On Assignment

I have heard many times that the second most hazardous occupation after being a soldier on the battle field is working at a construction site. (I think i could almost agree, even if the worst thing that happened to me was having something fly into my eye)

Curiously enough, the hazardous nature of the job is not what i associated most to soldiers on the battle field. If youre familiar with the famous photograph of the sailor that emraced and kissed his partner after being away for so long, and finally arriving home, then you have a clear picture of what i mean to say.

Being away "on assignment", means you have to be away from the people you love, beingn away from that familiar environment you call home. After having spent a few months being only one of 5 girls among some 200 men in the jobsite, i saw the photo of this sailor come to life many times. There are those that tell stories of the family that awaits them at home. "I have to go home soon, i've been here too long (this man, one week on the site). I have three kids, and i want my two youngest ones to recognize me still!" They need not say much to express the joy they feel at the very thought of them, their faces change, their thoughts drift. They literally light up. And then they go on, "...at home, i have a little girl that does so well at school, she's great, she just won a photo contest recently, you know? And she's never even been into photography!" Another asks to be allowed back for a few days to be present at his first grandchild's baptism, "I have to goback, this is the first grandchild, is is essential to be there, this is sacred!"

There are others that send their wives over for a few days, others entire families, even grandchildren. "My wife is coming over in a few days, and my little boy too!" "My wife is going to be here this week!" "My son is coming to work with us, and his wife and kids are goingto keep us company for two weeks! I'm going to see my little kids again!"

Others ofcourse, are not-so-committed, and meet girls "on the road". They take them to get togethers, party with them i suppose, among other things. And there are others that go even further, and bring them from "the road", to "the room"...you know what i mean.

As for me, i long to come home, and be that lonely sailor, at that long awaited moment to be in the arms of the one that he loves. If i may be more realistic, my equivalent would be meeting my mom at the airport with my brother and dinner at a chinese restaurant-not a bad substitute!!!

Lessons Learned

Not-so-fresh out of college, i had it clear what i wanted to do: join a firm where i would start from the bottom, learn the nitty gritty of architecture. Simple, practical things from which i could build my experience as an architect. And here i am now, at a jobsite, and 3 months at that.

I consider myself lucky to have the chance to work and be exposed to so many things; from drawing plans, to thinking of the structure that would carry it (i think now it is obvious that i work with engineers), to calling suppliers, ordering materials, seeing them being built on site, checking that it is done right, on time, and evrything over and over again.

Now that these 3 months are over, and i am poised to start something new, and as i look back, i learned some very important things i will take with me always.

1. No matter how quickly you have to work, no matter how much pressure youre in, you give the best you've got. If it's still not enough, it is already beyond you.
2. A little piece of home should always be brought with you, be it the food you like to eat, the company you keep, or time for yourself, to do YOUR thing.
3. Never NEVER let your temper get the best of you even if you've had enough.
4. Construction details make me whoooozzzzzyyyyy.
5. The internet is essential.
6. At the end of the day, the most important things, the things that matter to you the most will stick. No need to worry about forgetting too many details of what you've seen and learned.
7. Home is DEFINATELY where YOUR heart is.
8. Losing step, stumbling to the ground isn't too bad after all, after you get up and bush the dust off. Scars build character.

Yup, these aren't architectural stuff, but things thaht will definately stay with me always, no matter where I am, no matter what i do.

Hand In My Pocket by Alanis Morisette

I'm broke but I'm happy
I'm poor but I'm kind
I'm short but I'm healthy, yeah
I'm high but I'm grounded
I'm sane but I'm overwhelmed
I'm lost but I'm hopeful baby

What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be fine fine fine
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving a high five

I feel drunk but I'm sober
I'm young and I'm underpaid
I'm tired but I'm working, yeah
I care but I'm worthless
I'm here but I'm really gone
I'm wrong and I'm sorry baby

What it all comes down to
Is that everything's gonna be quite alright
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is flicking a cigarette

What it all comes down to
Is that I haven't got it all figured out just yet
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is giving the peace sign

I'm free but I'm focused
I'm green but I'm wise
I'm shy but I'm friendly baby
I'm sad but I'm laughing
I'm brave but I'm chicken shit
I'm sick but I'm pretty baby

And what it all boils down to
Is that no one's really got it figured out just yet
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is playing the piano

What it all comes down to my friends
Is that everything's just fine fine fine
I've got one hand in my pocket
And the other one is hailing a taxicab...

2 More Days

2 more days and ill be leaving tenerife, and 2 more days and ill be home! I can't wait. It's like waiting for Christmas!!! And my "gifts" being having my family around me again, sleeping in my bed, seeing my frieds, and MORE friends.

The day after i arrive, one of the people i consider to be my closest friends is coming to spend some TWO WEEKS over at our place. Some days after that, more friends will arrive, friends from as long as i can remember who i am lucky enough to have in the same country as I, and one that is on vacation, who will be the 3rd installment of the group that's coming over. I'ts going to be crazy fun, all of us at our apartment with my family. All of us giong places i have never even been to myself. We're going to see beaches, walk along calle San Miguel (my favorite street in Mallorca), eat ice cream while listening to the musicians that play on its narrow streets, see the paintings of artists who share the same spaces as the musicians. There will be other things too, like shopping. 5 girls all together is dangersous for any pocket. But i hope my "discipline" won't fail me! I'm also looking forward to having them meet the new friends i've made at Mallorca--they will surely show my Manila friends a good time.

I'm really excited. And i can't wait for my Christmas in July!! It's true, God will always look after you. After all these months of work away from everything, i'm going to be with my family, so many friends at the same time, everything I was away from, ten fold.

IM ALIVE!!!

Yes, i know, i'ts been a hundred years since i last left an entry on my newly created, and then abandoned blog, but i´m back! Got credit at an internet cafe nearby and now have plenty of internet hours every Sunday.

So what have I been up to the past 6 months? Well, shortly after my last blog entry, i had planned to leave for a long-awaited adventure: find a job, an apartment, and a life on my own in one of my favorite cities, Barcelona. But some two weeks before my flight, i got a job offer from a hotel company in Mallorca and i looked at my options. It's either i go to Barcelona, find something for myself (which im not sure how long it will take, but eventually find), or take a job from a good company where i am guaranteed of many more things than the unknowns of if i had left it for something else i didn't yet have. I weighed the two options, I and i thought, well Barcelona could wait. If i stay in Mallorca a little longer, i would have saved more, and have more time with my family before moving out on my own (i had only been in Spain with my family some 6 months then). And so here i am now, in Tenerife!

How did I get to Tenerife? The hotel chain i work for has a renovation project for one of its hotels here, so i've been sent to work on the drawings on the site. The whole experience has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. A hotel of some 400 rooms and many of its ammenities had to be renovated in 2 and a half months, with only a colleague and i doing the drawings. (Yup! I thought it was crazy too.) Getting aquiainted to the world of work here, and the environment too, cost me a little bit of time, and there’s also missing the comforts of your family and friends, the access to communicating with them especially if many of them are far away. But over all, I’ts been alright. Back in Mallorca, when I was still working at our base office, I was working on projects in Malaga, Tenerife, one in Mallorca, and another in Fuerteventura (also in the Canaries), and I thought to myself, I’d like to see the Canaries, Tenerife to be exact. And little did I know that I’d be sent over with a one-way ticket. All in all, I’ve been here a total of two and a half months now. The project is due to finish at the end of the month.

As to where I go from here, well, working for this company, I’ll really never know, as everything pretty much comes as a surprise. But the next adventure is already planned and ahead of me: taking the board exams in January! Wish me luck!