Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Ba-nuh-way. Sa-gay-duh.
In life, there are a lot of things we take for granted. Sometimes you realize how important they are when they're gone. Sometimes they just slap you in the face until you realize they've been there all along. We'd like to think it is not our fault we prioritize a lot, but sometimes, we are definitely guilty of prioritizing the wrong things.
Spending the weekend traveling for about 18 hours in a bus and six more in a jeep on a dirt road wasn't exactly my idea of a fieldtrip. I kept ranting last Friday about how unexcited I was about Sagada. I even did Dana's make-up for Ms. Psych even if I hadn't really packed for the trip. (Clauds was my make-up consultant, by the way.)
I remember forcing my butt to board Bus 1 as Ate Pam helped carry my overpacked bag. It was 10:30 in the evening and I just couldn't wait to get some shut-eye as soon as we started traveling. I was surrounded by strangers from the other Art Stud 1 and 2 classes (Mine seemed one too!) since Mico and Joy were a couple of rows behind us. I braced myself for the most anti-social field trip I would ever be having.
Halfway Lodge was good to us. The lady asked for a group of six to stay in room M3. And so Patti, Shean, Vikoy asked Clauds, Mico, and I if we wanted to join them. And to our surprise, we were assigned to the bottom floor where all 20 of us would be sharing one common bathroom. Magaling!
Day One was completely tiring but definitely loads of fun. We went hiking down Tam-An Village and challenged ourselves to a muddy hike back up Banaue Hotel. Rice and nilaga galore at Ethnic Village with M3 roommates. We managed to finish four and a half big platters of white and brown rice. I think I had four servings. We spent the rest of the afternoon haggling at stalls, and I got Haggling 101 from Clauds after I blew off a potential wall decor she wanted to get her hands on. "Ate, P190 na lang!" (The girl said it was for P200.) She also helped me haggle for P80 off the most expensive cowboy hat in the stall!
The night was fun, fun, fun. Mico kept bugging us about how he wanted to get his hands on the videoke mic while Clauds and I just kept shrugging. To our surprise, after that guy who sang like Gary V. and his friends left, Vikoy, Kitchie, Shean, Clauds, and I grabbed the song books and looked for the songs we wanted to sing. Mico didn't, he already knew the codes of those songs he wanted to sing and had them listed! And after that, we retreated to our beloved M3 room and took baths since we didn't want to have to line up along with the other 14 the next day. Mico and Vikoy ended the day with debates about what Gloria should do and about LSGH and Ateneo (their respective high schools) while Clauds and I ended ours with:
"Ang haba na ng hair mo!"
"Ikaw rin, ang haba na rin ng hair mo!"
(Yes, ganyan kami ka-intellectual.)
Day Two was great too. We woke up an hour and 48 minutes past our 4:00-wake-up time so we didn't have much time to take pics at Viewpoint (?) Lodge. We had to hurry to Sagada since it was three hours away. Clauds and I really wanted to ride on roof of Jeep #5 but there were too many of us who wanted to. We eventually decided to stay inside, which served to our advantage since it started raining after a few moments and it was really chilly. To make the trip more exciting, Jeep #4 ended up with two flat tires so its passengers had to evacuate to ours. Our 20-pax maximum limited high-power jeepney had to carry 17 more butts. Eventually the others were assigned to other jeepneys. Then we had lunch at some resto in Sagada I've already been to nine years ago. Clauds and I discovered it sold the best garlic bread in the world!
The rest of the afternoon was spent caving. We explored the corners of Sumaguing Cave, the biggest one in Sa-gay-duh. It was an afternoon of survival instincts kicking in, wet and dry limestone all over, cold, cold cave water, rappeling, Ay!s and Aray!s echoing here and there, clinging to stalactites and stalagmites, and of course, stepping on bat dung which everyone else just thought as mud. It was fulfilling going through all that again after nine years!
The jeepney ride back to Ba-nuh-way was a lot more quiet but that didn't stop us from goofing around. The radio played a lot of new wave and a lot of jolog songs from years ago. We soon found ourselves singing a couple of lines from Jolina Magdangal's Laging Tapat. (Guess who sang the bridge, haha!)
The bus ride back home was even more silent. We were all tired anyway. But that didn't stop us from taking more pictures! But as soon as the bus started moving, Clauds my eternal seatmate and I fell into that deep sleep we've always wanted to have since Friday night.
The trip to Banaue/Sagada made me realize how much I've been missing out of life. It was only then that I realized how important a lot of things were and I'm sure I wouldn't have noticed those things if I hadn't pushed through the trip.
I realized how important it is for culture to be preserved. Strip a nation of its different cultures and you rid it of its identity. I feel proud that our brothers and sisters from the high lands have held on and fought for their future acorss time and change. Then again, I feel sorry for most of us who seem to have forgotten about our own cultures from our own hometowns.
I never knew how those strangers from my 7:00a class turned out to be those who would pull me out of the waters, give me that extra push upward, catch me as I jump into one of the deeper pools of cave water, and simply be the ones to spice up this whole Sagada experience.
I also realized how much I've underestimated my body for the longest time. I was never the athlete, but my body didn't fail me throughout the whole trip, especially as we paved Sumaguing. I realized as long as you keep your mind set that you can conquer, no matter how steep, deep, cold, and slippery something is, you will conquer.
And the last? I've realized how our Art Studies 1 professor, Prof. Felipe de Leon Jr., has made such a big impact on my life. Nevermind if I have to wake up extra early for his class. Nevermind if it was the last GE on my list. I have learned an awful lot. And the trip made me appreciate him more since he seemed more open to our opinions (at last!) and he smiled a lot more. He even kept pulling my cap off, telling me to stop hiding my face.
I feel rather bad since this only happened now, when the sem is gearing towards its end. Then again, I'm glad it still happened. I met new friends, shared experiences with them, learned to treasure and respect other cultures, had lots of fun, visited Banaue and Sagada again after nine yearsskinned my elbows against limestone but still had lots of fun, spent one great weekend with a great bunch of people...
Funny how sometimes it takes years for our lives to change... and how sometimes it just takes a day or two.
