Not me, not you, then who?
Article 04
March 29,2020
Hate disguised in glitters
Love fading to thin air
Misery behind perfect frames
What went wrong, to whom with whom?
A glass so perfect yet so fragile,
Cast with some magical spell
A curse in form of sweet roses
Petals falling, turned into ashes
It's not me, not you, then who?
Arrows hitting like there's no tomorrow
Pleasure into pain, laughter into sorrows
Like a deep ocean, why can't we just fathom
Ages ago, nothing but rainbows
A battlefield so sweet and dreamy
But the back is against the wall
Left out in the cold
Running around in circles.
Now I'm lying on a bed of lies
Can't get up no matter how hard I try
Fingers pointed at me,
Why at me? Shouldn't it be on you?
If not me nor you, then who??
This poem is dedicated to someone very dear to me.
To you my dear, life may not be on your side these days but please know that you have me, no matter what!
Thanks for reading guys. I hope to hear from you about my articles because I really wanted to learn. As a newbie, I am struggling with my grammar. Thank you...
A glimpse of our life in the mountains....
Part 2..
Article 03
March 20, 2022
Greetings everyone! How have you been?Wishing everyone's doing well.. So, fasten your mindbelts and enjoy your ride in this time machine!
On my last article, I talked about how our life was in our "bukid", how we managed to survive without fluorescent lamps to brighten up our nights, not even a single drop of water from a faucet and walking kilometers away just to quench our thirst. Today, allow me to share to you some more.
Photo credits:
Food
Our barangay's about an hour or two walk (depends on how fast you can walk) from the market. The trail's very rocky and if it's rainy, it's very muddy and slippery. On Sundays, we would wake up very early to hear mass. We'd bring along our sandals and wear them once we're very close to the church so that it would still be clean. Can you imagine walking on a Rocky, muddy trail with a sandal? I bet it wouldn't be a good idea. Hehhe. So after we'd hear mass, comes my favorite time on Sundays - - market day! As a kid, who would not love a market day!?! It's that time of the week when we would have the chance to eat food and sweets we can eat only once in a week? If we'd be lucky enough for that day, we can eat meat, if not, a noodle soup would do. Then we'd buy bread, the harder it is, the longer we can store it at home. We'd consume that bread for the next two to four days. Another thing that should not be forgotten in our grocery list is the "bulad" or dried fish. We'd buy like 2 kilos or more of them, since we do not have electricity at home, we can't store pork or fish at home. The bulad will serve as our viand for the entire week! We'll aside from the fact that it will last long without being refrigerated, that's the only food we can afford to buy. Good thing is, different varieties of vegetables were available in our neighborhood, so we're still healthy though we only have bulad for our main dish. And of course, bananas were everywhere too, it's a perfect pair for bulad and a chocolate soup especially in the morning. Sometimes, we'd be lucky if there's a fresh fish from the town proper. We can have "inun-unan", cooked in a "kulon", good for a week consumption! Even though we don't have ham and bacon on our table before, we don't complain because we knew our parents really worked hard just to provide food for us, and we were happy and contented of what we have.
Education:
Education was not a family's priority back then. With lots and loads of work everyday, my siblings would rather choose helping our parents than going to school. One would do the fetching of water and washing clothes, one was tasked to look after the younger ones, another sibling's in charge of the cooking and cleaning the house. The rest would help in the farm. As time went by, the younger ones were sent to school, that is why among 11 children, only 3 of us were able to finished school up to college. Being the youngest, I could really tell I'm very lucky to have my older siblings. We've fulfilled our dreams because of them. They sacrificed a lot just for our family. And so now, i always make sure I can help them in any way I can. It's just very little compared to what they've sacrificed for us.
In life, it doesn't really matter where you live, as long as we have a family that loves us unconditionally and support each other until the end, what else could we ask for...
A glimpse of our life in the mountains...
Article 02
March 13,2022
Part 1.
I was born in one of the highest and coldest mountainous barangay of Cebu. My humble family earned a living through farming. Life in the mountains was never easy back then, but it was so simple and peaceful I'd wish I could go back to that time.
