Reunion: After 30 years, we finally made it!
The Bolsheviks’ R-Day diary

By Nates Alcantara
January 13, 2004, Baguio City, Philippines

I've been observing the postings in our e-group and the web page and people have been very conservative and sparing of their posts the past days. I wonder why?

It’s amazing why those who joined the reunion are very unusually silent. I think we all came away from the event with a strong hangover, remembering, reminiscing and savoring those two glorious days of December 26-27, 2003.

It seems we are holding our individual experiences too close to our chests, trying to digest it, assessing it before making up our minds on which parts would be best for sharing. But there are no best parts really. It seems all its parts – the waiting, the jokes, the pictures brought, even the time sitting around together just communing – these are all moments that mean so much to us.

So for MaAnne's and Angie’s sake, and for those who will log on later, allow me to reconstruct some snippets in this Bolsheviks’ R-Day Diary.

DAY 1 – December 26 (coincidentally, this also the anniversary day when the CPP was found.)

4:30 Vivienne is first on the scene. I came in next to see if there are still to-do's on some things and also because Art, Suzanne and family arrived earlier (around 1:30 p.m.) and they were supposed to check out the holding room we booked earlier for their driver to sleep on.

5:00 Next comes Arnel who placed up the poster for the R-day followed by Letty who had a bagful of goody giveaways for the faculty. Then it was Evelyn, Brenda and Miguel "Fake" who came next texting earlier asking what time I was going to Tepeyac. (We actually had a preview because Fake and wife Luz (?) and their `tres marias' came to the house the night before where we had a long lounging talk over chips, sliced apples, choc cake and hot choc.) Buddy was still in La Union while Tomas was still trying to weave in and out through the thick holiday traffic in Urdaneta.

6:40 I left for a spell and found Arlene L. Arlene S., and Dinah on site. Art and Suzzane and their three children arrived earlier. Jessie came later on behalf of Joy who said she was not feeling well and would rather join the day affair and forego the cocktails and bonfire. We had gongs but no one seemed to know how to play them. I got one and gave it to Karlo (Art's first born, at 20 years old), I taught him the first beat and he caught on to it. While he picked on the rhythm, I played the contrapuntal beat and we had it going for more than 10 minutes or so.

7:40 Pio and wife Malen arrived. Having grown so toweringly tall, the girls had a ball asking him to identify who they were. By then, the fire had been lit and because the hotel boys used pine needles as kindling, smoke was all over the place but it was not as irking because it still had that pine scent. Graciela (Art's last girl) got into the groove and was chasing ashes and "lighted thingies" (alipato ang tawag sa Filipino) falling all over. "U better have that cold beer ready when I arrive," Tom was texting. Finger foods are served and the favorite is spicy hot "sisig."

9:00 It must have been around this time when Buddy and wife Grace arrived, we were seated in monobloc plastic chairs around the fire. He was already hugging Arlene S. talking and saying "apay daytoy kaarubak nga taga-Q.M., isu pay ti han makabigbig kaniak." What was her response? "Talaga nga han ka mabigbig, apay sinuka nga talaga?" Must have been the anesthesia from birthing or it must have been that the image in her mind was stuck to 30 years ago such that when Buddy showed up with a shiny overgrown forehead, Arlene could not connect it with the curly topped dashing high schooler that "el Presidente" was.

10:00 A bottle of red is served and Buddy brings out another one. Tom finally makes it. Ramon calls in from Lepanto in Mankayan, Benguet (some four hours northward) and talks with me and five other classmates. He promises to come by the morrow. "Di sabi ni Howard nag-oopera?" Arnel asks, "… at saka di ba darating din si Nelda? Wala naman akong sinasabi pero kung sabay pa silang darating eh… ewan ko na!" This elicited giggles and some laughter but by about the third time Arnel was saying it, who else arrives with two bottles of sparkling orange spirits but … Nelda and Howard which brings the house down with hoots, catcalls and more good natured laughter.

Twas around 11:00 p.m. when the group sat down to talk about Emmet and also to discuss about our project with El Presidente presiding. Dues were pledged out of what each could give freely and willingly with Evie talking note. We planned for a mass lining up songs to sing only to be abandoned because as the voluntary guitar man, I could not join as I had a wedding to attend in La Trinidad.

After two more rounds of beer, we broke up past midnight and because I was the last to leave and I could not find the key to the office car I borrowed, I had to leave it and took a cab. The waiters found the key, though, and Arnel handed it back to me at lunch the next day.

