Memories from my village in the Philippines
My Hometown
Weekly visits to the farm, reunions with cousins, the fiesta– all of these are what come to mind whenever I remember my hometown. Not so long ago, I was back in my hometown after several years of being away and I found out that there were a number of changes that happened while I was gone. The city is actually becoming to bustling, businesses were sprouting all over the place, the mall that everyone has been anticipating for the longest time is finally open and the population seemed to have increased overnight – well probably not overnight, but it appeared that there were more people here than before.
I remember when we were young our grandfather used to bring us to the farm to breathe in the fresh air and get to know the people there. Although the city back then was not as polluted as the bigger cities in the country, the farm was something not typical for someone who is used to life in the big city. Anyway, riding on our grandfather’s trusty, old AUV – a green Toyota Tamaraw, me, my brothers and of course our cousins with soak in the sights of country life. Every now and then we would pass people whom we figured were friends of our grandfather, some of them would even hitch a ride on the AUV if they were going in the same direction as we were. These people would even comment that we were already grown up, with us not knowing who they were, well these were friends of our grandfather and everybody know everyone else in my hometown. Once we got to the farm, our grandfather would tell us to go to the hut in the middle of the rice field. This hut was used by the farmers take a breather and their lunch after working in the farm all morning. In the hut we found a huge glass bottle with an orange colored liquid, it was actually ‘tuba’ or coconut wine, a very mild liquor made from the juice from the coconut. We ended up drinking a glass each of the sweet liquid that was more of a juice rather than wine. While at the farm, we would spend most of our time in the hut taking in the sights that we only get to see when we go back to our hometown.
Another thing that I love about my hometown is the fiesta. Our country is known to have a fiesta or a celebration for just about every day of the year. And in our hometown our fiesta is held on the 19th day of May. During this time of the year, our family has a reunion at the house of our grandparents in my hometown. We are usually roused from our sleep early in the morning not by our parents telling us to eat breakfast already or our grandmother telling us to help out in preparing the table for the fiesta, instead we wake up early in the morning to the squeals of pigs that were to be the main dish for the celebration later on in the day. A fiesta is never a fiesta without ‘lechon’ or suckling pig. It is the centerpiece of the buffet table and is usually the first one to get consumed during the celebration. This is the reason why during our family’s celebration of the annual fiesta in our hometown, our grandfather usually has two pigs prepared for the celebration.
These are just some of my memories of the place where I come from and where I will go to each year during the summer, this is my hometown.
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Ang Akong Lugar’n Natawhan
Adto sa umahan kada semana, pag-abot sa mga ig-agaw, ang pista – kaning tanang mosulod sa akong huna-huna kung hinumdumon nako ang akong lugar’n natawhan. Sa dili pa dugay na panahon, nakauli ko sa lugar’n natawhan nako pagkahuman sa pipila ka tuig na walay uli-uli ug nabantayan nako na daghan nausab sa lugar labon wala pa ko ka-uli didto. Ang siyudad nahimong aktibo, daghang negosyo niabli, ang dakong tindahan na gipaabot sa tanang tao niabli na gyud ug morag nianam kadaghan ang sa usa ka gabii – aww, basin dili lang isa ka gabii, pero morag nidaghan lang ug kalit ang tao didto komparar sa niadto.
Nakahinumdom ko kadtong bata pa mi na dad-on mi sa among lolo adto sa umahan para makaginhawa ug presko na hangin ug mag-ilaila sa mga tao didto. Bisan dili pa kaayo hugaw sa siyudad kaniadto komparar sa mga dagko sa siyudad, dili man gud ang maong naandam sa taong nidako sa siyudad ang moadto sa darohan. Sabagay, labon nagsakay mi sa daan pero sinaligang AUV – usa ka lunhaw na Toyota Tamaraw, ako, akong mga igsoon ug among mga ig-agaw mosurop sa mga lain-laing makit-ian sa kinabuhi sa bukid. Panagsa maagian namo ang mga tao na sa among pagtuo mga amigo sa among lolo, ang uban nila mosakay sad sa AUV kung pareho mi ug padulngan. Kaning mga tawhana mosulti sab usahay na dagko na daw mi bisan pa wala mi kaila nila, pero amigo man sila ni lolo unya ang tanan tao diri sa akong lugar’n natawhan mag-ilhanay ra sad tanan. Pag-abot namo sa darohan, sulti-an mi sa among lolo na moadto sa payag naa sa tunga-tunga sa humayan. Dinhi sa payag mopahuway ug mangaon ug paniudto ang mga mag-uuma human ug grabeng trabaho sa buntag. Sa sulod sa payag, nakit-an namo ang isa ka dakong sudlanan na bildo na naay likido na morag maraag ang kolor, mao man diay ni ang tuba o bino na gikan sa lubi, isa ka dili isog na imnunon na gikuha sa duga sa lubi. Wa magdugay nakatilaw gyud mi ani ug tagsa ka baso sa tam-ison na likido pero dili man hinuon siya morag bino pag-inom namo. Labon naa mi didto sa darohan, adto mi magtambay sa payag ug tan-aw sa mga butang na makit-an ra namo kung mouli mi diri sa lugar’n natawhan namo.
Lain pang butang na akong ganahan sa akong lugar’n natawhan ka yang pista. Ang among nasud ilado sa mga pista o kasaulogan na mahitabo hapit kada adlaw sa tuig. Ang pista sa akong lugar’n natawhan kay kada 19 sa Mayo. Unya kaning panahona sa tuig mag-abot-abot ang among pamilya sa balay sa among apohan diri sa akong lugar’n natwahan. Kasagaran makamata mi sayo sa buntag dili tungod kay gipukaw mi sa among ginikanan aron mamahaw na o patabangin mi pag-andam sa lamesa para sa pista sa among lola, pero makamata mi tungod sa igik sa mga baboy na maoy punoang putahe sa kasaulogan unya. Ang pista dili pista kung walay litson or lechon. Mao ni ang naa sa tunga sa lamesa sa pista ug maoy dugokan sa mga tao inig kaon sa kasaulogan. Mao ni ang rason ngano ang kasaulogna sa among pamilya inig pista dini, ang among lolo mag-andam ug duha ka baboy para sa kasaulogan.
Mao ni ang pipila sa akong mahihumduman sa lugar na asa ko nigikan ug asa ko moadto kada tuig inig berano, mao ni ang akong lugar’n natwahan.
