Felt more like 7 weeks. But still, it was fun.
I’m now officially a nigga! I now enjoy nigga music, and i’m darker, and I am now called BMAC. O yea.
So here’s what happened, every night before I sleep, or everytime I don’t have anything to do, I try to jot down things that happened for the day. So this would be a seven day entry crammed into one. I might be editing or leaving out things from the actual journal itself, but I would still be keeping the main gist.
So there, enough with the pasakalye, and on with the kwento.
Day 1
A Retreat of Sorts
“Mga saging kami. Kasi sa Pilipinas, ang saging lang ang prutas na may puso…”
Literal na nasa middle of nowhere ang lugar na ito. Habang papunta, parang dumidisappear na lang bigla yung mga bahay, kotse, at kalsada, Bukid, baka, kalabaw, kambing at konting bahay na lang ang nakita ko all the way hanggang sa fram school. Finally, we arrived.
Middle of nowhere nga talaga.
When we were being oriented, Miguel mentioned that this was a perfect place for a retreat. Isolated, tahimik, etc.. Sabi pa nga niya na other people see farm camp as a retreat. Posible, diba? Tulad nung Banaw experience ko na ginawa kong “retreat.”
Funny, when I was taking a shower, Niño was in the other cubicle, and a thought came up. All of a sudden he blurted out, “parang nung retreat noh?” I was about to say that!!! Hahaha.Naunahan na lang niya ako sa pagsabi. Pareho na naman ang tumatakbo sa mga utak namin.
Parang nung retreat…
Cool. Maybe this would be like a retreat talaga. Come to think of if, Miguel also mentioned that we won’t leave this place unchanged.
Let’s see.
What happened in my first day funk?
There was signal!!! Chax, Ikai Inna, Ira and Ilsa kept me sane by being my textmates. Jaime brought a laptop!!! Hahaha. Games kaagad for the whole afternoon. The kambings were masungit.
Kuwentuhang Pag-ibig sa Gabi
“So raise your hands to heaven and pray.”
Maraming rin pala akong reklamo pagdating ng hapon. Walang tv, malayo ang water dispenser, walang internet! Hahaha.
Pero still, maganda pa rin ang experience so far. The isolation and the idea of making new friends was very exciting.
Evening finally came and it was time for the love story kwentuhan. First off was TJ with his champion “Hands to Heaven” story, and Jaime’s “Writing letters and meeting under the tree” kuwento.
I learned a lot in their stories, lalo na kay Jaime. Hindi mo talaga kailangan madaliin ang mga bagay. You could take years away from the person and still love her. Between you and me cards and 30 min shopping times are cool. And JR’s kuwento also shared things about loving, and not commiting. It’s very hard to be in such a situation. And he also shared na the man must be in control of things.
When my own kuwento came into mind, I realized na, ANG DRAMA PALA NG MGA KWENTO NG MGA TAO RITO. Hahaha.
Day 2
Nagsusulat sa hapon
“Wala akong magawa…”
Banlaw comes into mind. The idleness and the lack of fun but non-exhausting things to do simply sucked. We helped in the construction of the fence (even if it wasn’t our work day), but eventually, we gave up.
Now, there is nothing to do. As I am writing this, I hear nothing but the creaky fans, the crowing cocks, and people talking from faaaaar away.
Decided to give up Jonathan Small’s story for a while. All of the sudden it became boring. Ang labo bigla eh. Puro Sikh at Hindoo na characters na hindi ko maintindihan.
Mahilig maligo ang mga tao rito. Ang init kai eh. So banlaw lang ng banlaw sa ilalim ng shower. Libre naman ang tubig.
Ano kaya mangyayari mamaya? Bahala na…
“Ano ang tawag sa saging na nakatuhog?”
Dapor was wearing a shirt that said, “Dazed and Confused.” The term caught on immediately as people, especially Mark 1, was in a dazed and confused state.
Eventually, we were calling the lost people dazed and confused. The population of dazed and confused people grew and Raymond decided to use an acronym na lang, so it would be easier.
