Hi everyone!  Before anything else, let me introduce myself (again!). I’m Victor C. Edrosolan. My friends call me Vic.  I was the class president of the IV- Science One Society.  I have been living in New York for many years.  I always look forward to reading Kaeskwela because I enjoy reading articles about our batchmates. I love the family pictures, too!  Here in NY, I usually hang out with Romeo Kabigting,  Chris Jornales and Manny Tuazon. They’re all good friends of mine.

I’m close  the Parado Family so I always make it a point to visit them in LA whenever I am in  California.  I was in LA for a few days in July and we had a mini-reunion at the Parados’ home (where else?).  I arrived at LAX from San Francisco on July 27th at 12:00 noon and Lex picked me up at 1:00. We had lunch as soon as we got home. Tess prepared adobo and lumpiang shanghai na super- sarap naman no (sipsip!) and after having lunch with Lex and family, Diana and her kids came. Medyo na-late at naligaw daw sila no?  Wow!  Diana still looks so pretty (prettier pa nga no?) and she’s in shape ha. We were just so happy to see each other. May dala siyang pansit na napakasarap din with matching lemons.  That was the first time I saw Diana after high school graduation kaya sobrang excited ako. Very friendly si Diana at down to earth. Dati kasi, she struck me as mataray. We were friends naman in high school coz we were together in SCA (SCAntahan, SCAlandian ba yon? ). Kidding aside, mabait si Diana even before but now, bongga siya no? Kalog na rin siya at very spontaneous.  She made me feel very comfortable. I also met her two kids na bibo at biba rin. Tumutula pa nga in Filipino and anak nyang babae. Cute talaga! Lex and Tess naman are close to me kaya naman lagi akong nag-stay sa kanila (abuso no?). In fact, inaanak ko yung third child nila, si Patrick,  na of course, kasing cute ko rin no? (Kapal!) Masaya sa bahay nina Tess and Lex kasi nga medyo malaki ang family nila. Bagamat medyo makukulit minsan ang mga bata, very lovable naman. I miss them already coz they were all nice to me. Diana  was a revelation talaga. Incidentally, Diana’s younger sister was my sister’s former student at ICAM.  Nakalimutan na ito ni Diana so I had to remind her. 

Then came Celia Tanafranca. Naku, Celia naman is ganoon pa rin. Kalog na kalog. Walang pagbabago. Mas beauty lang siya ngayon syempre with matching dimples!  I like her sincerity. Wala siyang kiyeme at walang yabang sa katawan. Napaka down-to-earth nya. Naku, riot talaga! First, ni-review na muna namin yung annual at pinagtawanan ang mga sarili namin. Nag-reminisce kami habang tawanan ng tawanan at walang puknat na bidahan. Ang saya-saya. Para bang kailan lang talaga kami huling nagkita kasi talagang wala kaming hiyaan. Parang mga teen-agers ulit kaming nagbibiruan.  And then, kantahan naman sa karaoke ni Lex habang umiinom ng San Miguel beer. Celia pala has a hidden talent na dapat lang na ilabas na. She can give Sharon Cuneta a run for her money. May boses ang babae. Ako rin hindi na nahiya at inilabas ko na rin yung pinakatago-tago kong talent pero no match ako kay Celia. Miss Talent ang babae! Tapos si Diana naman ang nag-lead ng Macarena dance. Wow, the girl is a good dancer  naman pala. Syempre una nahihiya pa siya pero tapos noon,  bumigay na rin. Baylarina rin naman pala siya. Nagloka-lokahan kami nina Celia at Diana sa kasasayaw.  Feeling dancing queens, di bah? Si Lex naman panay ang kuha ng pictures para sa Kaeskwela.  Si Tess naman tagatawa kasi naman medyo lasing na ako noon kaya wala na akong pakialam. Mereseng nananaba ako, tira bata! Nag-swing pa nga kami ni Celia. Wala pa ring kupas ang babae. Magaling pa ring sumayaw at bibang biba!  Tapos, we had dinner na. Si Celia  made Korean BBQ (bolgoki ba yon?). Masarap siya no?  Pero ang tismis sa akin e masarap daw gumawa ng okoy si Celia.  She promised to make some the next time I’m in town. Sayang at wala sina Dana at Riz. They had a prior commitment kaya hindi sila nakarating. We spoke on the phone, though. It was so hard to say goodbye kasi nga it’s been a long time,  but we had to call it a night. Nagsimula kaming magpaalaman ng 9:30 PM then we extended it to 15 more minutes then to another 30 minutes. Kung pwede lang pigilin ang oras e. Parang ang bilis-bilis. Parang ang dami-daming kwento na hindi matapos tapos, lagi na lang kapos. Celia wanted me to go with her so I could meet her husband and kids  pero late na talaga. Gusto pa sana naming mag-hang-out pa pero talagang hindi na kaya pang nakawin ang mga sandali no?  

By the way, while I was in San Francisco, I called Libay pala. At first, I spoke to her husband and left a message. Her husband naman was nice. And a few hours later, Libay called me back. It was comforting to know that she still remembers me. I didn’t have to describe myself or sabihin ang section ko. Minsan kasi, nakakahiyang tumawag sa mga former schoolmates kasi baka itatwa kang bigla o nagkaroon na ng amnesia at bigla ka na lang lost in space, di bah? Anyway,  Libay was so warm and sweet naman.  We’ve tried to make arrangements to meet sana kaya lang talagang walang time. Sayang talaga. Di bale, I will  will definitely go back one of these days. Meeting with Celia, Diana, Tess and Lex brought back fond memories of high school. Pinakamasayang part ng school life ko yung high school. It was so much fun.  Napakarami kong experiences na nakatulong sa akin to grow as a person. . Hanggang ngayon nga sa pagtuturo ko or even sa mga workshops na ginagawa ko for teachers , ginagamit ko pa yung mga group dynamics na natutuhan ko sa high school. Actually, most of them, natutuhan ko sa SCA e. Kaya nga sina Tess at Lex ang tawag sa akin,  kuya. I remember Lex saying na mature daw ako kaya ako na lang ang kuya ng barkada. Even Tet Castro calls me kuya up to now. I really don’t mind naman. Sa barkada namin,  kasama si Cris Imperio, Emma Nicolas, Romeo Kabigting at Roger Isleta. Close din sa amin noon si Chris Jornales at Cristina Martinez. I really love meeting former schoolmates lalo na yung mga hindi isnabera.  Ikasasakit ng ulo ko ang mga pasosyal no? Mas bongga syempre kung down-to-earth ang lahat para mas maganda ang samahan, di ba Father Erick? (Naku, batu-bato sa langit, ang tamaa’y ‘wag naman sanang magagalit no?) I’m glad ‘coz lahat naman ng nami-meet ko so far, nice people naman. Kung hindi, ako na mismo ang magtataray sa kanila! (Joke onli!)

Well, that’s all for now folks. I would like to thank the board of judges (ay, mali!), salamat pala kay Tess at Lex sa walang sawang pagkupkop nila sa akin. Talaga namang wala akong masasabi sa hospitality ng mag-asawang ito. Walang humpay na pag-entertain. By the way,  their new home is super nice naman. I’d like to thank Celia and Diana for spending some time with me. I know naman that you guys are busy kaya I appreciate everything you’ve done to make my stay memorable. Let’s do it again pagbisita ko ulit diyan or you can visit us here in NY.  I also want to wish our batchmates all the best. Thank you very much and I love you all!  Yon lang at babu!