reality check

For those who have been waiting wearily for my post on the interview for two weeks already and still are, this update is for you. My blogging instincts have repeatedly urged me that I need to update as soon as possible. So I came up with this mixed bag of a post about several things:

1. There's nothing like feasting on free sumptuous hospital food at the Rio Grande Regional Hospital. I am not joking -- "sumptuous hospital food" is not a contradiction in terms. The entrees at Rio Grande's cafeteria are an exception to the definition, really! To prove it to you, I'll take some pictures next time. Hehe.

This week, my father and I have volunteered for three days straight since Wednesday. With virtually nothing to do at home, we decided to work thrice a week to complete the 150 hours before the fall semester starts. We've already accumulated a little more than fifty hours since we started last March. There's still a hundred more to go before both of us could qualify for the scholarship, but I'm not really worried about it, because the fall semester at UTPA and STC won't begin until late August.

I'm immensely enjoying it. Upon arriving at the hospital around 4 in the afternoon, I would lazily splay myself on the very comfortable office chair (with wheels) at the information desk. And every time a visitor would approach me I'd chant, "Hello, how may I help you?" while I sport a toothy and sheepish grin on my face.

It's a no-brainer, but at least I get to practice my enunciation. In English, that is. "Perdon, no hablo Espanol," I would tell the Mexican visitors. I would summon the security guard, who would then translate for them. The shift lasts for four hours, and we stop giving out visitor passes at eight.

2. The good news is, I had been accepted to the Ambassadors program. The interview was OK. A panel of three friendly women asked me questions like, "Can you give us examples where you took on personal responsibility upon yourself?" -- to which I answered, "For five years, I lived in a dormitory, away from my family, while I went to school. I guess that's a very good example, because I learned to live and take care of myself," and so on.

The bad news is, the $6/hour "stipend" is considered employment, and I won't be receiving any cash for my service. But thank God for not leaving me without a consolation. Ms. Broshears, the officer-in-charge, assured me that they'll be giving a stipend of 200 dollars to each Ambassador for the leadership and freshmen camps, and they won't be withholding that from me.

3. The Office of Student Development approved our application for office space next year! We're entitled to a spacious and professional-looking cubicle at the second floor, complete with four chairs and a table. May tambayan na kami, yey! I'll be spending much more time with my fellow Crusaders (that's what we call ourselves), whom I've only seen once a week last year.

4. My mother convinced me a few nights ago to try staying behind the steering wheel. It's indispensable to know how to drive here in the States -- you'd get nowhere if you didn't. My father will be having his clinicals this fall if he gets admitted into the program. His schedule will be incompatible with mine, and I will have to drive from UTPA to STC to pick him up.

To avoid any accidents, we went to an uninhabited subdivision five minutes from our apartment. As usual, I was nervous, even though I drove only at 20 mph. I clutched the steering wheel with clammy hands and put my trembling right foot on the accelerator. Vroom! The car jerked forward as if being pulled by a giant magnet. "Dahan-dahan lang," my mother warned. Apparently, our car's pedals are very sensitive -- even the slightest increment in my foot's push spelled a 5 mph difference.

Fortunately, I wasn't my clumsy and destructive self that night. I didn't crash into a garage -- which I almost did the first time I drove last August -- but I had to endure quite a few exasperated shouts of "Mali, hindi mo pa rin nakukuha, ay ewan!" from my mother.

5. Lastly, and most important of all, I met with Him two days ago. It was three in the morning. I was awake and alone, waiting for my God to descend on this crooked heart. He did. And, oh, how great and terrible is the God of the Universe, the Holy One of Israel who reigns on high! But how tender and sweet are His caresses! I will write about what I learned from Him in another post.