Where Have I Been?

Hello everyone? Kumusta? I hope you are all having a great time anticipating the Christmas season. It’s been a while since I last posted here. So where have I been? I’ve been to some remote towns and enjoyed a great time traveling in my province with my family.

Traveling in the countryside is so much fun. It makes me appreciate all the more that I am part of this beautiful, beautiful world, and it makes me celebrate all the more the gentleness of this mystery called nature.

I am sharing with you some pictures I took during my trip. I hope you’ll like them.

These houses on stilts quietly stir me.

Ruins of a church in the town of Palapag. It amazes me to think that the walls are full of so many stories.

Another way to travel with a motorcycle

The mighty coconut trees stand against the blue sky. I think they’re wishing for a drizzle or some golden rays of the sun. Many people in my province are greatly dependent on the blessings from coconut trees.

Of all the secluded places I’ve been to, this one makes me feel I’m nearly home.

These old wooden planks once beckoned at me…but my nervous knees had to refuse them.

This spreads joyful sensations to my heart.

This one, taken late in the afternoon after a heavy rain, makes my heart smile.

Have a blessed weekend everyone. Morning air is already cold so keep warm.

Where I Belong

On my recent trip back home, I found myself standing in front of the ocean and listening to my own heart beat one early morning. “I missed this,” I told myself as my eyes traced the to and fro movement of the blue strip of water in front of me and the soothing crashing of the waves put me at ease. The boundless water stretched in glory stood between me and the horizon. Where does the ocean begin? Where does it end? I often wondered about this when I was a child.

As I stood on the wooden bridge watching the graceful unfolding of a new day in the place that raised and nurtured me, I breathed in the familiar salty sea air and said a prayer of gratitude in silence. There is nothing like being in the place that brings me memories of summer time, of golden rice stalks, of fishermen arriving at the seashore with smiles on their face, of children giggling during an early morning swim, of days of love and being part of other people’s lives, of being young and life being so simple. I sure miss those days.

This is a place I can always go back to, a place that will always welcome me in its loving embrace, a place that blesses me, a place that is home to the soothing waves that can wash away even my deepest scars, a place where I can hear God’s voice at its loudest.

The light was growing around me and I felt the heat of the sun, signaling it was time to go home and indulge in a hearty breakfast of champorado and daing (I prefer daing over tuyo). Walking back to the town that was slowly stirring from deep slumber, I heard the ocean sing its song once again. I knew it was a farewell song for me.

LP6: Nakakakilabot

Bigas at ulam. Ayon sa mga magulang sa paaralan kung saan ay katatapos ko lamang mamigay ng lapis ng Pens of Hope, ang dalawang ito ay una sa listahan ng mga bibilhin sa araw-araw.

Saka na lamang bibili ng lapis, papel, at notbuk kung may matitira sa badyet. Kung may matitira. Ngunit paano kung wala? Kadalasan ay kulang pa nga ang badyet sa pagbili pa lamang ng bigas at ulam.

Habang nag-aabot ako ng mga lapis at tinitingnan ang mga ngiti sa mukha ng mga bata, iniisip ko kung ilan sa halos isandaang batang nasa harap ko ang magkakaroon ng pagkakataong mapabuting lalo ang kanilang buhay. I could only hope and pray that it will be all of them.

Kung magpapatuloy na ganito ang sitwasyon sa maraming liblib na bayan, tayo ay nahaharap sa isang nakakakilabot na katotohanan: na parami nang parami ang mga batang maaaring hindi magkaroon ng magandang kinabukasan. This appalling truth is looking at us right in the eye, but not too many of us, especially those who have the power and capacity to help alleviate their situation, can see. Or perhaps we can already see it but we just choose to turn a blind eye.

I hope you’ll all feel blessed realizing that you have so much more than what other people have. Maligayang Huwebes sa inyong lahat!

7 Hills Elementary School

Hello again, ladies and gentlemen. I know you are all excited to see more pictures. But before that, let me tell you first about the school where the first distribution of Pens of Hope in Northern Samar was held.

This is the 7 Hills Elementay School. It is situated in a sleepy barangay in the town of San Isidro.

Some classrooms have nipa thatch roof. Most classrooms have iron sheets as roof. But I noticed that the iron sheets already have holes and are being eaten away by rust. I did not see a room with ceiling so you can just imagine how it is on sunny days. Probably the students would wish for rainy days instead so it will be cooler. But what about the holes on the roof? This situation is true in many schools in remote places all over the country. I can only hope and pray that the government will do something about it.

This is the particular classroom where the distribution was held. It’s a humble classroom with unpainted walls. It has big windows. I can only assume that the windows were deliberately made big to let in breeze on sunny days. I was told that on windy rainy days, these windows have to be closed to prevent rain water from getting in. Because there is no electricity in the school, the students and the teacher have to endure the lack of light inside the classroom when the windows are closed.

Beside the school is a small river lined with small houses, each sheltered with its own thatched roof or rusty iron sheets. It is good to note that the river is clean and the residents seem to be taking care of this body of water.

From the national highway, a narrow cemented 5-kilometer road stretches all the way to the gate of the school. But for some students who come from the other side of the barangay, they have to endure walking on roads like these. Notice the puddles of water. Imagine walking on these roads on rainy days.

Playground (2)

So here is the continuation of yesterday’s post.

There are three airlines that fly to Catarman.

PAL flies every day.
Cebu Pacific flies on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays
Zestair (formerly Asian Spirit) flies on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays

These airlines land and take off in the morning. So from 6AM to 8PM, no one is allowed to loiter. Kapag wala pang parating na airplane, pwedeng mag-jog at magwalk dun kahit pa HHWW LOL! Pero kapag parating na ang eroplano, you will be politely asked na tumabi hehehe, to go to a safe distance. You will hear an alarm, yung parang sa ambulance, from a roving vehicle. Yun na ang senyales na kailangan mo munang lisanin ang airport pansamantala. Along the airport, maraming lusutan dyan papunta sa mga bahay na nasa malapit lang.

Ganito ang itsura ng airport kapag wala nang tao. Biglang nagiging ghost town na hahaha.

Sorry I couldn’t take a shot from the same angle as that in the picture on the previous post.

Tapos, kapag nakalipad na ang huling eroplano for the day, tuloy ang ligaya hehehe.

The national highway crosses on one side of the airport. Pero binubuksan lang ang highway na ito at 4 in the afternoon. So from 4PM to 6AM, pwedeng tumawid ng airport ang mga vehicles.

I really find this airport interesting. Dahil sabi ko nga sa previous post ko, ito pa lang ang airport na nakita kong pwedeng gawing playground ng mga tao. But if you know of any other airport that also doubles as playground, let me know. Susubukin kong dalawin