Sexy, Innocent Child-Woman

Busy Weekend

Whoa! This weekend sure went by so fast. Here are some highlights of my weekend:

Friday night:

Lagare ako sa trabaho noong araw na iyon, kaya nag-relax ako pagkatapos. My department had a Christmas party. I sure had a blast! It turned out the department sponsored a "gingerbread house" decorating contest. Each table had a kit with which to make a gingerbread house, and the participants had to use cake frosting to glue things together. Each table also had an assortment of sweets--candy canes, gum drops, and all that good stuff--which the participants could use to decorate their houses. Well, in my group, Rita (a fellow graduate student and co-teacher) and I ended up doing most of the work. Rosa (the academic programs coordinator of the department) and her daughter Eva also helped out, while everyone else just watched us. It was quite an experience putting the house together, especially since the frosting was pretty watery and the house kept falling apart. But Rita and I just played around with what we had, and pretty soon, we put the house together. Eva put together a church while experimenting with the extra pieces, and we joined the house and the church together. We actually won an award for the "Most Avante-Garde" house, haha.

Here is our work of art:


After the Christmas party, I attended the anticipated Simbang Gabi mass at my school, which was co- sponsored by the Filipino and Latino student organizations. There was a reception after the mass, featuring cultural presentations. I made new friends that night. I also got to watch one of my students perform--she danced the tinikling. I didn't get home till 11PM or so. I was supposed to update my blog, but I was so brain-dead by then.

I chatted with Ame.sweet, Ayeza, and two college friends, Mike and Awit, before I went to bed.

Saturday

I didn't do anything much. I meant to go to downtown Chicago to return an overdue book and the DVDs I had checked out from the public library and/or pass by The Body Shop, which had a weekend sale. But it was pretty cold, and it started snowing again in the afternoon, so I decided to stick around (I'm not much of a shopper anyway. I totally drag my feet whenever I have to go to the mall).

I chatted with Melai and Mommy Neng for a bit. Ang saya-saya, sumakit ang tiyan ko sa kakatawa. Ang kulit niyo, hehe...mali, makulit rin pala ako. I also chatted with Nang Ethel briefly.

My friend Monica, who is in Chicago for a visit (she's going back to Chile in early January), wanted to hang out that night, so we ended up watching a movie entitled Good Night and Good Luck. It was about the McCarthy era, and she got all fired up talking about the movie afterward. (She has a master's degree in Political Science, so she gets really passionate about anything related to politics and governance.)

We ended up going to Starbucks before we parted ways. Here is a picture of us at Starbucks:


Sunday

I finally got my butt over to downtown Chicago to do some Christmas shopping. Monica accompanied me there. Despite some setbacks during the commute to downtown Chicago and my being in a funky mood (because I hate shopping, except when I buy books), I actually got a lot of shopping done. And for someone who prefers to shop on her own and who thus felt strange to have someone follow her around (among other things), I'd say I took things pretty well. I got really good deals on the stuff I purchased. I just have to buy something for my dad and my lolo. Other than that, I'm all set.

***

And that was my weekend.

I have a headache, and my back and shoulders hurt, so I'd better get some rest. Have a great week, everyone.

I can't believe I'm going home in two days!

found herself @ 1:12 AM