unusual confirmation

bernard and i had our confirmation today at san miguel church in manila. this was so funny because unlike the 28 other people who were confirmed with us, we did not have any sponsors in tow. for my part, i've been thinking for the past weeks who to get as a ninong or a ninang and i've come up with several names pero nahihiya naman ako to drag them to san miguel which is sooooo far from where we live. for jojie's part, wala talaga siyang naisip. i don't think he even made the effort. whenever i would ask him who he would get, he would always reply, "madali lang yun!"

buti na lang, i was able to make chika with abie the other day when she came over to get her laminated invites (hi abie!). i told her that we were getting confirmed today and she narrated that when her sister was confirmed, she noticed that the photographer in san miguel was the ninong of some of the people getting confirmed!!! ("confirmees"? hehe!) with that knowledge, hindi na ako ninerbiyos magpa-confirm. with or without a sponsor, i'll have manong photographer!!!

so kanina, when we arrived at san miguel, after getting the forms to be filled up and while jojie was having our baptismal certificates photocopied, i subtly approached manong photographer (MP).

me: manong, magkano po magpa-picture?
MP: P70 lang. isang malaki at isang maliit na yun.
me: ah P70 po?
MP: oo. ahhh... may problema ba?
me: eh manong sabi po ng isang kaibigan ko, nagni-ninong daw po kayo?
MP: oo! sabi ko na nga ba eh kaya kita tinatanong kung may problema.
me: talaga po? pwede kayong mag-ninong. dalawa kami, manong. hindi ho kasi makakarating yung kaibigan ko sana eh. (syempre nahiya naman kasi akong aminin na pumunta ako dun with him specifically in mind)
MP: okay lang yun. basta ang gagawin natin magpahuli kayo para makunan ko pa yung iba.
me: o sige po. ano po ba ang pangalan nyo?
MP: eh pero wag mo na akong isulat diyan (referring to the paper) kasi magkaka-utang pa ako sa iyo niyan eh. isulat mo na lang yung ninong mo talaga tapos proxy na lang ako.
me: o sige po, manong. salamat po!

ang bait niya nga eh. funny talaga! when jojie arrived, he and i went again to manong to ascertain that we had a "ninong". MP even showed us pictures of his mga "inaanak". :)

and then when it was near our turn na at the altar (as per MP's instructions, we were the last in line), we were getting tensed na that MP might forget about us. we found the whole thing so funny that jojie and i were laughing and i had a hard time hiding my laughter. it was supposed to be solemn ceremony, for goodness' sake! but we shouldn't have worried, he was a man of his word. when it was near our turn, he gave his camera to the other photographer and asked him to take our picture, he smoothed his photographer's vest, and calmly made his way to the altar to put his hand on my shoulder. natawa pa nga ata yung pari eh. isip niya siguro, 'isa na naman itong walang ninong!' :)

after my turn, "ninong" stayed at the altar for jojie naman. i was laughing on my way to the pews and i saw some of the other confirmees looking at me with bewilderment! hahaha!

after the confirmation and the distribution of certificates (during which "ninong" took our picture again), we went to thank him and pay for the pictures. he just asked for our address so he could mail our pics. and then he said, "picturan ko na kayong dalawa magkasama sa altar, regalo ko na sa inyo." that's our ninong!!! :)