My Memoirs-I walked to school with the whole neighbourhood

Most parents would not let their primary school kids to walk to school these days.  This had not been so, however, that time when I was a school kid—when there was peace and quiet and if I could say it, when people were in the lookout for their neighbours’ welfare and safety. 

I had lived in a neighbourhood which was heterogeneous—ie  consisting of  of old rich, new rich, middle class (as I only heard about the abolition of middle class in high school) or possibly, if there were poor, mostly upper poor and not mid poor, or poor poor people. In the immediate vicinity of our house, for example, were Aling Jule and Mang Andrada whose grown-up sons were educated, one of whom even got posted in America and then there were also Mang Tony, who’s got a Ph D from New Zealand and his wife Aling Diana who was an office worker.

Going out of the interior part of the street where I lived were people who were some kind of rich. Two of them were Mang Tiago who lived in a  big mansion painted  yellowish, if not beige or off white which was called Villa Nina and the Mendozas who were like shipping stockholders, if not magnates.  I had never been inside their mansions so I did not really have an idea what it meant to be rich then. Nimrod knew however, that there was a swimming pool inside the Menodza’s house whose tall blue gates were always closed.. According to the adults, however, in the compound where our family and relatives lived, the Mendozas became bankrupt when they paid compensation to all the families of every single person who died in an accident in one of their ships. .

 

At the end of our street lived a band called Excalibur who had gathered a considerable audience, among whom were my big sisters who even kept a photograph of the band. I bet this was because of the sound of their big drum and bass guitars or maybe because of the Beatle songs they sang.

Knowing who our neighbours were and them knowing us, I walked to school as far as I could remember—every single school day.  This walk , I meant to F.G. Calderon, not the Lerma SDA School I also went to in grades 1 and 3, wasn’t  a short distance walk because my house as I had said in the foregoing, was in interior part of the street-- more accurately, in the boundary of Manila and Caloocan cities.

This is artificial Sampaguita garland and Ilang- ilang corsage perfumed with Sampaguita scent

When I went out of the gate of our compound from which hang a sign bearing “Beware of Dogs.”, I could already smell fragrance coming from Mang Abeng’s sampaguita field and see his workers picking the small white flowers that were made, together with another flower called Ilang ilang,  into garlands  which were later sold at the entrance in Sta Cruz or Quiapo churches  or else  peddled in the street  which the Roman Catholics bought to put in the altars of  their homes..

I couldn’t remember being fearful walking to and from school, because I was not by myself but with my siblings and cousins who were also going to the same school..  And even if I was by myself, other kids who were not of school age were outside the houses I passed by playing Philippine games like teks, sipa or pico, if not just chattering  Similarly, some adults like  Aling Diana, Mang Onyong, Mang Roger or Mang Tony were also out walking to go their respective workplaces. There were also Aling Felisa, Aling Maria, and Aling Pilar  carrying baskets  to go to the wet market past the railway station and far beyond the Lerma  SDA school  or the talipapa along my school’s street .

Technically, walking to school was like walking with all the people in the neighbourhood.  Having said this, I think it would be accurate to say that my parents as well as other kids’ parents in our neighbourhood were  kampante  (calm and comfortable) for all of us children to walk to school.  Furthermore, in principle, I could say that everyone knew everybody and thereby, should be keeper of anybody. 

As we kids just walked past cluster of houses of timber and concrete make or combination of both, this walk expectedly was not much of  fun, adventure or exploration, not until we reached Aling Nelda’s sari-sari store where I particularly used to buy my favourite Choconut and white rabbit candies. 

After this store, was an alley.  At this point was where all the thrill and adventure happened, particularly if we encountered here Aling Pia.   We kids were scared to death to be   cornered by her as she was always drunk with large doses of See Hoc Tong even at the first hour of the day. I couldn’t figure out but in few instances when this occurred, Aling Pia would chase us out of the alley with her hands in strangling gesture.

