Back from Emmaus

aka Urbana-Champaign
@ the University of Illinois in the form of the 15th Nat'l CFC Youth Leaders Conference

aka Antioch and Chicago
@ a couple of basements and hour-long train rides in the form of the 2nd Nat'l SHOUT Leaders Retreat

a whole bunch o' news for everyone before I call it a night:

This past week has been stunning (if I were forced to describe it, which, in this case, I am).
I wasn't exactly feeling the power of Conference like past years, although I did notice I was more open to my fellow attendees and there was definitely more bonding with each other, I failed to really feel it with God. Sans one worship which I feel I cannot really go into detail. It was another great experience and I can genuinely say I had load of fun and enjoyment- without really being there for the right reasons. I was slighty perturbed by somethings. Trivial bits that irked me and kept my off my game a bit. But we move on, right? After all, the theme was "Moving Forward".

Highlights:
-basketball (is back!), lost to Canada, felt guilty
-dodgeball (manager?)
-cemetery
-seeing old faces
-carrying around/selling tshirts
-gatorades/java monsters
-gabby and buttcheeks and andrews jackson

Now, I finally got my break from everything when I made my leave for SHOUT. I could finally escape this town of Tampa and be immersed in holiness for a little bit. The moment I left for Antioch, I could feel a great weight lifting my shoulders. I can't really explain SHOUT to anyone who wasn't there, but if you were, you know what I mean. I'm trying hard to generalize it into the categories of "incredible" or "amazing" because I choose not to deteroriate its effect on me.
Anyway. you don't really wanna hear any of this, so I'm done.

Highlights:
-HA. thats funny.

But seriously...
I was praying this whole week about where God is really calling me, and I really feel like I belong in the Philippines. My dad wants me sign up for USF Orientation but I really dont want to right now. If I stay here for a sem, I will have no motivation or no goal. Just emptiness. I would rather work and read/study on my own and help around the house and continue practice and workouts. I really want to be in the Philippines. You have no idea. Everything leads to there. At least prayerwise...
It all works out. It really does. I'm being pulled there by God. I just have to put in the work to fufill the will of God. I have so many opportunities there. And so much to desire for. It truly is there in the Philippines that I belong. Now, am I willing to sacrifce and dedicate my work to this? There is tons of work for me to complete and I still have a lot of maturing to do, as well as stepping up and out to do. For that, I continue to pray. I also wish that I could explain this feeling to my family. I never really show it, but I really want this. I think my family sees me as a weak individual who's simply misguided and is unwilling to work on it. But I really do have a goal. I'm just very scared of rejection and confronting those I really care about. I would love to just sit them down and talk them through it, because I really need their help, but I'm terrified. I just am.

Gahh, sorry. That was way too long. Total rant/emotional spill going down there. It's late for me now.




Prayed the Divine Mercy and Rosary today, and went to Mass. How long can I keep it up? Who knows? Pray for me?

keep it up,
-rob

Aside from Sports...

...Music is the one thing that is universal.
Everyone knows music.
People gather around music.
I know a song; a person in Switzerland knows the same song.

People fail to recognize music's total power.
Especially with the passing of Michael Jackson, one can finally realize the impact music has on life itself.

I recently actually started tuning into AJ Rafael (www.myspace.com/ajrafael), and although I've heard of him before, I never knew how in tune with music this kid really is. Definitely, one of the most genuine artists I've come across. This video almost made ME, as a musician, cry. Definitely made me smile and all warm inside. Haha.



You know, for so much of our lives, we label and judge and organize. Yet, simply put, I think too much of our lives are spent closed and depreciated.

...

...

Man, I have so much to say, but I really can't materialize it. Gahhh. I think that video should sum a fraction of it up. That video is REAL. I love it.

Also, while that is up there...Here's a couple of my friends who covered this song and coined the name Kuya Bil for me. Presenting Monette and Cheska aka Sidesweep:


www.myspace.com/sidesweep

Do work little ones.
-rob

It's Easy to be Easy and Free

Lots o' news today folks.

I won't be attending Ateneo de Manila University this year, but I will be on my way next year. I'll leave the United States early February in order for me to settle in, enroll, get acquainted, you know the deal. School would start there first week of June.

