Mother and Daughter ChroniclesDays 4-5: “Meeting relatives in Cebu”

Today we are on a freight boat making our way from Cebu City to Dumaguete on Negros Island, where my grandmother has been living for the past year. As Mom and I reflect on things that have happened in the last day, my auntie, Teri (“T”), my mother’s younger sister joined our conversation. It was nice to have her in our discussion because she was able to recall different things than we were regarding what we have done and people whom we have met so far:

H: Okay, let’s see. Where did we leave off? We were on our way to Cebu. (When we got there) my brother Morris met us at the airport. Our luggage went into a different vehicle while we went in a car to the hotel. We got one room with three beds at the Cebu Midtown Hotel. While Bernie slept, Ann Marie, Terri (my sister), and I went to the grocery store to buy snacks and drinks. Then we went to the department store to buy a hairclip for Ann Marie and a pair of shoes for Terri.

AM: Okay, then what?
H: Then we rested in the room before going to dinner in Guadalupe.
AM: Okay.
H. Uhhh. The dinner at the restaurant was very informative. We learned some genealogical information about the Labra side.

AM: Do you remember anything in particular?
H: We learned that the Labra family is a biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigg family. We took pictures of each group of families while we waited for our meal. (pause) What can you say more?

AM: Describe the setting.
T: It was a brand new chain in Guadalupe – a franchise – a barbecue. Recommended by Judge Jenny. Tables were set for about 20, and then about 50 showed up.

H: I think there were about 100.
T: At least 60. And that restaurant did a good job accommodating us. Most restaurants would have had a hard time handling that type of crowd unexpectedly. But anyway I think it turned out right.
H: We should have had a game – an icebreaker
T: If we had known how many would turn up.

AM: Aunty Teri, what were your impressions of the dinner?
T: I thought it came out well… considering. Considering how many people showed up…
H: The food was good, and there was a lot. But you didn’t get to eat that much.
They had the soup the barbecue and the noodles. They had the calamari, clam soup.
T: I never had any. Some people really liked the clam soup. I was so busy making sure that everyone had something to eat, that’s what I spent my time on. And two people were helping me. James, the cute little guy, and Rulfo.
We fed over 60 people for about $115. It was about 7000 pesos including the tip.
So, we could have had name tags. Everyone could have filled them out … and then we could have had them write down who their ancestor is.
H: At least we got to feed everyone.

T: But today!!! It was something else, wasn’t it? Paradise in all those shambles. I wonder if there isn’t a little bit of jealousy. Some people appeared so poor.
H: I couldn’t tell who was wealthy and who was poor.

AM: Why was this "paradise on earth”?
T: To get there it was really amazing. It was a bamboo bridge. What do they call those… hanging bridges? Anyway, up high! I’ve never seen anything like that since I was really small. Then going up and down trails and then up some steps up through the mountains, and then all of the sudden comes this magnificent house. And what looked like a flower plantation!
H: Yeah, she sells the flowers, she has four different people to help her work the flowers.

T: What was her name? Gosh, we should have taken notes.
H: We got lots of pictures though.

T: But the houses on the drive going up to this place looked like shacks. But this house was made of cement. Beautifully done and… oh my goodness! Wow!

AM: What about the breakfast at George’s house?
H: We had mango!! It was so good.
T: And rice sticks wrapped in banana leaves. I couldn’t bring myself to eat some of the other stuff though. Ann Marie had some!

AM: Yeah! It was good! I liked it.
T: You had the chicken and the adobo!
AM: Yeah, Dad did too. He liked the adobo.

T: Yes, it was very nice, and they were so generous.
H: And we got a family tree from George who owned the house. I think we learned that the Labra family was a pioneer family in Guadalupe. I think they were the ones that founded that district.

AM: Anything to sum up with?
T: Then we had to meet our ship! They were really generous, providing their cars to provide transportation for us.

H: What was that guy’s name? Rufo? He was so helpful.
T: And his wife, Aurora. She was so lovely.
H: Which one was she?

T: She is judge Jenny’s sister. Then… we ended up on this freight ship! I couldn’t get my upgrade!
H: Terri wanted a cruise ship, but we got a freight ship!
(laughter)

AM: Where are we headed now?
T: To Dumaguete. And it looks like a calm ocean. You know, this could be very rough. And this is going to be something like a 6 hour trip. We are scheduled to land at 6 pm.