may 31 GTG. morong rizal

*sinulat ni reta para sa narra yahoogroup, re-posted here without permission hehe

first off, let me just say "NAKNANGPOTA! !!"

i said that not because im angry but because i promised to say that in my first email after the GTG. no big deal so dont make a fuss out of it.

here's a long summary (conflicting words:) for your reference:

the GTG was not so grand if we talk about attendance, there were about 10 (myself, gemma, jude, lota, lisette, gladys, don, jayson, joan, jean) of us who went to paseo rizal, at various times if i may add. jude and I were the earliest to checkin at 4PM. i guess we were just excited since this is supposed to be the grandest of the grand. oh, we did see malen and jeje at kamalig later in the evening. so that makes it 12 (20%).

but just because the numbers didnt work for us, doesnt mean we didnt have a good time. i think everyone left paseo happy and satisfied.

here are some observations on the "newbies":

on gemma
- madaldal pala si gemma which prompted me to say i like her personality. didnt know that during highschool since we didnt talk to each other too much. i guess i was intimidated by her mestiza beauty back then so i wasnt able to muster a decent conversation. she gained some weight but she still looks fine. actually, the weight isnt bothersome at all. nadadaan na nya sa smart dressing.

on lisette
- still sexy.i guess her frame and height helps a lot. she's sporting a short do. medyo problematic sya because of health concerns sa parents nya and in fact she had to be in the hospital to watch over her folks. i guess nakatulong naman yung gtg kahit papaano para makalimutan nya yung problems nya. at least napasaya natin sya kahit saglit.

on lota
- she still looks the same, matangkad na slim. madaldal din pala si lota, dun ko din lang nalaman. at eto, mataray din pala etong kapatid natin. i guess she is not afraid to speak her mind. she's into tall, blue-eyed guys. i speculate this is because of her exposure to european culture (sana yung asawa ko pagbalik ay di maghanap ng tall and blue-eyed guy kasi bagsak ako sa tall at sa blue-eyed:). so philip (and the other singles out there), buy blue contacts and wear elevator shoes:)

on gladys
- gladys, gladys, gladys...well, i categorically denied that i had a crush on her when we were in highschool and i shamelessly said that right in front of her. ofcourse, i was just making her laugh, kasi we were discussing it openly later on. also, everybody knows thats not true and in fact, she even knows it. its an anecdote we can openly share. since past is past, napagusapan na din namin yung mga crush crush na yan pero i will not divulge anything else na napagusapan dun other than those involving myself. so i guess you have to be in the next one para malaman nyo. para din syang hindi tumanda, at yung frame nya ganun pa din. may nunal pa din sya:)

for those who were not able to attend, i have no ill feelings toward you guys. im disappointed, true, but not with you. like i always say, matatanda na tayo and madami na rin tayong responsibilities. ganyan talaga, shit happens. narra91 doesnt have to be first priority, or even 2nd or 3rd. live your life and make your decisions according to your rules. and guys, i find it crappy when we say that freakin cliche (kung ayaw may dahilan, kung gusto may paraan). life is not like that. lets not be jealous kung pinili nila na gawin yung ibang bagay. while "i love my wife and she is my best friend" sounds oh so cheezy, its also oh so true. sa totoo lang, narra91 is best positioned at the background, no more, no less. its a drop of spice, a jolt of energy---not something you live on everyday.

as for future GTGs, well here's hoping more of us will come. i find it hard to fathom seeing all 60 of us sharing the same table in the foreseeable future,but at least those who will come are guaranteed of having a grand time. di ko alam kung kelan uli mangyayari ang gtg pero sana more will happen, kahit once a year or twice a year or whatever.

so for narra91, i offer a toast. here's to 1991---a year when every girl graduated with curly hair (i still dont understand why kelangan magpakulot ang mga babae nung graduation)



sa uulitin,
reta


PS
salamat to jayson and jean for the text messages. yes, i got home safely.

more importantly, thanks to jude for his patience. pasensya na tol, ginawa kitang tsuper pero i really appreciate what you have done for me. salamat, salamat.

sabayang recitation

First year high. Winners for RTPI’s choral recitation competition were being announced. We, students of I-Daffodil weren’t expected to win, being freshmen and all, and I guess we ourselves weren’t expecting to win either. And we didn’t. But we did our best, that’s okay for now. No big deal.

