GK, Fatcats, Traveling, Blips in Time, Dr Manhattan and Hope (One of the most malabo posts ever...or the best one yet!)

So we came from a GK visit just yesterday. It was going to be the first time we'd actually get to the meat of this whole NSTP thing and get away from all the preparations, talks and introductions. We got to the site and were immediately greeted by lots of kids that recognized us from previous visits. Some of them going, "Kuya Rap! Habulan nanaman tayo!" It felt nice to be remembered. Awkward though since I totally forgot who that kid was.

After walking up to the center of the area you'd notice that it's not as clean and pristine as all the videos about GK would suggest. There was still one river of garbage that I has yet to be cleaned up or at least fenced off so that people won't fall in. But I guess that's not so bad considering how the place must have looked before they started building better homes. Anyways, we were split up into groups. I had the distinct pleasure of being teamed up with Cheryl! Something I was thankful for because her cheerful pleasantness greatly complemented my being a badass with a heart of gold. Plus her Filipino is much better than mine...

We got to the first house. You could see that it was small even on the inside. The living room/ sleeping area comprised of a shelf of toys and trinkets, a picture frame full of medals and ribbons and a small TV (I might be making up the part about the TV). We sat on small plastic chairs near the door. Beside us you could see a thin girl was busy working on her school project about the different natural land formations in the Philippines. She was cutting up pictures from a poster and gluing them onto some bond papers. (We later found out that she owned those medals and ribbons). Beth, her mother was seated in a small chair in front of us. To her side, was her five year old son who would later on prove to be sort of the main thing about the visit.

As we proceeded with the interview we learned that our host had one more daughter who was busy playing outside and a husband that worked as a janitor. She told us that her two daughters both go to school only when they had enough money to take the trike that they needed to get there. What really interested me was what she told us about her son, Johnver's, medical condition. He had an enlarged heart and apparently needed a heart transplant. Currently they're waiting for an available donor to pop up. In the meantime, he takes medication provided by a German medical mission thing that has been working there for the past 25 years. These kind people supply him with the medicine he needs for no charge but unfortunately can no longer help him once their contract expires. That means his parents will have to buy the medicine for him. At about Php 350 per tablet, a recommended dosage of 1 tablet a day, and a minimum wage salary of Php 300+ a day (not including food, living expenses, and other things they have to pay for), I highly doubt they'll be able to maintain his medication without help.

According to her most medical missions only supply stuff like antibiotics. They do not cater to special cases like Johnver's. I couldn't help thinking about the government again. About how those motherfucking fat cats are nice and cozy living in their big ranches and huge flat screen TV's. Stealing money that could have been used to help people that will probably die without that help.

It's a sad screwed up world we live in. People can be hella selfish. There is some good though. On occassion. I guess GK is a testament to that.

I wish I could help too but then there's also I lot that I want for myself. I just saw a video that featured some hipster dude traveling the world. It's a really simple shot but the beauty from it comes from the stunning HD and the many many colorful sights and locations. It makes anyone want to quit and become a traveler. Question: how does one become a traveler? And I mean traveler not tourist.

Wish life were that easy. Wish people didn't have to die so unfairly. Wish traveling didn't cost so much. Wish I could go around the world and taste all the different dishes they have to offer. I wanna fucking eat some sushi.

Sigh.

You know there was this other thing that I was thinking about in church (other than mass blows lol). I was thinking that we're not so important. It's not a new thought but I got a different perspective of it in church. I looked around and saw all the people going to church as little blips in the history of the universe. They're just carrying on what happened billions of years ago. I mean life. As human beings we like to think of ourselves as important and special. We live our lives not considering the millions, thousands of even hundreds of years that will go by. We put importance in ourselves only (teenagers especially, psychology 101 will tell you that), when really, all we're going to do is die. The Earth will continue to exist for millions of years after all the humans on Earth have died. I'm not saddened by this though, cause as soon as my mind zooms out to that vast distance of time and space I remember where I am. Right here in a tiny little corner of the universe. Typing on my little keyboard and sipping on cold coffee.

I'm going to die but then so what? It's a marvel I'm alive in the first place. It's scary and vast out there but it's from that very same stuff that I was born.

I guess I got to thinking about this cause I remember Mr. Manhattan talking about this with Laurie Juspeczy, the Silk Spectre. He found the value of life in its unlikelihood. He called it a Thermodynamic Miracle. And if you're gonna go like, "You can say that about every life form!"

He said this:

"Yes. Anybody in the world. ..But the world is so full of people, so crowded with these miracles that they become commonplace and we forget... I forget. We gaze continually at the world and it grows dull in our perceptions. Yet seen from the another's vantage point, as if new, it may still take our breath away. Come... dry your eyes, for you are life, rarer than a quark and unpredictable beyond the dreams of Heisenberg. Come, dry your eyes. And let's go home." 


Yeah. I better conclude this thing. Maybe in a few years I can come up with something better. Right now though I hope you guys are alright with this:


The world is a dark place full of problems and death but  I guess that's why it's a good thing we can dream and go beyond what we have. Selfish or not selfish it's a way for us to remember what we can do to make our lives and the lives of others better. It's also a way for us to gain new perspectives and see the miracles in the seemingly commonplace. Johnver might be able to get some help if we do something about it. I could get to travel if I stay with my relatives in Japan. People around us become miracles that defy the chaos so prevalent in the universe. Maybe someday I'll get my sushi.


So yeah. It's good to dream, cause dreams are hopes and hope never dies.

CHORONZON: I am a dire world, prey-stalking, lethal prowler.

MORPHEUS: I am a hunter, horse-mounted, wolf-stabbing.

CHORONZON: I am a horsefly, horse-stinging, hunter-throwing.

MORPHEUS: I am a spider, fly-consuming, eight legged.

CHORONZON: I am a snake, spider-devouring, posion-toothed.

MORPHEUS: I am an ox, snake-crushing, heavy footed.

CHORONZON: I am an anthrax, butcher, bacterium, warm-life destroying.

MORPHEUS: I am a world, space-floating, life nurturing.

CHORONZON: I am a nova, all-exploding... planet-cremating.

MORPHEUS: I am the Universe -- all things encompassing, all life embracing.

CHORONZON: I am Anti-Life, the Beast of Judgement. I am the dark at the end of everything. The end of universes, gods, worlds... of everything. Sss. And what will you be then, Dreamlord?

MORPHEUS: I am hope.

A Hope in Hell