Art and Suzanne decided to sleep in the holding room which was supposed to be for their driver. It was beneath ground level and as I suspected, Art said it was a bit musty and the air was stale --- sorry, Man.

DAY 2

9:00 –12:30 This was supposed to start with a mass which they said was a nice one courtesy of Fr. Julio Barbieto, a former parish priest in at the UP Los Baños in Laguna so he was familiar with Letty, Arlene L. Tomas and myself.

Joy and Ruben must have joined during the mass. Being unstructured, after the mass were reminiscences by each class member, tracing the past and how we got to where we are now. Arnel, Tom, Evie and the rest had better fill up on this because I was out.

Aside from Emmet, among the faculty were the former Ms. Daus and Ms. Bautista; Mr. Estoque arrived after lunch.

2:30 For the afternoon session, there was a meeting after Emmet's and the faculty speeches. This was to discuss about possible projects and changes in the Science High or something because it had become elitist or what not.

Arnel, Tom, and Dinah perhaps -- you have to fill in on this one because I left to bring Fr. Barbieto back to his rectory along with Evie. Then I had to bring my wife, Jolyna and our three kids, Neng (Tom's wife) and their daughter Karla Circe and Luz (Fake's wife) and two of their kids back to town for shopping to use the gift certificates given by Tom.

It was here that I got feedback -- Ang galing daw ni Emmet, nakakaiyak daw yung mga sinasabi, and Neng said nakakasayang daw at hindi rin siya nakapag-aral sa UB Science High. They also noticed that clean living daw tayong lahat dahil walang nagsisigarilyo kaya lang umi-inom pa rin. (Take note, Angie, walang nagsisigarilyo sa 19 classmates mo who were in the R-Day)

3:00 Poor Ramon, still had to attend to somethings for the company and was let off only 11:00 so he whizzed through the dreadful Halsema Highway (which is still called Mountain Trail, ask Letty who's from Sabangan, MP) making it to Tepeyac past 3:00 in the afternoon.

The rest of the day was spent luxuriating in each other's presence.

- Arlene L. brought out her small album

- Vivs brought a small box of photos and her slum book.

- Art brought in an 18-year old bottle of Scotch whisky. Suzanne took me aside thanking me for spending time with Karlo on the gongs. Sayang, I thought, if there were more we could actually have had a good "pattong" session but the hotel was not able to book their dancers.

- WE also wondered about our children's names – my first born is Jan Karlo, Art's first born is also Karlo while Tom's only child is Karla. In the book of names, this is supposed to connote Free man. Such co-incidence but remember the Fremen of Dune, Tom?

- As dusk settled, we tried some songs, "Gaudiamus," "Nacio nacio pastores" etc. Sumabog lang sa Alleluia chorus even with Emmet conducting.

- Ramon and I hit the gongs a bit with Fake trying to keep the beat.
- Then we had a healing and uniting prayer led by Evie. (makatindig balahibo talaga!)

- There were some take home from the overspill of the food which many of us partook of

- Fake and family were supposed to sleep over but the hotel already booked the room for another guest even as Evie had already paid for it for the night. I do hope Evie and Vivienne could collect on this double billing.

- After supper, the group gathered at the fire as that day was one of the coldest. There were more songs, jokes and quips like inside the belt of Ireneo Amogan was written in Pentel "Evelyn Forever" or something. (tama ba itong sinasalawasaw ko dito?)

- Here is a quote over the bonfire "Sampalin mo na ako, huwag mo lang akong tawaging virgin!" (Guess who said it?)

Anyway, the day after the reunion, I was home and minding our store and I had this aching in my chest. It was not painful naman, it was a pleasant ache; medyo nakakaiyak na parang may kulang ba -- parang bitin yung reunion. This is the hang-over I was referring to which must have been felt by the others, though I did not have a way of knowing then.

It was a Sunday and the the first to text was Arlene L. and Evie who said we should do it again and Tomas who sent kudos for the Baguio group. Then I sent Godspeed messages to Art, Fake and Tom (I think).

It was weird, this hangover feeling. I had to do something and I found myself humming and recalling "… My seed is sown now ….. my flesh is bone now, my back is bowed…. so hurry sundown, be on your way …. Take the old day (way?) wrap it in new dreams, Send It My Way!
It was as if I was drawing strength from this song of our youth which I did not appreciate much then but means so much now! DINAH, if you are reading this, paki-post mo naman yung buong lyrics ng song na toh, please?

