Filipina Soul

Like I promised in my previous post, I will tell you more about home.

Sorsogon (the province of my birthplace: Payawin,Gubat) is located at the southermost tip of Luzon, one of the Philippines’ main islands. It is the land of the famous whalesharks, pili nuts, abaca and copra.

 Sorsogon (most especially the town Gubat) is a place where beaches are white, un-commercialized and un-exploited and the sea bountiful. The little village where I was born (Payawin) is an agricultural barrio (coconut and rice) where the original residents hailed from a single family with 12 children. It is a place where everybody knows everybody and marrying a local would be incest.

This time of the year is the rice harvest season. Weather is wet and wetter and so darned unpredictable. It could be sunshiny in the morning, but monsoon rain could come in the middle of tha day. For the farmers, a weather like so is a big problem. But through time, people got to live with that hard fact.

People here are kind and patient, always helpful…and nosy! Visitors wouldn’t get lost, for you will delivered right in front of the house of the person you are looking for, who ever you happen to ask on the road.

Each morning, a fisherman’s wife always has bounty from the sea to sell: shrimps, fish, crabs, fish, and fish. (Did I already say fish?) In our neighborhood, every house has a piggery of some sort in the backyard. Pigs here are literally piggy banks that one can count on at financially difficult times. Speaking of the back yard, local vegetables and fruits are commonly available. Last night, I ate a ripe papaya that my grandmother picked fresh form the tree.

Life here is a paradie in itself. That is if you like a laid-back life in the province; where it seem to easily get dark and tree bugs are in concert every night. Daily, I have to go to town (5 kilometers away) to get a decent internet connection.

Photo Credit: WOW Philippines, www.marketmanila.com