JOIN MY LIFE

When my life was quickly falling out of my hands and reality wasn't within reach, I felt
helpless. I needed to find a way out somehow, someone or something to influence me
in a better way by helping me out of the major hole I had dug myself into.

It all began when we moved away from my life in Manila, and couldn't accept the fact
that it was something my parents had to do. I was an emotional mess. I had much anger
and no one to vent it on, except my parents, which, most of the time, was pointless. This
would just end up being an even bigger mess. So as I began to make friends, I figured
why not drown my sorrows in whatever I could possibly find - drugs, alcohol, "fun." I was
out on school nights until one or two, planning on not going to school because I thought
I had better things to do. As time passed, I began to miss many days of school, causing
my grades to fall tremendously. It seemed easier in my eyes, no more waking up at five
o'clock - and I could stay out and not feel guilty. I knew somewhat what I was doing; I
knew my life was on a downhill slant, and at that time I couldn't do a thing about it.

As my friends from the other side saw what I was doing, they decided to do it too, losing
everything they had: respect from everyone, parents, relatives, friends, and teachers.
So we went on a fantasy trip, not caring about losing our education or love from people
who tried to care. We thought it was great to be on our own until we ran out of money
for our adventures.

Im now a college student in one of the State University in Cavite. Taking up AB
Journalism. I found out that being a teen and a college girl is not an easy way of just
getting high grades and what so ever.. Im a totally grown girl and fighting for some
life obstacles. I know that I should have to do this for my own sake. Im still alive and
kicking saying I CAN DO THIS.













Dear Mark,
When I first began drafting this letter to you, I found my writing riddled with clichs about
college and friendship, discovering how difficult it truly is to describe how much you mean
to me. I've sat down countless times at my computer, hands hovering over the keyboard and
frustrated, trying so hard to break through this writer's block. Part of this is because I'm
scared to admit how truly sad I am to know this will be our last month living together, while
another part of me has so much trouble finding the right words to explain how beautiful of a
human being you truly are.
There are so many things I will miss about you next year, from how much of an angel you
are with that heart of gold and contagious smile, to some of your completely bizarre
tendencies that only occur behind closed doors.
There's no one else who can make me laugh so hard that my sides actually begin to writhe
with pain, and never will I meet someone with such superb dance skills or enough spunk to
challenge complete strangers to Teach Me How To Dougie dance battles. Because that
actually happens. I'm going to miss the countless hours we spend together attempting to do
our homework -- only for one of us to break into song belting out A Thousand Miles -- and
the numerous times you have sat at the kitchen table randomly impersonating Forrest
Gump or challenging me to "maniacal laughing contests."

I want to thank you for simply being the person you are and for letting me have the honor of
being your best friend. Here's to an amazing future and to a lifelong friendship. I miss you
and I love you.

Your friend,
Eyn








LETTER
TO A
FRIEND

Angela V. Bedar
AB Journalism 2-3









MY
AUTOBIOGRAPHY


ANGELA V. BEDAR
AB JOURNALISM 2-3
















JENNIFER SANDOVALS BREAKTHROUGH



Im privileged and grateful to have some of the most caring and sincerest of
friends that I imagine its possible to have. ONE of my friends has the biggest, purest
heart of anyone I know.
This is about her; and anyone who may relate to her story, as told through my eyes.
Jennifer (not her real name Ive always wanted to say that) was probably
born into the wrong family: not so well off, not so educated, not so aware of the world, in a
family now largely estranged from her by virtue of their general negativity and
unpleasantness.
Despite all this, Jennifer is a very savvy lady, articulate in (and very fussy
about) the written word, very funny, generous-hearted, deeply spiritual, loving, caring, a
fine parent, and with a desire to see and understand more of the world.
In a not even perfect world just a different one she could have been to university,
traveled, had a career, and more income than she just manages to get by on now.
INSTEAD, she is a little stuck. She wants more from the world, and more importantly,
she wants to GIVE more to the world. With limited resources she has already given more
than most.
She is stuck because she DOESNT KNOW WHAT TO DO, and she has
limited means to re-create herself.
Its a dilemma many of us face, or have faced. More and more people every
day are doing more with less, AND paradoxically more and more people are wanting
to GIVE more too. How often do we hear I want to make a difference in the world.?
And the biggest problem? The biggest problem of all is that Jennifer doesnt
believe in herself. She wasnt taught how. And her assessment of her own natural
resources pulls up much shorter than my list of what she has to offer.
I believe when her purpose is clear to her and I believe this for everyone then the
Universe will line up for her in helping her to live her purpose. It wont be easy necessarily
its probably not meant to be. Our hardships and obstacles are our lessons. In my view,
Jennifers taken most of her lessons seriously enough to learn a great deal from them.
She has set herself at least one direction which is to know the World more.
Wow, I wish everyone had that goal it seems to me to be one of the most admirable of
goals.




