Busy January

Following the Christmas season, American CAFAs (i.e. Nore, Didi, Rody, Tong, Rita and Emy) are seen in town today. Bili herself just arrived from the US. She is taking a break from her required apostolic duties. Considering the amount of time she spends there (3 months out of the last 5 months), Bili is beginning to qualify as a Balikbayan!

Last Sunday, a little party was held in Oni and Bili’s house in Greenmeadows. It was mainly a bienvenida for Bili. Bili had been out for so long that her Villavicencio family was missing her. Another reason was her family’s eagerness to see her first ‘apo’ (son of Lia) for the first time. Sunday being the eve of Oni’s birthday as well, the CAFA balikbayans together with locals Dinky, Milou, Pearl, Vic, Cecille, Dero and Alex also came. 

The main objective of the CAFA get together was to plot out the forthcoming activities of the CAFAs while the balikbayans are in town. Thus, a dinner at Intramuros; an art exhibit opening at the Cultural Center; the baptism of Nore’s apo at Timog; and the excursion to Dagupan and Pangasinan were lined up as the activities for the month of February. 

The Sunday affair was a laughter-filled evening for the CAFAs. Some of the CAFAs brought food and drink as their contribution to the party (bibingka, ice drop, buko pandan, wine, etc.). But since they didn’t know that there would be other guests, there wasn’t enough quantity for all. The problem was solved when the CAFAs were made to assemble in the Dining Room (the other guests were in the yard) while Oni instructed the waiter to discretely serve the CAFA goodies only to the CAFAs! 

Dinky noted that due to the large and spirited CAFA assembly, this Sunday get-together qualifies as a CAFA mini reunion. Since there were other visitors that day, the CAFAs got to sing for them as well. A couple of songs (Cherish and Up and Away) were finely delivered but surely, the latter songs (‘If I Fell’ and ‘Man Come Into Egypt’) were renditions that can only be termed as Alzheimer-style singing. Despite the lack of practice that led to performance miscue, the CAFASingers continue to impress with their Dero- inspired harmony style especially for guests who have never heard the CAFAs. 

Oni’s note: 

In ending, I apologize on missing out on inviting other CAFAs to this sudden affair (Bili just arrive Friday midnight when the Sunday party was formalized). And through all my efforts to forget my age, thanks anyway to everyone who had greeted me (reminded?) a Happy Birthday on the Email. Basta CAFA, I’ll take it from them. Heh heh.


See slide show for more photos.