The Land of the Free and Home of the Brave
On January 22, 2002 we finally made it to The Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. We had left NAIA, Manila 10:00 p.m. and arrived at L.A. 6:30 p.m. the same day (We came before we went!). Rusty was subjected to the shock of finding out she had to donate 40 American bucks to a California shuttle bus system to ferry us from the airport to Paramount. She kept on repeating “That’s 80 Aussie dollars” and I added “Yes, and 2000 pesos!” This seemed to be an ominous introduction for our now-being-realized trip to the United States.
Half an hour later, however, Rusty's cousin and in-law, Elvie and Jack Rosenblaum were extending their hospitality at their place in Paramount. We found out, however, that Elvie's birthday celebration would just be a quiet one as Jack had a doctor appointment on that date. A few phone calls were made during which we made contact with several Vergara descendants from Bicol and Ilocos. Lily Vergara-Richards who lived nearby in Downey actually came to see us. During the lively conversation, she offered to drive us to Temecula where there was being planned a gathering of the Vergara descendants residing in California. The next day, we went with Elvie and Jack to the City of Hope which was actually a massive, modern medical complex specializing in cancer treatment. On the way back, we called in at Cerritos, after which we celebrated Elvie's birthday in their place.
The next day, they drove us to Laguna Hills. That very night Tita Auring (Aurora Padua), the lady who with her husband (now deceased) we had befriended in Melbourne almost 10 years ago, and her daughter MariGrace Padua Rodriguez picked us up at 7:30 pm. It so happened that the following day would be the birthday of her deceased husband. It was a grand celebration where many relations and friends of the family came. And of course, plenty of tucker! (Aussie slang for food). While we were in her place at Baldwin Park, Rusty was able to contact her long-lost friend and classmate in high-school (40 years ago), who collected us from Baldwin Park to her place in South Pasadena where the other members of the family were waiting for us. We were treated to a sumptuous dinner somewhere in Arcadia. We were barely breathing when we were driven back to Tita Auring's place that same night.
As we were waiting for the digestive system to carry out its function before we hit the bed, Rusty and I discussed with Tita Auring our plan to go to San Francisco to see her other relations. As Rusty dialled the number, Tita Auring noticed that the first three numbers or area code had nothing to do with San Francisco but with Riverside, a place nearby. A lady half-asleep answered the phone. To make the story short, - and to Rusty's greater delight in locating her paternal first-cousins whom she had not seen for the last 28 years, and to my much greater delight for not proceeding with the trip to San Francisco - Rusty's relations came to see us early in the morning the next day: the siblings Tessie and Tito Carasig Villafuerte from Malolos, Bulacan, and their spouses, Lorna de la Cruz from Butuan City and Eddie 'Boy' Misa from Zambales. Together with Tita Auring, we we were shown the sights of downtown LA (during which Rusty and I were again subjected to the terrible ordeal of trying to consume, this time, a bountiful Chinese meal.) Then back to Tita Auring's place, and once again, with bags packed up, we bade her farewell for the trip to Rusty's cousins' place in Moreno Valley, California. Once again, there was food, more food and glorious food! The battle of the bulge has been definitely lost!
There was side trip to Las Vegas, Nevada where Rusty gambled our fortune away. I actually lost 3 bucks, that is, 6 Aussie dollars. In reality Rusty wisely pocketed 90 dollars of the 100 given as 'balato' by Tessie who would go on a winning streak.
After a number of days in Tessie's and Eddie's place where their daughther, Marites Villafuerte Misa, willingly gave up for us her bedroom for which we were very thankful to her, we were ready for the culmination of our trip to the United States of America.