Proud to be Pinoy!

Marian Cathedral-King

November 5, 2007, 3:39pm, San Ramon, CA

Last Saturday gave me the opportunity to be with friends and be a proud Pinoy!

Waking up early on Saturday and getting ready for my flight to Southern California was not easy. The onset of a headache was wrecking havoc on my plans - - - should I bail out and just send my regrets to Mee Anne, Gale and Vitoy? Or, should I continue as planned: fly to Southern California that morning, attend Bahay Kubo's fund raising and fly back to the bay area that same afternoon. Hmmmmm . . . . it was so easy to just climb back in bed and chicken out of the whole thing. Then I figured, it was also just as easy to pop Advil, get the headache out of the way and enjoy the company of old friends even just for a few hours. When hubby sent me off with a kiss and a, "You have MAAAARVELOUS time with your friends," I knew I was in for a great time.

Getting the rental car at the airport was another challenge. I committed to see Gale at 11:00am and was running late. It was already 11:30 and having been used to Japanese cars all my life, I find myself helpless with an American gas guzzler. I frantically called hubby to ask, "Where is the hand brake of this Chrysler Pacifica. No one from Alamo is here in the parking lot!!!!!" After almost an eternity, I was finally on my way. Map quest and Gellie (our old trustworthy Magellan GPS hubby baptized Gellie that he insisted I bring) said the venue is only 15 minutes away. Whew! I have enough time to catch up with everyone. Unfortunately, the 15 minutes wound up to be 45 minutes. It was Gellie's fault - - - I could have made it in 15 minutes only Gellie insisted the venue was to the left and kept on taking me in and out of Interstate 5. Time for another Advil. I finally ditched Gellie and relied on map quest and Gale's instructions. Moral of the story - not all high tech stuff will get you somewhere. Hehehehehehe . . . .

After an eternity and 2 more Advils I arrived at the venue. I was able to browse the display but only briefly. I bought Christmas decorations and a parol from Vitoy's store. Hubby was glad I lost my way and only had 2 minutes to shop. I had a 30 minute conversation crammed into 10 minutes with Gigi, Beth and Myra. It was nice to see them again. Nice to see the ballroom jampacked. Nice to eat mamon once again. Nice to see a beautiful native belen courtesy of Vitoy. Nice to see a lot of guests wearing Filipiniana attire. I naturally had to blame Mee Anne for not telling me pwede pala mag saya. Sana I wore my pina wedding dress! Hehehehehehehehe. Then the program began . . . .

Filipino children, most of who were born and raised in the US started caroling table to table singing Filipino songs. Yung mga tisoy na anak ni Mee Anne and Gale nakakatawa at slang mag Tagalog. Ang cute ng anak ni Vitoy at hawak hawak yung lata para sa mga "tip." Buti na lang when I gave my coins, hindi ako kinantahan ng, "thank you, thank you, ang babarat ninyo thank you." The native dances brought memories to Gigi of our Field Day in Maryknoll. You remember that gels - - - - Field Day in grade school under the heat of the sun! Buti na lang magaling si Mrs. Reyes magturo sa atin. There were more dances and singing that followed that took us down memory lane. There was a Filipiniana fashion show and the star model was Mee Anne's very own husband Craig. Gale's hubby was one of the models until he had an accident and could not do justice to the barong in crutches. True ba Gale? Sayang . . . next time I will also volunteer my husband to be a model.

The entire event was short. It lasted around 3 hours only but the preparations took months. We were told that the kids practiced a lot and helped make the decorations. The parents spent countless of hours too in driving their kids to endless practice. What made the event so memorable for me because it made me reconnect with classmates and it made me realize that the values we hold so dear today is in great part because of our Maryknoll training. Twenty five years after leaving Maryknoll will not undo the teachings of Miss Dory, Miss Ramos, Sister Miriam Jose, Sister Marissa, Binibining Fernando at Hierro, etc. In the same way, being thousand of miles away from the Philippines does not make us less Filipino. It's a shame that other parents only do so much of a lip service and tell their children they are Filipinos and yet do not take the time to teach their children the language, the customs, the culture. I know of some, who would altogether forget their roots and claim their new citizenship as the only one they know. Meron pa ngang nahihiya mag Tagalog sa labas ng bahay. I will be the first to say, "thank you America for the economic blessings you have given me and millions of other Filipinos." But I will always be a Filipino and I will always be the first to support any person or organization that will promote Filipino culture. As a Filipino and as a Maryknoller I say, "I am proud to be a classmate of Mee Anne, Gale and Vitoy and thank you to the three of you for spending your precious time, talent and money in the promotion of our culture."

Bahay Kubo is a foundation established by Mee Anne and her UP friends to promote pride in and appreciation of Filipino history, culture, values, heritage, etc. Gale and Vitoy are active volunteers of the foundation. That Saturday afternoon, I was truly glad to be surrounded by people who spoke my language, who loved the same food, who proudly wore their native dresses. A part of me wished I lived in Southern California so I can be of help to Bahay Kubo more. I also wished I burned the wires prior to the Saturday event to convince other classmates based in the LA area to show their support to Mee Anne, Gale and Vitoy and know more about the Bahay Kubo Foundation. I'm thankful for the presence of Beth Hizon, Gigi Calapatia and Myra Rondolo. Karen Francia begged off because of a prior commitment to USC. Eve Reyes couldn't make it either because it was the 1st year death anniversary of her brother. Now that they know how much they missed, I am sure we will see them next year. And for sure other classmates will be there too . . . .

Congratulations again Mee Anne, Gail and Vitoy! May your tribe increase.

See you soon.

Marian