"Breathe"...Wilkommen to Muscat

Yes indeed, Intdiva has landed to the city of angels and saints: Muscat! After an epic 24hr or so flight from Edmonton, Canada via Frankfurt & Abu Dhabi, yours truly has finally arrived in the capital of the Sultanate. Welcome Juniva!

I have been here for 4 days now and it is taking quite some time to a)recover from jetlag, b) go thru my period (my monthly visitor) and c), the formidable full moon that never ceases to affect my emotional state. Needless to say I have been feeling surreal (there's that word again) in the last little while since arrival.

But my first impressions of Muscat are fantastic so far. Apart from the nice hospitality I am getting from my hotel here in Al Khuwayr, I am also being treated ever so kindly by my boss and my colleagues from CfBT, rather The British Training Institute, where I hold the position of an instructor in the ESL/ESP program. The other day, I had a nice introduction to the area,in a place where we all sipped beautiful Arabian coffee while gazing at the stunning Arabian sea. I almost felt like I was in the Mediterrenean here, with the azure skies, breathtaking seaviews, whitewashed architecture and rolling hill upon hills as a backdrop to this gem of a vista. 

I also love the air here. Physical air and metaphorical air. The air is a gentle breeze, nice and warm as if it brushes your face like a horse's tail. As well, the general ambience is very pleasant. Easy-going as if time is always standing still. Nobody seems to be stressed out nor in a rush. I thought to myself, I could live here and live like this...and why not?

That thought pervaded until this afternoon when I went to my first day of work at The British Training Institute. With the understanding the today was my first day of orientation and not actually teaching, I was armed with the easy-going que sera sera atittude. Little did I know that this attitude would be put to test immediately... today!

My new boss decided that I would teach right away without giving me much orientation. Just like that -seems to me on a whim- he commanded that I start the new class today since it is the beginning of the new session here in Oman. I was like, uh.. Ok. Immediately I was put to test, thrown into the hot water and had 30 minutes to prep for my first lesson that would last 2.5 hours on th topic of 'Introducing Ourselves".

Eeeek!!! Now, I had not been teaching for the last 9 months and I felt a bit rusty (insecure?) , but nonetheless, took 3 deep breaths and plunged right in! Luckily I had met an amazing motley crew of fellow teachers (mostly women) who were very supportive right away and who cheered me on my first day. Funny how no matter how seasoned of a professional I thought I was, I still got nervous on my 'first day'. :-) Everywhere every culture and every situation is different. Hence every Intdiva moment is also different :-)!

My first ever Omani group of students were a delight to teach! 6 Adults- actually 2 of them are from Kazhakstan- were such a breath of fresh air! As much as I enjoyed teaching Japanese students in the last 9 years, I found these particular students I have here in Oman are completely different as they are more talkative, candid, frank and less shy than their J-counterparts. I was elated and completely excited that such students exist!

Not saying it is a perfect situation but tonight was an example of a good deal. I just realized how good I made of a decision to change scenarios altogether. Naturally I had to give up a lot of things in order for me to be where I am now. I was just made aware of that tonight: how lucky I am to be always meeting good people in the form of colleagues, students, and even strangers (yes I see the good in strangers).

My only beef of being here, so far, is that I don't feel comfortable walking by myself. Strange coming from an super independent woman who can usually do things on her own. Not after the incident here on my second day where 3 different men in 3 different  cars  in 3 different situations/streets 'tried' to pick me up. And I wasn't even dressed nor acting provocatively! But I was reminded (no, reassured) by the Omanis that this I shoultd just ignore and act nonchalantly about. But the western woman in me just wouldn't let it rest as I didn't like the way the incident made me feel: uncomfortable to the umpteenth degree. Not scared, but uncomfortable and uneasy. SO.. that is the only thing that made me feel slightly unwelcomed about (not a prude, but you know what i mean...). Anyway, I am getting over the trauma, although I know my friend Matt would beg to differ that he would insist that I should take this as a compliment. I suppose I could do that too :-)!

Well I will have to learn to deal with future 'attention'. It might be nice and what a respite from the lack of it in Japan (from Japanese men who're painfully shy). But never had that problem with fellow Westerners, but Omani men? Hmm, a first that's for sure! Oh c'est la vie... new culture, new ways, new everything. Going with the flow here...

Otherwise, apart from all that, I am adjusting very well. I am slightly shocked by the spontaneity of my boss when he immersed me right into the teaching mode sans notice, but  I am a Great Teacher (he he he) and it was nothing I couldn't manage. Chickenfeed baby! I gotta remember that I am no longer teaching in very organized and very utilitarian Japan. This is Oman. They take things less serious here and nothing seemingly is ever organized to an anal-retentive degree!

The last five days is reminiscent of one of JG's swimming metaphors: Breathe. Head above water but remember to breathe. So yes I am reminded and I am breathing. It's the key for me to staying afloat and in flow with the water. I know that.

Well this is only the beginning. Welcome to Virgin Muscat. Here's a resounding cheers (toast) for the last 4 days so far.  See you soon. Inshallah!

Footprints in the snow

What a beautiful day to wake up to. I am relishing my last Canadian winter morning (for now). I am getting ready for my journey.  Today is the day I leave for Muscat, Oman.

