Ed- No. 2 in series (continued from No. 1)

Ed - No.1- in series of 10

Do you remember…

We had a classmate who was kind, warm, trustworthy, and very hardworking.   He always scored high in his exams and quizzes, and resulted in stellar grades!  He has continued his positive outlook throughout his professional and retired life. 

It is noteworthy that he has maintained his relationships with former classmates and can be counted on for furthering the bonding that has started with Team Class 61.

I was thrilled that Ed Buenaflor submitted a piece to share through our Class blog.  He shares with us his thoughts, beliefs and viewpoints on a range of things.  It will be issued in 10 installments, the first one is appended below. 

Do you have any comments on this piece, whether you agree with him, or have gained something from reading it, or any reaction at all?  Your feedback counts!

-------------------------

Ed O. Buenaflor

Ed has just sent in the following correction to a blog entry, as follows:

I have held the rank of a Master Chief Data Systems (DSCM E-9 USN Ret) Retired as a Commissioned Officer in the U.S.Navy as a Lieutenant (LT USN Ret) with the designator of 6180 - an LDO designator as  Electronic Material Officer for combatant U.S. Navy Ships - carriers, cruisers, destroyers, et al. LDO designates a field as a specialist rising from Enlisted USN Status to USN Commissioned Officer status, in this case, a specialist in NTDS (Naval Tactical Data Systems) and Electronics Readiness Maintenance, responsible for the electronics combat readiness of the ship and shore stations assigned.

It would be so nice if a little bit of attention could be given by our other fellow Klasmeyts for their inputs, so that Our Blog could be more accurate, more napinpintas, more lively... sigh.  No laeng koma mabalin... 

The composite photo above was composed by me, and so any faults or errors are mine.

Many salamats, Ed O.  And more power to you... (110 or 220v??)

City High in the Sky

To get a better view, please click on the photo.

Attending Elementary Schools in Baguio

 

Baguio is full of good memories, of years gone by – while we were just mga batang musmos, or when we attended elementary school in short pants or bakyas, or when we spent teen years in pain and in sweetness, at City High, and beyond.

Old Baguio Central School, or Central School to many, always had a good standing and reputation among elementary schools:  great teachers and principals, pupils on the upswing, numerous awards, a good vegetable garden, an outstanding heritage building. It was probably the first public elementary school in Baguio, established in 1923 in one room of Mateo Carino’s residence with 25 students, constructed and destroyed in WWII but rebuilt in 1949.

 It is also known to many, as "that elementary school abay iti City Hall". Its immediate past principal, Dr. Consolacion Paz-de Guzman, is "one of us".  She was so cooperative during our Golden Homecoming, it was a success in most part due to her and extending the school's facilities to us for our bonding sessions!  The school authorities also had the good sense to use the building as an evacuation point for flood victims in recent floods in the area.

This is now 2013, the “fast forward” from 1957.  It would be so wonderful, if other Class 61’ers can put on paper, the “Napanantayo” side of our elementary school classmates?  Our memory lane window is getting narrower each year, so please share, please spend a little time and effort to trace, to research if possible, and to write down what we know about classmates (or about yourself!) who were in the congruent areas of elementary and high school (Mrs. Subido and Mr. Calica taught us what congruent was, in geometric terms!).

We all transitioned quite well from our beloved Baguio schools.  Do let others know a bit about you, through this Class 61 blog.  Photos would be more than welcome!

Rudy L. has kindly and patiently crafted together the following.  Many many salamats, Rudy.

Balagot

Arthur graduated with a degree in Agriculture Science, 1967, University of the Philippines at Los Baños (UPLB).  He pursued his career focused on livestock farms to become the President of Philgern Vetcare Trading  Corporation, based in the City of Dagupan, Pangasinan, which distributes animal health products to piggery, poultry, and other livestock farms, which include pet clinics.

Buenaflor

Eduardo dedicated his lifetime career with the U.S. Navy.  He left the naval service with the highest rank of Master Chief.  He is happily retired - enjoying family in the U.S. commuting between San Diego, California and managing his landholdings in Alaminos, Pangasinan.

Bugaoan

Diana pursued a career in the medical field and is currently retired and living in Daly City, a Filipino suburb of San Francisco, California.

Cristobal

Joselito works with the U.S. government in a supervisory capacity.  He spends most of his leisure time as an accomplished drummer of his musical group.  He lives in Hacienda Heights, a town in the County of Los Angeles, California.

Lambino

Rodolfo had a short stint as an auditor and tax advisor with the prestigious Sycip, Gorres and Velayo, CPA’s.  He relocated to the U.S. and served in various capacities as Manager of Sales Services for a major records company and subsequently with publishing houses in the NYC area.  He is now retired and gracefully managing his five grandchildren become civic leaders of the future.

Lavarias

Delma is currently an Independent Executive Office Professional.  She came from Texas Instruments (Philippines) as head of Office Personnel.  She is currently active in organizing civic and charitable organizations.

