A Taste of Sagada right here in Chicago – Part II

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Continued from A Taste of Sagada right here in Chicago – Part I.

Cultural Night – the TOMA Song

The cultural night also featured a well thought of fashion show that displayed the evolution of Igorot tapestry which was very well received by the American audience. A re-enactment on how the Igorots first met with American missionaries was done through pantomime, and then came one of the more emotional moments I’ve experienced in the reunion – the singing of the AY TET-EWA AY TOMA SA? (Is that really a bedbug?).

I believe I’ve sung this song once or twice a year during my elementary years. It’s a marvelously funny song about the bedbug (toma), and it entails having a leader sing a question, and the audience sing back a response. The first 2 lines goes like this:

Leader: Ay tet-ewa’y toma na? (Is this really a bedbug?)
Audience: Tetewa ay toma sa. Dake-dake’y toma sa ya kadak-kelan ay toma. (Yes, that’s really a bedbug. That’s a huge bedbug and it’s the biggest bedbug ever.)

And it goes on with a series of about a dozen or so questions, and the answers sung to each question is attached to the answer of the earlier questions and so every answer sung by the audience will end with the declaration that yes, that’s really a huge bedbug and it’s the biggest one. EVER! It’s similar to the “12 days of Christmas” and that other English song that goes “There was a tree, the finest tree that you ever did see…”. To me, the TOMA song is way more special.

To someone like me who is used to singing the song almost every year while growing up, it brought back warm feelings of early years in Sagada. I remember a particular December evening in the 1980s – most likely during the lantern parade, that a young guy and gal – in their first year in high school, dressed up in traditional Igorot attire, standing before the Sagada community gathered around the town’s basketball court, and leading the TOMA song with such fervor that I remember it so well after 20+ years.

I learned during the conference that the song was written by Dr. Henry Scott, a teaching missionary himself, in the 1950s, and that it was meant to be a humorous adaptation of one of the more hated animals in nature. I’m thinking how it is a reflection of Sagada humor – blunt, frank, and embarrassingly funny sometimes. Somehow, I tried to have my sons enjoy the singing as much as I did to no avail. I guess it’s again a reminder that my Sagada upbringing is several planets apart from their Manila / Chicago-suburb experience. (Even my wife who grew up in neighboring Tadian doesn’t care that much about the TOMA song.)

Igorot gong-playing and dancing followed after the TOMA song. Members of BIBBAK – Illinois, who performed at a Baguio high school reunion earlier in the evening, also performed a Benguet dance. Towards the end, the tables and chairs were pushed to the side, and the audience was invited to community dancing. Plenty of them obliged. The evening ended after the dancing, with farewells being exchanged since some of the attendees were catching flights or driving home early that Sunday morning. For me, the reunion would officially end the next Monday morning when I brought an aunt who was catching a red-eye flight back home to Denver at the Chicago O’hare airport.

A note on the missionaries – Manang Marie, who I briefly chatted with after the cultural night shared her thoughts about honoring the missionaries through the preservation of the Igorot culture. She’s right. In a way, it took a group of outsiders to help the Sagada Igorot folks appreciate, understand, and take efforts to preserve their Igorot culture. These SMSSAFF reunions is not just about your typical high school gathering – in a highly inter-connected world where local traditions are slowly replaced by global trends, there is great value in being reminded that God has allowed us to be born in the place and culture we were in. We all have a past and a background and knowing such certainly keeps us from getting lost.

I started this reflection with a reference to memories of food from childhood years. The whole reunion experience for me was a different kind of food – a somewhat spiritual nourishment type that kept me grounded to my roots, and was a refreshing reminder of where I came from. I don’t know if I would be able to attend the next SMSSAFF reunion that is being planned in Toronto on the summer of 2013. Attending or not, I’m still glad I got to have a taste of my old hometown of Sagada right here in metro-Chicago, the city I now call home.

19 comments:

Anonymous December 7, 2011 at 11:22 AM  

Toma is known as a body lice, and a bedbug is called kiteb.

i need a custom essay help December 19, 2011 at 1:36 PM  

Kiteb?? What is the Kiteb?? I never heard about this - will be so pleased if you give some details for me
!

