this morning we met in our kas 199.2 class to take a tour of the facilities in the diliman main library. a short orientation regarding the library's online services was made prior to our tour of the library. i found the orientation very enlightening as we were introduced to the various online databases that were available for us researchers but unfortunately majority of us didn't have an idea about. the librarian was showing us the different search options of one particular database when she started to solicit keywords from us. one my classmates asked for "camilo osias" and "epifanio san juan", i manage to sneak (more like holler) my prospective topic...
"COMMUNISM IN THE PHILIPPINES!....please?" (may please pa na nga pahabol...hehe)
unfortunately for me, the database came up empty. the thought that i'd have to utilize the "old-fashioned" manual ukay-ukay of archival documents was increasingly becoming apparent to me. but at least i'm thankful that we were informed of the various databases available so the range of possible arenas for research has become wider because of information technology -- even if you're outside of UP you can still access the public access databases (may iban nga within UP system lang ma-access -- the library had to pay several thousand pesos, even millions to avail of the database services for us students...ika nga ni ma'am diokno "this is where your library fees go.")
after the orientation we had a short tour around the library, focusing on the archives and filipiniana special collections. I realized that the library has documents on negros somewhere in the filipiniana special collections, and one of my classmates is also an ilonggo...we went inside the UP rare books collection where we were given a short description of the collection and the challenges of preserving these rare -- and priceless -- documents. we didn't stay long inside the rare books room because our presence was adding unnecessary humidity inside the room, so off we went to the archives where we entered the room where document restoration is being done. sayang walang demonstration -- all we saw were stacks of boxes and files with names written on them. one of the names looked familiar: "diokno", and ma'am immediately pounced on his father's collection, rummaging through one box and showing us a drawing of jose w. diokno which she said she wanted to take home -- to which the librarian meekly protested, and ma'am said she knew she can't take them out...joke!
after the tour we went to the "beach house". it's not an actual beach house...and it's NOT ma'am diokno's beach house. it's a small cafeteria located behind the main library. i knew that such cafeteria/eatery was there but wasn't able to eat there yet. I heard their pork barbeque was delicious. Since my being an ilonggo was now out in the open (hehe as if it was a national secret to begin with), i decided to try their version of chicken inasal and let me tell you that it was GOOD....KANAMIT! hehe
the lunch at the beach house afforded us a chance to bond with each other. I made a new acquaintance during the tour -- a fellow masteral student who is also a teacher and we were chatting about work and studies and whatnot. Some of us who were lucky to sit next to ma'am had a chance to interact with her and get to know a "milder" side of maris diokno. hehe
while we were chatting with ma'am, my being ilonggo came up again. (that's because i suspect ma'am is an ilonggo also...possibly from her mother's side, not sure hehe)
ma'am asked: "so, ilonggo ka pala?"
me: "opo ma'am..."
Ma'am: "Ba't wala kang tono kung magsalita?"
it seems that ilonggos when speaking tagalog often have an accent...when ma'am pointed that out i suddenly realized, "do i speak tagalog THAT well?"
I suddenly got conscious and was only able to blurt out an incoherent response about me participating in speech contests in filipino...so i just ceased rambling, shut up and smiled meekly. Bigla ba naman akong nahiya hahahaha
Stand Alone 1.23
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