Mother and Daughter Chronicles
Days 9-12: "From Dumaguete via Cebu to Bacolod"
A picture of our Franco relatives. From right to left: Baby, Helen, Carmen, Santiago, Ann Marie, and Bernie:
Mom and I sat down last night for a long catch-up session. We had gotten pretty far behind on our journal entries. The last week has been so busy - and Dad, Mom, and I all caught colds, which made us super tired every evening. The following are our recollections from days 9-12 - our travels in Bacolod. My dad ("B" - for Bernie) joined our conversation from time to time below, as he wrote postcards. We were all sitting at a table in the dining room of our hotel, the "Prince Hotel," while it poured last night in Baguio City.
AM: Let’s start from when we took the night boat from Dumaguete to Cebu.
H: Was Terri with us?
AM: No, we left Auntie Terri at Dumaguete. She and Uncle Morris were going to visit Uncle Frank and Aunt Mabel.
H: Our night trip was not bad, right? At least for me. I took my sleeping pill and slept through most of the night.
AM: It was awful for me because my bunk was right next to a man who snored like a freight train. He was so loud that I had to move to a different part of the ship and sleep over there.
H: Worse than Dad, (laughing) huh?
AM: Yeah. Totally.
H: Okay, Rufo and Val, Rufo’s relative, met us at the dock early in the morning, about 5 am in the morning.
AM: Yeah, we arrived at 4:30 am.
H: Rufo gave us a tour of Cebu. First we saw the cross of Magellan.
B: I got most of this (the details about what we did) in my e-mails. We went to McDonald’s first.
AM: Oh, that’s right, then we went sightseeing.
H: Where did we go after the Magellan cross, Bernie?
AM: We went to the church. It was dedicated to the patron saint of Cebu.
B: Basilica of Saint Nino?
H: Then we went to see the statue of the warrior, Lapu-Lapu, who killed Magellan.
Lapu Lapu. A native Filipino warrior and national hero for having killed Magellan.
B: I think the place was called Magellan Shrine.
H: It was a huge statue of a good-looking Filipino. Then we walked around the village there where we saw a variety of fish and squid… Well, I was fascinated with the Lapu-Lapu fish. I wanted to taste it.
AM: Why is that?
H: It was a colorful fish. I wanted to see how it tasted. So we ordered only one fish for four people (giggles). We were thirsty so Rufo suggested Tanduay rum. We got 5-year Tanduay rum.
AM: What did you think about that?
H: Rum was delicious!
(B Grunts.)
H: Dad didn’t like it. We each had one shot of run. So we had the entire bottle left, which I am now carrying around the Philippines. If you come to Lynchburg, I’ll share my Tanduay rum with you. We may buy another bottle for our Japanese hosts in Hayama.
Below is a picture of our rum shots with Dad's mango shake.
AM: So let’s move on to Bacolod.
H: So it was time to fly to Bacolod (City on Negros Island). After we checked in (to the airport in Cebu), we had lunch.
B: That is where I had a funny hamburg.
AM: Why was it funny?
B: Philippine Hamburger.
H: It wasn’t beef.
B: It didn’t seem like beef.
AM: Okay, what else?
H: (When we got to Bacolod) Santiago and Carmen met us at the airport. Then they took us to the nice hotel.
AM: Then what? After we checked in.
H: Then we met the sister, Baby. And we went with them to have tea. Then they took us back to the hotel because they thought we were tired. Then we had dinner with Santiago and a whole bunch of Francos at Baby’s house.
AM: What were your impressions after the first day (in Bacolod)?
H: (Hesitates a while) There were so many Francos that I was confused about who was who. We met a brother-in-law named Javier Lacson. His wife (Terri) joined us later that evening. Bernie, what do you remember about our first evening with the Francos?
B: It was very nice. It was at the home of Baby and Nick. I can remember most of the people – I can remember the adults. It was a Spanish style of cooking.
AM: What was Spanish about it?
B: Oh I don’t know.
AM: Okay, so what did we do the next day in Bacolod?
B: We went four places. First we went to the community where he works. Then we went to the historic house. Then we went to dinner at the Japanese place.
Santiago showed us the blackboard he uses to communicates with the mute and deaf of the community where he volunteers
AM: We went to …
B: We went to a place that sold local gifts, and then we went to the museum.
H: We went to the museum with Baby. (After) It was getting late, so they took us to the hotel to rest. And then we went to Santiago’s place for dinner. And then we met *more* Francos.
B: It was pretty much the same people. It was the first night we met Vicky.
H: I think Santiago’s house was more of a hacienda. It was more open. He had three different families living with him. He had Vicky and her family (two girls) and then Santiago has an adopted girl.
AM: Okay (We dispute here a bit about who was who and what we did on what day. I’ve deleted a lot of our disputes because it really is rather tedious.)
