Luid Kekongan Kabalen King K-List:
Our much-awaited meeting with Atching Nancy finally took place on July 13. Because of her very busy schedule, we missed her on previous occasions. She was supposed to be with us at Camalig during the signing of the Articles of Incorporation of the Batiawan Foundation, which Daredevil Dave has already mentioned, and then during the Pinatubo anniversary/K declaration of independence.
PART 1
Mike and I arrived at her family's ancestral house in San Francisco Paroba in time for a late lunch (we were delayed on the way there). We had gone there from Angeles via San Fernando and the Minalin town proper on a rainy Sunday, past a poblacion permanently half-submerged in a mixture of lahar and floodwaters (the municipal hall has in fact been relocated). On the way, we passed numerous poultry farms which have made Minalin the egg basket of Luzon (later, we would learn the not-so-pleasant facts about this industry). We also saw a little Visayas in the K-region (most workers in the farms come all the way from the Visayas, so one gets the feeling that one has left Indung Kapampangan on the way, where their residences are found together).
Once one gets to the place, it is not difficult to find the house, which is a local landmark. Just ask for the 'Bale Matua daring Lagman', which stands out in the village. One notices, however, upon closer scrutiny how 'Javanese mud' has submerged the ground floor of the house, which contained items dear to the family. The first landing of the stairs has disappeared and one of the entrances to the upper floor is no longer possible. Only the house's imposing height relative to the village gives the illusion from afar that the lahar is still foreign to the village.
The contained photographs of Lagmans past and present, including A. Nancy's illustrious ancestors, who were leading citizens of the town and the village (a grandfather was a leader of the Revolution who was closely associated with Pres. Aguinaldo, so that even the house's design was similar to General Miong's Kawit residence [the houses were said to have the same architect]).
Over lunch, we discussed (as expected) things Kapampangan, including many plans we wanted to carry out. We talked about the ever-present lahar (which was all around) and the plight of the people of the people, how so many villagers were leaving, and how those who were left were struggling to cope. We learned how, lahar aside, people were suffering from lung disease and infected by the unsanitary conditions brought by poultry farms located so close to a populated area, going down with emphysema or some lung disease at an early age. Our families (especially ancestors, which would be an apt subject in an ancestral house), K-List, the good food (which included the bounties of Indung Kapampangan, including irresistible crabs), the latest news, and many other subjects, went into the discussion.