Biography
of a
friend

Angela V. Bedar
AB Journalism 2-3












BIAG NI LAM-ANG

Don Juan and his wife Namongan lived in Nalbuan, now part of La Union in the northern
part of the Philippines. They had a son named Lam-ang. Before Lam-ang was born, Don Juan went to the
mountains in order to punish a group of their Igorot enemies. While he was away, his son Lam-ang was
born. It took four people to help Namongan give birth. As soon as the baby boy popped out, he spoke and
asked that he be given the name Lam-ang. He also chose his godparents and asked where his father
was.
After nine months of waiting for his father to return, Lam-ang decided he would go look for
him. Namongan thought Lam-ang was up to the challenge but she was sad to let him go. During his
exhausting journey, he decided to rest for awhile. He fell asleep and had a dream about his father's head
being stuck on a pole by the Igorot. Lam-ang was furious when he learned what had happened to his
father. He rushed to their village and killed them all, except for one whom he let go so that he could tell
other people about Lam-ang's greatness.

Upon returning to Nalbuan in triumph, he was bathed by women in the Amburayan river. All
the fish died because of the dirt and odor from Lam-ang's body.

There was a young woman named Ines Kannoyan whom Lam-ang wanted to woo. She
lived in Calanutian and he brought along his white rooster and gray dog to visit her. On the way, Lam-ang
met his enemy Sumarang, another suitor of Ines whom he fought and readily defeated.

Lam-ang found the house of Ines surrounded by many suitors all of whom were
trying to catch her attention. He had his rooster crow, which caused a nearby house to fall. This made
Ines look out. He had his dog bark and in an instant the fallen house rose up again. The girl's parents
witnessed this and called for him. The rooster expressed the love of Lam-ang. The parents agreed to a
marriage with their daughter if Lam-ang would give them a dowry valued at double their wealth. Lam-ang
had no problem fulfilling this condition and he and Ines were married.

It was a tradition to have a newly married man swim in the river for the rarang fish.
Unfortunately, Lam-ang dove straight into the mouth of the water monster Berkakan. Ines had Marcos get
his bones, which she covered with a piece of cloth. His rooster crowed and his dog barked and slowly the
bones started to move. Back alive, Lam-ang and his wife lived happily ever after with his white rooster
and gray dog.





REFLECTION

The epic Biag ni Lam-ang reflects several truths applicable to human life. More specifically,
these truths reveal some attitudes, traits, and values of Filipinos, especially among Ilocanos because they
were the ones responsible of creating and popularizing this phenomenal epic.

First, Filipinos are very family oriented. When Lam-ang was born, his father was already captured
by the Igorots in the forest. It is even possible that his father was already dead during the time. This
means that he never had an opportunity to experience the love of his father or meet him even once in his
lifetime. However, when Lam-ang learned of what happened to his father, he promised that he would
avenge for his death. In this instance, we could see Lam-ang, willing to die just to seek justice for a man
whom he never personally met, but is recognizable to him in terms of their family relationship; the father
and son relationship. Today, Filipinos would usually defend their family members in the face of threat and
persecution from other people. Additionally, Filipinos have the practice of letting the sons and daughters
to still stay in the house of their parents even if they have already married.

Filipinos give emphasis on the rivalry between them and their competitors in the hearts of the
persons they love. When Lam-ang fell in love with Ines, he killed several monsters and eventually fought
Sumarang who was also a dedicated suitor of Ines. Among many Filipino teenagers today, if they could
not get themselves noticed by their crushes, they do something to remove the one who is getting in their
way. For Filipinos, competition over love is serious. Not getting the person they love because someone
else was preferred over them is very degrading. This truth though might also apply to some other
cultures. Since love is universal, it is likely that this particular attitude is not exclusively Filipino.

Filipinos value and sanctify friendship. When Lam-ang died, his friends were the ones who tried
to seek for a way for him to regain his life. Nowadays, aside from family, Filipinos would run to their
friends in times of downfalls and disappointments because they know that the company, comfort,
compassion, and care that their friends can offer will surely contribute a lot to bringing back the life in
them.

