My friend Vera informed me a few minutes ago that our teacher back in college, Sir Leonilo Estimo, recently died of kidney disease. I last saw Sir Estimo when I visited UP one afternoon two years ago. He was walking to the gate on the clearly defined sidewalk of the Cebu campus at a very slow pace, with his back slightly hunched. He was as how I remembered him from my second year (forced) elective class: polo-and-slacks, dark-skinned, thin (and seemingly getting thinner), a hint of gel in his wavy hair (i vaguely remember that stray curl on his forehead ala Elvis), and the black attache case. I did not go up to him and shared pleasantry because I doubted he remembered me at all.
I sucked in his Cebuano class. Though he was pleasant, he did not let me get off easily for my very bad reading in Cebuano and slow understanding of the figures of Cebuano language. In all honesty, I loathed his class. I am always racked with worry every recitation time, fearing he'd remember that I'm the same student who has stumbled over her Cebuano in a straight sentence countless times and has still not understood the intricacies of Cebuano grammar. It also did not help that his class was scheduled at 6 pm in the evening, or about the same time my brain is dead after the long day.
Despite these frustrations, I still gave him the respect that he (earned and) demanded. Sir Estimo's name is always dropped when it comes to the foremost Cebuano writers. He is a Don Carlos Palanca Awardee for Literature (Short Story in Cebuano). For most of my classmates (those with an easy grasp of the language), he was an effective teacher. But he never gave up on the rest. He never gave up on me. In return, I never intentionally missed his class. I never engaged in chatters with my chatterbox co-Mass Commers. I never burrowed myself under my cloth bag to nap (unlike other classmates). And I always tried, though unsuccessful, to ace his exams.
He was the first among the many Cebuanos I met who showed absolute regard for the Cebuano language. In his own right, he was an unparalleled advocate for it.
Rest in peace, Sir.
Maria Vita Tan Rodriguez
02-42101
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Ida Mae Larrazabal
i had a nice chat with my cousin by birth and all-time friend ida. i think i have to mention this since she's found this site and even bookmarked it. awww.... in grade school, we used to schedule house visitations on weekends. mostly it was at her house. no longer sure why exactly (was it because her father didn't want her out always?), but it didn't matter. her house sat on a huge lot, and there were many things we could do. we would play with her mother's plants, or run to the end of their back garden, to the small gate that opened to the groto with a huge Mama Mary facing the rest of the baranggay Nadongholan. or we would hang out in her room, scan books, talk, play with barbie dolls, go thru the collections she shared with her sisters. or stay downstairs and listen to the piano (with her playing on it of course). those were the good times.
she gave me chinchin in grade 5. at first, my parents didn't want chinchin but i cried my heart out. when they found out chinchin was a terrier, they changed their minds. chinchin wasn't chinchin then of course. my mother gave chinchin that name, to chinchin's despair. chinchin?!? but i would grow to love that name, or maybe, only the one who carried it.
chinchin made me fall in love with dogs. or maybe not all dogs. chinchin was the only dog i only really loved. the others were mere attempts to bring that much fascination back. but didn't work out with the ones who followed: poochie (she ran away) and now, twoshe (has her own world). chinchin was my bestfriend. she died in 2005 to a hit and park.
ok so that's what ida gave me. a friend.
she moved to cebu in high school. we would trade books, but distance wouldn't trade time with us. i think the most we saw of each other at that time was once a year, during summer. same with college. i moved to cebu and she moved to manila. i think we always knew we both still existed, and our past closeness made that matter (not once did she forget to greet me on my birthday). but that didn't change the condition that we were separated by distance, growth, interests, and well, dreams.
we would eventually finish schooling. ida's back in ormoc to prepare for another year of schooling (in scotland, no less). and i'm still stuck here in cebu to prepare for the great vague world (on earth, no less). we now talk more often than i ever remember we did. i'm sure we logged in more hours in grade school but i don't remember much from that. 8 years of near silence counted for something, i guess. but the good thing is that we both grew up from that. now, we're bringing into our friendship all that we have learned along the way. i'm glad at the end, we were to meet again.
~~~
I originally wrote this for my other blog, www.ilovemyupper.blogspot.com on February 13. On Sunday, September 7, 2008, Ida will be leaving for Scotland to study Music Technology and Acoustics at the University of Edinburgh. Have the time of your life, Id. Sorry if my broken promises and seeming aloofness may have given grounds for your doubts on what your friendship means to me. :)
she gave me chinchin in grade 5. at first, my parents didn't want chinchin but i cried my heart out. when they found out chinchin was a terrier, they changed their minds. chinchin wasn't chinchin then of course. my mother gave chinchin that name, to chinchin's despair. chinchin?!? but i would grow to love that name, or maybe, only the one who carried it.
chinchin made me fall in love with dogs. or maybe not all dogs. chinchin was the only dog i only really loved. the others were mere attempts to bring that much fascination back. but didn't work out with the ones who followed: poochie (she ran away) and now, twoshe (has her own world). chinchin was my bestfriend. she died in 2005 to a hit and park.
ok so that's what ida gave me. a friend.
she moved to cebu in high school. we would trade books, but distance wouldn't trade time with us. i think the most we saw of each other at that time was once a year, during summer. same with college. i moved to cebu and she moved to manila. i think we always knew we both still existed, and our past closeness made that matter (not once did she forget to greet me on my birthday). but that didn't change the condition that we were separated by distance, growth, interests, and well, dreams.
we would eventually finish schooling. ida's back in ormoc to prepare for another year of schooling (in scotland, no less). and i'm still stuck here in cebu to prepare for the great vague world (on earth, no less). we now talk more often than i ever remember we did. i'm sure we logged in more hours in grade school but i don't remember much from that. 8 years of near silence counted for something, i guess. but the good thing is that we both grew up from that. now, we're bringing into our friendship all that we have learned along the way. i'm glad at the end, we were to meet again.
