ADVENTURES WITH GRANDTITA: UST human cross now Guinness World Records’ largest

Thursday 11 August 2011

UST human cross now Guinness World Records’ largest

It’s now official! Guinness World Records has certified that indeed, the human cross formed by the Thomasian community at the the University of Santo Tomas (UST) on Ash Wednesday, March 9, 2011, is the largest ever formed in the world.

The letter from Guinness, dated August 8, 2011 and addressed to the UST Office of Public Affairs (OPA) says: “We are pleased to confirm that you have successfully set the new Guinness World Records title for ‘Largest Human Cross’. Guinness World Records congratulates you on your achievement. Enclosed is your official Guinness World Records certificate confirming your title. Details of your achievement have been entered into our Records Database.”

The Guinness World Records Certificate bearing the GWR seal was received by the UST-OPA on August 10, 2011, states: “The largest human cross was achieved by 13,266 participants at an event organised by the University of Santo Tomas (Philippines) in Manila, Philippines, on 9 March 2011.”

The human cross event at the UST was set for Ash Wednesday to highlight the message of the Lenten season, penance—a dramatic offering marking the University’s 400^thfoundation anniversary. Students, faculty members and employees with crosses of ash on their foreheads wore black and white to the record-breaking human cross—they kept themselves still and in prayerful silence for 15 minutes.

The iconic black and white cross symbolizes the University’s Catholic and Dominican identity which has stamped Philippine history and Christian growth for four centuries now. The Ash Wednesday event was also meant as the University’s affirmation of life, a timely statement wordlessly issued in the midst of the controversy over the Reproductive Health Bill.

The record of a cross made up of 13,266 people praying for the whole country would be hard to beat. The Guinness World Records website places the UST human cross in the “Amazing Feats” and “Mass Participation” categories. This mass participation at the UST parade grounds is an amazing feat, indeed, and it could only happen in the Philippines!

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To see the official announcement online, go to www.guinnessworldrecords.com, click “Find a record”, write “Largest human cross” in the search field.

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PROLOGUE to Adventures...

You know your age is showing when young people start asking you about how things were “during your time”. But you know, too, that you have become ageless, gloriously ageless, when young people meet you and sigh/coo/exclaim/shriek, “Sheesh, I wanna be like you when I get old!”

That’s exactly where I stand now—“Mamina” to one 17-year-old grandson, “Grandtita” to 36 grandnieces and grandnephews aged 10 months to 30-something, and eternally amused when people can’t guess my age by my salt and pepper hair. The grayer my head gets, the greater the demand for my stories at family reunions—or at Todos los Santos huddles over our ancestors’ graves. Why so? Because, as the title of this column proclaims, Grandtita is an adventurer!

I thrive on challenges. I court danger at work and at play. I have deadlines for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and wash them all down with wine from the Fountain of Life (burp). My life has been one grand pursuit and discovery of the mysterious in the mad and the mundane. My work as a journalist has taken me places and opened doors for me so don’t wonder that I have so many stories up my sleeve.

The puzzle of the century for my grandnieces and grandnephews is: “Grandtita says she’s poor but how come she can jet set?” No matter what their age, they’re mystified—so much so that had I been a government bigwig they’d probably suspect me of pocketing taxpayer’s money.

They’re not the only ones, though, who wonder how I do it—I mean, “jet set” on practically a jeepney driver’s income. Strangers who read my articles and called me “tita” in their letters to the editor asked for tips on how to see the world on less than $5 a day—amusing.

When for three consecutive years in the late 70s I did nothing but travel abroad, colleagues went abuzz with curiosity. (“How could she stay abroad so long, unemployed?”) Then they became suspicious. (“Maybe she’s a spy!”) My friends would write me letters with postscripts like,“Hoy, paano ka nakakatagal diyan nang walang pera? Baka pinupuhunan mo na ang puri mo, yuk-yuk-yuk!”

That was the era of the snail-mail, long before email, and the fastest means of written communication was the telegram which we reserved for emergencies because they were so darned costly to send. Naturally, even via airmail our correspondence took weeks and months, further whetting their appetite for my reported adventures. That early, I earned a reputation for being “footloose and fancy free”—“may nunal sa talampakan”—and acquired a new moniker: Adbenturera.

That’s exactly where I stand now—“Mamina” to one 19-year-old grandson, “Grandtita” to 36 grandnieces and grandnephews aged 10 months to 30-something, and eternally amused when people can’t guess my age by my salt and pepper hair. The grayer my head gets, the greater the demand for my stories at family reunions—or at Todos los Santos huddles over our ancestors’ graves. Why so? Because, as the title of this column proclaims, Grandtita is an adventurer!

They’re not the only ones, though, who wonder how I do it—I mean, “jet set” on practically a jeepney driver’s income. Strangers who read my articles and called me “tita” in their letters to the editor would ask me for tips on how to see the world on less than $5 a day—amusing.

When for three consecutive years in the late 70s I did nothing but travel abroad, colleagues went abuzz with curiosity. (“How could she stay abroad so long, unemployed?”) Then they became suspicious. (“Maybe she’s a spy!”) My friends would write me letters with postscripts like, “Hoy, paano ka nakakatagal diyan nang walang pera? Baka pinupuhunan mo na ang puri mo, yuk-yuk-yuk!”

To be an “adbenturera” you need not be a millionaire, I tell anyone who asks, especially young people raring to try their wings. In fact, wealth or status could even be a hindrance to enjoying travel and meeting the unknown head on. In order to soar you have to keep your feet planted on the ground. A paradox, yes, but listen. You don’t need Money—You are all you need. That’s what I told myself before my first foray into the wild wild world of wonders.

Rule Number One: Know the essential you. Unshackle yourself from the trappings of wealth and fame. So what if you’re an heiress or a superstar in your country? Out there, alone, who are you? Without your father’s name or your bodyguards, what are you? Even an ant counts more than you. You are just one entity in this awesome space filled with whirling galaxies. Life does not owe you a living, so chill out and don’t demand special treatment, limousines, paparazzis, and rose petals on the red carpet, etc.

Rule Number Two: Know that you are loved. Even if you now believe that an ant has something more to offer than you, grasp the truth that The One who created you loves you beyond all understanding and will never, never, NEVER forsake you.

That’s it. How do you think I saw Europe for free? I drove a van cross-continent. How did I get to Europe for free? On board an oil tanker with a crew of 43 men. How did I get on the tanker? By being myself—penniless, and not ashamed of it. So that’s how Grandtita has been adventuring and enjoying life poor, discovering, experimenting, learning, and growing from experience that now translates itself into stories for your reading pleasure.

Many of my stories might be classified as “SPG”, requiring strict parental guidance to read, and just as many may titillate older teens and young adults—maybe it’d be good to classify the stories: General Patronage, PG 13, R 14, R 18, etc. But don’t worry, I’ll be careful none of them will make your maiden aunt blush. I promise to take pains to make them all Disney-wholesome in the telling, even the potentially Triple X variety!

ADVENTURES WITH GRANDTITA

Thursday 11 August 2011

UST human cross now Guinness World Records’ largest

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