The Filipino character traits that I have explained are just some of the many others that are
reflected in the epic Biag Ni Lam-ang. Certainly, every aspect of the epic has an implication to the
Filipino people because it is a very original Filipino-made work of art.







LABAW DONGGON NG HILIGAYNON
(TAGALOG)

Ang epikong itos tungkol kay Labaw Donggon na masasabing mahilig sa
magagandang babae. Anak siya isang diwatang si Abyang Alunsina at ng isang karaniwang
nilalang. Kapatid niya sina Humadapon at Dumalapdap. Kasisilang pa lamang nila sa saigdig ay
nakapagsasalita na sila.
Nang dumating ang panahon ng pagnanais ni Labaw Donggong mag-asawa na,
nagpaalam sa ina upang tumungo sa Handog, isang malayong pook. Sa may paanan ng Ilog-
Halawod ay may nakatirang napagandang babaing si Anggoy Ginbitinan. Nagpaalam si Labaw
sa ina upang magtungo roon. Laban man sa kalooban ng ina na umalis si Labaw Donggon dahil
sa napakabata pa nitoy napilitan din itong pumayag. Binigyan niya ng damit na may engkanto
ang anak. Lumipad ito sa ibayo ng ulap na dala-dala ng hangin. Nakalagpas ito sa pagsubok ng
ina ng dalaga. Kaya nagtagumpay siya kay Anggoy Gibitinan.
Ilang linggo lamang silang nagsama, nabalisa na naman si Labaw Donggon. Nais naman
niyang puntahan ang isang magandang babaing siyang patnubay ng ilog at bukal. Nakatira ito
sa ilalim ng lupa. Ito si Anggoy Doronoon. Hindi siya napigil ng asawa sa pagtungo sa ilalim ng
lupa. Nakamit din niya si Anggoy Doronoon.
Nagsama sila ng ilang panahon. Pagkatapos, muling bumalik si Labaw Donggon kay Ginbitinan.
Nagsama silang muli. Nabalisa na naman si Donggon pagkalipas ng ilang panahon. May
magandang babae sa paanan ng tagpuan ng dagat at langit si Nagmalitong Yawa Sinagmaling
Diwata na asawa ni Buyong Saragnayan. Nais niyang mapangasawa ito. Humingi si Donggon
ng pahintulot sa dalawang asawa upang puntahan si Nagmalitong Yawa. Ayaw man nila, wala
silang nagawa.
Hindi naging madali para kay Donggon na makamit si Nagmalitaong Yawa
sapagkat may asawa na ito. Naglaban sila ni Saragnayan. Inilubog ni Donggon nang pitong
taon sa tubig si Saragnayan, ngunit hindi niya ito napatay. Binayo na niya ito nang binayo, wala
pa ring nangyari. Pinaikut na niya nang pinaikot sa mga ulap si Saragnayan, hindi pa rin ito
namamatay. Siya na ang sumuko sa pagod pagkalipas ng maraming taon.
Nang mapagod na si Donggon at saka nanlaban si Saragnayan. Sa gayoy naitali niya si
Donggon at naikulong sa isang kulungan ng baboy, sa ilalim ng kanilang lutuan.
Samantala, nanganak naman si Doronoon. Isang lalaki. Si Buyung Baranugun. Nakapagsalita
at nakatindig agad ang bata pagsilang sa maliwanag. Hinanap na ang kanyang ama. Si
Ginbitinan man ay nanganak din. Isang lalaking pinangalang Asu Mangga. Naghanap din ng
ama.
Nagkasalubong ang dalawa sa karagatan. Naglalakad sa ibabaw ng tubig si
Baranugun at lulan ng bangka si Asu Mangga. Napag-alaman nilang kapwa nila hinahanap ang
palikerong ama. Nakarating sila sa Lupang Sinisikatan ng Araw. Sumangguni sila sa kanilang
bolong kristal. Napag-alaman nilang nakakulong sa ilalim ng lutuan ang kanilang ama.
Kahit na mga bata pa sila, nakipaglaban sila kay Saragnayan. Ngunit wala silang magawa.
Hindi nila mapatay si Saragnayan. Pinuntahan ni Baranugun ang kanyang lolang si Abyang
Alunsina upang sumangguni. Sinabi nitong mapapatay lamang ito kung mapapatay ang baboy-
ramong kinatataguan ng hininga nito. Dapat diong kanin ang puso ng baboy-ramo.
Sa pamamagitan ng kanilang mga engkanto, natagpuan at napatay ng magkapatid ang baboy-
ramong at sa isang iglap, nanghina si Saragnayan. Ito na ang naging wakas nito. Natamaan
siya ng palaso ni Baranugun. Sa dalawang mata siya napatamaan. Sa lakas ng sigaw niya,
nabuwal ang mga puno at nanginig ang daigdig at nagdilim. Iyon ang unang lindol at unang
gabi.
Ngunit hindi nakita ng magkapatid ang ama sa pinagkulungan dito. Tumulong na
rin sina Humadapnon at Dumalaplap sa paghahanap kay Donggon. Pagkalipas ng maraming
araw, natagpuan din nila sa loob ng isang lambat sa pampangin ng maybahay ni Saragnayan.
Nawala na ang dating kakisigan at kagitingan ni Donggon dahil sa labis na paghahangad sa
magaganda, kahit na may asawa nang dalawaang babae. Ngunit hindi pa rin tumigil si
Donggon. Sinabi niya sa dalawang asawa na nais niyang mapangasawa si Malitong Yawa.
Nagsiklab sa galit ang dalawang babae, ngunit ipinaliwanag ni Donggon na pantay-pantay ang
gagawin niyang pagmamahal at kinakailangan sa matapang na kawal ang magkaroon ng
maraming babae. Ipinagdasal pa ng dalawang babaing lumakas muli si Donggon. Nagbalik
naman ang dating kakisigan at lakas nito.


























