First International Vergara Reunion
Lily Vergara Richards of the Bicolandia clan, who together with her spouse had driven from Downey near LA, had actually suggested ringing the police, the hospitals and whatever, to find out our whereabouts. Luz Vergara of the Mangatarem clan who had come from Palmdale with her two daughters-in-law and a grand daughter calmly suggested to wait. And it was a long, long, long wait! So long that Betty Vergara Domdom and her daughter had to leave because of commitment to a job involving looking after handicapped children. The guests had come all the way from Palmdale past LA to San Ysidro close to the Mexican border – a radius of 100 miles (?).
After much greeting and hugging, my shortcoming was forgiven and it was to a sumptuous meal prepared by the hosts that we turned to. Ed Vergara, who had left the Philippines at a very early age, and now the Executive Vice President and Program Director of Cognitive Vision, entertained us with his real-American-accented story about his family roots and work. It was unfortunate that the guests had to leave soon after dinner to begin the long journey back home. Though emotionally and physically exhausted, Rusty and I joined Jun in a karaoke sing-along with Imelda as the patient audience. We sang all night until Rusty’s voice croaked around midnight.
After the Sunday mass, Imelda and Jun showed us the beautiful sights of San Diego. Jun even drove up to around 100 meters from the Tijuana, the border town of Mexico. If it had not been for an appointment with Betty who had left early yesterday, he would have driven us across the border. Twenty minutes later we were greeted by Betty who then treated us to a smorgasbord (smorgassbord, or what the heck, it’s all you-can-eat) meal in a Chinese restaurant. Her two daughters joined us later and there was, once again, much discussion on various things on the Vergaras. Afterwards, Betty tried to show us the US Naval base but because she had misplaced her military card which she is entitled to because her deceased spouse had served in the navy, the dutiful guard turned us away.
We were back at Temecula at 6 PM and, around 9, at Moreno Valley where Jun and Imelda drove us to. The day after next, Tito and Lorna drove us to Tita Auring’s place at Baldwin Park. The next day, Tita Auring's daughter, Mari Grace, dropped us at the Universal Studios on her way to work. At 5:00 p.m. she picked us up as I was longing for a dinner of plain rice and sardines. Instead we found our way in a Thai restaurant. Once again there was the usual promise to start dieting tomorrow or next day. Before we kill ourselves or they kill us (with glorious food), we decided to cut short our trip. We left LA Airport on Wednesday Feb 6 at 10 PM and were back in Manila via Hawaii by 6:30 AM on Friday Feb 8.
After a few days of rest, we visited Apalit, Pampanga and had another reunion with those of my clan. Trying to find out how actually I could trace my connection to the Pampanga clan, I made a visit to the church of the neighbouring town of Pulilan. Plaridel used to be known as Quingwa, a chinese name, for what reason I have no idea. The parish of Pulilan was under that of Plaridel before the 19th century. I wanted to find out if I could find the record of my ancestor who had come from Pampanga to Pulilan. I was, however, informed that the Church records were in deteriorating condition and should not be touched. A trip to the Church of the Latter-Day Saints' main temple in the Philippines near EDSA looked promising as microfiches of photographs of church and civil records made in the 1970s were being kept there. Unfortunately I was just there for more than an hour and I found the microfiches difficult to read, too. What I found interesting was the genealogy chart of José Protacio Rizál, the Filipino national hero, that showed his maternal ancestor's sibling married to a Vergara. His ancestors being Chinese, I wonder if this Vergara connection was also Chinese.
By February 17, 2002 my spouse and I were back in Australia.