The April 1975 USA tour

by Rae Anne Jose - Valenzuela

The UP Cherubim and Seraphim traveled to the U.S. in April 1975 for a concert tour. One evening, a few weeks before we left, we went to Mrs. Rivera’s house for a crash course in American table manners. We learned that sliced bread was torn into small pieces before being eaten, and that spoons were rarely, if ever, used, except for soup, so we learned to eat with a fork and knife.

We were in the States for about 3 weeks, and for some of us it was our first trip outside the Philippines. We went to several cities in California, including San Francisco, Vallejo, Sacramento, Salinas, and Los Angeles. We were divided into groups of 2 or 3 and were hosted by families in the area, except for Los Angeles, where we stayed overnight at the Wilshire Twilighter hotel. Very memorable for me was celebrating my 10th birthday almost as soon as we arrived in California, and our hosts even provided a cake!

To get from one city to another, we were driven around in a Greyhound bus with a very nice driver named Dean. We would make up games and skits to keep ourselves occupied while on the road, using whatever was available – once it was a pair of dolls doing the choreography from the song “People”.

Despite our concert schedule, there was time for sight-seeing and other activities. In Vallejo, we visited at least 2 schools and even learned to do a square dance, if I remember correctly. In San Francisco, we went to Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown, the famous crooked street, and the Palace of Fine Arts. In Los Angeles, we took a day trip to Disneyland.

From California, we flew to Honolulu. We were again hosted by different families during our stay and also got to visit some tourist sites – Pali Point and Blowhole, among others.

Happy 50th, UPCS!  Keep on singing!