Seattle Letter, Esther Mendoza-Pacheco

This is a letter received from Esther Mendoza-Pacheco (BCHS First Honor Class 55). Do you remember the Fairmont Hotel, near the steps to the Cathedral? They used to manage it. The Mendozas, and the Pachecos as well, were family friends from way back. One of my favorite things to do when I made surot-surot with my mother before I was shunted off to school, was to hang around Mrs. Mendoza’s grocery/ handicraft shop at the old Stone Market. Because I was given ten centavos to amuse myself while the two ladies exchanged news (no Internet then, remember?) and I would go off for a Sunshine Bakery hopia or a Magnolia twin choco popsicle. The Pachecos had a house near the Trinidad-Lucban crossing, where the two ladies exchanged plant saplings, news and views that were between the lines in Midland Courier.

Esther was director of the Ateneo Press until her retirement a few years ago, one of the most respected names in academic presses, in the Philippines and elsewhere. I had occasion to meet her and a colleague from the Toronto Press, (who was doing consulting work with us) sometime ago. This is an example of her prose, honor student gamin. She has kindly consented to have her letter reproduced here.

Hi family and friends!

Vancouver, where we came from 16 October, via a comfortable and relaxing train trip through verdant hills, crystal waters, scenic farms (lovely trip I would like to take again!) was a memorable garden city with hospitable people (and many warmhearted Filipinos), walkable streets, a gigantic welcoming public library many stories high, a downtown cathedral (where invariably a Filipino choir sings), and fresh, plentiful food.

And now, my daughter Kathy and I are in Seattle, staying close to that Space Needle icon of the Seattle World Fair, just beside the Seattle Center overflowing with music, science and art, and not far from the University of Washington. Seattle was home to many of the early 1930s Filipino immigrant fruit pickers and salmon catchers, at one time the largest group of Asian immigrants in the city.

We send you all warmest greetings from cold Seattle! We meet with our Ateneo author Vince Rafael tomorrow, and he'll bring us around the U of Washington, where he is history professor (he would later bring us to his office lined on four walls with books from ceiling to floor!) Obama is scheduled to come to Seattle tonight. We hope we can see him at tomorrow's event. If I get close to him, I'll say: Mr President, From the Philippines I campaigned for you via the internet among my friends in the USA. And I'll campaign for your Democrat candidates again! If we can have a photo op with him--wow, that would be THE EVENT of our trip to Seattle!

We got a good scenic and historical tour of Seattle upon our arrival two days ago. We saw the streets livened by maples in red, gold, and tangerine clothing, the old downtown along the waterfront and old Seattle with its antique and quaint shops, the reconstructed town after a devastating fire had razed the original place in the 1900s, and across the waters lined by plain cabins as well as towering high rises--the scene immortalized in postcards! And before we knew it, our bus was sailing on the water of Union Lake!

Our loquacious and humor-filled tour guide - who was a former DJ and who holds a master's degree from U of Washington--can you beat that?- astounded us with his running commentary on Washington State's fish-catching (56% of fish caught in the USA comes from Washington's waters), the water we were sailing on which brings together the state's fresh and sea water, the hundreds of boats (used to be thousands, until the government began controlling them for sanitary concerns, not the least of which was their turning the water into a big sewage dump!) house boats on stilts as well as the sailing boats. Bill Gates, of course, owns the most expensive of the lot, the site across that housed the set of "Sleepless in Seattle," the biggest Hollywood romantic hit ever (accurate ba 'yon?). As we sailed back to solid land, we stared long and hard at the fabulous art installations along the road, and clambered up the hills, as we continued with our cheering at each of the dozens and dozens of Starbucks cafes along the way, seat dancing while singing at the top of our voices hits like "Downtown," "YMCA"! So, after a full afternoon of nonstop belly laughing (our guide is a master at inducing that!), my new-found belief in the efficacy of laughter yoga gained even more breadth and depth. . ..

Early on this week, I had dinner with longtime Seattle-based Baguio friends from the days of long ago-- Del Bermudez (married to Lil Ferrer), who used to perform with the Bayanihan and is into the arts and into wellness advocacy; Naty Lamug, psychotherapist who helps a lot in raising community consciousness on emotional health and caring for abused women; and family friend veterinarian and current president of the Baguio City High International Alumni Association Alicia Domingo (sister of former Foreign Affairs Sec Delia Domingo and Ambassador Ben Domingo, of California Educationist and Asian Researcher Carmen Domingo, and of Evelyn, just-retired head of the UN Information office at Bangkok). Alicia brought us the other day to Redmond (site of Microsoft University) and the neighboring shopping outlets (yes, those selling at a third of Manila prices), to the view emerald mountain ranges and valleys, and the Waterfalls of Snoqualmie ( Indian tribe of the mountains who with others like them were unfairly subdued, and of course sequestered into reservations), also to the dairy farm of very-familiar-brand-to-us-Baguioites "Carnation," where Alicia worked for many years. Our sunny trip was filled with story-upon-story of Baguio the unforgettable of our youth, of amazing high school classmates and their today, of old friends in government and with the Imeldific, of stunning, rebellious, unique children and grandchildren. Yes, indeed, that's what memories are made of when we have become wizened by decades by life on this Earth we call home!

An old traveling friend Dorothy Anthony, just-retired marketing chief at the University of Washington Press and who was my long-time colleague at the International Association of Scholarly Publishers (of which I was senior vice-president for a long time), toured the Pike Place with us yesterday, giving us lively commentary on this largest of Washington state's fresh-produce markets. Colorful place it was with ethnic crafts, magic and fantasy, souvenirs ethereal, together with its large salmon and seafood supply and huge vegetable and fruit produce so crunchy-looking one is tempted to just bite into them right there and then! At this place also stands the first Starbucks Cafe. So photo ops, of course!

Afterwards, we toured the grand Museum of Modern Art, which was currently exhibiting Picasso's own choices of his works, which had been shipped from its original home, now undergoing massive repairs. What genius of a man and his works! Prodigious, innovative, exciting--a host of renderings bringing e.g., to the front the back of the face! Even his painting in the traditional mode of beloved subjects ( like his son Paul) was simply enthralling!

Wednesday we toured the waterfront with Del, and we ended up at the awesome Seattle Aquarium, where we stood at many an exhibit agape at the wondrous sea life of anemones, starfish,whales, otters, corals and sea plants, etc, etc, that came in from the Seattle Pacific waters beside the Museum. (we felt like we were under the ocean itself!)

That's all for now folks , and we do hope you are well, after that latest of disastrous typhoons. Omigosh, such great loss of lives and produce again! The only consolation we get is, I guess, the cleansing that our polluted towns and cities get after the winds leave ....

With affection from both of us,
Esther and Kathy