Time went by fast. Guess I had been having fun all along that I never noticed the passage of time. My times of learning, of resting, of rejuvenating has now come to an end. At least here. There is always time for all that somewhere, sometime. So, yes... after months of exchange with my future organization (CfBT) , here i am!

This past week seemed like a whirlwind. From packing, to shopping to bonding with friends and families- my days were so packed that this week felt just surreal. But it is not the first time. I've been through this many times in the past. Yet everytime it is always a new surreal experience.

I am in deep gratitude for the last few months of respite and soulsearching, post-Japan. It was a perfect time to deal with ambiguities and restlessness. I am still searching, but there is now clarity. Oman may be a symbolic of good things to come :-)!

Well I better get going and continue the day of preparation. I am also savouring my last good Filipino-Canadian family hospitality.  Good to the very last drop! 

I am trading my footprints in the snow to new footprints in the sand. Wow... imagine that! 

Learning to swim

There is one awesome lady that I met during my short vacance here in Canada. I'll call her JG. I met her during one of my aquacise sessions. 

One day, I happened to mentioned at the ladies locker room (out loud?) that I would love to learn how to swim. Well, now you may be wondering: You can't swim? You see, I am one of those late-bloomers that for some reason never had the chance to perfect the skill.  And partly,I think it had to do with the fact that I almost drowned when I was 7, when I fell off the bamboo raft on the lake (man-made nonetheless) at the resort that my grandfather managed, in the Philippines. Hence the phobia of swimming. 

When I lived in Japan, I finally decided to conquer THE phobia. I took swimming lessons. From a very fit 75-year old Japanese swim instructor, mind you. It was fun, but short-lived. Though I continued to love (finally) water and finally got over the first few layers of this phobia over the years as I explored different beaches in Hawaii and Asia over the years- even braving to snorkel-  it wasn't until I came back to Canada this year that I made another decision to unravel another layer of the phobia: swimming in deep water.

For the last 2 months, after each aquacise session (3-4x week), JG would coach me for 30 minutes on the basics, so to speak, of swimming. You see, JG IS a phenomenal woman- a beautiful and powerful commanding stature of a woman. A woman whose years of life and living are marked in her body, face and overall experiences. She is 82 years old, and yes, a fantastic swimmer!

I would always watch her during my aquacise sessions, catching glimpses of breast-strokes,  her vigorous laps with the splashing of her fins,  or her lat-pulldown stretches on the edge of the pool displaying her former gymnast/acrobat self. I marveled not only at her physical strength, but also her character. With our teacher-student relationship already blossoming, I also got to know her as a friend.

"Breathe, form, streamline, roll...!" As the my swimming lessons progressed, JG would always yell these words out to remind me of these basics. These four words became my precious anchors, words that I pull out of my vocabulary and lay it out on the pool whenever I was swimming.  I call them Life Metaphors. JG laughed out loud. So she upped the ante finally. She commanded me to swim in deep water! Imagine my horror when she said, "Now go, swim at the deep end!". I  hesitated for a moment, but to make a long breathing and rolling story short, I made it! It was awesome to have my cute coach cheering me in the background. I think that did it: her belief that I could do it.

As she became my friend, I felt honored to know more about her. A life fantastic that she led, this amazing woman who immigrated from Austria with her husband in 1957 to escape -among many things-a Nazi father and some kind of illicit job she had in Cyprus ( we may call this as trafficking nowadays). She's had quite a life, having to leave and start anew and fresh in her newly adopted country of Canada.

Somehow when I found that out, I thought to myself that this may be one of the many reasons I was drawn to her. She is strong and she is not afraid of change. I love people like this. Especially women who are like this.  I can relate to JG.  And I am inspired by her life, her amazing integrity, not to forget her outstanding swimming skills. She is my mentor supreme. I sure will miss her but I promised I will keep in touch. After all, I want to ease her worries about Oman, which she mistook for a while as Amman ( in Jordan). Funny.

She is one phenomenal woman, as all the many women in my life. One day I will write more about JG.  And I will also write about all the other women who inspire me to swim in the ocean of life. 

In the meantime, I'll keep practising, I'll keep up with the swimming (Arabian sea here I come :-)) and remember my coach's words of empowerment.  Love you to bits, JG... am taking a piece of you!

a taste of ...

I turned on my newly-updated Mac only to find a new and refreshing quote on Gaia, one of my fave cyberhangouts:

" I have wrapped my laughter like a 

birthday gift

And left it beside your bed..."  (Hafiz)

Delicious. My recent discovery of the poetry of Hafiz makes me want go to deeper. 

I'm going to sleep on that thought.

Welcome to Pure Inspiration

I am beginning this new journaling endeavour to hone my writing skills which has laid dormant for some time. However this year has been extraordinary. This year has been laden with major transitions, catharsis, awakenings and visions, as you will all see as this blog project progresses in time.

