St. Mary's -- I remember when...

Mia and I are here in St. Louis negotiating with people at the Hotel, Art Museum, etc for the Igorot International Consultation on Jul 1-4, 2004. The other day, Mia and I went to the Union Station, a tourist site (train station, shopping mall, restaurants, etc). In the middle of one of the halls, they displayed hundreds of letters from ordinary citizens who wrote letters to the Union Station Office when it was renovated in the 1970s. The person in charged of the renovation sent out ads asking for anyone to send letters to him and share their experiences with the Union Station. They started their letters with "I remember when...". While Mia was window shopping, I spent about an hour reading the letters. The letters were full of human history. One person shared about his first time to go the Union Station to wave goodbye to her brother who was on his way to the Pacific Islands during World War II. One said, I remember when I was a little girl in 1920, my grandfather would take me to Union Station and we would buy ice cream...One described about this first date...

So how about an "I Remember When..." in the Sagada Postboy for the graduates to share with the students?

I remember my first day as a Seventh Grader in St. Mary's School in 1961. Coming from Tabuk Central School and having heard about how smart the graduates of Bomabanga Elementary School, I was very nervous. I was also terribly homesick. Our first class was with Mrs. Gulian. I looked around and I saw one student who looked lost. His eyes were looking out the window. He was wearing short pants and his tight shirt wasn't long enough to cover his belly. I said to myself..good there is someone who is probably not from this place and from his looks, he is probably just as dumb as I am. Relieved that I wasn't the only 'dummy' in the class, I tried to pay attention to Mrs. Gulian. She gave us a small quiz. The next day, feeling that I did well in the quiz, I couldn't wait for Mrs. Gulian to gave us our papers. She shuffled the papers and then said, "Who is Daniel Dulnuan?". The small boy in short pants and tight shirt slowly walked infront of the class. Mrs. Gulian handed him his paper and said, "You had the highest grade in this quiz.Congratulations!".

Daniel Dulnuan was my best friend in high school. He was a walking dictionary.

Edwin Abeya
Class 66