Punchline
Remembering the Christmas past
By Ermin Garcia Jr.
AS I am certain many baby-boomers like me often reminisce the “good old days” during Christmas holidays, allow me to trigger some memories of their own with mine.
When I was in grade school in the mid 50s, Christmas vacation in Dagupan was a period for endless caroling nightly, from swinging from one house to another in the neighborhood. Simply armed with makeshift “tambourines” made out of flattened soft drink bottle crowns threaded by a thin wire, we went out with a repertoire that most kids had – from Silent Night” to “Joy to the World”, “Jingle Bells” – all of us not knowing the exact lyrics of each.
I remember us singing “Silent Night” this way – “Sa-aylen nayt, o-oli nayt, olis kam, olis brayt. Ran de bergin…en hmmm..enen chayd, oli impan so tinderen ma. Eslip in ebenly piss, eslip in ebenly piss!”
Then after taking a deep breath, we would blare out with “ joy tuda wold, da lor as kam…let er…beser..berking. Lepre lepre en ar, lepre lepre en ar. En eben enechor sing, en eben enechor sing, en eben, en eben enechor sing.” And like the pros that we were, our favorite would be the last. With our classic “Dasing tu da isno, ena wan hors op en esley, olda pilds we go laping ol da we, bels onbostos ring, uuuuuum sipres brayt, wat pan isis to lap en sing en singing it tonayt….ooooo…jingel bel, jingel bel, jingel ol da wey, o wat pan isis tu rayt ena wan horsopen isle…HEEEY! jingel bel, jingel bel, jingel ol da wey, o wat pan isis tu rayt ena wan horsopen sle…HEEEY! By this time our voices are already hoarse as we wait for some signs of scrambling inside the house as a sign of willingness to show their appreciation. As we wait, we begin our heartfelt final appeal – “Meri krismas tu yo,” to the tune of Happy birthday!
It was a treat to receive P0.50 from a generous neighbor for our group of 7. And we always had a kick out of singing –“Tenk yo…tenk yo…ang babait ninyo tenk yo!” then fade away after receiving our coin treats. But there were many times when no one would even peer through windows to see who we were, and simply ignored us, left us waiting out in the cold. After getting the hint, we gingerly move to the next house like downtrodden orphans. The worst was hearing someone shout from the inside: “Sikara la lamet!” Ugh. That meant no treat. It was traumatic each time and that covered our quota for our unhappy childhood.
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CHRISTMAS CIRCA 60-64. Christmas vacation during high school days circa early 60s was about enjoying the new experience – Simbang Gabi! We would not be seen caroling door to door even if we had already learned all the lyrics by heart.
While nobody really understood the significance of simbang gabi, it was an exhilarating feeling to get up so very early in the morning to hear mass on a cold morning. Everyone in the family, and most everyone in the church had to wear a jacket or a colorful sweater. It was our closest interpretation to experiencing snow climate during Christmas. Remember “Dasing tu da isno, ena wan hors ofen esley…?”
Inside the SRO church, it was a pretty sight to see hundreds of women and young girls in skirts and dresses donning veils of varied colors and shapes covering their heads. (Blue jeans for girls were unheard of then and only small boys wore them, being the “wild shooting cowboys” in those tines).
For many barkadas, it was inexcusable to be absent in simbang gabi. After all it was the time for the “nonchalant search” for the group members’ individual “crushes” inside or outside the church. But for my group, “ligaw-tingin” was all that we could muster, the ultimate shy boys that we were.
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CHRISTMAS CIRCA 64-68. The highlight of Christmas vacation during college days was having to be seen and to dance at the plaza every December 28, the Varsitarians’ Night!
The girls demurely danced with their fave boys to the beat of the Beatles, Dave Clark 5, Cliff Richard and the Shadows, Rolling Stones, etc. while other guys waited on the side, ready to assist a beleaguered friend by plotting a “bakuran” (blocking off the “enemies”) for a chance to dance with his comely crush.
Guys in their suits (coat and tie, no barong) and the girls in their fancy party dresses, fully made-up danced away on the cracked cemented floor of the plaza while others sat on run-down elementary school desks listening to visiting most popular Manila combos (translation: bands). Definitely, glamour galore at the city plaza for one night! No one in his or her right mind would miss the Varsitarians’s Night for anything although I recall having missed one or two, refusing to dress up for the occasion.
Strangely, I was made to understand that a regular Varsitarian referred exclusively to a student who was studying in a Manila college or university only. College students in other cities were not considered regular members, why that came about I never knew till now. No wonder the Dagupan City Varsitarians’ Association eventually lost its glamour for it became irrelevant during the turbulent period that followed in the late 60s and early 70s.
Today, no one sees a trace of the Varsitarians’s group of old. But no doubt dancing at the plaza today during Christmas is still a tradition but mainly for elders’ associations or groups and who were once Cliff Richard’s “Young Ones”.
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ANOTHER KARINA GONE. The all too sudden demise of Karina Nava-Ang, daughter of the late Oscar Nava and Eva, and married to Jimmy Ang, last week came as a shock to many. How could anyone so young be afflicted with cancer and be discovered to have reached stage 4 so late in the day in spite of advances in medical science in our midst?
She was named after my sister Karina who died at age 11 in 1963 when she drowned at the Blue Beach (Tondaligan). It is the prayer of friends and relatives that the five Ang children will now be guided by the values she embraced as a loving mother, a faithful wife and a doting daughter herself. Our condolences to the family.
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A blessed Christmas to all.
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