Blog #11

The Aspiring Author

Kerima Polotan Tuvera

Born on the 16^th of December 1925, Kerima Plotan Tuvera was an award winning Filipinofiction writer, essayist, and also a journalist. A few numbers of her stories was pseudonym under the name of “Patricia S. Torres.”

She was born in Jolo, Sulu. Her christened name was Putli Kerima (where Putli means princess). Her mother teaches home economics and her father was an army colonel. Because of her father’s frequent re assignments, she lived in various places and studied at different schools.

She graduated from the Far Eastern university Girl’s High School. In, 1944, she decided to enroll at the University of the Philippines School of nursing, however,  the battle of manila put a halt to her studies. In 1945, she continued her studies at the Arellano University. She attended the class of Teodoro M. Locsin. She edited her first issue of the Arellano Literary Review. She worked with Your Magazine, This week and The Junior Red Cross Magazine.

She has received many awards because of her literary skills. For example, her 1952 short story, The Virgin, won two first prizes: of the Philippines Free Press Litarary Awards and of the Palanca Awards. She also edited an anthology for the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, with English and Tagalog prize – winning short stories from 1951 to 1952. In addition to her rewards, her stories, The Trap, The Giants, The Tourists, The Sounds of Sunday, and A Various Season all won 1^st prizes of the Palanca awards.

Her awards shows and proves not only in our country, but also in the world that she is one of the best artists in our time. She never gave up and just went on doing what she loves to do and practiced and homed in on her talents. I can proudly say that she is part of our country’s greatest artist.

Blog # 10

I remember when I fell in love. It was like a dream. I remember this person walking into the front door and also walking into my life.  I have learned a lot from my past experience. The way that person treated me and also how broken I was after we were done. I honestly didn’t know. Why did it happen? Why did this happen to me? And how could I have ever known?

It was amazing until it lasted. The walks on the beach, the endless talks we had, and the way this person treated me.  Love sometimes takes you by surprise, you’ll fall for someone who you least expect it. It all began with one hello, we talked and chatted, we became friends. He started coming over to my house every single day, and I admit, I really liked his company. Then his visits became longer than usual, he would stay at my house for a longer period of time and we would just talk about anything under the sun that would interest us. Those times were amazing, we would just laugh our way through our lives not worrying about anything, and sometimes we would even play the piano together. But everything has an end, even how much you want it to stay.

I didn’t even know, he didn’t tell me. He was an engaged man, I was a mistress, and I can’t believe I stepped down on that level, but yet I still love that person so much. It was up to me to make a choice, I chose to leave, and I needed to be back at my home town anyways, so there’s really no point in staying. Still, I still think about how we could have been. I still think to myself, would I be happier if he stayed beside me?  Or is this for the best? Those questions still lingers in my mind, and they grow even louder each time I think of that person, But I guess it is better to love and have lost than to never had loved at all. 

Blog # 9 The origins of ice cream

Ice cream, we treat this food as a snack or desert, which ever you prefer. Ice cream has been part of our lives and gives it more flavor than we could ever imagine. It has vast numbers of flavors and different designs to satisfy not only our hunger and cravings, but also it looks appealing to our eyes, making it more appetizing. A lot of us have eaten a lot of ice cream in our lives and yet we don’t even know the desert’s origin.

Not much is known about the origin of this delectable desert; the only thing known about its history is that it reaches back as far as second century B.C. With no specific date or inventor. However, it is known the Alexander the Great enjoyed ice and snow flavored with nectar and honey. Biblical references also state that King Solomon was fond of iced drinks during harvesting.  During the Roman Empire, Nero Claudius Caesar (A.D. 54-86) frequently sent runners into the mountains for snow, which was then flavored with fruits and juices.

After a thousand years later, Marco Polo returned to Italy from the Far East bringing with him recipes that closely resemble that to a sherbet. Some historians say that the recipe for our ice cream today originated from this recipe. In the 1800, ice cream was still very much just for the aristocrats and people with higher rankings until insulated ice houses are invented. In 1851, manufacturing ice creams was started by a Baltimore milk dealer named Jacob Fussell. With the help of the advancement of technology, this sweet flavored desert became more known to us as it reaches stores all around the world with the help of the advancements of cars and trucks as transportation. Refrigerating   systems helps preserve the tasty desert and making it lasts longer in the stores as a stock or for later consumption for us.

Ice creams has gone through a lot of challenges to get where it is now, but it is no doubt that it is one of the most delicious desert ever known for mankind.