The Bearable Lightness

Yesterday, Vertigo Climbing Center had their bouldering competition, Psyche Up: Conquering Heights for Yolanda Victims. I saw great feat of balance, strength, and grace. I was left feeling inept for my climbing skills. But my greater awakening is for the typhoon Haiyan.

It was not until this weekend that the enormity of the storm has sunk into me. I have been avoiding the news because I am all too wimpy about death, dying, and suffering. Expressing how I feel about the storm and describing that pain of other people will only make them too banal. It is just all too much. And I am even more amazed that the people who have lost their loved ones and their living are much better at overcoming the typhoon’s wreck.

Probably it is their proximity to it that leaves them no choice but to overcome it. Or maybe they are simply strong. I am left with very few things to say, I just want to repost what I posed on my Facebook wall 18 November 2013:

“People who have been displaced by the typhoon have also been cut off from their past, from the geography that has defined them. This loss place is punctuated by their lost of loved ones. They are now struggling with a reality they did not choose. They are exiles in every conceivable aspect of human life. They are now stripped bare of everything they had--down to their very core. When they reached that unwanted place of exile, some felt the need for violence. But many (a far greater number that cannot be specified since optimism is beyond the reach of statistics) have held on to Hope.

We are a seven-thousand-island nation united by a Haiyan. The displaced people of Tacloban and many other places will find their way home. And we will be with them until they do.”

I would like to thank the good people of Luxembourg who have extended their help to the people of Northern Cebu.

“i like the people i met. they do not feel that their humanity is diminished by asking for/receiving help. at the same time they are not relying on help. there's a lot of rebuilding and laughter going around. many parts of the north is an incomprehensible mess of trees, tin roof, leaves, roots, plastic, and dried-up mud. i don't know why those weren't cleaned up after a week. i did see a lot of work going on yesterday. they asked us why we're helping and i told them that i'm running for congress”

Here's a video of Jay-jay's Dino during the competition yesterday:

Another Time I Got High -- Cantabaco, Toledo

I feel the need to come up with a prologue so you don’t expect the wrong things. I am not going to write about rock climbing. I posted the photo of this kid because I am so impressed by him: he climbed a 5.11 route on barefoot. In a rock climber’s vocab, that is an advanced grade.

 I am even more impressed by the guy who belayed him. I cannot remember his name but he is one of Cebu’s elite climbers. Anyway, he was just chilling there watching his friends climb when he saw these two kids in ragged, oversized shirts. They were wearing slippers that are way past retirement stage. They were trying to mix it up with us.

But instead of telling them to go away, he got a harness that would fit them and taught them the basics. After the short lecture this kid made his way up. His friend did not make it all the way up but he did.

For him to be able to see that kid’s potential despite his ragged clothes…that makes me wanna close my eyes and feel good about them and bad about myself. I never bothered about those kids before. I feel so terrible.

To be honest, I did not see the whole thing because I was busy up another route, struggling to find holds while getting stung by some tiny wasp-looking insects.

Flor took these two photos, kudos to her. This is the end of any rock climbing story you are looking for. Next paragraphs are completely irrelevant to anything.

* * *

 I hate procrastinating (and I would not recommend it to others) but it has always worked best for me. Nothing motivates me to do something than to not have the time to do it. I am pretty sure college students doing term papers can relate to this. Today I found out why Italians have godfathers: because this world is so tough a man needs to have two fathers to get through it.

So if you are wondering how this relates to this first paragraph, don’t. They have nothing to do with each other. I am simply practicing my typing skills. I am currently pressed by two deadlines: the need to write something up for my next entry at Runroo.com and the need to have a career. I love writing for Runroo because they let me go shirtless even if that may cause a decrease in their readership. I love how they advocate freedom of speech and freedom of fashion.

I am all but skin and bones but I believe that the best time to show off is when you got nothing to show off. I am pretty sure I can come up with something good. What I really need to focus on is my career. I lost track of how many times I have written this: I am jobless again. I can fill out an entire chalkboard with this phrase, like a student being punished for misbehavior.

At age 24, I feel that I am deep into the adult age and I should start acting like one. And a career is essential. I hope I had a choice. Like what Allen Ginsberg said, if only I could buy things with my good looks. Something like that, anyway just read his poem America. The worst part about my not having a career? I am no worried. I really should be. Someone should motivate me to worry. Or get me into a direction where I can accomplish things that will have positive lifelong consequences (this sentence makes me sound so smart I need to end this entry abruptly).

Throwback a.k.a. I was too lazy to post these photos and I am now catching up

"But my hand is made strong, by the hands of the Almighty." -B. Marley

I wanna jammin' with you: Mount Lanaya, Alegria, Cebu

I am keeping my expectations at a reasonable level. I thought that I could blog, bike, climb, work, and have a fairly normal social life all at the same time but it is just a little bit too. Spending most of my waking time procrastrinating does not help very much either. It took me so long to blog about this trip that this one is almost a throwback.

But I am learning new things even if I am too busy procrastrinating. For one, I have recently learned how to read topographical maps. And please allow me to indulge with my newly learned skills by posting a few maps in the post. By the way, I am a recent convert to OpenStreetMaps.

I now know that those wiggly lines on a map represent a change in elevation. If the wiggly lines are closer together, the ascent (or descent, depending on where you wanna start) is more drastic. That is because each line indicates a certain distance.

So if the map tells you that the five-meter increments are gonna be close together, that’s a problem. It’s always easier to gain five meters of elevation every half a kilometer as opposed to gaining five meters in, let’s say, every two meters. I know it’s confusing but if you are as confused as I am you will understand it. Or you can just search “how to read topographical map”s on YouTube. By the way, those wiggly lines are called contour interval by geeks. I call them wiggly lines.

On the map you'll find right after this text (which most people don't bother to read), Mt. Lanaya is south-west of that blue spot (which is some sort of a lake by the way). I did my ascent on the eastern part, along that track that passes by the lagoon. Or lake. It is much more difficult to do it on the west side, I guess that’s what they call Legaspi Trail. I always prefer to do it the easy way. If there was a bus going to the peak I’d take it.

The only problem I have reading maps is I am very good at locating places theoretically, but I still get lost when I'm out there. I guess what my friend told me is true, I have problems placing myself in the real world.

You can find Sun Xi Mountain Resort on this map. It’s right there where you can see blue scribbles. Those are GPS tracks I don’t know how OpenStreetMap works but I guess they turn established GPS traces into tracks.

These photos of me are taken by my guide who works at Sun Xi. I couldn’t thank him enough.