And I decided, I won't go to USF this semester so that I can work and make money. I gotta keep up my knowledge/learning though somehow, so I guess I'll be reading a lot or something. Suggestions? This also means I do not have to miss my brother's wedding, and I can still be the Best Man. Good shit.

What I do have to keep in mind: I'm going to the Philippines, first, to get a degree, then to play basketball. Which is totally cool with me. This is the best school in the Philippines, in one of the largest cities in Asia. So, there shouldn't be a downgrade in education.

With my time left here (officially numbered now), I have to make enough to money to buy me my Macbook (1000) so I can be the only dude in the Philippines with a Macbook. I also have to get my Canon HG20 Camcorder (700) to make sweet docs while I'm there for you guys :]. I also get tons of new (blue) ballin' shoes. Huaraches, Hypersdunks, Powers, Forces. The Lot, baby.

What I've been up to (aside from the courtwork/workout):









First: I practiced in that gym with the team when I was 16. I was ballin' too. I was all over that campus. HAHA. That's my parent's hometown.

Second: Damn, I want a voice.

Third: Damn, I wish I was Craig David. Or his guitar player... ahaha


'ppreciate it,
-rob

you guys should see my workout schedule and courtwork stuff. its intense - i wonder how long i can keep it up...

Day 2 - Suprises and Dilemmas

Update to you people out there:

A couple things; I can go to Ateneo de Manila University (which is 254th in the world in undergrad education - 100 behind UF and 50 ahead - YES, AHEAD - of FSU) next semester, which begins November 9. So that means I'll be gone sometime early October/late September.

WAIT! My brother's kasal, which means wedding in Bisaya, is December 12th. Remember, this is the first wedding of my family. I may not be here to celebrate, unless i scrape up 2000 US dollars to come back for a couple days. This would be my only chance to see my brother get married, and I might miss it to be playing basketball across the globe. Worth it? Probs not.

But WAIT! Both my brother and Danielle want me to go to the Philippines to play basketball, but would they be okay with me missing their only wedding (I am the "best man", you know)? And they probably thought that I could be back by December, considering that I went for the first semester.

I love both of them dearly; they have been going out since my sister graduated four years ago. They have been integeral parts my life. But basketball is something I love even more. And it is the sole thing in my life that I can trust completely. Is it worth it? Is the trade worth it? Is there common ground?

Anyway, in the meantime. I'm gonna be working out like nuts, and playing basketball like nuts. Train, train, train, train! Working at the bistro with my brother, possibly and doing work in general. We shall see.

In the meantime, I better get more aquainted with my guitar...
While I still have time with it...



Thanks! - and if you actually read it, THANKS!
-rob

Day 1 - This is no Joke

Today we shall call upon the name of Father Tony Moreno. The brother of one of my closest uncles. He's the president of Ateneo de Zambuanga University, a campus under the Loyola Schools in the Philippines. He has said Holy Mass at my house. We're calling him tonight for a littler favor.

Get me into Ateneo de Manila Univ.

If I do get in, I will be leaving "the states" sometime between now and the 26th of June.
If I do get in, I will be pursuing a Biology Degree at the best University in the Philippines, and I will be vying for a spot on the Atenean Basketball Team.

I'm not sure if I'm already too late to register, and I am not sure how the whole H1N1 thing is going to work with me there (quarantine of all travelers, 10 days), but I am willing to go abroad and do work. Aside from "the Philippines", I definitely don't understand anything that I am about to get into. Yet, that excites me. And scares me.

What an experience this could be. I'm not even sure if it will pull through, but I hope it does. I'm so excited, I'm planning for it. Bad idea? Probably. But hope is always fun - and sometimes hope works in these situations, right?

I feel like I need to start preparing already: Get a Video Camera, Macbook, Phone, Clothes, Journal, Money. Whatever. Etc. I just feel the urge to go already. See what's ahead of me. I'm already ahead of myself, so let's push it up a bit. Pedal to the Metal kind of stuff.

Might as well prepare you guys as well:

Twitter: www.twitter.com/rmroa*
Blog: www.rmroa.blogspot.com
Youtube: www.youtube.com/rmroa111
Facebook: Rob Roa
Email: rmroa111@gmail.com
AIM: robmroa
Robot.to: robo.to/rmroa

*as for Twitter, I don't know how texting works there, so I may have to get a smarter phone.



Thanks y'all for support and such.
-rob