Thursday, March 13, 2008

God loves me too much (just another day at work)

so... it's a rainy day in cabanglasan. we had to be off for miaray to meet with the parents and discuss with them what we ask of the community in return for our support. the jesuit's decrepit pick-up let us off at the hanging bridge over pulangi river where a couple of motorcycles were waiting for us to take us to the community.

we've actually been warned by everyone. the roads were difficult especially on a rainy day. and well... in my line of work, when someone says that, you better take it seriously. the roads scores an 8 in terms of difficulty level. it was rocky and slippery and all that. my arms were sore from holding on for dear life. muscles that i was not aware of made themselves known by acting sore from clenching butt and thighs to make sure i stay on the bike.

we got to the community, chatted a bit, looked at the land where the school will be, had coffee, went back to the bridge. all in two hours.

while i was on the ride, i thought to myself... God loves me too much, it's actually funny. when I was assigned in Calapan as a Jesuit Volunteer, I was often jealous of my batchmates assigned in Bukidnon for living in the mountains, riding the habal-habal and living in constant adventure. i guess God acknowledged that jealousy and said to me, "ganun ha... eto sa iyo!" and there ya go... i'm always in Bukidnon on habal-habal rides that are beyond adventurous. God grants wishes so be really careful when you make one that you mean. Hehe!

anyhoo... so we were finally on our way down. the pick up dropped us at the cabanglasan multicab terminal. i plugged the earphone to my ears and listened to music on my phone. after an hour or so, i was surprised to see everyone in near panic. and i was like, huh, what happened? apparently, the multicab wouldn't respond to the steering wheel so the driver had to fix it. thank God we didn't get into any accident.

so okay... we went down. paid the fare from cabanglasan to wherever in malaybalay we were. a few long minutes after there was this giant jeep full of sacks of corn. it was our only way out, so i didn't mind riding top load. i've always enjoyed top load riding (taplod dito sa mindanao). the rain has stopped and it was cloudy so the weather was perfect for such a trip.

the mountainside was beautiful. herons following carabaos around. goats and horses and cows grazing in the fields. fields of gold as the corn is bursting and ready to be harvested. mountains in the shape of whatever you want them to be... a beautiful lady, a wooly mammoth... anything.

we passed by a fiesta in managok. whadayaknow... a bikini open? for sure janina san miguel would take the crown. or maybe she'd have tough competition there of other contestants not being able to answer the question. forget the fact that it was terrible grammar and deplorable pronunciation. she did not answer the question. and she won. she does give hope to all those "hipon" beauties out there.

anyhoo... guess what. the jeep broke down again. i wasn't able to catch the reason because we were able to get a motor to the highway (we were quite near our destination). but isn't it funny! two vehicles breaking down within an hour. what should've been a single ride of P50, turned out to be four rides totalling P85.

(rosing, di ka naman nakisakay sa amin, di ba?)

so it's just another day at work today. the rest of the afternoon i will spend lying down at the comfortable bed of the jesuit retreat house. if i wake up while there is still sun, maybe i can take a few photographs.

saya.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

what a lovely story of cabanglasan, i found it to be a most wonderful place and your story as it told so well brought me back there thanks from melbourne australia. I hope to be able to read more akafarrell2@yahoo.com.au

cross eyed bear said...

hi! i'm glad you enjoyed my story. i wouldn't have expected it to have reached as far as australia. the place is wonderful, moreso the people.

thank you for dropping by.