H: When did Santiago tell us about hearing about Mom?
AM: It was the last night.
H: Well what happened on the second (day) Dad? (B recaps the above – that we went to four different places.)
H: Javier and his wife were with us the first two nights.
AM: Okay what did we do on the third day there?
H: We went to the market.
B: We looked at the squatter villages, and then we went to a mall, then to a market, and then to a coffee shop.
AM: Mom, what do you remember most about that day?
H: I remember Carmen bargaining with the sales people over different products we purchased.
B: Oh, when you bought the baskets at the market.
H: And I think Santiago would feel sorry for the sales people. (B laughs) Because Carmen kept lowering the price. And he wanted to say “Oh, enough! Just pay the price!” Then we went to a coffee shop, and then we went home to take a nap. A Siesta!!
AM: Okay…
H: Uh… then we had dinner at Pinky’s house. She had a beautiful house. With two maids serving us dinner. And then Santiago told us about learning about Mom from Dr. Labra. We wanted to meet Dr. Labra but he wasn’t available. Santiago remembered Mom really well (from having seen her when he was only four years old, more than sixty years ago), and (when he finally spoke to her on the phone) Mom recollected all the different individuals whom Santiago knew also.
AM: This is when they spoke on the phone for the first time after sixty years, right?
H: Yeah
AM: So Santiago knew she was telling the truth.
H: Santiago remembers Mom, but the rest of the family did not, because they were too young.
AM: Wait a minute, what about Joe and Ines, they’re older (than Santiago)?
H: (Santiago said that) Joe didn’t believe Santiago at first. Okay (pauses) Santiago wished that Mom had had more courage when the Franco’s moved to Manila. Mom was living close to them
AM: When was this?
H: Years later, Santiago said he was a teenager. (This was right before WWII).
AM: Why did he think Grandma needed courage?
H: So she could meet her family. But Mom was afraid of her father. Santiago thinks Mom should have ignored her father. And that her father (also Santiago’s father) would have supported Mom. But Mom was afraid of her father. (Long pause) But now he’s glad that they finally got together and that he was able to meet the rest of her family.
Here is a picture of the entire family at Pinky's house.
AM: After how many years did they finally reunite?
H: After 60 years. (Pauses) Santiago says that Jimmy (H’s youngest brother) looks like Santiago.
B: (Mumbling. He is barely audible.) Fifty. Must be about 47 years.
H: And that he thinks that I look like Carmen – Camenlita – who died at the age of 39. Because she is younger than Carmen (Santiago’s wife). (Carmenlita) died at a very young age and left two orphans to be raised by Santiago and the rest of the family.
(Mom is looking at the screen now, questioning Dad’s calculations.)
AM: Okay, what next?
H: Charlie, one of the orphans, also died at a young age, 2 years ago. He was in his early fifties.
AM: I got the impression that he was younger but…
H: Let’s say forties. AM: Okay
H: (sighs) We took several pictures before we left for our hotel. It was a very – what do you call it? – informative, heart-warming evening.
AM: What was heart-warming (about it)? [No response] Dad, tell me your impressions!
B: Very warm, hospitable, and very friendly. They are very close-knit family.
H: Yeah, very close-knit family.
B: Spanish. A type of Spanish. Not uh… Well they are open, sincere. So I would say that they are not formal and not reserved. But dignified in a Spanish sort of way. They had some Spanish customs. The Spanish cooking, and the kissing on the cheek thing.
AM: What do you mean “the kissing on the check thing”? (Dad looks at me funny) I’m pretending I don’t know so I can get more details here.
B: Well, when you leave or when you meet, the men and women all kiss on the cheeks. It’s not the French way. They don’t really kiss each other on the cheek. Well, the man kisses the women on the cheek…. Which is a nice custom. (pause) I don’t know…
I think Santiago is really concerned – genuinely concerned – definitely concerned about the prospects for the poor class. Especially that society is polarizing all the time. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
H: And Carmen blames it all on the government.
Tenament housing in Bacolod City. Santiago and Carmen interview to find the poorest of the poorest deaf-mutes as applicants to the community where they volunteer.
B: Yeah, she blames it on the government… Well the government did something to then. I didn’t realize this but. Apparently they (the Filipino government) had the land reform and took away their plantation. I was surprised to hear all about that. He said it hurts, but there is nothing he can do about it.
[Now Mom and Dad discuss the financial situation of Santiago versus his cousin Javier Lacson, who has made “a killing” on some of his land, despite the fact that some of it was also taken away) which he had turned into real estate. The situation is quite complicated, and I am not able to type fast enough to keep up with their discussion. The three of us discuss what we heard, which is apparently all different because we were having conversations with different people at different times. I think it would be very informative and interesting if we could update this gap a little later.]
H: So the next day Santiago brought us to the airport, and we sad our goodbyes.
AM: What time was our flight? It was like at 7:15 or something.
