Norberto L. Mercado's Blog

Monday, February 13, 2017

Francisca's Love Story

Aurelio was a handsome twenty-two-year old man. He was very friendly, had a medium build, clean-cut hair, and a positive disposition in life.
Francisca sported long hair. Her eyes were very attractive and she had a well-proportioned nose. Her skin was smooth, and her complexion was fair.
The new teacher finds himself captivated by this young lady and as their paths cross by chance. And isn't that how most love stories begin?

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There Is Eternal Life

“Why has it suddenly become dark?” Flavius asked his fifteen-year old servant, a Jewish teen from Caesarea Philippi.
Flavius was one of the trusted military aides of Pontius Pilate, the Roman Procurator of Judea and Samaria from 26 A.D. to 36 A.D. He walked to his house from the palace before noon time to take his lunch and to rest. The Roman military governor’s palace in Jerusalem, where he held office, was only about sixty meters away from the house where he was staying.
“I don’t know, Master,” the fifteen-year old Jewish boy answered Flavius. Flavius was still wearing his uniform as a Roman military officer.
Flavius thought that the strange phenomenon – the sudden turning of light to darkness, from day to night, was just a momentary eclipse. But when the darkness prolonged, he asked his servant boy to light a lamp...

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Saturday, February 11, 2017

My Sister Aida Is A Diamond

I was either four or five years old when my sister Aida brought us kids to the kulos at the back of the San Manuel Elementary School in barrio Lanat.
Kulos is the Ilocano word for a brook or an elongated body of flowing water during the rainy season. In the summer, the kulos dried up.
It was during the rainy season, from May to November, when the kulos at the back of the San Manuel Elementary School came alive. My sister Aida brought three kids with her – Dante Santo Domingo, Lita Dacanay, and myself. I was the youngest of the three kids.

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Thursday, January 26, 2017

If We Ever Meet Again

“Fiestas should never be banned in the Philippines,” Catherine Steinberg told her high school batchmate from the Moncada Catholic School. She was on vacation in her hometown in the Philippines.
“Do you have fiesta celebrations in Denmark, too?” Alma de la Cruz, her batchmate, asked her.
“Well, sort of. But not the fiesta we have in almost every town in the Philippines. Here in our country, fiestas have been a tradition of our people since the Spanish colonial times.

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Friday, January 20, 2017

Olympians

Norbert Mercado talks with long-time sports journalist Ron de los Reyes about Filipino Olympic athletes who could have won the first Olympic gold medal for the Philippines.

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The Sheridans

The group of American teachers came to the Philippines aboard the US transport ship USS Sheridan. They sailed from San Francisco, California to Manila several weeks before the arrival of the USS Thomas. The ship brought the first batch of Thomasites – 365 male and 165 female teachers.

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