TRAVELS (and more) WITH CECILIA BRAINARD: Manila: Dinner with Maryknollers Marily Orosa and Maribel Paraz

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Manila: Dinner with Maryknollers Marily Orosa and Maribel Paraz

During our college days at Maryknoll, the “lanai” as we called it was a popular place for gathering and chatting. This was a porch that ran a long length of the school, facing the entrance. This was where we people-watched. We didn’t know it, but it was also where lifelong friendships were forged.

Two of the classmates with whom I shared “lanai moments” were Marily Orosa and Maribel Alvarez Paraz. Sunday night, Marily Orosa hosted an intimate dinner for me and Maribel Paras.

It was nonstop talking for us from 6:30 in the evening until midnight. These get-togethers allow us to renew our bonds of friendship from Maryknoll days. Thanks, Marily for the lovely dinner.

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Tags: friends, family, Manila, Makati, Philippines, Maryknoll College

This is all for now,

Cecilia

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard

Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's official website is ceciliabrainarddotcom. She is the award-winning author and editor of 22 books, including When the Rainbow Goddess Wept, The Newspaper Widow, Magdalena, Selected Stories, Vigan and Other Stories, and more. She edited Growing Up Filipino 1, 2, & 3, Fiction by Filipinos in America, Contemporary Fiction by Filipinos in America, and other books.. Her work has been translated into Finnish and Turkish; and many of her stories and articles have been widely anthologized. Cecilia has received many awards, including a California Arts Council Fellowship in Fiction, a Brody Arts Fund Award, a Special Recognition Award for her work dealing with Asian American youths, as well as a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Senate, 21st District, and the Outstanding Individual Award from her birth city, Cebu, Philippines. She has lectured and performed at UCLA, USC, University of Connecticut, University of the Philippines, PEN, Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and many others. She has served in the Board of literary arts groups such as PEN, PAWWA (Pacific Asian American Writers West), among others.