we revisited Gloria Andrada in Sta Maria a close friend of Miguelita's.They were neighbours in the old days...Gloria is a retired nurse who spent so many years in California working sometimes 3 shfts just to see to it her kids could finish their college studies...Her husband is also a US Airforce Surgeon and when they retired, they decided to sell their California home and settle in Sta. Maria....When she learned that Miggie is still straddling on the fence whether to retire or not, she said: "You should retire now, now that you can still go about. What is the use retiring when you are already confined to a wheel chair?"...Then she showed us her home which was just beside Miggie's family land. The back yard was full of fruit trees, flowering bushes, ferns planted on the trunk of some tress giving it an unbelievably beautiful appearance We also saw some bonsai versions of tamarind and some other Phil. trees..Very cute. As we walked deeper into the "sanctuary" for living plants and various birds, we saw 3 bahay kubos. a water fountain and an empty chicken house..."Why are they empty?" I asked. "Did they die of an epedimic?"...Then she began to relate the story of the empty chicken coop. She said one time there were around 30 native chickens caged in there..Then one day, a friend asked her:"Why are these native chickens inside the cage?,,They should be allowed to roam free and find nourishment from the ground.".."Oh Okay," she said. The next morning she unlocked the cage and set al l birds free....NOW, the same afternoon, she went to check some of her vegetables planted in the backyard. Oh No!, she said,,Those ruthless chickens ate all my camote plants and several other veggies which suited their appetites..So she ordered one of the servants:"Capture all of those stupid chickens, kill 'em all and stuff them in the freezer..".. she said, that in the next few days, they had nothing but chicken dishes:adobo, arroz caldo, lechon AT IBA PA.."


Life starts early here at the Marketside..4:00 am brings the vendors, tricycles, farmers dropping in some veggies for consignment and the omnipresent sidewalk vendors..Our proximity to the marketside makes it easy to have freshly made tupig or bibingka in our breakfast table...Our hosts are Drs. Ben Gurion and spouse Grace Ramos, who is also an MD but she stopped her practice because after 10 years without a child, all of sudden, she was blessed with one. She wanted to take care of her daughter named Mia ( just like my first grandaughter ) and so she resigned from her post in a manila hospital..Her husband is one of the best loved Pediatricians in town and around town..Grace's mom is a sister of Dr. Regalado Tendero who was the husband of my aunt Minay. On day 1 of our stay in her house, we found that Stauro stayed here also for almost 2 years! Stauro is grace first degree nephew and the books I donated one time all landed in her house!..She related some "horror" stories re: him which filled in some of the mystery jigsaw pieces of why the library project collapsed. Grace found a job for him in UCC Urdaneta..She and her husband are quite prominent, affluent and respectable figures in Asingan ( I never knew that til now )..They let us stay in their guest room which has the amenities of houses abroad...It was such a nice time recalling the early childhood days when the tenderos and costeses were still grade schoolers living in close quarters. She knew most of the Tendero chronicles which I also knew with some I knew and she did not know because she is very much younger than I am..Oh boy, I said to myself as I write this entry, God really has willed that I would meet her to renew those days and renew ties with long lost relatives..Anyhow, that is WHY we take holidays in Asingan..To try to look for missing jigsaw pieces which dissapeared as we started growing up to be adults..I loved the books you sent, she said..The boxes landed in my house..You should have been the rightful recepient I said since your husband is partly involved with a local pediatrician charity group helping kids not only with their medical needs but also with reading skills..Oh we need children's books, she said..Her husband have outreach work not only in Asingan but in tayug where he holds office in the government..Thus right there and then on the dining table, Miggie and I promised to send them books out of our expenses and they were so happy..This is just one way of repaying their hospitality for letting us stay with them as long as we can while in Asingan..If you hear how Dr. ben Gurion explain his experiences as a starting physician in Asingan, you would both laugh and cry..Starting a practice in Asingan is hard said Grace, because most of the patients are my relatives and sometimes it not easy charging them!..But after several years they now have a big home, lots of patients ( Asingan kids ) and he has also some visits to another hospital in Urdaneta..Doctors like teachers enjoy such a high standing in the eyes and hearts of people in a community, even Asingan....

From: A Reader
To: Vic
Date: Saturday, April 17, 2010
Message
I am not from Asingan but you make me feel like I belong there because of the way you describe the places in town. It is so vivid that I could visualize what you are talking about. Your down to earth approach of writing is indeed good journalism, you write it as you see it and that is the reason why I feel like I am by your side listening to your stories. Thanks, keep on going till you leave town. Tasyo