THE BAGUIO I REMEMBER (continued)
March
2009
Lost in Maryhurst
Many things were lost in the fire that burned Maryhurst (a Baguio seminary) but not my memories of the place.
If I remember correctly, there was a sprawling wooden building in Maryhurst that housed the offices, living quarters and classrooms of the seminarians. As a child, I would run after Brother Armand’s two dogs across the halls of the building and for some reason, I remember that the wooden floors were warm. Brother Armand was the person who was then running Maryhurst.
My favorite spot in Maryhurst was the garden. Brother Armand was something of a green thumb and would grow all sorts of exotic plants and unusual flowers in the garden. There were also monkeys and a pond with tadpoles. The garden was maze. Even if I would always panic when I found myself lost in the maze, I could not help but go to that garden each time I was there. Maybe it was because I would always find my way out of the maze.
The Maryhurst seminarians (who are most likely priests now) will remember me. I was the little girl who made you miss your lunch one Sunday. I was seven and it was the day I discovered the science laboratory at Maryhurst. I was so fascinated by the snakes, mice and other strange creatures in the lab that I did not realize no one could have lunch because Brother Armand told everyone to go out looking for me. To this day, my parents have never made me forget that incident. Strangely, it is one of my better memories of Maryhurst.
This entry was posted on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 at 12:08 am and is filed under The Baguio I Remember. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 17th, 2009 at 11:57 am
I was a Maryhurst seminarian from 1971 to 1975. I know very well the dogs, flowers, plants and the warm wooden floors - all under the care of Brother Armand. Mang Joe was our driver who never ran out of jokes and stories and mischiefs. At the time, Brother Armand was also growing tomatoes, sweet peas, coffee, poultry and swine. We always had bottomless coffee!
April 19th, 2009 at 2:00 am
Hi John. As you were a Maryhurst seminarian from 1971 to 1975, you had the good fortune of not missing lunch of my account. I visited Maryhurst in the 80s. Once in a while, I would putter around the greenhouse with Brother Armand. I miss him and Maryhurst.
June 17th, 2009 at 4:00 pm
And I will never forget the one-day each year during our 3rd and 4th years in SLU Boys High when we had our recollection in Maryhurst. After which we’d picnic in the garden. Great garden and what better month to hold those recollections than in February? These was in the late 60’s. Too bad,na ‘virus’ din iyong place. Googled it some time back and the place is now off-limits to the public.