What makes life interesting? Is it friends? Is it family? A life without worries? Challenges? Is it your work? Your accomplishments? The affirmations and awards that you receive after a job well done? Is it service? Adventure? A life full of fun? Three Saturdays ago I went to a place made famous by a man who lived such an interesting life. I thought I knew him fully well because I have read about his life since I was about 8 years old, but then when I visited his hometown I felt that I was jus... more »

Before I came to Rome I’ve always dreamed not only of seeing its beautiful sights but also of being able to speak its language. The easy part was finding the places of interest, the hard part was and is learning the language. I have spent whole mornings, whole afternoons and whole evenings learning things as basic as verbs, adverbs, adjectives, conjunctions, prepositions, etc. Yes, the very things we learned from our elementary school teacher but have forgotten completely. Do you know what... more »

I have received quite a number of emails form friends telling me that I have such an exciting life here in Italy in contrast to their dull life in the Philippines. It seems to point out that excitement can only be found in new or exotic experiences or places. I don’t think so. Life is exciting everywhere. One doesn’t have to be in a faraway place like Italy to have an exciting life. When I was in the Philippines I had an equally exciting life. The main reason why I feel that I ha... more »

There was heavy rain late this afternoon. From my bedroom window I could see the trees swaying in all directions. The winds were unusually strong and the clouds were considerably thick. As bolts of lighting illumined the gray sky, cracks of thunder echoed throughout the Roman landscape. I wondered if there was a tempest coming, until I realized that there are no typhoons in this part of the world. I remember, when I was still a growing up kid I’d love to bathe in the rain. As soon as we... more »

Happiness comes in many, often unexpected, ways and forms: through a surprise call from a loved one, a butterfly that lands on the palm of your hand, a smile of an infant, the feel of your mother’s hands on your hair, etc. Happiness came to me today in the form of a first reading. This morning, during the mass, I was the one who read the first reading. Sounds like it’s no big deal being able to read the first reading, right? But it’s a big deal to me because I read it in Ital... more »

I just turned 31 today!How does it feel to be 31? Hmmmmm, I don’t know. This is my first time to be 31 and I haven’t noticed much difference just yet. Ah okay, let me look at myself in the mirror to see if there are unmistakably noticeable physical changes. Look, I still have my trademark thick eyebrows, my dimples are still as deep, but hey what are those…. oh my God, those are strands of white hair, long streaks of wrinkles… don’t tell me these flab that I feel... more »

When I went out of the house to go to school this afternoon it suddenly rained hard. Since I didn’t have an umbrella with me I used my knapsack to cover my head. But my knapsack wasn’t big enough so I got drenched in the rain. I ran to find the nearest cover. I tried hard to keep my back from getting wet but the wind was relatively strong and it came from many directions. My jeans and my rubber shoes got mud-spattered too. I won’t be surprised if I’ll have coughs and cold... more »