Taking History Again

When I learned that one of my favorite teachers in college, Mr. Ambeth Ocampo, also chairman of National Historial Institute, is going to hold a series of talks in Ayala Museum, I mentally reserved all the dates right away!

Sir Ambeth teaches history in UP and Ateneo. During registration in Ateneo, students can choose their classes but they were assigned with random numbers. If you're lucky to get an early number, you can sign up for the class you want before it gets filled up. During the talk, Sir Ambeth mentioned that his class always gets filled up and Ateneo doesn't want to increase his class size. I was lucky enough to get a slot in History 165 also known as Rizal - the subject he teaches.

When I graduated, I found out that Sir Ambeth also writes a weekly column in the Opinion section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Galing!

You'd expect a different angle on the Philippine History from the title: Chastity Covers and Penis Implements. I was laughing half the time! History is a different experience if you hear it from Sir Ambeth. When I had my free book signed after the lecture (Those who attended the first installment were given free books! Awesome!), I mentioned I was a former student. He told me "What are you doing here? You heard all of this already." I laughed. I didn't mind paying Php300. It felt like I was in college again, sitting in the freezing lecture hall of SEC-B.

The ticket also serves as the museum pass. It's been ages since I went to the Ayala Museum. The dioramas were amazing! The paintings got me inspired to paint again. Maybe I'll start after reading this?