Di lang pala ako ang may hangover, becoz when I texted Arnel a week after ganoon din daw pala ang feeling niya -- na ang lakas daw ng hangover and that let us not wait for 30 years to meet again, txt niya.

And so, pasiencia na lang for this hopeless, sentimental, romantic posting -- took me a whole day to compose it…. forgive me, friends for this very long message as I really just had to get it off my system. Ngayon, makakabalik na siguro ako sa trabaho ko.

God Bless You all, my fellows, and it should be a comfort that we could plan for another reunion when Mary Anne comes for a visit this summer. And possibly with Angie along, we could have another grand time together again. Wishing all the best of the New Year ahead of us.
 

Bonded by time

Reading up on the detailed diary posted by Nates, one more or less get the skinny on what transpired during our reunion in a hill off Hotel Tepeyac by erstwhile members of UB Science High Class of ’73—graduated or not, it really doesn’t matter now, does it? Thanks Nates for telling it like it was.

What can I say about the reunion? For those who didn’t make it, it was everything we expected it to be—and more.

T’was a breathtaking journey back in time. It was a tough but pleasant test of one’s ability to recall who is who and how he/she looked like 30 years before. It was a ride down memory lane to remember experiences and events that had transformed our lives, places we’d gone to, now indelibly etched in our consciousness; to listen to ideas, stories, jokes anew that we’d not summoned up nor heard about for decades; to go through feelings and songs that we thought we’d forgotten but were merely lying in wait until we were ready to call them back again.

There to celebrate our blessings with us for surviving 30 years after graduation, who could be more appropriate to remind us of our follies and the meaning of it all? None other than our father and mentor, Emmet, who didn’t waste time in his talk to tell us we’d been stupid and that, who knows, we’ll probably remain stupid unless we finally get what he has been teaching us all the years we were under his wing.

December 26 had started out to be a bad day for me. Work that I didn’t want to leave unfinished before the year ended kept us from leaving Manila early for the holidays. And I don’t like driving long distances, especially when you’re catching up on something. In Tarlac we had a bummer of an experience at Pancake House, where it took forever for the restaurant to serve lunch. And that’s after we’d crawled through excruciating traffic from Balintawak to Bulacan. Yup, traffic. Of course there’s traffic. There’s always traffic on a bad day. There’s often rain also, except that this day wasn’t that bad. Hate traffic (who doesn’t?).

The day before Dinah had texted me to pick her up in Pampanga. We made room for her in the car though it turned out she was able to find a ride around midnight and got to Baguio sooner than we did.

The wonders of modern telecommunications! Round 4 pm of the 26th text messages from classmates who had begun to assemble at Hotel Tepeyac reached me in rapid sequence—Fake, Nates, Howie, Let…It was enough to lift my spirits, anticipating the reunion in just a few more hours, just a few more kilometers.

At least it didn’t rain. That made the drive up Marcos Highway at dusk all the more exhilirating. I had had my wheels replaced with new Yokohamas the week before, and that together with newly-realigned cambers eased the effort of motoring up the long and winding road to Baguio. This really cheered me up considerably, that and the encouraging text messages.

The reunion came in two servings: the first on the cold evening of the 26th when most of us came together for a dinner and tryst under the clear, starlit sky, warmed only by the bonfire, some wine and the company of old friends long lost but now found again. (Remember John Denver’s “Poems, Prayers and Promises,” Nates?) The second serving came the day after, beginning with a solemn mass by Fr. Barbieto where I served as sacristan (a first!), followed by speeches of our classmates, Emmett’s valedictory, teachers’ rants, lunch, introductions to wives and offspring, the communing and catching up with each other’s lives, a bonfire concert, Evie’s awe-inspiring earth-shaking healing prayer that she devoted especially for the benefit of all of us in our class and our teachers.You all should’ve been there! If only for Sis. Evelyn’s powerful performance, I can safely conclude that we are a truly special and blessed class!

I realize now how irreversibly we’ve matured and grown old. The mellowing effect of time has not only bonded us together inseparably but made us more sentimental than we need to. Definitely we are more understanding and loving now, sensitive to people and where the other person is coming from.

This summer we can look forward to another reunion of sorts, when Maan and hopefully Angie, including our other States-based colleagues if they can be prevailed upon to join, and the rest of us here who failed to attend the Christmas get-together (you know who you are), come home for a vacation in Baguio.

Newcomers are advised to come prepared emotionally and intellectually to try to recognize each other after all these years sans hair, pounds heavier or lighter, looking older definitely.

Then again, will we recognize you?

Tom Consolacion