CoverStory

A beauty & her baby

Pam Estalilla gets to know a mom and her son.

Upon first glance, you would never guess that the svelte and vivacious Lizarene “Inday” Mendoza has a son of her own, and you would have been even more astounded to know that the little sunbeam in question, Pocholo Bernard Alvarez, is three years old. Her demeanor and wardrobe suggest a career woman, her looks, that of a commercial model. Her ready smile assures you that she will always remain the girl next door.  And indeed, multifaceted Liz may be even more than she seems at first glance.

The 24-year-old Psychology graduate is currently a Recruitment Coordinator in the Human Resources Department of Convergys, (Cebu) one of the largest call centers worldwide. “You’re such a career woman, Inday,” her friends would often tease. Very apt, since she works beyond her regular shift, and goes to the extent of bringing some of the work home. In fact, she has just arrived from Cagayan, and is now having to attend to extensive paperwork, fresh from the successful job fair. How does she deal with it all?

“It’s the people I work with that make it satisfying,” she grins, ”And there’s Pocholo, who makes me look forward to being home at the end of the day. He inspires me to be responsible and manage my finances wisely.”

She cites her role models in this aspect as none other than her own mother, and her stepdad. “My mother is always there for me, even now that I’m independent. From her, I learned to always set aside some time to bond with my child.”

All the “essential” household knowledge, however, she picked up somewhere a tad bit farther from home.

“It was in Dubai that I learned, out of necessity, how to iron, cook, and be self-reliant. I never got to do these things on my own before then,” she admits. Her one-year stint as a front desk officer in a hotel opened her eyes to many realizations-Filipinos usually are enthusiastic to help their kababayans abroad, that infidelity abounds in hotels, and that, according to her Romanian and Russian roommates, she could pass for a Romanian herself.

Although her life has been a rollercoaster ride so far, this dreamcatcher collector also collects dreams of her own. There are two primary things she hopes are on the horizon- finding her knight in shining armor, and being able to travel around the world. Her ideal destinations would never make the typical tourist’s A-list, though.

“I want to see Count Dracula’s castle in Transylvania, and when that’s done, Alexander the Great’s castle in Macedonia,” Liz declares, and it’s hard to know whether she’s serious or kidding, with that trademark smile of hers. However, with such an affinity for castles, it wouldn’t be surprising if she does bump into her knight. (Or just the shining armor.)

If this lovely Inday is indeed the “Inday” of the infamous text jokes (and many have attested to this fact), it would be, perhaps, fitting enough- seeing her juggling a hectic job and maternal responsibilities, and making it all look so easy with her “relax, chill” attitude (and not a line or wrinkle on her face) is enough to make anybody’s nose bleed. But this is not a farce for Liz, for she truly breezes through with her two-word philosophy in life— “Carpe diem!”

[back to main page] [back to cebu page] [top]