“DND!” He said.
I asked him why DND.
“Kasi dazed and… Uhhhhh…”
Laughter all of a sudden.
The night was filled with laughter. Everyone was on a bangag high. Corny and bitin jokes were exchanged, and the ones who don’t get the jokes were called DND.
Obviously, the day was very tiring. Where would the bangag highness come from if people were not exhausted, diba?
Besides the exhaustion, there was the heat. The initial activities included teaching in an oven-like, closed classroom.
It was TD all over again. There were kids, medyo impromptu examples for the lessons, smart-asses, and of course, the sweltering heat.
The kids pick up easily, by the way. Or at least I think they do. Naturo na nga pala kasi sa kanila ito. Hahaha. Kaya mas alam nila yung ibang ways ng pagsolve. So imbento na lang ng maraming examples.
Thank God tomorrow is my last day for teaching. Pero work naman ang sunod. Oh gulay.
Day 3
Galley Crew
“Dina blow your horn”
I wasn’t at all excited to be part of the galley crew. I was never a fan of washing dishes, so I took the table cleaning post, thinking cleaning the tables would be easier.
Breakfast wasn’t much of a casualty. Only spilled ketchup on the table, nothing else. Madugo na nug lunch, tinola and ube for dessert. Tambakan na nga ng huhugasan, malala pa yung tables. Soup and bones everywhere! I almost gave up nung merienda. Lugaw and calamansi on the tables. Wah. Bahala na mamayang dinner.
These mind games are killing me! I was never good at these, thus, I easily give up. Pano ba kasi, nilalaro ang around the world at music room? Actually hanggang ngayon naglalaro pa rin sila. Ako na lang yata hindi nakakagets, so sumuko na ako.
Kanina JR even had to give me tons of examples for the blank = blank game (6=3, and 4=4, then what is 8=?). Pero hindi ko pa rin nagets until later. At least I got the hand things.
I went to mass with the boys this morning. Malayo pala talaga papuntang bayan, so lagot na lang pagdating ng homevisit.
The church was a nice one, actually. Only the sight wasn’t. There were only a few of us Lauan guys, yet we composed half of the mass goers. Come sunday, puno ito. Pero bakit sunday lang, diba? Well, guilty rin naman ako ng hindi nagmimisa sa umaga, ahehe…
Now they’re playing the double dimension game, at nagets ko! Hahaha.
Kanina, tambakan ng brain-draining kakornihan jokes. Lalu na yung mole jokes! Hahaha. So ang sabog namin kanina. Bangag high early in the afternoon? So mas malala mamaya?
“Part 1, part 2, part 3.”
I finally gathered the guts to share my sad love story. All the way from second year, beybeh!
Mahaba, madrama, at masiyadong personal, so I won’t be sharing the details. Basta madrama, masakit at nakakapagod. No wonder the guys (except for Niño, TJ and JR) gave up listening to my kuwento.
I ended with my new-found enjoy life philosophy and yung mga recent decisions ko. Mabuti raw yung ginawa ko. Mag-enjoy daw muna ako, and let the girl enjoy, too. Ayos. I’ve got people backing me up. :)
Eventually Niño, TJ and I were the ones left. Kami na lang yung nagusap. Biglang nag-open up si Nins. Nagkuwento siya.
Sa loob-looban ko, napa-wow ako. Inggit ako sa situation nila and how they’re dealing with it. Enjoy lang daw muna and lots of non-restricted kulitan. :) Walang napipikon.
I always hated pikon people. I know, ako mismo pikon paminsan, pero ngayon nagpapakabait na. So ayun, ayoko ng pikon kasi natural na makulit, mapang-asar at mapangkutya ako, so hindi kami nagkakasundo ng pikon.
Sorry kung malabo bigla pinagsusulat ko. It’s almost 3am. Must be the bangag-high.
Day 4
Trabahadors for the day
“By the bukid with the carabaos and goats and ducks and chickens and turkeys.”