Transitions yes. I lived and worked in Japan for 9 years. My choice to do that, and my choice to leave as well. My life in that country has been one of growth and transformation, of teaching and of learning. I exercised my profession there very well- I taught English in both public and private school systems. I also gave and contributed to the Japanese communities via Charity teaching, as well as to South East Asian countries via sponsorship of children's education. I drank and breathed Japanese life, culture and language with such gusto! I made friends, families and soulful relationships. I had fantastic opportunities to travel internationally, and to live a quality life and, yes a lifestyle. Naturally, as there were ups, there were downs. Homesickness and loneliness were my frequent visitors. Twice, heartbreak overstayed its visit. Culture shock came and went annually. But, overall, my life in Japan has been a beautiful part of me. This love affair with this extraordinary country that adopted and accepted me shall remain forever embedded in my heart.

However I also saw and felt that my gig in Japan was going to be over at some point. I knew there was a purpose to being there and that I would be given another reason to move on and move forward. In this case, it meant deciding to physically and emotionally leave Japan.

The decision was two years in the making, as I recalled. I was feeling restless and in dire need of change-whether that inner noise meant a new place to live, a so-called direction, path or to go deep here, a vocation in life, I didn't know. But something needed to change. Partly I was looking to heed my calling: service to others. As a teacher I am naturally driven to help and impart knowledge. I loved teaching, and learning from my students and colleagues! And partly, I was thirsty for something new: I wanted to learn and study.

It didn't take me very long to realize that I should try grad schools. Because of my experience in the ES/FL (English as Second/Foreign Language) field, as well as my international humanitarian volunteer work, I was accepted at the very international and very prestigiously cool SIT(School for International Training) Graduate Institute, in Vermont USA. I thought... aha, this is good. This is very good... a *grand* sign that I should move foward!

When I finally bid Japan adieu this April 2008, I was utterly ready. Completely rarin' to go! With my newly-found impeccable decision, I also decided to go traveling for 3 months. For those of you who know me, I have an incurable wanderlust-itis. Eeek..Or is it an addiction comme le vin rouge? Anyway, I did a 2-month roots-searching jaunt in my birth country, The Philippines ( there will be another post on this story later on), as well as a month's gallivanting in Europe with some of my top soulfriends in the world (again, there will also be some future retrospective posts on these). What a perfect opp to seize when one is transitioning! Traveling was such a high, an adrenalin fix of orgasmic proportions: I was in bliss, day in day out!

However, when I came back to Canada in July this year, I was stricken with yet a sudden change of heart. A change of heart that took more than a month to admit and acknowledge: I didn't want to go to grad school this year! Somehow, I felt tired, consumed, depleted of any energy reserves. I prayed for an answer and miraculously the reply became crystal clear (you know, from the depths of you, must be THE inner voice as 'they' say): "defer your studies Joon". So, deferred I did and believe you me, more miracles and epiphanies presented themselves and I and awakened to some new realizations in all that time I decided to stay in Canada.

Being here therefore was inevitabitable to want to re-establish human relationships as well. As my home is Canada ( gratefully and proudly carrying my Canadian passport wherever I go), I wanted to bond with my family. My family meaning my parents and my siblings + 1 dog. Also wanted to reconnect with old friends and connect with new ones. And and perhaps take a course or two, in photography and writing: 2 latent passions waiting to ooze with so much fire!

Believe it or not it took awhile to adjust being back here in the home country. I had read about reintegration issues to one's own country- repatriation- yet I didn't foresee my emotional rollercoaster at all. And I knew it wasn't even PMS, ha ha! I was in limbo: I didn't have anything with me. Not the security of my salaried job, nor my Japanese family and circle of friends, nor my own place nor my own bicycle (!). I had only 12 boxes sent to Canada- of my books, CDs and favorite wears. Nothing else. The unbearable lightness of being :-)

And as much as I was feeling out of sorts at this point, I also felt incredibly light, metaphorically. I had not much baggages nor 'stuff' (another metaphor, ha ha), just a clean slate, a Life Anew waiting to be fulfilled. With these processes that took place, I busied myself with spending quality time with my parents- particularly bonding and catching up with my Mom and my sister Veronica- and pursuing studying various interests. It was this thirst for new knowledge that prompted me to get certified as an NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) Practitioner. A new dream in the making- with NLP as a background- is to be a Life Coach. I started to explore possibilities.

So I kept on exploring. Exploring and exploring until one day, OMAN called! I am simplifying it here how I got my post there but that's another blog entry. There will be another post on this later on, as I feel I need to make themes for every single event (preeminent ones, I may add!) that's happened over the span of 5 months here in Canada. Interestingly, I embraced Photography once again in my life. I finally began to make the intention to improve my craft in capturing life's essence with my lens. And of course, it has also become my mission to write and record what all my senses can experience, even my 6th sense! Hope this blog site serves as that platform.

It is therefore with so much Pure Inspiration (English translation of Pura Inspiração for the Portuguese-challenged among us ) that I am beginning this blogging project. I am tapping my creative writing genius to awaken to a Life Anew. It is starting here now in Alberta, Canada and I intend to continue the passion in the Arabian Peninsula. The unknown.

But I have the Polyanna in me. I trust in the knowing that things could only get better! I am ready, open to anything and anyone that will come my way!

I welcome you to my journey. Please come for the ride. We can share it!