Remembering My Humanities Summer Classes' Field Trips

I decided to feel nostalgic by remembering my college days at the University of San Carlos. I remembered taking summer classes immediately after finishing my two-year computer course. I was more than glad that I wasn't accepted for Information Technology since it's not my line. I took basic marketing, statistics, and humanities. It would be around 2004 and it's almost 20 years since that experience.

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The mandatory field trip was going to the four historical Catholic churches in Summer Class 2004 (April-May under the old curriculum). If my memory serves me right, the places were Carcar, Bolhoon, Dalaguete, and Argao. I already forgot the route of the long humanities trip back in 2004. I could remember waking up early, we were told to be well-rested, I still had a camera with negatives back then, and it was a time for me to be extra attentive. Yes, I can be very inattentive. At that time, I still didn't have an active lifestyle though I tried to do some exercise to lose some weight.

From my memory, I remembered buying ampao and lechon from Carcar. Carcar is known for its delicious Cebuano-style ampao or puffed rice. There was also the beach in Dalaguete where we stopped by for lunch. However, we weren't allowed to swim because it was a field trip on that day. I could remember enjoying the trip but at the same time wishing it'd end soon. Talk about some contradictory feelings I had there as a college student.

Cebu City Tour

If I could remember correctly, before the summer classes ended, we also were required to go to Casa Gorordo. According to Cebu City Tour, the history of the place is as follows:

In 1980, the house was purchased by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. under its Cultural Heritage Program. It was then opened as a public museum in 1983 after comprehensive renovation and restoration. The National Historical Institute declared the house as a National Historical Landmark in September 1991. The museum now exhibits Philippine culture and lifestyle of the mid-19th and early 20th century.

An important history also traces to its original owner and how it was bought:

The Casa Gorordo Museum was built by Alejandro Reynes y Rosales in the 19th century. It was originally a two-storey house. In 1863, it was bought by a Spanish merchant, Juan Isidro de Gorordo. Between 1863 to 1979, four generations of the Gorordo family lived in this house, one is the very first Cebuano bishop, Juan Gorordo.

It was also there I discussed the mysterious paternity of Sergio Osmeña Sr. Sure, he's been dead for decades but his paternity was still in question. I believed back then that his father was Don Pedro Gotiaoco. However, it was later revealed that the real father of the patriarch was none other than Don Antonio Sanson, another influential Chinese Filipino businessman (read here).

As the Buwan Ng Wika (month of the language) is nearing, I feel the need to blog more about older Filipino history. Studying history at my own pace has been more interesting than studying it under the old classroom setting.

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