REFLECTION:

The Hinilawod epic tells the story of the exploits of the three demigod brothers, Labaw
Donggon, Humadapnon and Dumalapdap of Panay. In its original form the epic would take about
three days to perform (including breaks for food and sleep), thus making it one of the longest epics
in the world. Anthropologist Dr. F. Landa Jocano recorded a version of the epic from the inhabitants
of Central Panay. This is how the story goes: When the goddess of the eastern sky Alunsina (also
known as Laun Sina, "The Unmarried One") reached maidenhood, the king of the gods, Kaptan,
decreed that she should marry. All the unmarried gods of the different domains of the universe tried
their luck to win her hand to no avail. She chose to marry a mortal, Datu Paubari, the mighty ruler of
Halawod. Her decision angered her other suitors. They plotted to bring harm to the newlyweds. A
meeting of the council of gods was called by Maklium-sa-t'wan, god of the plains, where a decision
by those present was made to destroy Halawod by flood. Alunsina and Paubari escaped harm
through the assistance of Suklang Malayon, the goddess and guardian of happy homes and sister of
Alunsina, who learned of the evil plot and warned the two so they were able to seek refuge on higher
ground. After the flood waters subsided, Paubari and Alunsina returned to the plains secretly. They
settled near the mouth of the Halawod river. Several months later Alunsina became pregnant and
told Paubari to prepare the siklot, things necessary for childbirth. She delivered a set of triplets and
summoned the high priest Bungot-Banwa to perform the rites of the gods of Mount Madya-as (the
mountain abode of the gods)to ensure the good health of the children.
















THE SECOND CREATION

Tiruray also believe that should a religious leader have sufficient wit, power and goodness, he
could lead all of his followers "beyond the sky" to live in the land of Tulus (or Sualla) . . . In the
days of Lagey Lingkuwos (their greatest legendary hero), people had a difficult time with their
farming. They wanted to please Tulus by farming well, but they were never sure when the winds
would be right for burning; they had trouble predicting the arrival of the rainy season, and thus
were unsure when they should plant; and they lacked a way of calling for the good or bad
agricultural omens. Farming was, therefore, a matter of guess work regarding timing, and the
swidden cycle for those unfortunate people was seldom properly keyed to the yearly seasons as
it so clearly needed to be.
Lagey Lingkuwos was aware of this serious problem and was determined to do something
about it.
Near his place was a settlement where six people lived. They were, like all people, farmers.
And, like all human beings at that time, they were followers of Lagey Lingkuwos. Three were
young unmarried men-all first cousins-whose names were Kufukufu, Baka, and Seretar. Each
lived in his own house, near the houses of their uncles: the widower, Keluguy, who was the
leader of the settlement, and Singkad, the group's only married man who lived with his wife,
Kenogon. As a pet, these people had a variety of forest dove, which the Tiruray called lemugen.
When it came time for Lagey Lingkuwos to lead his followers to the place of Tulus, beyond the
sky, he asked the special favors of the six people. Knowing that Tulus would not leave the world
without human beings to make swiddens in the forests, and wanting the next creation to have
an easier time than the last, he asked those six followers to leave their pet bird behind in the
forest, where its call could become the needed giver of omens. He further asked them to live in
the sky for as long as there should be a world and people to farm it. They agreed to both
requests of their esteemed leader, and so it is today that the lemugen's call gives the farmers
much needed agricultural omens, and the six constellations move across the night sky, assisting
this new creation of people to properly anchor their swidden cycle in the annual round of
seasons. Tiruray said that the six seem, like themselves, to be always proceeding to work in
their swiddens-the three young cousins ahead, followed by their uncle and headman. Singkad
comes next, prudently keeping himself between his attractive wife and the splendid Keluguy,
whom Tiruray never refer to by name-that would be too disrespectful-but call by his nickname,
Fegeferafad.






