Ricordare con la Mente

Italian for "to recollect, to remember."

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It was 6:30 AM when I was forcibly woken up by my mom...

Our LASARE1 (Lasallian Recollections 1) would start at 7:30 in the morning and would end at approximately 4:30 in the afternoon...

Lasare... Lasare... Lasare...

I absolutely have no idea of when we would be taking part in an hour ago. (Blame Uno for not having any recollections!) I remember days ago... I was speaking with Rochelle inside a jeepney...

She told me that Mr. Ang, our former trigonometry / calculus teacher, described LASARE1 as "fun and interesting" whereas Mr. Ong, our former economics teacher, depicted the activity as "boring and unworthwhile."

It's hard to understand the "ambience" of LASARE1 especially if there are two opposing opinions... A conclusion I arrived to is that the one and only way I could possibly find more about this event is that I have to, well, participate in it.

My journey of self-reflection starts here...

I quickly packed up my things - Officers' Info File (for La Salle Computer Society), some writing materials, Java programming source codes, my GameBoy Micro, and three game cartridges.

A fragment of my memory...

"La ka na ba ibang laro? Puro MegaMan nalang ba?"
"Nasa bahay e."

Well, I always bring my MegaMan came cartridges (MegaMan Battle Network or MegaMan Zero series) with me. Why?

1. The MegaMan Battle Network (1 - 6) and the MegaMan Zero (1 - 4) series are renowned for being some of the most challenging RPGs (role-playing games) ever produced in GameBoy Advance*.

*Advance? Micro is a limited edition GameBoy after GameBoy Advance SP (SPecial) that also sports some features of the famous Nintendo DS (Dual Screen) and DS Lite.

My mom drove me to Gokongwei Building where I entered. After taking the Agno exit, L'Hermitage (the venue where our LASARE1 would take event) was clearly in sight. I entered the area...

I signed in the attendance log and was handed two sheets of paper and a name tag. After answering the Spiritual Gifts Discovery Test and its Summary Sheet, I met up with my friends and waited for the event to start.

We were given a brief discussion on house rules and other stuff we have to observe inside the area. Not long after, we were told to go inside the prayer room...

In every person's seat (kneeling pad) there can be found a booklet. Nothing was written inside.

Some of my blockmates made a lot of noise upon entering and this greatly upset our facilitator. He wrote something on the board. (If I rememer right, it goes somewhat like this...)

A while ago you were told that L'Hermitage was a place of SILENCE. Now I want you to GO OUT of the room. Come back if you understand what is the meaning of being inside a PRAYER ROOM. I would also rearrange the pillows which have been arranged before you entered.

We left the room. We reentered silently.

A lot of things happened. I couldn't explain the details, but we became too silent that some of us were afraid to partake in the discussions.

I was very relieved when the factilitator said the following:

"Don't worry, this would not be the trend of the day."

Well, some of my blockmates were called up to give a little information about their educational background. I didn't get called.

Well then, before long, we were told to trace our hand (right or left) on the first page of the LASARE1 Booklet. We did so...

In the palm side of our sketch, we were to write down the thing we wanted to say to God.

In the thumb portion of our sketch, we were to write down what we can contribute to make LASARE1 successful.

We had a "song" prayer... After that we were to answer the following questions:

1. What happened to you in the prayer?
2. How did you feel about what went on?
3. What did God tell you?
4. What did you tell God?
What were your insights / realizations gained from the prayer?

I was startled when I was called to answer a question.

"Which question did you have a hard time answering?"

With nothing in mind, I told our facilitator (Mr. Glen) that I had a hard time answering question 1, although question 4 gave me a lot more difficulty...

Morning break...

We had our visualization exercise (guided by our facilitator).

We closed our eyes, observed the symmetric pattern in our breathing, imagined ourselves in a place where we can be ourselves... We were told to imagine God caming to our "paradise," and we talking with God...

At the count of three, you may slowly open your eyes.

One...

Two...

Three...

We were given some questions to answer in groups. (We were grouped individually.)

1. How did you feel during the visualization exercise?
2. What are the images or characteristics of God that came out during the exercise?
3. What was the content of your conversation with God?

