Whatever Sards' Smokin', It's causing a lot of FLASHBACK!

Ey Grace and Mon!

You're not alone. I was laughing and I keep on smiling whenever I read your posts. At least you have company to laugh with. Mas mairap so onelek no bokbokor mo ed arap na computer. Singa ka natatapis! I hope I won't be joining the legion of Romy Macau, Joseng Bagsak and Emong ya Labarias. Tan si Paping ya inggaton.

Mon remembered the name of the Lord of the Flies - Magdalena. Not Galban but Gaban. That girl was really funny without having to act like one. One time she told us about how she was able to hear his sister doing something intimately with her husband or boyfriend. And yes, she keeps on rocking our desk. Lanang ya mangki-kingking.

I think "swarm" is the collective noun for it. Swarm of flies? Speaking of which, if you happen to visit the meat section in the market back then, be sure not to bump the suspended hook used to hang the meat. Or you will be swarmed by flies who used the rope as rest area. Yes, flies too need a siesta! Amumunggol ira. Singara lomboy ya aneket. I grew up with them...in the market. We used to sell vegetables in the market. It was in the market where I frequently saw thing young boy of my age who delivers chunks or blocks of ice to fish and halo-halo vendors. That young kid as you well know, is now the millionaire who administers our yahoo groups.

Growing up in the market is fun. It was in the market where I developed my skills in the four basic operations of Math. I saw the evolution of monetary notes. Did you know that there was a one-peso and two-peso notes back then? Coins are so big. Walay tibukel ya pesetas!

I also saw the transition of units of measurement. Meat, fish, fruits and vegetables used to be measured not by the kilo. "Inggaton" that's how it was called.

Rice was sold by the ganta not by the kilo. Plastic bags were not used back then. We used "supot" recycled from the bags of cement. When Martial Law was proclaimed in 1972, everything has changed. We adopted the SI unit of measurement. Good bye to "inggaton", hello por kilo!

Ah.,,Martial Law, September 21, 1972...we were all in Grade 2. Back then, I thought about Martial Law was a person who kills anyone who does not follow government orders. I heard about this person who was shot by a firing squad.

It was during Martial Law when flag ceremony became a long overture of "Perlas ng Silangan" "May Bagong Silang", "Ang Bayan Kong May Dangal". "Mabuhay, Mahubay". And of course the recitation of "Panatang Makabayan" and the "Prayer for the Nation". We also have the morning calisthenics sychronized by the beating of an improvised drum. Actually the drum was the trash can enjoying the beating of a piece of wood from either Ms. Armas or Mrs. Pena.

It was also in 1972 when they scrapped all our books and text books written in Pangasinan dialect. "Diad Abong tan Kaliber-liber" for Grade 1; "Diad Iskuwelaan tan Kaliber-liber for Grade 2. And who could forget Ador, that young boy in our reading book who gathers firewood and found a mango along the way. "Agi walay kiyew ko, walay manggak! Yehey, yehey, yehey!"

Elementary days are equally nostalgic. There was this distinct scent of an elementary classroom. And I smelled it again when I was taking my Grade 3 daughter to her classroom in one public school in Manila. The same smell -- a combination of pencil, pad paper, eraser, crayons, sweating pupils, etc - was like a time machine taking me back to my elementary years.

I sure have more vivid memories of the past but I won't punish you that much, reading them in one sitting. I have decided to post it by installment. Mon, promised a dollar for each post which will eventualy go to the reunion fund. Hehehehe!

Sards