REFLECTION:

As I stressed earlier, such a suggestion is not meant to cut off discussion but
promote it. The meaning of Israels creation accounts has been pondered since before the time
of Christ, and no one should think that conversation has come to an end in an internet post or
two.

The degree of overlap between the stories suggests to some scholars that Genesis
2-9 may be an Israelite version of Atrahasis, although it is best not to be dogmatic about that. It
is very clear, however, that there is a lot of conceptual overlap between them.

It goes without saying that there are clear differences between the stories (which we
will see in more detail when we get to the flood story). But, just as we saw last week with
Genesis 1 and Enuma Elish, (1) the differences only stand out because of the similarities, (2)
the differences do not justify minimizing thesimilarities.

Whatever one concludes about Israels creation stories, the extra-biblical stories
should not be kept at arms length from Genesis. They are clearly very important for
understanding the nature of Genesis and what it means to understand it properly today.















THE MONKEY AND THE TURTLE

Once there lived a very clever and well behaved tortoise and a selfish and clumsy monkey.
One day, both of them saw a banana tree floating in the river they decided to get the banana tree
and plant them ''Why don't we chop them in half and we will have a part each''said the
Monkey''Good Idea'' replied the tortoise so they took a part each. The tortoise took the bottom part
and the monkey took the upper part, because he thought it would grow faster so they went home
and planted their banana trees.

The next day they met again the tortoise showed that his plant had grown into a ripe
banana tree but the monkey's plant stayed the same so he got really jelous and started to climb up
the tortoise's tree.The tortoise didn't want him to climb up the tree so he put some spikey thorns
around = the tree just then the monkey started to loose his grip suddenly he fell!

When he was on the ground he saw he was bleeding and then he became angry so he
thought of a punishment to give to the Tortoise ''HOW DARE YOU do you want to go to drown in the
river or you shall go to the fire''shouted the monkey ''Oh the fire please I don't like being
drowned''said the tortoise''OH REALLY''shouted the Monkey so he went to the river and dropped
the tortoise in the river but the tortoise could survive in the water so he was safe the monkey was
still angry withe tortoise so he jumped into the river to get him but he couldn't swim so he drowend
and he was never seen again.
REFLECTION

Monkey
The Monkey in the story symbolizes the cunning, powerful, influential and rich people of society
during the Spaniard era. The half Spanish half Filipino people also known as Peninsulares or
Insulares were those people who mocked the weak and the poor Filipinos, having them as slaves
and brutally employed but unpaid workers. The monkey also represents the opportunist, self-
serving people of the society, ready to get more for them and be always on the top.
Turtle
The Turtle in the story reflects the hospitality and genuine trust of the Filipinos. The turtle enables
equality to be practiced by cutting the banana tree on the center, having the less-looking. Hence,
being left with the less productive looking half of the tree, the turtle did her best to make the most
out of it by patience and perseverance. Having no choice and out of humility, the turtle in the story
accepted the offer of the greedy monkey to gather the fruit from the tree even if the fooled her from
the past. With unfair results, the turtle showed vengeance as result of pain and disappointments.
Nevertheless, she learned her lesson and never trusted the monkey and deceived it for survival.
Banana tree
The banana tree symbolizes the wealth of the any country, any community or of any tribe. It also
reflects that hard work shall give back fruits or results, results that can be easily stolen.

