Origins of Happy Mountain -- Part I

Translated into Spanish my last name means "happy mountain." In English it's Montealegre. Last week I got to explore some of the roots of the happy mountain people--they are rooted in the capital of the Philippine Islands, Manila.

My father was from the Philippines where the dominant language is Tagalog and English. However my father spoke Spanish, it was a colony of Spain for over 400 years, and my mother, being Puerto Rican, also spoke Spanish. However, my sisters and I grew up not knowing the Philippine part of our background because he left when he was 16. That was in 1921. He died in 1972. It took us till January 2009 to bridge this gap when we went to the Philippines for the first time. And as it turned out we found a living relative, his youngest brother, Severino.

Severino, or Vero, at 82, is the last surviving child of Antonio and Juana Bartolome Montealegre. Before him there was, in ascending order, Remedio, Alberto, Guillermo, Vicente, Cleotilde, Iluminada, Carlos, our father Julio, and Leopoldo. They are buried in Makati, a neighborhood in Manila, along with two of their children in the grave pictured above and below.
Uncle Vero did not appear in this world until six years after my father left in 1921. However, on my father's only visit to the Philippines, in 1972, he and Vero were close. Uncle Vero remembers that visit very well. Shortly after returning from that visit our father died.

Uncle Vero could not remember his grandfather’s name but did know he was from Spain and who had also died there. His grandmother's name was Adela Lalinda, who was born in the Philippines.

Meeting Uncle Vero for me felt like visiting the past, as well as seeing the future. My father and his family thought they each had died in the war. My father was working on a ship with his brother Vicente when Vicente became ill and sent home. At some point the ship landed in a U.S. port, probably San Francisco, and my father jumped. At that time the Philippines was an American colony.

In this picture Uncle Vero is in the same cemetery where some of his siblings and their spouses are buried.

It felt like seeing the future because everyone said I look like him. He also confirmed some of my inclinations and arthritic joints. He likes red meat, doesn’t eat vegetables, likes to exercise, and moves like a dart. He also speaks English and is alert and astute. Is this the future me?

P.S. If you want to see some video of Uncle Vero please let me know.

P.S.S. Juan Garcia-Maruri is a Spanish architect practicing in Los Angeles. In my office we would talk and he would remind me that he grew up in a city near a very small town called Montealegre. He said I should stay in the family hotel and check it out. I guess that's Part II.

Dad and Mom