Second year, same competition. A whole year in RTPI under our belt, we went to the choral competition with more confidence, with more conviction to do better than the year before. After reciting “I Am A Filipino”, we were a bit giddy. Hey, we did real well; we might just pull an upset and win this one. “The winner is… II-Rizal”. We won! What could be more “Filipino” than for the Rizal section to win the competition? Against all odds, we did it.

Buoyed by the victory from the previous year, we know we have a very good chance to win back-to-back. Our confidence was strong as the Molave tree, but we didn’t take the competitions lightly. “Not yet, Rizal, not yet. Sleep not in peace: There are a thousand waters to be spanned; There are a thousand mountains to be crossed; There are a thousand crosses to be borne…” we thundered, loud and in unison inside the Eulogio “Amang” Rodriguez Tanghalang Sining (EARTS). And after all was said and done, we, III-gold, were back-to-back champions.

The final year. We can make history with a three-peat at the choral recitation competition. As the top section of the senior class, we were expected to win but the IV-Molave was also good, as with the top section of the junior and sophomore classes. The piece was the poem “Mactan-1521” and that’s what we were feeling, the whole Spanish armada out to get our title. But we won’t lose without a fight. And we didn’t lose.

IV-Nara, back-to-back-to-back, three-peat choral recitation champion!

Yeah, those were good memories. RTPI high school life wouldn’t be complete without talking about those choral competitions. Those were the times that the whole class becomes one. With one goal. But those wins didn’t come easy.

And Philip knows this all too well.

For he was the sculptor who molded the class’ different strong personalities to move in one direction. He was the conductor who weaved his Fantasia-baton that made this orchestra a three-time champion. Yes, he was also the dictator who terrorized us whenever we’re not producing the results he expected of us.

First year, during our practice, out of frustration, he threw a flower vase. Deo was unfortunate enough to be at the wrong place and at the wrong time. He got wet.

Second year, Philip yelled and angrily threw an adobe brick which landed in front of the-still-unfortunate Deo.

Third year, again, out of frustration, Philip hurled a broken chair during a practice at the school rooftop. After a near miss of last year, this time, the chair hit Deo. The projectile wasn’t aimed at Deo and he knew that, it was just that unfortunate for him to be at those exact places.

Fourth year, a pattern was developing. Every year, Philip would get angry with the class and would throw something, anything. And Deo was always in the way of the thrown object. Having this in mind, Deo was then very alert during practices. But Philip, surprisingly, didn’t throw anything that year.

It was hard to be in Philip’s shoes in those times. It was hard to come up with an idea for a winning performance and it was much harder to lead this class in those practices. But he did it.

I don’t know if we, as a class, expressed our gratitude to Philip back then. I don’t know if Philip knew how much we appreciated all his efforts. But then again, it wouldn’t be too late to say thank you now, is it?

Thanks Philip.

---oOo---

Kung may choral recitation sa English, may Sabayang Pagbigkas competition din tuwing Linggo ng Wika.

Unang taon, mga baguhan pa tayo nun, mga virgin pagdating sa mga kompetisyong ganun. Hindi tayo nanalo. Okay lang. May susunod pang taon.

Sekendyir, alam nating kaya nating manalo dahil nagawa natin ito sa choral recitation. Kaya nating mangarap na manalo at talunin ang mga mas matatanda sa atin. Pero, subalit, datapwat, hindi tayo nanalo/ Okay lang yun, we can’t win them all. Give chance to others muna.

Ikatlong taon, ito na ang taon na mananalo tayo sa Sabayang Pagbigkas, sabi natin sa ating mga sarili nun. Nag-ensayo tayong mabuti. Inaabot pa ng gabi sa praktis. No sacrifices, no glory. Yan ang motto natin. At ang nagwagi! Ewan ko, basta hindi tayo. Olats. Shiet! Nadaya tayo! May favoritism. Yan ang mga alibis natin. Maghanda kayong lahat next year.

Fourth year, IV-Narra, the proud, the mighty. Imposibleng mabokya tayo sa Sabayang Pagbigkas. Ibubuhos na ang lahat ng makakayanan. There is no tomorrow dahil huling taon na natin sa RTPI. It’s now or never! And the winner… (drum roll) …

Umuwi tayong talunan nun. Pakers. “Who cares about Sabayang Pagbigkas? Mas prestigious ata ang choral recitation, no? Bleah! La wenta” we silently, bitterly said to ourselves as we bid RTPI goodbye.