Are you gonna fight fair or are you gonna fight like elves?
9/7
10+ Hours of driving, stopping briefly in Centralia, Washington for lunch and Eugene, Oregon, where we visited Sarah Duffy and her GIGANTIC HOUSE. Onward to Chico, land of bumbling drunken college students, cruiser bikes, and littered lawns with infamous Red Cups and beer cans everywhere. We stayed at Lorraine's cousin, Daniella's house and in the morning we asked her if this littering was standard procedure, she said yes and that Californians don't really care. Cue Tiffany's story that the only complaint her friends had about their party house was that they needed a bigger recycling bin. It's nice to see that even the drunkest, most belligerent person in Seattle knows that they save their beer can for recycling either in the bin itself or on some kitchen surface to recycle later. Now, everytime Tiffany or I see something scandelous or having to do with partying, etc., we say "DAAAAMN, CHICO!" and it might be getting on Lorraine's nerves.
9/8
We ate breakfast with Daniella and her boyfriend. A really sweet couple. She the bubbly sorority girl and he the giant, built like a football player but they we got along so well. Her boyfriend's even a graphic design major. Super cool. Onward we drove to Folsom to see my relatives. I dreaded the meeting, especially as my uncles are concerned. I don't really ever get along with them, what with general Filipino Machismo at play, and my perception that they think I'm girly and distant, and their perception that I think I'm better than them. I like my aunties a lot, so at least I'd see them. Turns out it went alright. I played with my cousins all at least 10 years younger than me. I enjoyed that a lot, too, though I didn't know how it would turn out. I talk to kids as if they're my age. Sounds harsh but I never liked being talked down to as a kid, and anyways I imagine they need a little bit of that int their formative years, right? I'm more apt to coo and get all giggly around cute animals rather than children and children aren't animals, right? Right. Anyway, they were delightful. Especially Pierre (I know. A little brown Pierre HAHA). He's 6, the youngest and looks like a little buddha. I had them each guess my age. Cecil thought I was 19, Arielle thought I was 21, Pierre thought I was 20. Needless to say, I like Cecil the best HAHA. I liked the visit a lot. Dinner was good. I LOVE sinigang. Arabella says she knows how to make it so I hope we get to make it soon and feed our friends. Tiffany and Lorraine called even called my aunties, "auntie." It was cute.
The only bump in this visit was that, well there are 2, but the first was that my white uncle is CRAZY. HAHA He was talking to Tiffany and he was telling her all about how he loves Sarah Palin, hates Obama, thinks the nation is going into civil war mode soon (and that he's not the ONLY one to thin this, mind) and that everyone should be stocking up on ammunitions cause shit's gonna hit the fan. Same uncle who told me that if Obama won, he'd serve his country again (he was in the air force) and shoot him in office. This as I stare out at his brown wife and children and wonder what he would think if I would ever run for President (HAHA). Srsly. At least I know that he's a nice enough guy. The second bad part was that I didn't get to see Christy, but at least I saw her brother. They're the cousins I grew up with, and we've always been incredibly close. Joey seems to be doing fine, and Christy's going to UC Irvine. I miss them a lot. I hope they take the offer of visiting Seattle soon.
Auntie Lisa kept telling us that we should stay the night and make use of their pool and I really wanted to stay, but Lorraine wanted to visit her grandmother that night to spend more time with her, so we left at night. I really wish we could have stayed but I didn't want to force them to linger longer than necessary. As we pulled away, I was actually feeling sad. I love my relatives.
9/9
We arrived in Modesto pretty late, but Lorraine's grandmother waited up for us. She's the sweetest woman. We talked late into the night, and she's lived such a fabulous life and been to so many places. It's a weird thing to see. It's hard trying not to compare her and my own grandmother, whose life, before her children grew up to be successful and support her financially, and whose own stories are all so hearbreaking. It was amazing to hear of her life, look through old black and white photos, well dressed smiles and the antiques she bought from all the corners of the world, but I wouldn't trade my grandma's her stories for baking prowess, antique heirlooms, and a traceable family tree that goes into the 1600s for anything.
I woke up at 8:30 in the morning, but no one was awake so I went back to sleep. I woke up again at 11 and we had breakfast and heard more stories. I hope I'm as spritely and witty when I'm Nonnie's age. We toured the mansion Nonnie is a docent for, and the museum which had these amazing 50s era posters designed in Seattle of National State parks. So beautiful. I wish I took pictures. Afterwards we went back home to Nonnie's house, met Anne, Nonnie's friend, helped her with the Internet, ate crackers, cheese, and hummus then watched Obama's speech to congress. More stories, old photos. We read a letter Lorraine wrote to her Nonnie when she stopped living with them in Silverdale when Lorraine was 8. It was so sweet and so cute. I teared up a little as I read it out loud to Tiffany and tried my best to hide it. I miss my lola. I hope I fly back to the Philippines soon.
We ate at a Thai restaurant that was actually pretty good. I didn't expect much from Modesto but apparently it has a sizeable Thai and Vietnamese population. We came back home and watched Notes on a Scandal. HAHA super creepy but ah well. Now I'm on the computer and the girls are watching Home Movies. It's been pretty chill these past few days. I can't wait to go crazy in LA. I'm just trynna dance. Damn, Chico.
