September 28, 1987

1-Jun-2015 • Manila Philippines

I drew a lot as a child. I remember my parents buying reams and reams of paper for me to use and draw on. It was one of the ways I could entertain myself besides watching TV when we moved houses and I could no longer easily go to my friends' houses next door and play with them.

A couple of years ago, a few of my students from fourth grade turned in some of their art work and I got inspired to draw once again after so many years. I am no professional artist as you can see but I had fun sketching this scene when I left home to study in Madrid, Spain nearly thirty years and 76 countries ago. It was a very special moment for me as it was, as I have said over and over in this blog, the culmination of a life long dream to travel and see the world.

Here I am in front of our house in Marikina shortly before we left for the Manila International Airport now called the NAIA Terminal 1 with my KLM Airline ticket in one hand and a Philippine Airline (PAL) brown leather bag for my carry on in the other. I only had one checked luggage which I bought from SM Department Store in Cubao, Quezon City a few weeks prior my departure.

I wore a navy blue linen suit made especially for this trip by a tailor who was a friend of my dad from the Knights of Columbus.

Although I drew this picture myself, it made me very nostalgic for our house in the Philippines. When I left, it was still painted green with some reddish brown accents. The green car in the garage belonged to my dad, and it was a Lancer. I also remember the water well which my dad had laboriously dug himself and which was a good source of water for cleaning the house and watering the plants in our garden during the dry summer months.