High School Life

I graduated from Maryknoll College High School 1973. Some classmates went on to the UP, some stayed as Maryknollers in College, some crossed the line to Assumption and others migrated to the US.
I continued to hang around with the guys who went to UP. I lost touch with some if not all of the other Maryknollers. Worst part - when I went to UP Manila, I totally lost touch with most of my high school batchmates.
It's not that there was no common bond that binds us - maraming double bond, single bond electrovalent bond kaming natutunan sa high school. I remembered how one classmate insisted in our Physics class that this certain electron was stable - bakit nga.. ewan ko.
We learned to appreciate certains characters from Shylock of Merchant of Venice, Quiroga of El Filibusterismo (o baka Noli Mi Tangere) and the GodFather of Mario Puzo.
The retreats at Cenacle or out of town places were supposed to be soul-searching moments. Indeed these were eventually at the end phase of the exercise. Mas nauna ang mga "happenings" namin.
Well, we all grew older and wiser. We traveled different roads. Pero there is always a time to go back to one's roots - reminisce.
I probably missed a lot of reunions. There will be more. We will all have the opportunity to catch up and take our selves back in time.
Below are two pictures scanned by a co-Maryknoller to share to all of us. True to the Maryknoll song -
.....whereever you are, whereever you be
faithful always be to thee



My Graduation Picture


My Freshman Class Picture

March 21

Today is the first day of Spring. The daffodils are starting to bloom together with the wild green onions which are starting to propagate our back yard.
Malamig pa rin - naka heater pa rin kami (ibig sabihin mataas pa rin ang babayarang kuryente). The weather forecast for today is SNOW. It is still gloomy outside - no sunshine, just rain and snow (parang Seattle).
But there is the thought of Spring - the thought of hope - the thought of new things to come. Magbubukas kami uli ng mga bintana to let fresh new air in. We will have to clean house to get rid of last year's (and other years')disposable baggages.
We will dust off the cobwebs and the alikabok ng mga kahapong kailangang kalimutan at iwaglit.
Spring brings new life and renewed hope. Iinit uli ang panahon. Babalik uli ang sigla. Iikot uli ang gulong ng buhay - Spring will soon be here.

She Was My Friend....

We have friends and we have acquaintances. We decide which among these two will be included in our circle of life. She and Lorentzen sang in my wedding - " Of All The Things" by Dennis Lambert. She is AJ's godmother. She passed away last night. Cancer took the better of her.
She was my friend.. a very dear friend.

My FLP DaysTwenty Years Ago...

I wrote about the BKK, FLP and NDCP a couple of weeks ago. Who would ever think that Batch IX FLP will be relived again? Some of my classmates are now here in the States - Baby, Nida & Roy. We finally got in touch. We all got excited again - reunion sa Pilipinas next year. That was 20 years ago.. I wrote about that..coincidence na magkatugma-tugma uli kami?
I am posting our class pictures. My memory is kinda blurred on names - but I remember the faces. I will be able to name them in due time.
I am also posting our barangay immersion group. The whole class was divided into groups and we, as a group, were assigned in places na nangangailangan ng tulong ( hah - parang alam namin kung anong tulong ang kailangan nila). The whole purpose of the exercise was for us, as NDCP scholoars, would apply our classroom know how to alleviate the plight of our kapwa pinoy ( a big HAH again).
Anyway, my group was specifically assigned to Jaen, Nueva Ecija. To people familiar with Jaen, alam na ninyo ang aking ibig tukuyin.
The group came in cold - parang andoon kami para mag diagnose ng sakit at tapos magbigay ng ikagagaling ng bayan. We went around observing - sabi ko nga coming in from the cold. Nagmukha kaming mga turista - kulang sa camera.
We met up with the barangay people. Nakinig kami at nagmatyag. Siyempre meron na kaming kanya-kanyang foregone conclusion kung ano kailangan nila - something na ikabubuhay nila, to that effect.
Surprise, suprise. Nakinig kami ng husto (FLP trained us on that real well). Hindi ikabubuhay ang kanilang primary concern. The town was needing a common townhall na pwede silang mag-meeting at mag-usap-usap kung ano ang kanilang ikabubuti. They needed a building structure to "house" their plans - their dreams- their aspirations.
The group could have pushed what we THOUGHT they needed. We were knowledgeable hindi ba? MALI.
Cez Liporada - isang mabuting kaibigan from Baguio & I were tasked to write the report - the bacon we needed to bring back to NDCP. Amidst coffee, Marlboros and Philip Morris sans laptop or computer, typewriter meron, nagawa ang report.
Sana tinago ko ang copy nito para balikan at basahin ko uli; pero malabo ang huling pahina na na-carbon paper. Lumabo na rin ang aking alaala kung ano ang aming pinagsusulat sa particular na report na iyon. I do know that, that trip was a fruitful exercise. The FLP teachings did not go in vain.
Salamat Baby for initiating the reunion. Salamat Nida for the pics. Roy - tatawagan pa rin kita.