overwhelmed

by the mini-united nations.

i just came from my orientation with the entire 2008-2009 batch of students at the institute of social studies. there are 200 students from 50 countries in that one auditorium. wow. there are people from uganda, ethiopia, sudan, egypt, canada, united states, indonesia, pakistan... and so on and so forth. simply amazing!

and truthfully, i'm quite intimidated by the intellectual level of the people i will be with. gah. i'm not just intimidated, i'm really scared. quivering in my boots scared. i'm not sure if good intentions and a good heart will get me to the finish line like it always had in the last thirty years of my life. however, i am here and i will work as hard as i could (why, i will even bring reading materials to study on the train WHEN i visit camille in france!).

i mean, it's exactly that diversity of cultures that drew me to the ISS in the first place. the professors in the institute are impressive and they seem very supportive of the students. but i know that i will be learning as much from my classmates' experience as well. there is a student activist in ethiopia and we know how difficult the situation is there. another one comes from the most volatile region of uganda. another one is a canadian who has worked in kenya. it's so rich in diversity! imagine the tons of information that could eventually guide me into the direction i want to take as well. i really feel i know so little about my work and i may not have enough to share. which makes me feel a whole lot better about our country compared to theirs. but comparing wouldn't really get us anywhere, right? there will always be somebody better or worse that our situation. so.

gah.

i definitely have to work doubly hard than i intended to. but if i just take this really seriously, i know there is much to reap.

i'm in europe! and studying in europe's premiere social development institute. how cool is that? way cool! how scary is that? way scary!

kaya natin to, pinas!