(Ma/Pa/Ka)Hirap

 

I will say this from the bottom of my heart...

Salamat pinanganak akong mahirap.

Salamat hindi nagpursigi ang tatay kong magtrabaho.

Salamat sobrang sipag ng nanay ko.

Salamat tinulungan kami ng mga kamag-anak namin.

Just so many blessings and challenges to be thankful for.

Lumaki ako sa hirap.

Lumaki kaming pinakamahirap.

Out of both sides of the clan.

When your cousins and relatives were all studying from schools like CSA, Don Bosco, ICA, La Salle, Miriam, Ateneo, LSGH, etc.

Tapos kayong magkapatid eh Paranaque National High School ang peg, siyempre may maramdaman at mararamdaman kang inggit, lalo pag bata ka pa at hindi pa masyadong maintindihan ang mundo.

Although me and my ate did come from a Catholic Elementary School, hindi na kayang magpa-aral sa isang private school ng aking mga magulang.

Kasi ginastos ng tatay ko yung matrikula namin sa sugal.

And that probably was the start of the downfall of our family finances...

At dahil doon ay kinailangan naming lumuwas ng Maynila at mag-aral sa Pangasinan for a year.

Dumating kami roon kasa-kasama ng lola ko.

I remember it pretty well.

We rode a bus from Manila to Alaminos and then from Alaminos to Burgos, her hometown.

She and my lolo took us in with open arms.

Wala naman silang choice. Char.

But we couldn`t understand that.

Bakit kailangan naming lumayo sa lahat ng nakasanayan namin?

All our cousins and friends?

Our school?

Our house?

Andaming tanong sa aming mga isipan.

And you know what?

It was really a blessing in disguise!

There were obviously advantages and disadvantages.

The latter being:

One, being purebred Manilenyos, meaning we have very little knowledge of the Ilocano language.

Two, nasanay po kaming may kasambahay. So household chores for us were not so familiar.

Three, we were desperately homesick.

Doon naming natutunang makaintindi at makipag-usap in Ilocano. Most of our classmates, teachers, relatives and even neighbors barely speak Tagalog.

Ang klase namin ay umaga hanggang hapon, pero may 2-hour break kami from 12 - 2pm.

Sabay kami ng mga kaibigan kong umuuwi sa kanya-kanyang tahanan, tapos sunduan rin kami pabalik nanaman sa eskwelahan.

Natuto kaming maglinis ng bahay. Yung totoong linis. Yung hindi "sinsinan" or bara-bara. Sabi ng lola ko.

We climbed trees.

We swam at my tito`s river.

We harvested lumboy (duhat)!

We planted crops during Home Economics.

I was the school`s representative for the Spelling Bee and won 2nd Prize in our division.

I loved that chapter in our lives.

Part 1