Medina

Louella is an Educator/Vice President in St Louis University and currently resides in Baguio.

Tabangin

Raymond pursued his law career in Baguio Colleges; and went on to become a Fiscal in La Union.  He maintains his residence in Baguio. (A must:  See recent shots of Raymond at his son's very cool wedding, in Ryan Tabangin's Facebook!)

Villanueva

Warlito worked with the U.S. government in various supervisory capacity, initially in Detroit, Michigan and finally relocated in Richmond, California.  He spends his time of retirement fishing between Baguio (Burnham Lake?) and the San Francisco Bay Area.

A beautiful, lovely wedding!

A blushing bride.  A handsome groom.  Proud parents.  A church lovingly decorated with Baguio flowers.  A park-like backdrop, with a white Christmas tree and stately pine trees (the ones left remaining).  A superb ballroom and flawless dancing by the couple. 

Watch all of these, in your Facebook, or borrow someone else's FB to watch this really beautiful video. Not to be missed!!! Congratulations and best wishes to  Ryan Ray Tabangin and Hana Espejo Tabangin. And to the proud Class 61 Papa, Ray!

How do you say "water"???

English like a native 

Linda Grace Cariño December 1, 2012

“LINDS, say water,” commanded my friend Lisa. I complied.

“Again,” she insisted. And again I complied. Then added, “Why?”

“Again.”

“Water. What is this about?”

Lisa laughed. We were out walking somewhere in Baguio, catching up on each other after rediscovering us, both teaching at the U.P. at Baguio circa 1980 or thereabouts. Lisa and her sister Ana had spent childhood summers with my family on Kisad. It was great to pick up as young teachers 20 or so years later.

And finally, she blurted out: “You’re the only one from Baguio I know who says wohter,” as in pronounced correctly.

Me: “What do you mean?”

“Everyone else says wahter.”

“Wahter?” Me again.

“Yah. Wahter.”

“Hmm. Well, you say water.”

“Wahter,” said she. And both of us cracked up.

From that day, I listened carefully to how Baguio people pronounce the word. And true enough, I soon came to conclude that a good number of us do say wahter, my now late father included. When he was alive, he was particular -- picky, even -- about having ice-cold water available at all times. The stuff had to be around for harmony to reign in the house. He was always saying, “Get me some ice-wahter.”

English spoken among Baguio natives is a dialect all its own. Though it is basically American-accented, perforce of history, thrown into it are a lot of odd bits of Ilocano, the Baguio kind. Ilocano (Iloco, actually) as it is spoken in Baguio is different from the way it is spoken in the flatlands. It is “hard” – transliterated from the Ilocano natangken – as against the lowland “wet”: nakabasbasa aya. 

My ear first attuned to this wetness one summer in Santa, the Ilocos, in the house of a friend named Jackie Bello. They didn’t say wen with the guttural schwa sound we use, but stretched it out, weeen. They also said aya every other word: wen aya, haan aya, apan tayo, aya. That and la. Wen la. Napanen la. Inakon la. In Baguio, we say wen, napanen, inakon. And with that schwa sound in heavy evidence. Not for us those long, stretched out vowel sounds.

So then, one of the Ilocano words which figures in Baguio English is this word ngarrud, found in our conversations like it was part of the English dictionary. Said, of course, to stress a point. So it’s yes ngarrud, not just yes, if you already said yes and they keep asking.

There’s also man, as in: get man the pen. Nonono -- man here doesn’t mean a person at all. It means something like the Tagalog nga: get nga the pen, a little word there to punctuate the request, much like that Malay tack-on, la. Get the pen la. Okay, la. Very good, la. Surely itself the origin of the Ilocano la.

Then there’s this other word, ngay. Used, for example, when a decision has to be made, like in "What ngay (are we going to do)? How’s that ngay?” I suppose that a loose translation into English could be from ngay to then: What then? How’s that, then?” Ngay can also figure in an argument. A could accuse B of eating all the ice cream, for instance: You ngay. You ate all the ice cream. You’re so rawet. That last word means greedy. And ngay there means: what about you -- you’re a fine one to talk.

Another little word is met, a hard met now, not a wet one. It means something akin to the Tagalog naman. For example, in answer to the question: Did you mail the letter already? The answer could be: Yes met, as in, need you ask? Or you could be told: Your boyfriend is such a schmuck. To say: No met, means that he’s actually alright. Or someone could say: I’m surprised so-and-so actually delivered, and you could answer: What met do you think of him? Naman.

Besides having incorporated those little words into the local English, I find that the Baguio native stands rare among his/her countrywo/men as a one who says s/he is going downtown. Non-native speakers (a little joke there) say they’re going “to Baguio” (hweeer?), to “the plaza” (Theater? -- thinks the native), to the “bayan” (Bayan Park?) when they’re going to town. (To be continued)

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/baguio/opinion/2012/12/01/carino-english-native-256097