enter my thoughts :)

We’ve been busy these past days here in the office because of our nalalapit na Caraga-wide Ecotourism Conference on Sept. 28-30. Preparation pa lang exhausting na especially that our unit, the IEC ang may major roles. Makabagtit! But on the second thought, thank God and the conference will be our last activity! FYI, our project will culminate this October (after 2 years and 9 mos.) and the conference will be our parang final and farewell act. Hahaha. Goodbye Caraga! Goodbye bumpy and dusty roads. LOL.

And you just can’t imagine how tiring it is to travel 8-11 hours just going home or going back to the office. Grabe, you just can’t imagine it especially that some of us here go home every week for almost three years?!. Anyway, sino ba nagsabi that we work here??? Hahaha, ibang usapan na yan.. Aside from the distance, ahm, idagdag mo pa ang mga taong nakakainis. Mga tao dito sa office na walang ginawa kundi magdagdag ng problema. But I wouldn’t talk about ‘em. Dapat I’ll be sad kasi after October, awan ti trabaho kon. Waaah! Magdadagdag na naman ako sa tumataas na statistics ng mga taong walang trabaho. Kawawang Pilipinas. But anyway, as I was saying, I am not sad. In fact, I’m excited na magOctober. I guess, lahat ata kami dito sa opisina e. All the people here are so exhausted na sa more than 3 years of working in the project. As in fed up na. The project maybe perfect with poverty alleviation, gender equality and environmental awareness ek-ek na components; but we were just so FED UP! Maybe, the distance from home was the biggest factor. Almost all of us here live almost 400 kms. from here (Butuan City).

Whew. Almost 3 years na din pala ako sa aking first real job after I graduate. Hehe. As in, salary minus SSS, BIR, Philhealth and e-load deductions. LOL. But somehow, I still am thankful with the project kahit atat na atat na akong lumabas. After October, feeling ko I am like an ibon na pakakawalan na sa wakas. Weird noh. Kahit, I am sure pag-uwi ko sa bahay dala-dala ang aking malalaking bag, saka na magsisink-in ang reality na ala na nga akong trabaho at magsisimula na naman ako sa umpisa. Well, iyan talaga ang downside of being an NGO worker. You can’t be regular kasi nga project-based lang. Sniff. Sniff. Pero promise, exciting dito at challenging. If given a chance, I still work in an NGO rather in the govt.

As I was saying nga pala, I am thankful with the project kasi andami ko natutunan dito. As in literally and figuratively hehe. With the different people I’ve worked with (from the diff parts of the world, the rich and the poor, the sikat and not-so sikat, the friendly and the opposite, the IPs, etc. etc.) – as in, andami ko talaga natutunan. Things that I have not learned in school but I’ve learned here in the project. Aside from the technical aspects, siempre the realities of life. Basta, boring na xa pag ikukuwento ko pa. Pero one thing really, I’ve learned talaga how to makisama. Siempre alam ko naman ang importance nyan dati pero mas lalo pa dito sa project. Grabe, as the youngest here in the office, feeling ko kelangan kong maging matured at makilevel sa mga kaopisina ko. Siempre, esp kapag nagiging shock absorber ka, you need to be tough also for them. Unless, ayaw mo makisimpatiya sa kanila. Confusing ba? Hope not.

I’ve talked to much na. I’ll write here again maybe after the project na. O kapag “pinakawalan” na kami dito. Hahaha. Baka, that time, I’ll be writing about how boring it is to have no job or how tiring it is to look for another. Or maybe, I’ll be writing about hoping that the project did not end pa. Toink. Desperate act. I swear, I wouldn’t go back here again to work but of course, ala ako pinagsisihan why I worked here. It’s just that, parang I need a new environment na naman. Un na un!