ICAM

Just recently, my sister sent me pictures of our old school in Balut, Tondo Manila where we spent our elementary and secondary education. When I saw the photos, it's like saying "beam me up, Scotty", I was immediately transported back to the days when I was in kindergarten -- my classmates, the playground, the acacia tree, the nuns, the drinking fountain, the old bookstore, the field, the gate .... the building. So clear, so vivid. No matter how much improvements and buildings were added to our school, still it was the old ICAM that I know -- block section, my classmates & schoolmates for 14 years, the slippery pavement, the mass, the hard education, the field trips....

My sister and I talked endlessly over the Yahoo Messenger about anything we could remember about those days... and then there was this classmate of her's who passed away in 1997. Let's call her "M". She was my sister's barkada. Apparently, "M" was a victim of witchcraft. "Nakulam" as we would term it. Bakit nakulam? "M" had a relationship with a married guy, whose wife hired a witch to torture her as vendetta. "M" died 3 days after the torture. During her last hours, "M" apparently had a voracious appetite and ate and ate and ate until her mom could not keep up in giving her food. Her mom said if she only knew that her daughter was going to pass away that night, she would have spent more time with her... "Nagbabaon na pala para sa kabilang buhay", she told my sister. Later pa, when the guy found out that the mastermind of this was his wife, he gave a big punch at the door because he later realized that the same thing happened to his parents. His parents were also victims of witchcraft. To top it all, his wife was dating his cousin. Eeek...!! sad and tragic story.

Anyway, that was just a part of the conversation we had as we reminisce our days at ICAM. Sadly, ICAM has no website pa. Maybe in the future?