my vote for a couple thousand? HA! Fat chance.
So to you who will get my vote this coming elections, please make sure you are worth the nation's effort. And maybe, just maybe, you could throw in a couple more pesos to provide air-conditioned precincts for those who might want to register for the election too. :D
i did something i had never done before.
I registered for the upcoming elections.
Totally cool right? Finally, after 20 years of existence, I could finally exercise that which women had fought tooth and nail for in the past - the right to suffrage. Oh yeah. Only I found out today that it's called suffrage for a reason.
It's because in order to be eligible to vote, you have to SUFFER.
Oh, the day started out pretty well. We left AUP at 8:30 AM riding the bus I thought had been stowed away in the junkyard twenty years ago. Haha. Dear AUPians, you know which one I'm talking about. It's the faithful light blue bus with a distinct noselike hood which I think was purchased from AIIAS two eons ago in order to bring the nursing students Batch 1942 to their affiliating hospitals. But despite the fact that merely touching the bus might actually make you contract tetanus, I kinda like that bus. It has a homey, old-fashioned feel to it.
But anyway. So we rode that bus. One hour and several bumps to the head after, we arrived at Silang at around 9:30 am. My heart started sinking as I caught a glimpse of what was the first sign of danger - a long, 10 meter line. Under the glorious 9:30AM sun. Without even a tent to cover our poor heads.
I should've turned back. Yes, Weanne, you should have known better than to siksik yourself in a line of people trained to singit. But naivete that I am, I fell into the trap.
Eight hours later, I was still in line.
Maybe it was because of the hordes of people cramming to meet the registration deadline. Maybe it was my fault - I really should have registered a couple of months ago. Maybe it was because lots of people were more gifted than me in the art of "singit." Maybe it was because after getting one official to write a couple of numbers on your form, you had to fall in line yet again to write your name on a logbook, then fall in line all over again to get your picture taken. Maybe it was because they only had ONE friggin computer and ONE friggin camera. Or maybe it's because our government conveniently forgot to allocate a few thousand pesos to the election budget while it was on its way to getting an extravagant, thousand-dollar dinner in the United States (Yes, I watch the news sometimes too).
It was a memorable day, though. I got scolded and shooed by a Chinese-Muslim (?) store owner for resting my tired legs in front of his pirated dvd store. "Wahla na makabhili, wala na makadaahn dahil upo kah diyahn!" To forget the crampiness in my legs, I immersed myself in playing Cooking Dash on my iTouch until I finished the entire game. Undeterred, I cracked open my trusty nursing review book and proceeded to memorize the names of the great Filipino nurses who contributed to our profession. Yes, thanks to that incredibly long line, I now can tell you off the top of my head that Cesaria Tan was the first Filipino nurse who got a master's degree in nursing in the United States. And just for your information, Rosario Montemayor Delgado was the first president of the Philippine Nurses' Association. HA!
Yet even after memorizing their glorified names, I still found myself stuck in the center of a large, shouting crowd. I could almost see Mycobacterium tuberculae gleefully skidding across the air shouting, "SUSCEPTIBLE HOSTS! SUSCEPTIBLE HOOOOOSSTTS!!!" All my nursing education forbade me from inhaling properly. I didn't even realize that I was breathing so shallowly until I reached AUP and my lungs felt like they were two breaths short of atelectasis. Upon stepping down from the trusty bus, I deep breathed like never before. Thank you, AUP. Thank you, green-carbon-dioxide-receiving-oxygen-giving trees. Thank you.
As of blogging time, I am now an official registered voter of the Republic of the Philippines, duly licensed to pick a worthy candidate in the upcoming elections. But forgive me for sounding like the proverbial Israelite grumbler, but really, Philippine government? That was the best you could do for your voters? For the youth, the hope of the motherland? Haha. In return for the taxpayers' money, you give us eight hours in the sun, three long lines, one camera and one computer?
But then again. Maybe that was their plan. Because, I tell you, after going through all that trouble, I am going to guard my vote with every fiber of my sunburnt body. Haha. Watch your backs Noynoy, Teodoro, Erap, and the rest of you presidential hopefuls. I am going to research your backgrounds meticulously, I am going to analyze each of your cliche promises one by one. I didn't increase my risk of skin cancer and tuberculosis just to throw away my vote on a half-hearted candidate. No way Jose. And to those who may want to buy my vote for a couple thousand? HA! Fat chance.
So to you who will get my vote this coming elections, please make sure you are worth the nation's effort. And maybe, just maybe, you could throw in a couple more pesos to provide air-conditioned precincts for those who might want to register for the election too. :D