Camina-Resurreccion Nuptials

i spent the whole of my thursday in tagaytay, in fr. mimo's seminary (he's our officiating priest sa wedding). part of my objective was to spend some quiet time talking with God. and at least i succeeded in that aspect (the sleep objective, not too much. the internet is too tempting!).

do hop over to my own website to see what thoughts were running through my head.

let's do a reverse love story!

getting to know each other a little to well...

Oras Na

Bathala: oras na. Napakatindi nitong araw.
Ilapag ang humahabang anino na oraryo,
at pakawalan ang hangin sa parang.

Atasan ang mga huling bunga na mapuspos;
bigyan sila ng ilan pang dapithapon,
yapusin sila sa pagkahinog, at habulin
ang huling tamis sa lalim ng alak.

Sinumang may bahay na ay makapagpapahinga.
Sinumang may kasama ngayon ay walang hahanapin pa;
mamumulat, bubukas, sasanib sa mga salita,
at babaybayin ang mga abenida nang walang pagod…
lalagay sa himbing, habang humihihip ang hangin.

That was my adaptation of Rilke’s Herbsttag (one of my fave poems) translated in Filipino and subverted in meaning. (Apologies pareng Rainer, hehe.) I don’t understand German (Herbsttag means “Autumn Day”) so I have been following Galway Kinnel’s translation for this one. Gass’ and Mitchell's take was nice too.

I haven’t written any creative lit lately (though I’m not prolific anyway) so I was itching to write one and the inspiration of translating an old favorite hit me. I took my liberties in translating it to Filipino. I shifted the conceit from ‘Autumn’ to ‘sun/day’ - Autumn is a non-existent season in tropical Philippines anyway (We have tag-araw and tag-ulan only). So while the progression to the last stanza was compromised from the original, my intrusion on subverting the ending from a restless lonesomeness to an imperturbable comfort would lend itself to justification.

I’ve forsaken the rhyme scheme and pentameter from the original German and opted to go free verse putting the weight of the rhythm on the Filipino words within the line. I read ‘southerly days’ to mean ‘longer shadows cast’ as the sun nears the horizon in the earth’s elliptical path. The wine metaphor was too juicy to pass up so I tried to capture it as faithfully as I could. And I put most of my liberties with the last stanza which changes the ending altogether. To note the second word of the third line, a shift in meaning and syllable cadence – ‘will open’/’will face tomorrow’. I may be forcing a new term but the play on ‘bukas’ both in meaning and in cadence within the word and within the line is something I wouldn’t be able to pass up. I upped the ante when I chose sanib instead of sulat. And an alliteration to finish it up.

“It is time.” I love how that statement reverberates. Magnified by addressing the Lord and something immense in nature. Kind of how it should feel when facing a sacrament – intense and truthful. As for the theme of imperturbable comfort? Jan thanks Anj’s companionship for that. LQs notwithstanding, lol.

well, i just realized i can't stand having just one photo a week. and jan has been leaving the posting on the blog to me... so bwahahah! i'm going to post three this week.

it's actually tough choosing because we have lots of nice ones. it's also taking a whole lot of EQ for me not to post the best ones until the very last minute. i actually failed, really, having shown off one of my favorites in my multiply site to several friends. just because i want to show off my marimar-karimadon dress. hehe!

so here ya go!

before i get into my lengthy story about redg, check out why i wanted him in the first place!
(that photo over there is not redg but by redg.)

*****
one of the best things about this wedding is the number of people who have been helping us make this happen. IP advocate and wonderful photographer, redg plopinio happens to be one of those people.

i actually met redg through rowie (my dearest matron of honor) since he was her student interested in indigenous education which was (is) my current field. he was interested in learning more about it. i honestly did not feel comfortable lecturing about it since i was still just getting familiar with it myself. but i decided to meet with him and his friends anyway. it was actually an interesting meeting as we decided to eyeball at conspiracy during a joey ayala night. we were texting when we were already both in conspiracy, i told him i was wearing red and was near the aircon. i failed to notice that there was another girl in red that was near the aircon as well so he ended up approaching her. hehe! we eventually got to meet and discussed a little bit about IP Ed. i just hoped to God i was able to share something decent with them.