A new task greeted us this morning. Today’s our turn to be trabahadors. Preparing myself for the imminent task, I ate my breakfast, went up, took a puff from my inhaler, dressed up, and went down.
We went straight to the working area and saw hills of sand and gravel and big stacks of hollow-blocks by the side, all of which are waiting to be transferred to the worksite. We immediately began working so we could end our work early.
It wasn’t as easy as it looked. Even with the wheelbarrow, transferring the materials was very very hard since the terrain was very irregular.
The mind games bug bit us again, and we started sharing unusual yet logical problems and scenarios. Some of which were unanswered until lunch and part 2 of work.
Eventually, the supervisor came and separated the group into two. One group was to help build the house and the other was to stay and continue transferring materials. I chose to stay with the second group.
We ended earlier than expected. The supervisor asked us to stop working for a while, for all the materials needed were already there.
We did nothing for around an hour. So we just bummed around by the bukid, along with the carabaos and goats and ducks and chickens and turkeys. We lied down on top of the gravel and called ourselves the “kings of graba.” Half of us fell asleep. :p
War games was the next activity. We lost miserably. It came to a point that we ran out of ammunition and had to retreat to the forest. I “died” from a bloody/watery headshot, but it was still fun.
I washed up and went down to the living room to sleep. After a few minutes, I was woken up by the heat. Brownout pala. At second time ito sa araw na ito.
We went to the 5:30 mass in Nasugbu, which was around 2 towns away. Weird yung church choir. Hahaha. Cool sana yung church, only it was still unfinished.
After mass, we decided to pass by Dunkin Donuts. Civilization! Hahaha. I was a kid all over again. Sobrang tuwang-tuwa ako nun.
We got lost on the way home, and a bangag high kicked in due to the hunger and fatigue. We were all singing “sing a song” and “the lion sleeps tonight.”
Awimbawep, la la lalala.
Maybe due to the salabat in the merienda? Hahaha.
Someone borrowed a guitar from a kid in the evening. Oh yeah. I missed singing and playing.
Day 5
Umuulan.
“Lagi na lang umuulan…”
Day 2 of work today. Did nothing much for most of the work was already finished in the past 3 days. Semento passing na lang in our crib by the bukid.
We finished early so we just stayed by the gate, played pingpong, and jammed.
We prayed the rosary after lunch and stayed by the living room. It was raining slightly…
The light drizzle caused our systems to shut down and sleep. They didn’t call us for work anymore.
It was still raining when we woke up.
Oo nga, lagi na lang umuulan.
Onga pala, yesterday, Ilsa mentioned something about me being a perfect teacher. Teacher BA? Ewan na lang natin…
Day 6
Paalam, Jonarex
“Bukid, bukid, and all bukid! And that vast area’s Araneta’s bukid.”
Today’s the day that we were to send our tutees home. Jonarex, my tutee, warned me that his house was very far. I was very doubtful at first, until I actually got there. :p
I was actually very cheerful and hyper at first. Exciting ang Batangas tripping. I rode the jeepneys without complaints. We took a trike afterwards, and eventually ended up by the edge of a field.
“Ano na gagawin natin?”
“Maglalakad po.”
“Malayo?”
“Opo.”
I still was doubtful, and thus, happily started our “little” journey. We began by walking on a road beside the bukid.
For around 30 minutes, all I saw was bukids, carabaos and a few houses. Malayo pala talaga! Jonarex’s house was by the end of countless bukids pala. Oh well. But I survived!
Their house was relatively small for a family of 7. It was a kubo with a little concrete. It was by the mango tree by the edge of a series of countless bukids.
When we arrived, his mom and lolo popped up. We talked about basic home visit stuff (parang nung TD) and ate longanisa and rice by the relaxing dining area.
Before leaving, they gave me a bag filled with mangoes and saba bananas to bring home. I thanked them and went.