~~~
I originally wrote this for my other blog, www.ilovemyupper.blogspot.com on February 13. On Sunday, September 7, 2008, Ida will be leaving for Scotland to study Music Technology and Acoustics at the University of Edinburgh. Have the time of your life, Id. Sorry if my broken promises and seeming aloofness may have given grounds for your doubts on what your friendship means to me. :)
Maria Carlyn Villarosa Rodriguez
A person is often construed by his outward manners. An established social case or an old cliché, this works both goodly or badly against Maria Carlyn Rodriguez, depending on what people think of the feisty that is her.
Carlyn's (or Cai) presence involuntarily demands attention. Aside from that she relies on a big-boned, 5’8” frame and carries around a disarmingly pretty face, her voice registers more than the number of decibels that’s expected from women, she walks around with a gift for chatter, and more often than not, wears bubbly with a winning smile like both are her best accessories.
But these are only the Cainess hanging from her sleeve. Up close and personal, she is bright, sensitive, thoughtful, and insightful beyond her 20 years. As a friend, she has many descriptions: one who would drive anywhere to comfort you in your emotional downtime, one who sometimes forgets your birthday but otherwise, would have prepared a candle on a cupcake for you, one who doesn’t mind hours of dispensing sound advises when you need, one who listens all too willingly. If you stay long enough to take this side out of her, congratulations, you’ve just made one good friend.
Hope you also stay long enough to be a good friend to her. No question Carlyn is strong, independent, and decisive; these are clearly part of her feistiness. But she also has fears and a lot of questions, suffers from insecurity and sometimes, alienation, and most crucial of all, she is needy of somebody to whom she could show this weaker side of hers. She is just 20 after all, the age that holds the threshold to a major crossroad in life.
Other people may busy themselves more with noting down her flaws, which at many times, are hard to miss. BUT who doesn’t wake up late in the morning or arrive late at a gathering? Who doesn’t leave or misplace stuff everywhere? Who doesn’t get confused by suggestions? Who doesn’t get something wrong once in a while? Who doesn’t want to insist on what she believes in? Carlyn may fall victim to these more often than other people, but as I have earlier mentioned, this is not all that she is.
On a final note, Maria Carlyn Rodriguez is a bundle of sunshine whose light she shares and extends beyond her daddy Bingcol and mommy Judy, brother Vincent, and sister Alyssa, beyond her huge family scattered around Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, beyond her high school and college friends, beyond the one guy she calls her sunshine (I’m assuming Cai :)… to everywhere that she blesses with her presence. She was born on April 29, 1987, and in behalf of all whose lives she came across with or she is yet to touch, we’re glad her sun shines at this corner of the world.
*** Carlyn is now a first year med student at the Cebu Institute of Medicine.
~~~
I originally made this in my cousin Carlyn's request for her school project. (so to my dearest sisters, don't feel bad i have not put you down in words yet)
Carlyn's (or Cai) presence involuntarily demands attention. Aside from that she relies on a big-boned, 5’8” frame and carries around a disarmingly pretty face, her voice registers more than the number of decibels that’s expected from women, she walks around with a gift for chatter, and more often than not, wears bubbly with a winning smile like both are her best accessories.
But these are only the Cainess hanging from her sleeve. Up close and personal, she is bright, sensitive, thoughtful, and insightful beyond her 20 years. As a friend, she has many descriptions: one who would drive anywhere to comfort you in your emotional downtime, one who sometimes forgets your birthday but otherwise, would have prepared a candle on a cupcake for you, one who doesn’t mind hours of dispensing sound advises when you need, one who listens all too willingly. If you stay long enough to take this side out of her, congratulations, you’ve just made one good friend.
Hope you also stay long enough to be a good friend to her. No question Carlyn is strong, independent, and decisive; these are clearly part of her feistiness. But she also has fears and a lot of questions, suffers from insecurity and sometimes, alienation, and most crucial of all, she is needy of somebody to whom she could show this weaker side of hers. She is just 20 after all, the age that holds the threshold to a major crossroad in life.
Other people may busy themselves more with noting down her flaws, which at many times, are hard to miss. BUT who doesn’t wake up late in the morning or arrive late at a gathering? Who doesn’t leave or misplace stuff everywhere? Who doesn’t get confused by suggestions? Who doesn’t get something wrong once in a while? Who doesn’t want to insist on what she believes in? Carlyn may fall victim to these more often than other people, but as I have earlier mentioned, this is not all that she is.On a final note, Maria Carlyn Rodriguez is a bundle of sunshine whose light she shares and extends beyond her daddy Bingcol and mommy Judy, brother Vincent, and sister Alyssa, beyond her huge family scattered around Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, beyond her high school and college friends, beyond the one guy she calls her sunshine (I’m assuming Cai :)… to everywhere that she blesses with her presence. She was born on April 29, 1987, and in behalf of all whose lives she came across with or she is yet to touch, we’re glad her sun shines at this corner of the world.
*** Carlyn is now a first year med student at the Cebu Institute of Medicine.
~~~
I originally made this in my cousin Carlyn's request for her school project. (so to my dearest sisters, don't feel bad i have not put you down in words yet)
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