H: Yeah…
AM: Okay, I’m going to make…
H: You better delete some of this!
AM: Yeah, I know.
H: It’s boring.
Mom and I sat down last night for a long catch-up session. We had gotten pretty far behind on our journal entries. The last week has been so busy - and Dad, Mom, and I all caught colds, which made us super tired every evening. The following are our recollections from days 9-12 - our travels in Bacolod. My dad ("B" - for Bernie) joined our conversation from time to time below, as he wrote postcards. We were all sitting at a table in the dining room of our hotel, the "Prince Hotel," while it poured last night in Baguio City.AM: Let’s start from when we took the night boat from Dumaguete to Cebu.
H: Was Terri with us?
AM: No, we left Auntie Terri at Dumaguete. She and Uncle Morris were going to visit Uncle Frank and Aunt Mabel.
H: Our night trip was not bad, right? At least for me. I took my sleeping pill and slept through most of the night.
AM: It was awful for me because my bunk was right next to a man who snored like a freight train. He was so loud that I had to move to a different part of the ship and sleep over there.
H: Worse than Dad, (laughing) huh?
AM: Yeah. Totally.
H: Okay, Rufo and Val, Rufo’s relative, met us at the dock early in the morning, about 5 am in the morning.
AM: Yeah, we arrived at 4:30 am.
H: Rufo gave us a tour of Cebu. First we saw the cross of Magellan.
B: I got most of this (the details about what we did) in my e-mails. We went to McDonald’s first.
AM: Oh, that’s right, then we went sightseeing.
H: Where did we go after the Magellan cross, Bernie?
AM: We went to the church. It was dedicated to the patron saint of Cebu.
B: Basilica of Saint Nino?
H: Then we went to see the statue of the warrior, Lapu-Lapu, who killed Magellan.
Lapu Lapu. A native Filipino warrior and national hero for having killed Magellan.
B: I think the place was called Magellan Shrine.H: It was a huge statue of a good-looking Filipino. Then we walked around the village there where we saw a variety of fish and squid… Well, I was fascinated with the Lapu-Lapu fish. I wanted to taste it.
AM: Why is that?
H: It was a colorful fish. I wanted to see how it tasted. So we ordered only one fish for four people (giggles). We were thirsty so Rufo suggested Tanduay rum. We got 5-year Tanduay rum.
AM: What did you think about that?
H: Rum was delicious!
(B Grunts.)
H: Dad didn’t like it. We each had one shot of run. So we had the entire bottle left, which I am now carrying around the Philippines. If you come to Lynchburg, I’ll share my Tanduay rum with you. We may buy another bottle for our Japanese hosts in Hayama.
Below is a picture of our rum shots with Dad's mango shake.
AM: So let’s move on to Bacolod.H: So it was time to fly to Bacolod (City on Negros Island). After we checked in (to the airport in Cebu), we had lunch.
B: That is where I had a funny hamburg.
AM: Why was it funny?
B: Philippine Hamburger.
H: It wasn’t beef.
B: It didn’t seem like beef.
AM: Okay, what else?
H: (When we got to Bacolod) Santiago and Carmen met us at the airport. Then they took us to the nice hotel.
AM: Then what? After we checked in.
H: Then we met the sister, Baby. And we went with them to have tea. Then they took us back to the hotel because they thought we were tired. Then we had dinner with Santiago and a whole bunch of Francos at Baby’s house.
AM: What were your impressions after the first day (in Bacolod)?
H: (Hesitates a while) There were so many Francos that I was confused about who was who. We met a brother-in-law named Javier Lacson. His wife (Terri) joined us later that evening. Bernie, what do you remember about our first evening with the Francos?
B: It was very nice. It was at the home of Baby and Nick. I can remember most of the people – I can remember the adults. It was a Spanish style of cooking.
AM: What was Spanish about it?
B: Oh I don’t know.
AM: Okay, so what did we do the next day in Bacolod?
B: We went four places. First we went to the community where he works. Then we went to the historic house. Then we went to dinner at the Japanese place.
Santiago showed us the blackboard he uses to communicates with the mute and deaf of the community where he volunteers
AM: We went to …B: We went to a place that sold local gifts, and then we went to the museum.
H: We went to the museum with Baby. (After) It was getting late, so they took us to the hotel to rest. And then we went to Santiago’s place for dinner. And then we met *more* Francos.
B: It was pretty much the same people. It was the first night we met Vicky.
H: I think Santiago’s house was more of a hacienda. It was more open. He had three different families living with him. He had Vicky and her family (two girls) and then Santiago has an adopted girl.
AM: Okay (We dispute here a bit about who was who and what we did on what day. I’ve deleted a lot of our disputes because it really is rather tedious.)
H: When did Santiago tell us about hearing about Mom?
AM: It was the last night.
