misadventures of a law intern

on the rare occasions that i take the bus on the way home, something bad happens. on monday, my old phone got stolen straight out of my bag. tonight, i got stuck in ortigas for almost an hour!

ah, just one of the price to pay for a summer internship.

last week, i didn't join my blockmates for their cebu-bohol adventure. i was viewing their pics this morning (in the office, of all places). how i wished i was there. they went to a lot of places, some of which i haven't been to despite my 10-year stay in cebu. it would've been the best time for me to meet up with my high school friends. sayang!

last weekend, i got left behind as my relatives all headed to surigao for my uncle's 25th anniversary of his ordination into priesthood. 25 years is such a long time that a big celebration is only fitting. they spent one night at an island. last i heard, they all went to siargao (famous for surfing). ha, i should've been there also.

now, i can't go to davao for a volunteer work. would've been my first trip there.

but hey, i made a choice and i'm not exactly regretting it.

i'm learning a lot, afterall.

apart from legal research, now know how to operate a photocopier and a coffeemaker. not that we are asked to photocopy documents or prepare coffee, i just find it uncomfortable to ask the non-legal staff to do these things for me because well, i'm not yet a lawyer.

this weekend, i MUST learn how to 1) swim breaststroke 2) swim long enough to finish one lap, and 3) swim fast enough to try to win. that's because next week is the firm's sportsfest and guess which sport i'm competing in?

two words: good luck! good thing i have all of sunday to prepare, and rhea's willing to join me.

if it's any consolation, there's free food in the office. for a growing child like me, that should be enough hehe.


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warning: random, incoherent thoughts

be careful what you wish for.

i was lounging around most of the time yesterday at work, waiting for "the call" from my supervising lawyers. at one point, i made the call myself to ask if there's something i can do (baliw talaga). work did come at past 5pm. then another one came, due monday. now, i'm swamped with work! (and i'm not complaining.)

since i wouldn't be reporting to work today as i have to attend a long overdue make-up class that keeps getting postponed, i decided to stick around and get the first job done. i managed to finish making the digests of half of the cases assigned to me before i realized that it was 12mn already (work supposedly ends at 6 or 7pm). considering that i was the only one left at the apprentice's office and that the owner of the building was in critical condition at that time (who knows he might say goodbye soon to come and visit me), i decided to call it quits hehe. truth is, i was dead tired already that i hailed a cab on the way home.

to be clear though, i wasn't required to stay late. we are free to go home after 6 provided our work is done. my SL texted me this morning that i could submit the digests on monday. yun naman pala e!

work, as of now, isn't really as toxic as i expected it to be. we spent at least two hours yesterday "entertaining" the lawyers. we were invited to the testimonial luncheon for new lawyers where we, the apprentices, were asked to do a surprise number. within 5 minutes, we came up with an r. kelly, spice girls and backstreet boys medley, complete with choreography. that's in exchange for the sumptuous lunch which included lechon, kare-kare, pancit, adobo and halu-halo! how's that for internship, eh? i wonder what we'll be asked to do next...

the down side is that we were forced to reveal really embarrassing trivias about ourselves. one is now known as ms. topless, the other, the jailed jaywalker. as for me, i'm not telling.

*****

off to school i went this afternoon, only to find out we're not having classes for the Nth time. worst, we're holding our exam three days before enrolment in june! looks like someone's spending his summer studying, hay... so much for staying late in the office and for not reporting to work.

the bright side is that i did meet my blockmates today. as birthday treat, i bought pizza, ice cream and softdrinks. gem and yvette chipped in, their treat to the block for getting 1.75 from the terrifying one.

i also got my gift from my blockmates. the note read:

"jobert, this is to keep you looking and feeling fresh when you deal with your *ahem* clients and your boss (should be bosses hehe). have fun during your internship. don't get too stressed out. happy birthday! from: the block, cess and van"

naks, how sweet naman.

what also made my day today was when i met some of our alumni who recently passed the bar while on my way home. they thanked me for the barops work we did last time and even convinced me to go back to the college for the testimonial activity (where there's free food). what a way to inspire me to continue with my barops work.

when i got back to the college however, my blockmates invited me to go with them to sm north. being the kaladkarin that i am for today, i did go with them, only to miss the testimonial when we came back. oh well, the food probably didn't taste good anyway hehe. besides, block comes first. always will b. (that's our new tagline for our block shirt, for the block that once was b and always will b, despite the dissolution.)

tomorrow, steve is throwing an overnight birthday party at montalban, rizal. should be fun. pictures at multiply soon.


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day of survival

first things first, VKV (singko kung singko) club survives! the prof submitted the grades already and we all passed "daw." woohoo. i'm hoping this is for real. walang bawian!

