i already told you about the elaborate paintings on the ceiling of the church of patrocinio de maria and how its square bell tower is a manifestation of an islamic influence and all that stuff. i also already told you about its next-door parish convent. (well, kind of, because there really wasn’t much to talk about except for the huge wooden room with shiny floors that was virtually empty.)

what i didn’t tell you was that right beside those two interesting places is an equally interesting structure dating back to the time when you haven’t seen the light of day yet.

Built in 1940,  Escuela Catolica has a rectangular plan with a formal symmetrical façade. The double grand staircase anchors its overall presence, with concrete balustrade terminating towards the veranda the ornate callado design. Wood relief ornamentation accentuates the base of the roof pediment. The building provides the only American era characteristic to a very strong Spanish colonial era church complex setting.

It is used to be a dormitory for children taking their first communion who were required to stay at the Escuela the night before taking the Holy Communion. It was used as a school for religious teachings and for a time was a primary school. It is now serves as meeting place for the Parish’s various religious groups.

now, if i sounded so high and haughty spewing forth various architectural terms like balustrade, callado design, or roof pediment, that’s because those last two paragraphs i just borrowed from boljoon’s official website. i don’t even know what the hell pediment means.

and seriously, the capitalized nouns and pronouns in all the right places? that’s not me. i usually don’t bother interrupting my flow just to capitalize letters. partly because i can’t differentiate prim-and-proper nouns from the loud-and-boisterous ones. mainly because i’m too lazy to press shift+the letter of my choice. just thinking about the effort of having to do that gives me carpal tunnel syndrome.

i have to say escuela catolica is a pretty backdrop for taking pictures, especially if you’re into old structures as i am who gets excited when within close proximity of anything antique. it’s starting to become an aberration, i know, but i can’t help it. just as histrionics adore the invisible spotlight, i adore old houses and buildings.

it’s a good thing i’m not the only freak sentimental person in the group. girly’s into history too. when she was here for a visit, she asked me to be her date at museo pari-an, of which i happily and enthusiastically obliged. (another blog post i don’t wanna think about for now, as i’m currently swamped with delayed posts galore!) we would’ve hit yap-sandiego ancestral house next but she got hungry so we hit the modern walls of SM instead. and when she belatedly learned about the existence of rizaliana museum right here in cebu city, she was like a woman possessed. i was, of course, the priest whose faith she was bent on destroying.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?!”

i’m sorry, girly girl. if i had known you had a lifelong crush on jose rizal, i would have told you and then bailed at the last minute! lol. (and no, i don’t wanna be that friend standing beside you when you start ogling at rizal’s pj’s and sensually caressing the glass with eyes burning with passion while the curator’s like, wtf?! hahaha.)

seriously, though, next time you come home, i’ll make sure you to take you there. let’s both look at rizal’s things with so much passion it would set them on fire. let’s both make it awkward for the curator. =p

lastly, when there’s a park across the church offering an opportunity for more picture-taking, normal people grab the chance and start shooting away. i guess it’s safe to say we fall within the normal category so…