i’ve been to italy!

in case you’re not my friend on facebook and you do read my posts, you must’ve read somewhere of my great fortune to be able to attend a workshop in Italy last year. the trip already had its first anniversary and i never got around to blog about it. eh kasi naman, pahamak talaga kahit kailan ang trabaho. hehehe.

of course, i was on “official business” when i was there but all work and no play makes bursky dull and sad. (paano na nga ulit yun?) it really helps di naman na ka-age mo yung mga nasa workshop tapos eh lakwatsera din sila! XD

dinner at D’Napoli in Trieste

this was my second trip sponsored by ICTP, the first was in Bangalore. saling-pusa lang talaga ako dun sa India, actually. i was just trying to get a feel for the field i’m working in. but this workshop i was genuinely interested in because it covers a wide range of topics that were very VERY interesting to me. though not all of them were covered. i just wish we had spent more laboratory time and some one-on-one work with the professors or even worked on the exercises in pairs. (clearly, i wasn’t prepared again because i think i was the only non-PhD or PhD candidate there) but the theory lectures were very enlightening. pero it’s as if i was back in college — habang nagle-lecture si prof, i would understand the concepts completely. but once i got out of the room, everything goes blank. it’s embarrassing.

i don’t know din if the professors were really intimidating, i was just too shy, or it was a self-esteem problem i had. i wanted to be mentored but was at the same time afraid to be thought of as a poser or someone who pretended to be smart. ayokong masabi nila na i just applied to get to Italy for the free fare when they hear me open my mouth and ask the stupid questions kasi di naman talaga ako physicist by training. (in the order of genius, physicists rank high up on my list.) yun ang naging problema ko eh.

well, ngayon, wala na akong magagawa tungkol dun. i just have to read about the materials i brought with me and the programs they sent along with them. sana maalala ko pa. but the greatest thing about this trip was that i met wonderful and smart people, my co-participants in the workshop (shout outs to Iva and Lidia, my “dates” during my stay. LOL!), and some geophysics legends and bright minds!

yes, i’m friends with Tony Stark. 😛

i have a friend who went to Finland and could totally relate to what i’m saying here. siya naman eh gusto din bumalik ng finland and we would just sigh together, reminiscing about our short stay in our respective parts of europe. we were both bitten by the Euro bug. i miss my closest encounter with winter. i miss the cool wind na parang galing sa aircon. i miss the Adriatic sunset. heck, i even miss the long train ride from Trieste to Venice! sa totoo lang, parang nararamdaman ko na may kabit ako dahil lagi ko siyang naaalala. lagi kong naiisip na gusto kong bumalik sa kaniya. na kung may pagkakataon ulit, gusto ko siyang balikan. (see! it really seems like i’m having an affair. like i have a mistress or something!) LOL

paano mo hindi mami-miss ang lugar kung ganito ang makikita mo pag-gising?

the Manila Bay sunset could be just as beautiful. if only we had the right view

one of my “postcard” shots of Miramare castle

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