***Water Supply***
Our barangay is situated in a very high altitude that is why water supply can't reach there. The folks would have to walk kilometers away to a very rocky and sometimes muddy footpath just to fetch water from the nearest spring where fresh and cold drinking water's bundant. Men and even women would carry a "bukag" (a basket made of rattan or bamboo with a large mesh) where they load big gallons full of water. This would be used only for drinking. The water that we would use for cooking, washing dishes, and to water the plants on the farm would be taken from a "baril" or big clay jars placed under the downspouts of the roofs where rainwater was stored. As for our dirty clothes, we would spend a day once a week to wash them in a nearby spring. My older siblings would carry a load of dirty clothes on a "bukag" with their basins and soaps. The younger ones like me, would have to go with them to be able to have a formal bath for the week. It may sound funny but that's the truth. If you're wondering where, how and what we would do when we need to relieve ourseleves? Here's the secret. The houses in our barangay were sorrounded with vast farms. Some lands had farmers tending them but some were left barren. On these barren land, where tall weeds grew, we would dig pits to relieve ourselves, and of course, we'd bring along some big smooth leaves as our tissues. Sounds very economical and organic, right? After doing so, we would cover that pit with soil as if nothing happened. At night, we had what we call as "arinola" for urinating only. In the morning, we would add a lot of water into it and use the mixture to water the flowering plants. I remember my mother would tell us that it would be of great help for the plants to bear more flowers. Suprisingly, it really did, same reason why up until today, we're still practicing that though it seems odd to others. http://www.binisaya.com/cebuano/bukag https://www.google.com/search?q=baril+or+water+tank&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjavOPr6ML2AhUaTPUHHW7oAokQ2-cCegQIABAC&oq=baril+or+water+tank&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzoHCCMQ7wMQJzoECAAQHjoFCAAQogQ6BAghEApQqYEDWN2ZE2DzoxNoAnAAeACAAewDiAHMMpIBCDItMTMuMi41mAEAoAEBwAEB&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=Yb8tYpqIDJqY1e8P7tCLyAg&bih=600&biw=360&client=ms-android-huawei&prmd=isnv#imgrc=xI_ktXaACjddjM http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xxQYG2HCdV4/T24CSlPCQaI/AAAAAAAAA7c/Nt9eiUFKT5E/s1600/the+pinoy+warrior+arinola.jpg
***Electricity***
Due to our barangay's location, we don't have access to electricity back then. During the night, a "lampara " or kerosene lamp was our source of light. My older siblings had hard times in studying at night since the lamparas had dim lights. We would then eat dinner when the night's still young and sleep very early as there were no televisions or gadgets. https://www.juantambayan.me/2020/03/08/ilawan-na-gasera-noon-nagbibigay-pag-asa-sa-maraming-mga-kabataang-magkaroon-ng-magandang-kinabukasan/amp
Most households had radio transistors ( transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver that uses transistor-based circuitry) to listened to news and dramas. I can still recall how we would gather around the radio to listen to our favorite audio dramas. https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fmedia.karousell.com%2Fmedia%2Fphotos%2Fproducts%2F2021%2F10%2F27%2Fvintage_transistor_radio_1635305106_bebad4c6.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.carousell.ph%2Fp%2Fvintage-transistor-radio-1122003011%2F&tbnid=xjE30I0XaegUHM&vet=1&docid=lp-FDbJdT5LvXM&w=1080&h=810&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim
We do not have electric irons back then but ironing our clothes was never a problem because we had charcoal irons (with glowing charcoals inside it). My older siblings would still look neat and clean wearing their school uniforms because our mother was very meticulous when it comes to ironing our clothes. Sleeping without electric fans or aircon was never an issue too since the wind was the coldest during the night. https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Ftasteofsouthsudan.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F03%2FTraditonal-Iron-best-1.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Ftasteofsouthsudan.com%2Fantique-charcoal-iron-traditional-clothes-iron%2F&tbnid=vmqnXne-SjclvM&vet=1&docid=vEXFz5nOk_pyvM&w=1080&h=810&source=sh%2Fx%2Fim
So basically, our life without electricity was never a problem before especially that we were used to it. I'm proud to say we survived living in the dark for how many years.
To be continued............
Thank you for spending time to read my story. Part 2 will be posted on my next article. See you and be safe.
Disclaimer:
All photos used in this article were taken from google. No copyright infringement is intended.
A battle within...
Article : 01
Date: March 10, 2022
A purpose-driven life, a happy family, successful career, fame, fortune-- who in the world do not dream and wish for them? Right from the moment we learned to utter simple words, our parents already taught us how to say our names. Little by little, we're taught how to introduce ourselves starting from our names, age and finally what we want to be someday. Is it really what we want in the future or what our parents wanted us to become! As for me, it's none of the two. I am who I am today because that is what's in stored for me.
As a child, I was very imaginative. My imaginations reached as far as the sun,and down to very depths of the earth! I loved to play with other children but my mother won't let me, so I'm often left alone, playing by myself which I guess awakened my imagination. My older siblings always make fun of me when they hear me talking to myself. But what choice do I have, I have no one to play with. I would talk to my dolls, made dresses for them and all stuffs. That was the scenario left in memory during my childhood. I can't say my childhood was stolen from me, but it really took a big part on why I was not able to develop my social skills.
Growing up, I always have insecurities and trust issues. I love to hang out with my peers and other people, but at the end of the day, the fear within me keeps coming back. My greatest fear then was Rejection! I loved to have friends but in my heart, I cannot just trust anybody. At times, I do chitchats but most of the time, I opted to stay in one corner, read a book, do crafts or whatever stuffs that will keep myself busy. That explains why I am often called a wierdo back then.
"High school life, oh my high school life, ay walang kasing Saya!", a line from a song which everybody else would agree except for me. Well in terms of academic performance, not to brag but I always got good grades. One reason again to push some few friends away. As I was saying, I lack social skills but I met some friends during this time of my life. For the first time, I felt that I belong. Not trying so hard to fit in. We had many wonderful moments together. We even talked about living together when we reach college. That time, what I felt was something really genuine, and it always gives me a Duchenne smile. But slowly as the years go on, I lost that friendship I never thought I would. It just happened. One stops trying, less talking and more awkward conversations. We were slowly drifting away from each other. They said the most painful goodbyes are the ones never said and never explained. I kept asking myself what went wrong. Maybe there is really something wrong with me! Why would no one wants to be with me, like for real? There I go again, back to being a WIERDO until I finished high school.
Having this kind of personality does not, somehow, affects my perspective towards my ambitions and aspirations in life. I dreamed more, strived harder and persevered. I met more hardships during my college life but I've learned to handle my emotions, started to open my door to some people, slowly getting out of my shell. I needed to heal. I just needed to trust myself to trust other people. Now, I can say I'm taking the right path. I'm not there yet but the way is much clearer. With the guidance of the Almighty One up above, and with the love and support of the people who accepted me unconditionally, I know for sure, I'll win this battle...
Hi, nice to meet you!
Hello, hello 👋. I'm a newbie here and I think I finally found a platform suited for me. I needed a platform to let my heart out, and read.cash is soo perfect. I hope to meet new people here. I'm soo excited to learn from you all.
Hello, hello 👋. I'm a newbie here and I think I finally found a platform suited for me. I needed a platform to let my heart out, and read.cash is soo perfect. I hope to meet new people here. I'm soo excited to learn from you all.
@Mariacacao_