10+ Hours of driving, stopping briefly in Centralia, Washington for lunch and Eugene, Oregon, where we visited Sarah Duffy and her GIGANTIC HOUSE. Onward to Chico, land of bumbling drunken college students, cruiser bikes, and littered lawns with infamous Red Cups and beer cans everywhere. We stayed at Lorraine's cousin, Daniella's house and in the morning we asked her if this littering was standard procedure, she said yes and that Californians don't really care. Cue Tiffany's story that the only complaint her friends had about their party house was that they needed a bigger recycling bin. It's nice to see that even the drunkest, most belligerent person in Seattle knows that they save their beer can for recycling either in the bin itself or on some kitchen surface to recycle later. Now, everytime Tiffany or I see something scandelous or having to do with partying, etc., we say "DAAAAMN, CHICO!" and it might be getting on Lorraine's nerves.
9/8
We ate breakfast with Daniella and her boyfriend. A really sweet couple. She the bubbly sorority girl and he the giant, built like a football player but they we got along so well. Her boyfriend's even a graphic design major. Super cool. Onward we drove to Folsom to see my relatives. I dreaded the meeting, especially as my uncles are concerned. I don't really ever get along with them, what with general Filipino Machismo at play, and my perception that they think I'm girly and distant, and their perception that I think I'm better than them. I like my aunties a lot, so at least I'd see them. Turns out it went alright. I played with my cousins all at least 10 years younger than me. I enjoyed that a lot, too, though I didn't know how it would turn out. I talk to kids as if they're my age. Sounds harsh but I never liked being talked down to as a kid, and anyways I imagine they need a little bit of that int their formative years, right? I'm more apt to coo and get all giggly around cute animals rather than children and children aren't animals, right? Right. Anyway, they were delightful. Especially Pierre (I know. A little brown Pierre HAHA). He's 6, the youngest and looks like a little buddha. I had them each guess my age. Cecil thought I was 19, Arielle thought I was 21, Pierre thought I was 20. Needless to say, I like Cecil the best HAHA. I liked the visit a lot. Dinner was good. I LOVE sinigang. Arabella says she knows how to make it so I hope we get to make it soon and feed our friends. Tiffany and Lorraine called even called my aunties, "auntie." It was cute.
The only bump in this visit was that, well there are 2, but the first was that my white uncle is CRAZY. HAHA He was talking to Tiffany and he was telling her all about how he loves Sarah Palin, hates Obama, thinks the nation is going into civil war mode soon (and that he's not the ONLY one to thin this, mind) and that everyone should be stocking up on ammunitions cause shit's gonna hit the fan. Same uncle who told me that if Obama won, he'd serve his country again (he was in the air force) and shoot him in office. This as I stare out at his brown wife and children and wonder what he would think if I would ever run for President (HAHA). Srsly. At least I know that he's a nice enough guy. The second bad part was that I didn't get to see Christy, but at least I saw her brother. They're the cousins I grew up with, and we've always been incredibly close. Joey seems to be doing fine, and Christy's going to UC Irvine. I miss them a lot. I hope they take the offer of visiting Seattle soon.
Auntie Lisa kept telling us that we should stay the night and make use of their pool and I really wanted to stay, but Lorraine wanted to visit her grandmother that night to spend more time with her, so we left at night. I really wish we could have stayed but I didn't want to force them to linger longer than necessary. As we pulled away, I was actually feeling sad. I love my relatives.
9/9
We arrived in Modesto pretty late, but Lorraine's grandmother waited up for us. She's the sweetest woman. We talked late into the night, and she's lived such a fabulous life and been to so many places. It's a weird thing to see. It's hard trying not to compare her and my own grandmother, whose life, before her children grew up to be successful and support her financially, and whose own stories are all so hearbreaking. It was amazing to hear of her life, look through old black and white photos, well dressed smiles and the antiques she bought from all the corners of the world, but I wouldn't trade my grandma's her stories for baking prowess, antique heirlooms, and a traceable family tree that goes into the 1600s for anything.
I woke up at 8:30 in the morning, but no one was awake so I went back to sleep. I woke up again at 11 and we had breakfast and heard more stories. I hope I'm as spritely and witty when I'm Nonnie's age. We toured the mansion Nonnie is a docent for, and the museum which had these amazing 50s era posters designed in Seattle of National State parks. So beautiful. I wish I took pictures. Afterwards we went back home to Nonnie's house, met Anne, Nonnie's friend, helped her with the Internet, ate crackers, cheese, and hummus then watched Obama's speech to congress. More stories, old photos. We read a letter Lorraine wrote to her Nonnie when she stopped living with them in Silverdale when Lorraine was 8. It was so sweet and so cute. I teared up a little as I read it out loud to Tiffany and tried my best to hide it. I miss my lola. I hope I fly back to the Philippines soon.
We ate at a Thai restaurant that was actually pretty good. I didn't expect much from Modesto but apparently it has a sizeable Thai and Vietnamese population. We came back home and watched Notes on a Scandal. HAHA super creepy but ah well. Now I'm on the computer and the girls are watching Home Movies. It's been pretty chill these past few days. I can't wait to go crazy in LA. I'm just trynna dance. Damn, Chico.