H: Well what happened on the second (day) Dad? (B recaps the above – that we went to four different places.)
H: Javier and his wife were with us the first two nights.
AM: Okay what did we do on the third day there?
H: We went to the market.
B: We looked at the squatter villages, and then we went to a mall, then to a market, and then to a coffee shop.
AM: Mom, what do you remember most about that day?
H: I remember Carmen bargaining with the sales people over different products we purchased.
B: Oh, when you bought the baskets at the market.
H: And I think Santiago would feel sorry for the sales people. (B laughs) Because Carmen kept lowering the price. And he wanted to say “Oh, enough! Just pay the price!” Then we went to a coffee shop, and then we went home to take a nap. A Siesta!!
AM: Okay…
H: Uh… then we had dinner at Pinky’s house. She had a beautiful house. With two maids serving us dinner. And then Santiago told us about learning about Mom from Dr. Labra. We wanted to meet Dr. Labra but he wasn’t available. Santiago remembered Mom really well (from having seen her when he was only four years old, more than sixty years ago), and (when he finally spoke to her on the phone) Mom recollected all the different individuals whom Santiago knew also.
AM: This is when they spoke on the phone for the first time after sixty years, right?
H: Yeah
AM: So Santiago knew she was telling the truth.
H: Santiago remembers Mom, but the rest of the family did not, because they were too young.
AM: Wait a minute, what about Joe and Ines, they’re older (than Santiago)?
H: (Santiago said that) Joe didn’t believe Santiago at first. Okay (pauses) Santiago wished that Mom had had more courage when the Franco’s moved to Manila. Mom was living close to them
AM: When was this?
H: Years later, Santiago said he was a teenager. (This was right before WWII).
AM: Why did he think Grandma needed courage?
H: So she could meet her family. But Mom was afraid of her father. Santiago thinks Mom should have ignored her father. And that her father (also Santiago’s father) would have supported Mom. But Mom was afraid of her father. (Long pause) But now he’s glad that they finally got together and that he was able to meet the rest of her family.
Here is a picture of the entire family at Pinky's house.
AM: After how many years did they finally reunite?B: (Mumbling. He is barely audible.) Fifty. Must be about 47 years.
H: And that he thinks that I look like Carmen – Camenlita – who died at the age of 39. Because she is younger than Carmen (Santiago’s wife). (Carmenlita) died at a very young age and left two orphans to be raised by Santiago and the rest of the family.
(Mom is looking at the screen now, questioning Dad’s calculations.)
AM: Okay, what next?
H: Charlie, one of the orphans, also died at a young age, 2 years ago. He was in his early fifties.
AM: I got the impression that he was younger but…
H: Let’s say forties. AM: Okay
H: (sighs) We took several pictures before we left for our hotel. It was a very – what do you call it? – informative, heart-warming evening.
AM: What was heart-warming (about it)? [No response] Dad, tell me your impressions!
B: Very warm, hospitable, and very friendly. They are very close-knit family.
H: Yeah, very close-knit family.
B: Spanish. A type of Spanish. Not uh… Well they are open, sincere. So I would say that they are not formal and not reserved. But dignified in a Spanish sort of way. They had some Spanish customs. The Spanish cooking, and the kissing on the cheek thing.
AM: What do you mean “the kissing on the check thing”? (Dad looks at me funny) I’m pretending I don’t know so I can get more details here.
B: Well, when you leave or when you meet, the men and women all kiss on the cheeks. It’s not the French way. They don’t really kiss each other on the cheek. Well, the man kisses the women on the cheek…. Which is a nice custom. (pause) I don’t know…
I think Santiago is really concerned – genuinely concerned – definitely concerned about the prospects for the poor class. Especially that society is polarizing all the time. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
H: And Carmen blames it all on the government.
Tenament housing in Bacolod City. Santiago and Carmen interview to find the poorest of the poorest deaf-mutes as applicants to the community where they volunteer.
B: Yeah, she blames it on the government… Well the government did something to then. I didn’t realize this but. Apparently they (the Filipino government) had the land reform and took away their plantation. I was surprised to hear all about that. He said it hurts, but there is nothing he can do about it.[Now Mom and Dad discuss the financial situation of Santiago versus his cousin Javier Lacson, who has made “a killing” on some of his land, despite the fact that some of it was also taken away) which he had turned into real estate. The situation is quite complicated, and I am not able to type fast enough to keep up with their discussion. The three of us discuss what we heard, which is apparently all different because we were having conversations with different people at different times. I think it would be very informative and interesting if we could update this gap a little later.]
H: So the next day Santiago brought us to the airport, and we sad our goodbyes.
AM: What time was our flight? It was like at 7:15 or something.
H: Yeah…
AM: Okay, I’m going to make…
H: You better delete some of this!
AM: Yeah, I know.
H: It’s boring.
posted by annmerry at 9:15 AM
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