When was your last FIRST?

When we were kids, our parents were obssessed with all our "firsts". I don't know about your folks but I'm a first-born child so my parents documented everything from my first haircut up to my first footsteps, first birthday, first words, first day of pre-school, first medal, anyways you get the picture.

I'm sure you've noticed that, as we grow up, these firsts become a rarity. The more you do something, the more it becomes integrated into your everyday routine. Like walking, for instance. I'm sure your parents went gaga over your first few footsteps but you've done it so much after those initial ones that it's no longer a big deal.

The question is: When was the last time that you did something for the first time?
I first saw this question in a tv ad. I forgot what product the ad is for but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with cars. Or electronics. Whatever. Anyways, it got me thinking. When was the las time I did something for the first time?

The answer to that is June 2, 2007.

It happened at my aunt's house in Quezon City. I ate tuyo for the first time in my life. No kidding. It might seem perplexing to you especially if you know that I grew up in the province. I mean, there is an endless supply of tuyo in our province, that's for sure. When I was in elementary and high school, tuyo would sometimes be served alongside the usual longganisa, scrambled eggs, and fried rice for breakfast but I never tried it. Not because I'm "pa-sosyal" or whatever but because I genuinely had no idea how to eat it. I would watch my grandmother or my aunts or my cousins eat tuyo, thinking "how are they eating that, it's practically just bones?". I never mustered up enough courage to ask for instructions for fear of being ridiculed. Besides, I thought I was too big for my lola to, in tagalog, "himay" the tuyo for me. In other words, I never really tried.

Last Saturday, I was right in time for dinner when I got to my tita's place. There was adobo on the table so I was a happy person. We had just begun eating when my cousins' yaya placed a plate full of tuyo on the table. Everybody just went for it. Really, I mean everbody. Even my littlest cousin ate tuyo. My curiosity got the better of me so I decided to give it a try.

"First time ko kumain ng tuyo," I boldly announced to the whole table.

My cousins just stared at me.

"I'm serious," I insisted.

Then they just laughed.

"Sosyal! La Salista kasi eh," one of them said.

"Hindi ah! Di lang talaga ko marunong kumain," I said in my defense. "Pano ba kasi?" I prompted.

"Watch and learn," said one of my cousins then she proceeded to instruct me.

So that's how I ate tuyo for the first time.

The End.

It might seem like a simple thing to most people but that incident made me realize that I really am starting to grow old (I know, eighteen's not really THAT old but you know what I mean). I want to start doing more things that I heaven't tried before. Like try out for the Green Archer fencing team or something like that. I'm starting to run out of firsts so I want to make sure that when I do something for the first time, it will be worth storing in my memory bank.

Blahblahblah..

I am bored out of my mind. It's only the third week of classes which would explain why my life is not as hectic as it usually is during midterms or finals. It's weird though, because I hardly stay put. I'm always doing something. I always have to be doing something because if I stay put long enough, I could go bonkers. I can't help it, I am just easily bored. I have a very short attention span. If it doesn't pique my interest, my mind just goes wandering off to other things. This is a major problem that I am trying to figure out how to control. It's especially hard when I am in a class that I don't like.

Speaking of classes...

I only have five subjects this term. And if that isn't enough to make full-loaders envy me, all those five subjects happen to be floating subjects. Before you start chucking tomatoes in my direction, let me just say that there was no way for me to enroll in major subjects this term because I just shifted to ISE last term. Anyways, it's not a story that I feel like telling right now.

Where was I before I so rudely interrupted myself?

Oh, yeah. Subjects. I have five this term and they are: ALGE101 (Algebra), GENDERS (Gender Studies), PHILPER (Philosophy of Person), INTOECO (Introduction to Economics), and LITELEC (Literature Elective).

I don't even wanna talk about ALGEBRA. There is a reason why I am in the College of Liberal Arts and not the College of Engineering, you know. Math is my worst subject. It really is. It just doesn't come naturally to me, that's all. If i had been gifted at solving mind boggling equations, I probably would have wanted to become an Architect (if I had been given the ability to draw, too, which, unfortunatley, I haven't) or an Engineer or a Rocket Scientist or whatever. But, alas, I suck at Math. Which is why I dream of becoming a Lawyer. You don't need to be a Math whiz to pass the bar exams, that's for sure. My ALGE101 professor seems like a nice lady but I am quite intimidated by her because, apart from teching part time at DLSU, she teaches full time at another university here in Manila. And, get this, she teaches graduate school engineering. My jaw practically dropped when she told us this. But she's been really nice so far. She's very approachable. She does tend to teach a little too fast every once in a while but she's always ready to entertain questions.

GENDERS is one of my favorite subjects. According to my prof, only La Salle has a Genders Studies course. Just in case you're not familliar with the subject, let me give you a short description: Gender Studies deals with issues regarding Human Sexuality, Sex, Sexual Orientation, and the like. It looks at these topics through a Biological and a Social perspective. It's very informative. You have to have a fairly mature mind in order to view the topics in an intellectual perspective. That, according to my prof, is why the subject isn't open for freshmen. My prof this term is a brilliant woman. She's very smart and it shows in the way that she discusses topics in class. She's funny, too. Which is why I like Genders. It's never a boring subject.

PHILPER is the second Philosophy course that we are required to take. I'm not too fond of Philosophy but it's an ok subject. I like it well enough.

INTOECO is Introduction to Economics. It's a pre-requisite to my majors so I have to do well in this class. It's not so bad. I used to find economics boring but now, it interests me. It has to because I have to take International Political Economy, European Economics, and so on in the terms to follow. I like our professor here, too, because she's good at explaining concepts and she's quite funny as well.

LITELEC is the Literature Elective for non-literature majors. My lit elective is called PICTURA. I wanted to be in the Harry Potter class but it ran out of slots so I got shunted to Pictura. Pictura has something to do with the paragonal relationship between the sister arts of painting and poetry. Basically, we shall discuss poems based on artworks like paintings, sculptures, and so on. It sounds boring, I know. But it's not. My professor is an internationally acclaimed poet. She's amazing. Her passion for literature is evident in the way that she talks in class. She's really cool. We have to do a lot of writing exercises in class which I don't mind because the intelligence that I lack in Math, I make up for in English (all humility aside).

That's it.

I apologize for boring you if you actually finished the whole thing.

I just don't have a lot to do today.

That's why I did this.

Tchuss for now then.