Unknown October 18, 2015 at 2:03 PM  

I will be checking back soon to find out what additional posts you include, game free:
happy wheels
super mario bros
pacman
agario

Oanh Tr November 22, 2016 at 7:56 PM  

Thank you so much for commenting, it is lovely and really makes my day!
zoxy games
friv 10 games
friv games
friv 100 play

Unknown December 26, 2016 at 8:55 PM  

I liked it so much and very interesting, too! Thanks for sharing the experience.
Wonderful post, really great tips and advice.
friv 3
friv 4
kizi 2

Unknown February 23, 2017 at 3:56 AM  

I enjoyed over read your blog post. Your blog have nice information, I got good ideas from this amazing blog. I am always searching like this type blog post. I hope I will see again.
Friv 10 online | agar.io online| zoxy games
friv .org

Linda March 20, 2017 at 5:06 AM  

Very interesting! Thanks for your sharing
usps tracking

twizl June 21, 2017 at 8:06 PM  

Di nuovo, ringrazio il Parlamento perché condivide la prospettiva di una Fofy 2 Friv 2021 Jogos Fofy nuova politica per i consumatori basata sul mercato Juegos Fofy Juegos Friv 2020 Juegos Twizl Friv Per anni vi siete affidati ad Ethernet per la condivisione di informazioni Twizl Friv Twizy Games ous Grazie per condividere con noi Twizl YooB i tuoi piani e mostrare paso dopo passo il progetto.

juego friv 3 July 5, 2017 at 10:49 PM  

Sr. Cashman, le doy las gracias por esta información. Friv 2019 Gry Friv 2018 Gry Friv 3 n todo momento puede Jeux De Friv Friv 2019 optar por compartir su información personal con terceros. Juegos De Friv 2019 Juegos Friv 2020 Gry Friv Juegos Friv Gracias por compartir su pasión por el mejoramiento de las vidas de los niños en el Estado de Nueva York.

Foogle Packers and Movers September 14, 2017 at 11:25 AM  

Thank you so much for information the free price quotes to find best post article list now # http://www.fooglepackers.com

packers and movers in bangalore
packers and movers in delhi
packers and movers in gurgaon
packers and movers in pune
packers and movers in mumbai
packers and movers in hyderabad
packers and movers in chennai

Friv games December 20, 2017 at 1:14 AM  

When you're tired, you want to relax after a stressful working hours, you need to have time to take care of the kids active.
Please visit our website and play exciting flash games.
Thanks you for sharing!
Moto X3M
Kizi 4 games

Unknown December 21, 2017 at 10:31 AM  

I'm puzzled with lots of exercises. I was afraid I could not do the right time despite my hard work. I need a support person. http://run3play.com

Friv games December 22, 2017 at 4:43 AM  

Posts shared useful information and meaningful life, I'm glad to be reading this article and hope to soon learn the next article. Have a good day guy
Feel free to visit my website, you can play
Friv
kizi 4

Anonymous May 27, 2019 at 5:32 PM  

Juegos friv los mas divertidos juegos de friv

Unknown June 15, 2019 at 8:51 AM  

The article is very good, I like it very much.Here I learned a lot, then I will pay more attention to you.I am impressed by the quality of information on this website .
I hope you also will access and follow my web. Thanks Friv.com

Unknown October 26, 2019 at 6:12 AM  

https://coolmathgames.com
When coming down to online games, over the years, they have seemed to have gained unparalleled followers unlike any other
https://coolmathgamesz.com

tony November 29, 2019 at 10:16 AM  

This is a wonderful post. I enjoyed the information lot. Mapas Minecraft
juegos friv
Friv
Friv

Find Floor Plans January 10, 2020 at 9:47 AM  

juegos Friv chicas

Cool Math Games April 14, 2020 at 3:30 AM  

What you're likely to discover is that the amount of matches online will be unlimited. What you are going to want to do is concentrate on the many options you've got and decide which ones interest you. If you want to concentrate on games that you simply play for a brief period of time, casual games are going to be best. Those looking to restrict their play time might want to check at societal games and people who enjoy massive quests will want to check at MMOG. Cooler Math Games Cool Math Games Cool Math Games Cool Math Games Cool Math Games Unblocked Bloons Tower Defense Cool Math Games