We discussed our answers with our group mates. We were told to create a poster after summarizing all our individual answers...

30 minutes after...

We interpreted our posters to the class. After some more time, we had our lunch break.

The food was great.

We went inside the room.

The facilitator told us that we can go home if we wouldn't want to join in the next activity (provided that we face the consequences). Everyone stayed.

We were in for the experience of a lifetime.

The room is set to explode in 8 minutes...

Such and such... The Game of Life. Our block versus our facilitator.

Red area - Danger Zone
Violet spaces - Path to Safety
Blue Area - Safe Zone
Orange Area - Graveyard

We had to cross to the safe zone by going through those purple spaces... Every purple space explodes when previously stepped on and no body weight remains. Anyone caught in the explosion would die and be sent to the graveyard. Anyone leaning against the walls die. Dead people cannot move, stand, and walk on their own. If anyone, even the dead people, weren't able to go to the safe area, the room explodes and we lose the game.

Out of 51 blocks (classrooms) that played the game, only 9 were able to win.

Did we have what it takes to survive?

We were given 3 minutes to strategize. After that, we would be allowed to ask 3 questions, then it's game time...

Game! There were many who crossed and many who died. It was my turn. I managed! The excitement and anxiety got into us, and we tried our best to help.

Your voice, your noise can kill you...

Great. Johann "died." He was so heavy (My other blockmates really had a hard time carrying him...) We lost, by the way. Sigh...

My blockmates blamed Johann for dying...

We were very disappointed. The facilitator asked us why we lost, and we answered him...

He would give us a second chance, that is, if we are able to give him 3 valid reasons...

The first thing we said was invalid. We tried again...

Our three reasons all came from the Bible...

For every person sacrificed, we can ask a question. We sacrificed two blockmates and pushed through with our game.

This room is set to explode in 5 minutes.

5 minutes?!

Now fully strategized, we managed to cross to the safe area with fewer people dead...

In the end...

Sorry guys...

You win!

There was a sudden exclaim of happiness! Alright! We were the 10th block who won the game! We're in the Hall of Fame!

This LASARE1 is fun and interesting after all... (Especially now that we won in this game. Unean-Lasallians, if you still didn't have your LASARE1, better take note of the game...)

The facilitator asked us why we won...

Answers...

We had some more activities...

Final part of the day...

Some went upstairs for confession. (Don't ask me; I don't know these things...) We stayed at the room and wrote some dedications for others... While I was writing, my head suddenly felt warmer than usual. This was followed by a minor headache. I felt that I had a fever...

After the Eucharistic Celebration, we had our snacks...

Afternoon snacks...

The activity ended.

My post should have ended here; unfortunately, this post is going to be longer than expected...

I met Diana outside Gokongwei (Agno). He was waiting for Raymond. Before long, we also saw Richard with his friends, and not long after, Raymond arrived and I went to look for my mom...

She was waiting for me outside. I went inside our car... My head hurts, not because of pain... There was a momentuous pulge of heat surging through my head... I wanted to sleep...

5:58... I went to Gokongwei 2nd floor room G209 and waited for the meeting to start. Only my Publications head was there (and her friend)... After waiting some more, the others arrived.

We had our LSCS Productions meeting. I received my ID - It was beautiful...

The meeting proceeded...

We saw the sample LSCS shirt...

8:00 PM. We were dismissed.

I went downstairs and waited for my mom. I was surprised to see Rochelle. I wonder where she is going...

I went home and discovered that I had a fever, but for the sake of my readers, I started working on this post. Eventually, my post was cut short... I had to sleep earlier than usual (1 AM). Sigh...

Joanie said that she'll join me this Sunday because she had no classes on Monday...

The next day, I wanted to go to CLIP, but my body was weak... I really wanted to see my students and congratulate them for going through this far. Unfortunately...

Well, I've showed them my blog before... So, my good students, if you do read my blog, let me warmly congratulate you. Don't forget everything that you've learned, including those that I've taught you in advance. I'll miss you all! Godspeed!

I spent the whole day working on my machine project. It was tiring and tedious...

Postively speaking, I am making some progress though. I wonder when I would be finished?

Ciao! Got to finish my project!