Jonarex brought me to the terminal (read: the beginning of the bukid journey), so malayo na naman ang nilakad. Along the way, we talked about random stuff: artistas, kuya Aaron, the Aranetas, farm animals, etc, etc..
Finally we reached the terminal. He instructed me towards the tricycle and bade goodbye.
“Next year na lang uli, kung maulit man!”
Met up with Jerry and explored Batangas. Hahahaha. We ended up sa Dunkin Donuts, yung meeting place.
Going home we saw weird signs.
A funeral parlor says, “We accept senior citizen cards.”
A pizza place was named “Greencab”
A restaurant said it was open for 24 hours. But when we saw it, it was closed.
There was a videoke for rent.
We finally reached Tuy and shared all our kwentos.
“Swimming by the brown batis.”
Dapor and I went to the batis to meet up with the boys. We almost got lost on the way, but we used our natural instincts and followed the sounds. We eventually found the wall that separates the school from the batis. We clumsily climbed the wall and found ourselves by the batis. The other were already there. We took off our shirts and fell down in the batis, which we realized, is color brown.
After the batis escapade we climbed the same wall back. I was the last one to climb so I tried to hurry. I jumped, slipped in the mud, and scratched my arm on the wall. Pinagtatawanan ng mga tao kwento ko, akala nila sa batis ko mismo nakuha.
Ngayon may maiku-kuwento na ako sa mga apo ko, wahahaha.
The last dinner in the farm cool was the best one. The food was wonderful. We joined our tables for more bonding. Everyone was just happy and hyper.
Today’s our last day. I think I’m gonna miss this. :)
Day 7
Mala-palasyong resthouse
“Wow”
We left the farm camp in the morning. Goodbye to the farm! Hahaha.
Malupit yung view on the way. As in, wow. Hahaha. Pinilit kong hindi makatulog dahil dun.
We arrived in Tali a few hours after. Woah. As in woah yung lugar. Sobrang lupit. Malapalasyo nga. Yung rooms parang hotel. Kulang na lang yung mga saksakan ng cards at yung laman ng mini-bar.
We were exploring the house when a helicopter appeared and landed by the grass. We joked that it was our sundo. Turns out na it was the sundo of the owner of the house.
Lupit pare.
We went to the beach afterwards. I chickened out nung cliff diving part. Malalim yung beach, malakas yung alon, at hindi ako magaling lumangoy. Bumaba lang ako sa gilid ang naligo sa dagat. Maya’t maya’y umahon agad. The waves were too strong for me.
We went to the pool and had the time of our lives. Wow pa rin. Hahahaha. We swam for hours until lunch came. KFC, spaghetti, Yellow Cab. Wow. Yey! Civilization!
After lunch we bummed by the pool. We bonded there and eventually fell asleep. When I woke up I walked around the house, observing the view.
I just absorbed all the beauty. Parang biglang nawala yung past 6 days. Parang biglang hindi kami nagfarm camp.
I jumped in the pool afterwards. Mag-isa lang ako. Hahaha. Did some laps and some senti-ing. Eventually, Sir Dennis and Francis went in na rin. Here, the UP boys bonded. And we taught Francis how to swim. This went on for around an hour.
Weird. Biglang dumating yung ibang mga tao from the beach nung umahon na ako. Hahaha. Oh well.
Sunog na ako, so I decided to go up and dress up na. An activity was just beginning when I arrived downstairs.
It’s the 1-2-3 pass testimonial making. Fun, sobra. And bigla kong namiss yung farm.
We packed up and went home afterwards.
Home, sweet home, finally. :)
Day 8
“Nasaan na yung bukid?”
I’m missing the camp as I am writing this. Sobrang kakaiba eh. Sobrang saya, na lifechanging. Hahaha. Oh well.
I learned a lot. Also made me realize how much I missed home.
Peor bigla kong namiss yung farm school. hahaha.
Maybe next year na lang ulit? :)
Salamat sa mga nakasama sa camp. Salamat sa mga Lauanista at sa mga Talon schoolers. Hanggang sa muli!