*****

today was the first day of our apprenticeship at the thou-shall-not-be-named law firm. there are 10 of us apprentices (6 from up and 4 from ateneo) and we get to occupy the offices at the 6th floor of the building (just us, plus some unseen companions hehe). it's more of a waiting room really, where we await work which comes in the form of "the call."

as soon as we get assignments, we work on it either on our desktop, or rush to the library at the 4th floor, or head to the 9th floor to do some research in the lex libris. sounds like a lot of exercise, eh?

the exercise is needed however to offset the not so healthy lifestyle. free food + free coffee + lots of work + long hours of work (9 to 9 i heard) = deadly combination. good thing first day wasn't as toxic as i thought it would be, as we, the apprentices, spent almost the entire morning just getting acquainted with each other. (o, acquainted lang ha.)

i like the job so far, particularly the adrenalin rush i get while raising to beat a deadline. reminds me so much of the newsroom, except that here, there's no news. at least not yet.

the people are also very warm and accommodating. the partners joke around like everyone else does that sometimes you'd forget you're in a law firm. and you get to talk to them and share tables with them too. the only problem is that you can't leave until they're done. when you have work to do, that would really be a problem!

i just hope to enjoy this internship and learn a lot from it, too. of course, to survive in one piece would be the goal on top of anything else.


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22 and counting

plenty of reasons to be thankful for, first of which is that my birthday this year didn't fall on a good friday as it did several times in the past. that means...no fasting and abstinence hehe.

rhea asked me what's my wish this year. well, i honestly don't know. can't think of any. i think i already have most of the things i would have wished for, and i didn't even have to ask for them.

it would've been nice if my parents were still here (they left last friday), but it's not too much of a loss either. birthday or not, i was with them for a couple of weeks.

it would've been nice if our block didn't get dissolved, but such is life and there's a reason for everything. at least we spent 2 great years together.

it would've been nice if i get to have all the material things i want, but what for? i have what i need. others don't even have the barest essentials.

ah, just one more thing. enlightenment. i just need to know for certain which path to take, which road to follow. hopefully this summer.


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bye dalmie!

dalmie, one of our 3 dogs, died today after he vomited and defecated blood. he turned 1 year last month.

i'm not really fond of dogs. but when you got used to having them around, you somehow know something's missing when one of them is not there. nakakamiss din pala.

and how can i not miss dalmie? he's makulit, maingay, masiba. he'd bark at me each time i enter the gate every single day as if i don't live here. it gets annoying at times, but maybe it was just his way of making lambing.

in the end though, it was his pagiging masiba that killed him. my friend said he must have eaten a rat poison or something. our driver believes someone gave him bubog (little pieces of glass). poor dog, he never turns down any food given to him.

we called him dalmie because he was cuddly when he was young, with spots of black all over his body, resembling that of a dalmatian. he might not have been a true dalmatian, being an askal that he was, but to us, he will always remain just that - dalmie, the dog who died before his time.


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dissolved

tonight i mourn the loss of a block i love so dearly. all it took was a piece of paper, with some words scribbled on it. in an instant, we are uplaw2009b no more.

i am still at a loss as to what to make of things. there's so much to lose that i could not even bring myself to thinking how things will be different, how things will never be the same again. i'd like to think this were just a bad dream, that tomorrow when i wake up, the same boisterous and heartfelt laughter that i've gotten used to for the past two years, would greet me as i come to class. or that this were but a joke, a cruel one, that some pranksters want to pull off on the first day of april, in the way some of my blockmates are so adept at.

but a joke this isn't, and neither is this a dream. this is a reality that has yet to sink in.

strange, isn't it, that the fate of 26 people, once complete strangers but whose lives have since grown intertwined within the jungle that is law school, should now be decided by a piece of paper, as if what bound us together were a mere agreement one could so easily assail. even worse is the idea that fate is toying with our destinies like big brother meddling in the affairs of his housemates.

not a few of us are wondering as to the reason and purpose for this. i'm sure there is. there must be. for a block that once and continues to pride itself in being the most cohesive in our batch, this might very well be a test of strength. this thought, however, does little to console our ruffled emotions because the truth is, come june, we'll be sitting in different rooms, on different seats with different faces. what makes it all the more painful is that we get to see each other once in a while, only to look back at the glorious days of what had been.

i will miss a lot of things about my block. competitive digest pools. lunch-out sessions of more than 10. well-planned parties. tambay and study sessions. tsismisan and laitan portions. bangag recits. cam-whoring. and yes, i will miss being the butt of the block's jokes from time to time.

one fond memory i have of my block that i will remember most took place last december. i was running late for my trip to sagada with rhea when i dropped by the block christmas party. a lot of complications took place. we got caught up in traffic, my bag got lost, there were sudden schedule changes. i was all harassed when i arrived at the place, anything but in party mood. but they found ways to make me enjoy the party despite my being there for only 20 minutes. some of my blockmates fetched my bag. they made sure i ate. they took photos while we were all wearing our costumes. one had her driver drive me over to a place where i could get a cab. and while i was leaving, i could hear them chanting, go jobert! that was when i truly proved that this is more than just a block i could call my own -- this is a family, my family.

a family we will still be. but blockmates no more.

i'm sorry if i sound like i'm grieving for a lost loved one. it's worse even. it is more than a loved one i'll lose. it's like a part of me is dying gradually, like cancer slowly eating you up. and that's the worst part -- knowing you're about to lose that part of the body and you can't do anything about it.

thanks dear blockmates for two years' worth of memories. here's to more years ahead, despite and inspite of everything. once a blockmate, always a blockmate. uplaw2009b. always will B.


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