Reunion

High school reunions can be a rarity considering the fact that worldwide employment has scattered former classmates to the ends of the earth and disease and old age have placed limits on the participants. Consider a class in 1972 – 39 years ago, and this will give you the idea that some in the batch may have already returned to the dust or are caught up in a booming business or livelihood that a reunion may be the last thing in mind.

I still believe that “if there is a will there’s a way,” and to prove my conviction I had to organize a reunion notwithstanding the possibility of only two attendees. Facebook has a unique way of bringing long lost friends together and I chose to use this medium to forward my cause. I created a page and invited friends all over the world to join. A lot went between the establishment of the page and the actual event and a hundred excuses were given, and it looked like the project was doomed from the start.

What else could I do but take the trip back ‘home’ and hope some friends would show up. The guy who actually fueled this reunion was a bosom friend who was someone more than a brother to me. I even consider him the guy who brought me up, because we spent more time together than my parents and he taught me a lot more lessons and introduced more mischievous stuff into my adolescent mind, which fatefully helped make me what I am today.

OK, OK… I’m getting to be morbidly wordy again and I know your minds are wandering to the photos. So click on the first photo to enlarge it to get the rest of the story. Better yet click on "slideshow" to see the pores on the skin or the strands of white hair in my mustache.

yeah that's him - Erberto Arriaga. he and lilibeth met me at davao int'l airport 7 in the morning. they had to drive 75 kilometers just to fetch me. his house was the venue for the reunion and he shouldered all expenses - food, gasoline, etc to ensure a successful and stress free reunion. his wife and family were very supportive and it was like i was really back home.

first event for the day - island hop at Passig islet. one island = one hop. Lilibeth (bing) Alicaway and Ma. Luz (inday) Faller leading. Mary - Erbing's wife and Mayang - his daughter behind.

the tide was out and the boats were virtually useless for human cargo. we just made sure the roast pig was safe and dry.

that's the island

the tide was up in the afternoon and we got back to the mainland without getting muddied up again.

main course... lechon!

shrimps

chicken adobo

kaldereta by inday

kinilaw yellow fin tuna

yellow fin panga and organs

that's the chef

we wiled away the afternoon with these

we were really having a blast!

Cheerylyn and Janely Alquino. these sisters were very close friends and I thank them for showing up.

bing and her "Oh Lori" "i'll be born again, born again..." she flew all the way from cebu to attend the reunion.

some wacky shots

can't get enough

trying out erbing's big bike.

reliving what we use to do in the years when we were not supposed to be drinking yet. our beer then was san miguel pale pilsen. now it looks like our livers need stronger beer.

breakfast on the second day

Southern Mindanao Academy then. it was not like this yet, but i like it more this way. in our time it was like a military barracks.

standing in front of our classroom - section: Mercury

culinary entrance... the dormitorians ate all meals here and sometimes did a courting in the premises.

the dormitory that was home for me for 3 years. if only the walls could talk. I spent a whole day washing and waxing all the floors and the entire bathroom as punishment for leaving the campus to watch a movie at the city. Rodney Ramos was an accomplice and we were the center of ridicule by the righteous dorm mates.

there was a canal here along the pathway from that urinal behind that I was privileged to dig while the entire school had ongoing classes. I remember the jeers while the students walked by and you can imagine what was going in my mind.

these guys spent the best years together here... actually not only in this campus but out on the road and in places where the school laws were not a deterrent to our enjoyment.

we had a pose similar to this by the side of the building and I would give a thousand bucks to have it posted here. our apparel then was a combination of "wetlook" and "double knit".

last pose before leaving the lady between us was second to none in our class when it came to mental and physical endowments. I initially considered her a threat to my intellect but later reneged on my plans to to top the class when it was obvious that she was the teachers' pet and I was the scapegoat.

it was exactly like this 39 years ago and it still remains the same. i hope the bread improved.

last meal together we will be oceans apart, but this reunion will be forever cherished and remembered. thanks guys for making it a reality.