From hindsight, I think she was just like in a playful mood and not intending to hurt any kid because she caught my youngest sister Cyn once and all she did was held Cyn’s neck with her cold hands like those of a dead person but eventually let her go not causing any bodily damage. I think she was doing this because other kids were in the habit of teasing her. Also, I think Aling Pia must have a bigger problem which she was trying to run away with by drinking or else she might be having bad times or experiencing pain she wanted to deaden through the spirit of See Hoc Tong. I never knew because there was no adult in our compound who ever mentioned her name.

The alley, being so narrow would only allow two people to walk through in two-way direction.  As such, my father cautioned us when we were much older not to walk alone ever (!) through this alley, particularly in the dark.  He said that even if the people in the neighbourhood in general were decent and good, we could not eliminate the chance that we might meet bad people who might harm us. If we were however cornered by drunkard, he said we needed not really be scared because we could easily overpower him. All we needed to do was to push him because he would easily fall over and then run as fast as we could. Otherwise we could apply the boxing techniques he taught us or karate skills my older brothers learned in karate school..

The alley opened to a big quadrangle before we got to the main street. Here there was a basketball court, a carenderia  and a vegetable and chook small-scale farm owned by Aling Ima and Mang Chiquito.  .  Teenage boys played basketball mostly in the afternoon, before which they hang out in the carenderia to eat or drink.

Internet photo of ice cream cart with 2 kinds of cones.

On the main street  was a line of colourfully-painted and decorated   tricycles which were for hire to take anyone anywhere.  We, my siblings and cousins and I did not take this ever in going to school because the sound of the bell of Mamang Sorbetero (the ice cream man) was enough incentive to save  our allowance to buy after school his ice cream which came in different flavours—ube, mango, or vanilla. This ice cream is referred to now by most tourists in the country as dirty ice cream.  Dirty or not dirty, however, we kids were crazy for it.  What pleased us also were the choices Mamang Sorbetero gave us—ie depending on our choice, he could gave us the ice cream in unsweetened cone or matamis na apa (sweetened cone)and also a bun. From hindsight, I think there was nowhere in the world that time, except  in our neighbourhood,  where ice cream was put in a bun like the hamburgers.

In the street were also other food vendors who were selling popsicle,  coloured crushed ice called scramble which also came in different flavours; native cakes called bibingka or pichi pichi. Other vendors also gave us a chance to eat for free if we were prepared to take the challenge of shooting a coin in a narrow-mouthed bottle filled with water after we flip the coin.  If we were successful, then we get a steam bun or fresh lumpia for free.

I never took challenge but i got to eat free lumpia too because my brother Rommel was a sharp shooter that technically he could have all of us kids in our compound eat for free. But the vendor couldn’t afford to be bankrupt so after three tryouts, he banned my brother for further shooting in the coin.

Fruit market found in a talipapa

Along my school's street were also cluster  of houses interspersed with small establishments like the drugstore, Dr. Parco’s clinic, beauty salon and also a few sari-sari store which sell 'sa malamig,' (sago and gulaman drink)! More interesting was the busy and noisy talipapa. which was not just a fish market.  Inside were vendors of fruits and vegetables and dry goods.

halo halo dessert

More interesting and enticing definitely for us kids  were a number of  talipapa’s carenderia where we could buy a range of Filipino desserts famous of which was the cold sweet dessert or snack called halo halo, not to mention guinatang halo-halo and various kakanin. Here, people were seated while eating, and hence could enjoy not only the food but their friends.  I could not remember having eaten at talipapa after school. My sisters Ate, Mina, Daisy and Merle must have and so did Cyn. Funny, but  in a later confession, Cyn told us she spent some thirty pesos which she nicked from our retail store register to treat her whole class  in the talipapa. Unbelievable! An eight year old kid having that much money!  My sister must be a genius in counting money!

Aside from sweet foods which naturally interested us kids were images of youngsters walking on homemade stilts or else running around on their homemade wooden scooters and roller skates.

There should be much more than I could remember regarding my walk to school during my primary years.  I could not remember all. That was like five decades ago, yet the colourful sights of the tricycles, the ice cream carts; the scents of sampaguita and Ilang-ilang, the the sounds of the ice cream bell, the noisy children—all of these are memories I probably would not want to forget ever! Unless, I live to be over 80 and lose more billions of brain cells... this is why I have written this short account.