Ferdinand Aguilar Fabian (Ferdie Fabs to his friends) was my penguin when I first arrived in the Philippines (see earlier post on What Is A Penguin?). He was my language trainer and became a dear, close friend. He passed away on May 6th 2011, after a sudden illness, and his passing has left his family and friends bereft of his kindness, generosity, love and cheeky sense of humour. A gifted individual, he had an intuitive understanding of how to get the best out of his students. There is no doubt that our group of three students tested his patience on more than one occasion. I will always harbour the fantasy that we three held a special place in his heart precisely because of our inability to follow basic instructions in Tagalog. On one memorable visit to the market:
Ferdie: Why have you bought 100 sheets of pastry?
Me: Because I forgot the word for ’10.’
Scenes like this would reduce him to tears, and his infectious, machine-gun laughter would fire out, and we all surrendered to it. We knew that he knew he was teaching idiots how to speak Tagalog, but he never made us feel stupid. Instead, he made us laugh until our bellies ached, took us to Los Banos, took us around Manila, took us to his family home in Pampanga, sent us round the local markets to buy ingredients for cook-outs, had us changing the grammar on the graffiti we found on local buses, had us singing songs about the environment and took us to climb Mount Makiling:
Ferdie: Wasn’t that great!
Me: My toenail has fallen off. Look, there’s blood, actual blood.
Ferdie: Ok, tara na! Let’s eat!
He was always in demand, not just as a language instructor and translator, but also as a friend. People couldn’t get enough of him. I was spoilt by having his company whenever VSO or Peace Corps scheduled language training for their volunteers, as they always booked the dorms at my Institute for training. Sometimes he used my porch for training, and would always leave me messages of thanks and love if I wasn’t there. One of my last memories of Ferdie was of him sitting on my porch, planning a trip to America. He looked gorgeous (guapo talaga!); he had deep, dark, round eyes that were so full of emotion, and thick, black hair that he had cropped short for the first time in years. He looked like someone on the cusp of something wonderful, which is exactly what he deserved. He was a great friend and there is a Ferdie-shaped hole in my heart. Maraming salamat Ferdie for your friendship and kindness over the years.
Ferdie at IIRR
Ferdie's birthday 1998
Ferdie in 1998
We miss you, our beautiful, big-hearted, Fab Ferdie.
Ferdie's birthday 1998_2
Feeling Homesick 
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