Ali Sotto is home again

Back in Manila for a two, or hopefully three-year stay is respected singer/actress/broadcaster Ali Sotto, who was tucked away for close to three years in Mexico, where she joined her husband, Omar Baes at his US Embassy post there.

Omar and Ali have been married for six years. During the early years of their marriage, they had to be away from each other because Omar was based in Washington, D.C. while Ali had to be here in Manila to do her radio and TV chores for GMA 7.

By 2000, however, Omar had had enough of their long-distance marriage and asked Ali to give up her showbiz career to join him in his then new post in Mexico City. Although strong-willed and independent-minded, Ali decided to play obedient wife and gave up her profession here to live in Mexico.

But flying to another country to settle there wasn’t all that simple for Ali. First, she had to say goodbye properly to her GMA family – especially to Channel 7 top executive Wilma Galvante, who had become her close friend.

Then, there were the things she had to pack, and we’re not just talking about suitcases here. There was a piano, a narra dining table for eight, a living room set, beds, china, flatware – practically the whole house that had to be put in crates and boxes and shipped across the Pacific.

In Mexico, Ali didn’t have time to be idle. As soon as she had unpacked all the pieces of furniture (some of which arrived in Mexico ahead of her) and had put the last piece of china in the cupboard, she decided to study the Castilian language on-line for two semesters at the University of Maryland. A straight A student (she finished mass communications cum laude at UST here), Ali would have her oral exams with her University of Maryland professors with the help of a headset attached to her computer.

To supplment her studies, she would attend Spanish classes at the embassy four days a week. The school also provided her with workbooks and VHS tapes of Mexican telenovelas – but this time, without the Tagalog dubbing that is not in sync with the mouth movements of the Spanish-speaking actors.

For a while, Ali also worked at the consular section of the US embassy in Mexico – along with her husband, who does administrative work. Tunisian-born Omar is US-educated and has two masters degrees: one in Economics and the other in International Relations. He speaks five languages.

In Mexico, Ali and Omar led a simple, quiet life in-between embassy functions. Ali enjoyed best the anonymity that allowed her to take the public bus and shop for fancy hairpins at the Zocalo, their equivalent of Divisoria there.

No, she didn’t attempt to study Mexican cooking (except ot make fajitas) because Mexican cuisine according to her is quite fattening – what with all those cheeses to that go into most dishes.

But while she fell in love with Mexico, she also welcomed the prospect of moving back to Manila because her son, Miko, a GMA 7 talent, is here (older son, Chino, after finishing college at the Ateneo last March, is now working in L.A.).

In the process of moving back to Manila, Omar and Ali had to go through the same tedious procedure of packing their belongings. The pieces of furniture had to be put back in crates again – including the dining table, but it is heavier now because they had it gilded with trimmings done in traditional Mexican art.

The trip back to Manila also became circuitous because they had to pass by Washington D.C. first for security briefing – by land . On their four-door Crown Victoria, Omar and Ali drove from Mexico City to the US – along with piles of boxes, two dogs (a Doberman and a beagle) and a cat named Brazen that had once lived in Washington and even in Curacao.

First stop was in Texas to visit Omar’s kids – Ryyan (it’s really spelled with a double Y), a band singer, and Cheyenne, a student at the University of Texas.

Then, they were off to Florida to visit family friend Dick LeRoche who introduced Omar to Ali in 1994.

By the time they reached D.C., they had spent two weeks on the road – sleeping mostly in motels that would allow them to check in with pets.

Finally arriving here last Sept. 26, Ali knew she was home in Manila as soon as she and Omar got inside their temporary Roxas Blvd. Condominium: the lights went out – with the brownout lasting until 7 in the morning.

Welcome back to the Philippines!

Now that she’s here, Ali is getting a steady stream of offers to work on radio and television. Only the other day, she was talking to GMA radio big boss Mike Enriquez over dimsum at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel.

But while she feels blessed that she is getting all these offers to return to show business, she says she is not yet ready to work – at least not until she has gotten back her personal belongings that are still all sailing back home from Mexico. "I can’t even cook because I don’t have my utensils yet!" she cries out. Why, she doesn’t even have all her clothes yet – so how do you expect her to come out on TV? (She and Omar are temporarily staying in Magallanes Village.)

First things first. In Ali’s calendar is an appointment for a facial with Vicki Belo, then a haircut with Celeste Tuviera of Symmetria Salon in Greenhills.

But she has been meeting up with friends, who all call her Beloved as a term of endearment. The other night, she and Omar were treated out to dinner at the Banana Leaf in Greenbelt by Pinky de Leon, Fanny Serrano, Telly Garcia, Sandy Andolong, Tirso Cruz III and wife Lyn Ynchausti and Amy Austria and husband Duke.

Ali might as well savor those moments with friends because if ever she decides to return to show business (which she doesn’t really have to – being a diplomat’s wife), I doubt if she’ll have a free time in her calendar. Then, maybe she’ll hanker for her simple and peaceful life in Mexico. But then again, this is still home – traffic, pollution, brownout and all.