anyway, we crossed paths again when he was invited by our organization to take pictures of Kalindogan 2006. it was only then that i found out that he was actually a photographer. and boy, was he good! i loved how alive and interesting his photos were. and the best thing about it was he was so passionate about the entire event which translated into the pictures. i particularly loved his Datu series. :)

back to the wedding... i knew i wanted good photographs of the wedding. i could let go of the video, but photos were not something i could compromise. i approached redg about it, trusting his eye and artistry with the camera. i was so glad he took it, even throwing in a pre-nup in the friendly package he gave us.

like i mentioned previously, it was wonderful working with him. i'm usually crazy in front of the camera which is usually a sign of my discomfort of posing, especially if it has to be malambing with jan. PDA captured isn't something i want. hehe. but his energy and passion was infectious and he totally understood what kind of rapport jan and i had. i felt it would be embarrassing na mag-inarte when he was so enthusiastic about the pre-nups. i mean, hello! the dude laid down on concrete, squatted on the ground, and did slight contortions to get good photos. so what right do i (jan is usually cooperative with things like this) have to say, "i'm shy!"

so yes, in front of an entire block of students, a frisbee group and jobe nkemakolam, jan and i and redg worked it.

thanks, redg, for making us look good!

this photo was not part of the initial plan. we were just walking from the UP coop to A/S when we came across an interesting "vandalism" in one of the buildings. while we were having our photo taken, i spotted the garbage dump. i told the boys i wanted a photo there. and of course, i had to be "di-nabubulok." it turned out to be one of our favorite photos. hehe. with some editing, it reminds me of a cd album cover. aliw noh?

the black and white and lomo-ish versions.

Whenever I hear pre-nups, I thought it had something to do with pre-nuptial agreements, ala-Intolerable Cruelty. Apparently, it’s some staged photo shoot for couple prior to the wedding. At first, after hearing my cousin having to pay an additional amount to the photographer as well as the venue for the pre-nup shoot, I thought that it was something Jan and I could do away with. We have lots and lots of photos from our travels with the gang. None of which were glamorous and most of them have us looking silly. Which is the way I like our photos to be.

But then our photographer and friend, Redg included a pre-nup shoot in our deal, so I thought, why not? It could be fun and we can get really creative with it. With an un-serious couple and a creative photographer, it’s bound to be interesting.

We agreed upon a “masa couple” pre-nup. Fishballs, isaw, ice cream in UP (Jan’s alma mater and my Open University). That sorta thing. Redg further expanded into a classroom set-up, given my current education-related work. So that could be easily arranged since it was summer.

He also asked me to bring a white dress for a simulated wedding day photo. It took a while to convince me, but I figured, what the hey… when will I ever have an excuse to look like that in public again? So I got myself a white dress for the shoot. And I love it! And I love Redg for “forcing” me into it. Hehe!

The funny thing about the pre-nup was the original schedule changed and some of the concepts were slightly altered. But in a good way because we ended up having several cameo appearances, from Jobe Nkemakolam of the Ateneo Blue Eagles to Mamang Pulis and Mamang Sorbetero of UP People in the Neighborhood.

It was a little embarrassing walking around in the Gesu-Bellarmine area in a white flowy dress while a big group of students were there, but then they don’t know me so I really shouldn’t care. But I had to giggle when Jobe suddenly asked, “para san yan?” to which we had to answer for our wedding. And to which he answered, “I love weddings!” This gave me the courage to ask him for a photo with us, to which he willingly obliged. Jobe is such a sweet and polite person. He shook our hands and introduced himself to us after wards. I think he knew we knew him, but I think it was his way of getting our names. I’ve always loved Jobe and I love love love him more after that.

While we were taking some shots at the Ateneo football field naman, there was this foreigner dude, who while changing his shirt shouted “congratulations” to us. I yelled a “thank you!” back. Then another couple was taking photos of us having our photos taken. So I’m kinda fearing that we might be in somebody’s multiply site already. Hehe! Good thing it was already dark and the most they can get are silhouettes.

So. It was fun! I had a great time and Redg was enjoyable to work with as usual. His energy was infectious, which was why my usual “Pinay Tough Model” attitude in front of the camera melted away and I was game most of the time. Including the lambing poses. Yes, he got me to do lambing poses.

He actually should have had his photos taken himself with all the lying down and other contortions he had to do to make us look good.

The photos looked fun. I do have a big red zit, but I don’t plan to have it photoshopped away… because it doesn’t really matter. I am a little concerned with the tummy paunch though. Hehe!

Anyhoo… the photographer suggested a photo a week para suspense. Hehe! so I’ll post one after this. :)