Princess of the Ocean

kahlan — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:30:00 GMT

I heard my mom and dad argue whether to leave or not.

"I really don't understand why you wanted to stay in this god-forbidden land. There's always war. How can we even send our children to school if we keep on worrying whether it's gonna be safe outside?"

"War is over. It's not coming back. It's rumor and everything. Mindanao is safe now."

"It's all over. It is in the radio. The only reason why you wanted to be here is to be with your mistress!" My mom's face is going red with anger. Dad seems to be in control. Their argument went for hours and hours.

I can't imagine living in another place. I've been born in Pangawan all my life and my parents are thinking of moving to Panay. I don't even know what it's like. I love the heat here and the caves. I also love the field when corns are growing, the way they touch my legs when I walk. I can't imagine my life without harvest time. We usually pick corns. Me and my friends wouls usually go in a contest of getting most of the corns and sell them. Having new friends scares me a lot but I think my mom won the argument because we started packing and sell properties.

My mom also sold my goat as she said ships don't accept animals on board. I cied a lot as I love my goat-kambang.

My friends chased the jeepney as we left. They're crying and they ignore dusts that came from the jeep. I cried too but I'm too shy to show it to my parents so I just said, "It's really sunny in here. There's too much dust. It gets in my eyes."

We rode a small ship they call "lansa". It's the first time I traveled by sea so I'm really afraid of the water rising and falling. I guess it is not a ship since it's too small, 2 stories and about a size of a house. Maybe it's a boat or something but I really don't care. I tried to beat my fear and looked straight outside the window. Sure there's a fish which is jumping out of the water. No, it's not jumping. I think it's flying. I pointed at it and asked my mother about it. She said, "Don't point at it. Just look. It can be a bad luck. It's a flying fish."

At last we arrived at the port. Is this Panay? It's not really that far. We only travelled like two hours. But then we're climbing a big ship after we get off the lansa. Not just big. It's very, very big. It's seven stories and people on the other end look like the size of children. It's amazing how a ship this big doesn't sink. We stopped in the 6th floor. I really wish we can be on the 7th so that I can see everything but I guess I have to bear with it. I can play in the rooftop though. And, I thought it's hard to make friends. Not really. All you gotta do is play and they will play with you.

I feel so special riding in a big ship called princess of the ocean. Well, moving is not bad as it seems. I enjoyed the travel a lot. I can even call myself as Princess of the Ocean too! Well, I'm on the rooftop and I can see everything under me as if they're mine.

Catching a Moment - Refuge from the Mountain

kahlan — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 16:54:29 GMT

Refuge from the Mountain

The motorcycle dance in the road built in the mountainside. Ragged and bent like a snake on it’s fleet, the motorcycle cannot go faster than a turtle’s run. A three minute peace and we are facing again a straight mountain that our motorcycle must climb. The engine roared as we go up. Still as a rock, a small movement from any of the four of us might send us all into the depths of the Aklan river below.
Few meters left and we will reach the mountain top where we can have a perfect view of the mountains we passed and the blue river. A sudden jolt made our ride stop and tilt sideways. We fell in the hardened mud and I felt the hot pain in my right leg. We walked through the scorching sun to the top. The driver is now dragging the motorcycle. A lot more mountains to go, my father told me before we will completely walk by foot.
And he was right. It took two hours for us to reach the end of what locals called road that I cannot recognize as such. The rest of the journey sent us fighting with the current of the Aklan river.
Its so surprising for such a river to be so strong. It only reached my thigh but I have to hold on to my father to cross. I'm so tired with the three hour walk after we get down from the motorcycle and here is my father telling me we're just half the way.
Few locals passed us by with sacks in their heads. It's so amazing how they can balance the cargo and fight the river. It seems that their feet are planted in where they step. Rocks are so slippery but I can see them sway to get their balance. Children with no slippers run after their mothers and have cargo too. Few more minutes and they vanished from our sight. That fast!
I beg my father to let me rest for a while and I have chosen the rock the size of a house. Some part of it is colored white and shiny.
"This used to be a ship but was turned into a rock by the baloy," our guide said. A baloy according to him is a bird in the old days casting chants to turn things into stone. And sure, the stone is shaped like a ship.
Cicadas are singing when we reached Dalagsaan, Libacao, Aklan. It took us eight hours to finally set foot in the place caged by mountain and isolated by distance from modern culture. My refuge too against being blind to the crucial part of understanding and appreciation of diverse culture.

Mountain's foot

Princess of the Ocean

Catching a Moment - Refuge from the Mountain