Tag: December 19, 2008

“My drawing was not a picture of a hat. It was a picture of a boa constrictor digesting an elephant… Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.” — Pilot, The Little Prince

Since high school, my daily routine seemed not to entail anything productive. Each day would always start with waking up late. And after a meal, my day would revolve around a computer, if not, my friends. I paid less and less attention to my studies during regular school days. And I always had that feeling of skipping classes or just being absent the whole day; hence, failing grades.

That has become my perennial problem. At the start of every year, I always wanted to change, to feel something different and worthwhile. But entering college made it more complicated.

Madaling paniwalaan ang pagiging isang higanteng bubuyog ko. Suot ang kulay kahel na costume at mga pakpak na hindi naman ako kayang ilipad, ako’y sumayaw habang pilit na hinahabol ng mga paslit na gustong yakapin ang malambot kong katawan. Kaway dito, kaway doon ang ginawa ko. Kasabay ng pagtatapos ng party na pinalilibutan ng basura mula sa mga lalagyan ng pagkain ng fastfood, nagtapos rin ang pagtatago ko sa loob ng makulay na kasuotang ito.

Napakapalad mo munting sanggol sa abang sabsaban.
Hinihintay ng buong pananabik ang iyong pagdating.
Laksang sanggol na tulad mo ang inililihim sa kanilang
pagsilang. Nasa sinapupunan pa lamang sila’y ikinahihiya’t
kinukulam na sila ng kanilang ama’t ina.

THE UNIVERSITY’S annual Christmas concert again turned the Santisimo Rosario Parish from a solemn sanctuary of worship into a hall of great music and a showcase of Thomasian performing arts but with a difference: the presence of members of high society in the audience who turned up to show their support for UST’s forthcoming quadricentennial celebration.

THE GLOBAL financial crisis and the recent scores of terrorist attacks in the Middle East and India are pressing issues to ponder upon, not to mention the domestic political turmoil stemming from numerous corruption scandals and the peace and order problems in Mindanao that continue to baffle the country.

Amid the challenges of the times, the Varsitarian asked Thomasians how they plan to spend their Christmas and the best Christmas gift they could offer to the world in its trying moments.

Ilang araw na lamang ang bibilangin bago dumating ang araw ng Pasko, ngunit tila ngayon ko lang naitanong sa aking sarili: “Paano ba namin ipagdiriwang ang Pasko, ngayong dalawa na lamang kami ng aking kapatid na narito sa Pilipinas?”

In a long white hallway, filled with doors decked in small lanterns, flickering lights and hollies, and people too sick to get out of bed, one can still find that sparkle of warmth with colleagues or even strangers– this is the Christmas season in the UST Hospital Clinical Division.

Inside the busy medical building, the untold heroics of people whose job is to save lives on a daily basis never cease, even during the Yuletide season.

With only a few days left before Paskuhan, the annual Christmas event in UST, ground sweeper Samuel Mustacho Jr. is already gearing up for the “intensive cleaning” that lies ahead. The sheer number of people that will flock to the University on Dec. 19 means that he will need to use every ounce of energy he has to endure the heavy work.

What Thomasians hardly realize is that the field becomes a dump site of sorts after big events like Paskuhan.

“My fellow workers and I usually have to work overtime until cleaning gets done,” Samuel said in Filipino.

KILALA ito sa tawag na szopka sa Poland, presepio sa Italya, julkrubba sa Scandinavia, vertep sa Russia, pero dito sa Pilipinas at sa España mas kilala ito sa tawag na El Belen o Belen na nanggaling sa salitang Bethlehem, ang lugar kung saan ipinanganak ang Panginoong Hesu Kristo.

Nagmula pa sa Italya, ang Belen ay isang Kristiyanong tradisyon na pinasikat ni San Francisco ng Assisi sa Europa bago ito tuluyang nakaabot sa Pilipinas buhat ng impluwensiya ng mga Espanyol na sumakop sa ating bansa.