The Great Flood

The Tinggians, a group of pagan people inhabiting the interior hills of Abra, have their own story of the
Great Deluge.
The tragic began with the abduction of Humitau, a sea-maiden guard of Tau-mari-u, lord of the sea; by
Aponi-tolau.
One day, Aponi-tolau, god-hero of the Tinggians went down to the lowlands. He wandered aimlessly
through the plains until he reached the seashore. The calm blue sea, massive and yet helpless beneath
the morning sun which flooded it with golden light, fascinated the young man. And unable to resist the
beauty of the dancing wavelets, he made a rattan raft and rowed seaward.
On and on he rowed until he came to the edge of the world. There, in a place where the sea and the sky
meet, Aponi-tolau saw a towering rock, home of Tau-mari-u, lord of the sea. It was guarded by nine
beautiful daughters of the seaweeds. The radiance of the ocean light reflecting silver and gold upon the
greenish hair of the nine guards as they played around the palace gates, chasing one another in gay
laughter, attracted the mountain lord.
Gathering his courage, the Tinggian warrior went nearer the palace gates. However, when he inquired
what place it was, the maiden guards laughed at him and lured him further inside the palace walls. This
made Aponi-tolau very angry. Taking his magic hook, he lashed at the unsuspecting maidens.
The hook hit the youngest and the most beautiful among them, Humitau. The young diwata gave a loud
and piercing scream and struggled desperately to free herself from Aponi-tolaus grip but the magic oil
which the mountain lord had placed at the tip of his hooked weakened her blood and soon she was
helpless.
A wild uproar followed as the guards screamed and fled the gates. Aponi-tolau hurriedly picked up the
unconscious body of the sea-maiden, loaded it on his rattan raft and rowed shoreward. Shortly after the
Tinggian hero had left the bauwi (native hunt) gates, Tau-Mari-u went out of his abode to see what the
commotion was all about. But he was too late.
In his rage, Tau-mari-u summoned the waves and the tunas of the sea and ordered them to bring back
the intruder. The waves lashed at the raft of the mountain warrior and the tunas pushed it back.
Alarmed, Aponi-tolau cried out to his mother, Lang-an of Kadalayapan, mistress of the wind and rain, for
help. The great godess heard her sons plea and immediately sent down strong winds to pull Aponi-tolau
ashore. Despite the fury of the waves and efforts of the tunas, the Tinggian warrior was able to reach
the shore unharmed.
But Tau-mari-u was furious. He immediately called a meeting of the gods and demigods of the seas and
the oceans, who agreed to punish the dwellers of the land for what Aponi-tolau had done.
From the sky, Lang-an knew the plan. She immediately called for the north wind and sent him to warn
her son of the impending flood, she instructed the mountain lord to go to the highest peak of the
Cordillera mountains for safety. Obediently, Aponi-tolau took the members of his household to the
mountain top and waited. The flood came. From this bauwi Aponi-tolau saw mighty waves sweeping
across the plains, filling the valleys and destroying the crops and working animals of the inhabitants.
Higher and higher went the water until it covered the mountain top but for the few square meters
where Aponi-tolau and his household took shelter.
Frightened, Humitau gave a desperate cry. She knew that she no longer swim or live in the water after
having tasted the mountain food which her husband had given her. The charm removed her sea powers.
She implored Tau-mari-u to save her.
Despite his anger, the water lord took pity upon his favorite Humitau. So he called back the water and
the waves. But he promised that henceforth he would sink mens boats and drown passengers until
Aponi-tolaus crime would be appeased. When the water subsided, Aponi-tolau and his wife went down
to the low lands and from them came the people of the world.

REFLECTION:

Mythology speaks of such world calamities as a great fire and a deluge that happened a
long time ago, and myths describing such calamities are worldwide in occurrence. In the Philippines,
there seems to be no myth about great fires, but flood myths are quite common. In majority of the
myths, the flood occurs as a punishment for the people's failure to fulfill their sacrificial obligations to
the gods or to observe God's laws. Other reasons or causes of the flood are given in the myths. A
Nabaloi version blames the flood on the negligence of the woman guarding the river. She fell asleep and
wood and thrash clogged the river and caused it to swell and overflow.















THE ORPHAN GIRL

Kate and John Coleman are rebuilding their troubled marriage. Kate had a
drinking problem, but is in therapy and is doing well. She has been sober for one year. The couple
decide to adopt a child. When they meet the nine-year-old Russian girl, Esther, at the St. Marina
Orphanage, they immediately fall in love with the well-educated orphan. Their young son, Daniel, is
hostile to his new sister; but their deaf daughter, little Max, is enchanted with her - at first. Eventually,
Kate begins to feel that Esther is manipulative and possibly even psychologically disturbed. John
refuses to listen to his wife's misgivings, and the wounds in their marriage reopen. Kate calls Sister
Abigail at the orphanage, and the nun informs her that Esther has a troubled and mysterious history.
Kate delves further into Esther's past and discovers she is not all she pretends to be.
REFLECTION: