Chicago
Darn it, I
miss Chicago. Squirrels, scorching summer, and all. The parents are heading there on Thursday for my little sister's graduation from her medical residency program, and I'd been planning on going...except that
both the parents are going, and we have to man the fort, and I didn't have enough money soon enough, and...
All of sudden, the cash kitty I intended to use for this year's US trip has come in, but a little too late. Probably just as well, because I've put my filofax in God's hands and He's been pencilling in my schedules lately - Chicago in June doesn't seem to be in the Master Plan. Been a little spoiled in the travel arena the last several weeks, so I think it would be pushing it...plus, I have another couple of local trips lined up before the summer wraps, so it's all good.
But...
Darn. I looked at
Metromix, my "bible" of a Chicago guide, again tonight, and my heart went into overdrive. I love that city. I miss that city (in case I haven't mentioned it yet). I loathed some of the time I spent there (must have been all that trash TV and the windy chill that hurt my ears and neck, not to mention borderline depression!), but I still love Chicago. More than any other city in the US, safe to say. How to explain it?
I love the lake, the lakeshore, Lakeshore Drive. I remember when I first saw it with H: "THAT'S a LAKE?!?" It looked more like the ocean to me! That's how huge Lake Michigan is - it stretches as far as the eye can sea and beyond. Whenever I'd drive past, I almost rammed into the car in front of me because I couldn't take my eyes off the water. The funny thing is, I'm the same way with Manila Bay - the architecture around which is set up exactly the same way Lakeshore Drive is, Buckingham fountain included, because the same architect (Daniel Burnham) designed both areas. How cool is that? No wonder I felt right at home.
Home. I loved how I came to know the ins and outs of Chicago like the back of my hand, mostly c/o Mapquest. Halsted, Devon, State, the Loop, Magnificent Mile...almost like EDSA, Quezon Avenue, Tandang Sora, and Maginhawa to me! And I loved how I could drive anywhere (getting lost in and out of the city more than once) I wanted on my Pinoy license, heh heh...
I loved the festivals in Lincoln Park - the Gospel festival, which I wept over (the rains kept me away from Anointed, boo hoo); the Blues fest; the Jazz fest...argh, at least my Dad will get to see all those things for the first time. All those plus the squirrels, which I abhor. They're just rats with long, fluffy tails. Yuck.
I loved the Botanical Gardens. And the Art Institute. Despite the fact I am terribly retarded when it comes to both plants and art. But I know what I like when I see it, and I
liked.I loved the people - not too urbane as to be threateningly snooty, and not too "backwardly" Midwestern, but just right and just friendly enough. And of course, I love the bunch of relatives and "relatives" I have down there - they're absolute darlings.
Argh! I'm killing myself. I promised myself I'd go at least once a year, and I already missed 2004, so I'd better get going in the next few months. Anyway, if the bank account holds and God wills it, I hope to be there in the fall. And maybe the winter, to finally see some snow up close and personal. For a seasoned world traveler, that's the one thing I haven't come across (fortunately, or otherwise), so I hope to meet some snowflakes this time around.
Man, I love Chicago. Arrrrrrrrrrrgh. :-)
Stuck In The 80's
My high school class celebrated our 20th year (eeek!) anniversary with a big celebration at the UPIS Multi a few weeks ago. Had other commitments at the time and wasn't able to catch up, but happily, I found that Monique I.A. had mailed me a copy of the souvenir programme. Once upon a time, I used to know every single person whom I graduated from UPIS with; now, I see some names and go "huh?? Who da?" My little contribution to the celebration, as featured in the programme (oh yes, I graduated from high school in 1985, and am darned proud of it!):
Deny it if you must, but you are undoubtedly a member of UPIS Class 1985 if…10) “Kokak” means more to you than that movie starring Rachel Lobangco and Gabby Concepcion.
9) You remember when Michael Jackson was still black, Prince (formerly known as “The Artist, Formerly Known As Prince”) was always called “Prince,” and Oprah and Belinda Carlisle (who?!) were fat.
8) The ‘80’s music you once danced to is now called “classic.”
7) You own as many (or even more) cassettes, LP records, and VHS/beta tapes than CDs, VCDs, or DVDs.
6) You insist on calling the SM department stores (as in SM City, SM MegaMall, SM Centerpoint etc.) “Shoe Mart.”
5) You still call teenagers and younger people “bagets.”
4) You remember all the moves of the Vicor Dancers and The Tigers. And you know who the Gelboys are.
3) You blew your allowance - as well as a permanent hole through the ozone layer - on Dippity-Do and Aqua Net.
2) At least one of your classmates is a member of the House of Representatives…
- AND -
1) You yourself are legally old enough to be a Member of the Philippine Senate!
High school life oh my high school life, all my mem’ries kay ganda… Memories? How many memories do we have of those four years in the 1980’s, when Ferdinand Marcos was the only President we knew and Prince Charles had just begun living the fairy tale with Lady Di? When EDSA still had traffic lights and intersections we rode the Love Bus to school? When we swooned at the mere mention of Ralph Macchio, Phoebe Cates, or J.C. Bonnin? When Saturday mornings meant we didn’t get to sleep in and watch cartoons but instead bake under the sun and snap to attention whenever someone yelled “
’tionnnnn…na!!” How many memories can our finite number of brain cells contain, and how many high school memories have we selected to retain in our minds and our hearts?
Collectively, as the UPIS Class of 1985, we can probably answer…A HECKUVA LOT.
Memories like the first day of class in a brand new school, with so many strange people and alien experiences to encounter. Of your first upperclassman crush, of the first high school love, of the first dance at Junior-Senior Prom. Of the tears and laughter, the joys and pains, the heartaches and heartthrobs – all of which don’t seem like much when you think back, but meant the biggest deal in the world back then. Of sleeping in the library, sweating over lunch in the Multi, screaming at inter-school soccer games. Of tormenting teachers, keeping track of the Top 40 on RT, and just trying to survive those teenage years.
All these experiences constituted the perimeter of our world as we then knew it – a world that was being rocked by the Iran-Iraq conflict, the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II and the murder of Ninoy Aquino, the famine in Africa, and a deadly new disease called AIDS. And yet all our “trivial” experiences at the most famous public high school along Katipunan have contributed to who we are now, perhaps much more so than the more “significant” global and national events that provided the backdrop to our growing-up years.
We look back at those school years through older eyes that have seen the passing of two decades, and remember the youthful innocence and blissful detachment from the concerns of our elders. Most of these concerns have been bequeathed to us, and we’ve long been in training to take over “the show.” Our childhood and teenage years in UPIS formed us into what we now are as adults, and - please God - formed us well…for the future that we were once told we would soon own is now in our hands for the shaping.
Thanks for the Company
Back in the NCR - happily, only for a little while before continuing on the next leg of this insane cross-country adventure. Thus far, AG and I have managed to survive a whole week in each other's company without entertaining thoughts of mutual murder or mutilation, except that I might occasionally pull out the Bakang's favorite threat of
"bibitinin kitang patiwarik at ipipikpikan ng walis tingting." And so we travel onwards and upwards on Tuesday night, this time with a new travel companion, Bakang himself (who is currently in Kabayan, a leg of my trip that we've had to move to a later - albeit very near in the future - date). Manila, just as I told the corn-rowed one, is just a place to wash one's clothes. Or in this case, to part ways for a few hours, sleep in our own homes, and then recoup for the next voyage. Obviously, my wanderlust has yet to be sated!
