Sino nga ba yung english teacher natin nuong II-Rizal?

I think I can speak for the group and say she was one of our favorite highschool teacher. We won our first choral recitation and we proudly dedicated it to her, as she was equally proud of us winning that one. She was a nanay, a teacher and a friend to us. At least that’s what I think of her.

Natatandaan ko, pinagawa nya tayo nuon ng book report. Gagayahin natin ang book cover at isusulat natin sa loob ang summary ng napili nating istorya. Syempre, babasahin natin isa isa ang ginawang book report sa harap ng klase. Kung pangkaraniwang titser lang sya, ganun nga ang ipapagawa nya pero dahil ibang klaseng titser nga sya, hindi lang natin babasahin ang book report, kailangan ay naka-costume din tayo ng main character ng libro natin. Kapag hindi interesting ang pagkakabasa, papatigilin na nya ito at ang susunond naman ang magbabasa.

When it was my turn, dressed as the character of my story, I think I got to read two or three sentences before she cut me short, probably gave me a low grade and moved on to the next student. I remembered Rhoda (I think) picked a dramatic scene from her book report, read it in front of the class, and I swear I saw her eyes turned watery, ready to cry. If it was her way of making her book-report-reading interesting, or if she was ready to cry out of stage fright, I wouldn’t know for sure, but the teacher cut her report short, too. Too bad. But JJ was different. He read a few sentences and ended it with “let the games begin” and he, together with a few classmates he asked to participate in his book report, recreated a baseball scene out of his book report. Ayos!

Pero hindi lahat ay happy ending. Natatandaan ko din, isang beses, nagalit sya sa buong klase. Galit na galit sya nuon, at takot na takot naman tayo. Di ko na matandaan papano nagsimula pero sinabihan nya tayo nuon na nagiging arogante na ang buong klase, at sinusukat natin lagi ang kakayahan ng mga guro natin. Pagalit nyang tinanong kung tama ba daw ang kanyang obserbasyon. Syempre, walang makasagot. Tinawag nya si Jameson (ata) na ang tanging naisagot ay “n-no c-comment, mam” na sinagot naman niya ng “I want you to comment!”

“Y-yes mam” was all Jameson could muster to say, which of course, only made matters worse. I couldn’t blame Jameson for answering that way, because I myself could’ve answered “yes mam” if she asked me if I’m the one who shot Ninoy. In response, or as punishment most probably, she made us write a gazillion word theme composition, typewritten, neatly bordered, with no wrong spelling or erasures whatsoever, may it be rubber or liquid eraser. That was before the advent of Bill Gate’s computers and word processing, mind you. I remembered laboring with our Jurassic typewriter back home, way into the wee hours of the morning, wasting probably four-trees-worth of typewriting papers, just to complete the no-erasures-composition.

Ikaw, anong naaalala mo?

Hopefully, her name.

sex, lives and someone's pda scandals

I can’t help but smile when I read about a classmate's supposed “PDA scandal” on the Narra yahoogroup thread, although admittedly, I don’t know the details of that tryst. It may not be as scandalous as what most of us wanted it to be (hell, from what I read, it might not have happened at all) but there’s a reason why a mischievous smile is on my face for that “mischievous act”.

Sino yun girl na katabi ni adonis? Si Rhoda ba yun tinitingnan ni Filoy? At bakit sila nagtitinginan? Nagtatanong lang naman hehe

The reason being I still can’t face the reality that my classmates are all grown-up, adult people doing adult stuff. Although I myself may (note the word “may”) have done stuff at par or worse (or better, depending on how one sees it) as what this someone allegedly did, I still can’t look at a classmate’s picture without asking questions I couldn’t/wouldn’t/shouldn’t ask them face to face.

Like what?

Well, like I wonder who among us was the first to lose one’s virginity. Hmmmnnn… sino nga kaya? Who among us was the first to reach “third base”. Who hit the homerun first? Who have done it in public, in a car, in a pool, in someone else’s bed? Who was the first to give and/or receive oral sex? Who are the married people who are having or have had affairs? I know these are questions I wouldn’t know the answer to but hey, they’re fun to think about, no?

But not to sound like my mind is preoccupied with sex, I also wonder who among us was the most successful in life, “successful” in all its definition, not just financially. Who have hit rock bottom? Who is the happiest? Who has the most regret in life? Who fulfilled the promise that they’ve showed back in high school? Who exceeded what is expected of them? Who became what most of us thought what they would be? Who became what they are now that most of us didn’t think they would be?

If those are hard questions, sort of like asking what the true meaning of life is, I also tend to think of trivial matters. Like who married first? Who are still single? And why? Who are now separated? Single parents? Multiple offspring from different partners?

I guess my point is we are all normal people who have done and still doing what normal people do, may they be something one can be proud of or things better left locked inside one’s closet, together with his/her other skeletons tucked away.

My memories of my classmates may be as innocent, naïve as a memory could ever be, but I know we ourselves won’t be like that, as we travel from point A to point B in our life journey, with a little detour here and there perhaps.

Here’s hoping I get to see anyone of you some time, somewhere, when I myself make a little pit stop in my journey. When I do, bet your closets I’m gonna ask you a question or two. What questions?

Read my mischievous lips :D

* photographs grabbed from the Narra Friendster account.