gengki the newbie

in the virgin forest i enter. gengki spanks and smites. love is all you need but then again i need chocolate too.

Josefina the great

Usually when I need a new space or something to change my atmosphere, I still drastically dream of relocating to another country. But it is not feasible, so the most instant change of atmosphere for me would be to troop down to the suburbs of Deparo to my Lola’s house.

My Lola is the first one to tell me the basics of being woman. She told me to never let anyone wash your panties. Always respect your parents no matter how disrespectful they seem to be. It’s not good for a woman not to know how to cook because up to now I still don’t know how. She was the first one who taught me how to cook Sinigang and Adobo with tomatoes.  And even before all the brouhaha of whitening products, she told me to slather papaya fruits so I can look more maputi. She was the first one who told me that I should just let my pimples be in the nicest way possible

Josefina is my Lola. And I call her Nanay because she said that Lola sounds so Lola to her. I don’t understand her on that part but she has her mind.

A mind of her own. She fed all of her 9 children by washing tons of clothes and after all the usual survival stories of the mothers and fathers of the 60's, she tells me she doesn’t like Jennylyn Mercado because she thinks she has sira ng ulo. She prefers Yasmien Kurdi.

When I was young, Nanay fooled me into thinking that Richard Gomez was part of our clan--- the Gomez clan. I believed her totally and started spreading news to all of my elementary classmates. Goma was dark and so is our Tatay (our Lolo). And she convinced me to eat all the kalabasa that Tatay was putting in my mouth because it can make my eyes so clear i can see through what one is thinking about me (which is kinda true in a magical realist way) 

One thing more, Nanay is the quintessential Taray queen of our family. She was ultimately suplada as if she was the only one awake when God showered katarayan in Ilocos Sur. Her katarayan spilled onto some of the female descendants including moi. But her katarayan has a quirky side which I so love. Back then when all of the chocolate pasalubongs were in her refrigerator and of course we all cousins ate up all our chocolate, nobody would dare come up to her and ask for another chocolate bar. I did that. I dared. And she would really lash out at me, telling me how matakaw I was and blah-blah-blah until she tells me where exactly inside the ref the chocolates are hidden. To which I would signal my cousins to attack. Such youngster delight!

Time, indeed, has simmered her down. She watches Eat Bulaga and laughs a lot at Joey de Leon. She talks to her cat. She is amazed at pictures I let her see of places I’ve been to. Lately we just talk about her past; how beautiful she was back then in Ilocos with Perla soap as her face’s soap. How she would laugh secretly at my sarcastic jokes. I just love talking to her.

posted by: gengcooker at 15:51 | link | comments (1) |

Comments:

#1  13 December 2006 - 14:05

 

this is way cool... is katarayan something really showered by God in the North?! Considering my grandma is from Pangasinan and is also mataray (how do you say mataray in englisht btw?!) nice entry... i'd write something about my grandma too one of these days.

Mo'nonymous

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