Journey To The Past

Last Monday, June 26, 2008, I went to Butuan City with my brother Maian, my mother, my two kids, with my nephew Soy and niece Jacklyn. Dahil sa dami namin, I decided to rent a car para magkasya kaming lahat and in the hope na marami kaming mabibitbit na mga prutas, baboy, kalabaw at manok pagbalik. We left early in the morning kasi malayo asng biyahe eh. Bro said na it will take around 8 hours daw to drive going Butuan. I asked him why ganun katagal at ilang kilometro ba papunta doon? Ay ewan daw ang sagot saken. Sabagay, hindi na ako nagtataka sa sagot niya dahil karamihan ng mga tao dito sa Pilipinas ay walang keber kong ilang kilometro ang binabiyahe. I was expecting na around 600 kilometers ang distance Butuan City sa Davao. So anyways, ayon umalis kami at si Tita Poorshya niyo ang nagmaniho ng sasakyan.

Actually, parang ayaw kong magdrive dahil I witnessed how people drives here. To be honest, it’s driving me crazy because they do not follow rules. But I was forced to do so dahil wala pang license ang brother ko.

The highway going there is not bad at all. I was even astound kasi talagang konkreto na ang buong kalsada from Davao to Butuan. Tapos kompleto pa nang mga road signs at meron pang safety barriers sa roadsides. Mangha talaga si Tita niyo! The highway was deserted most of the time and I was really tempted to speed up. Kaya lang, I was so afraid na baka may biglang tumawid na tikbalang o kalabaw na nakapastol sa gilid ng kalsada. So my speed was between 80 kmph lang to 100 kmph, paminsan-minsan 120 kapag ang daan ay safe to accelerate.

You surely want to know why your Tita Poorshya went to that ever kalayo na lugar. First of all, your Tita was born there, second of all, my lola (mother’s side)

and the rest of my relatives lives there and thirdly, 21 years na akong hindi napunta doon. Kaya, it was about time to visit my people na talaga.
Ang kasarapan kapag uuwi ka nang probinsiya, lalong-lalo na’t alam ng mga relatives mo. It always end up like a fiesta. May isang baka silang itinumba at pinatayo naman kinabukasan (hehehe joke). What I mean ay pinaghandaan nila ang aming pagdating ng tudo.

On that evening, Lola and I had a talk and somewhere along the line. Napag-usapan namin ang tungkol sa kanyang lupain. She told me na most part of it ay pinamana niya na sa mga Tio at Tia ko. My parents even got few hectares pero sayang nga daw ito dahil hindi nila Papa at Mama inaasikaso. She added na if gusto ko raw, I can also have a piece of farm lot if I promise to cultivate it. I was of course surprised and touched din siyempre noh dahil hindi ko akalain na ganun. Naku, si Tita niyo mukhang magiging magbubukid na yata mga kapuso.

The next day, we went to visit/survey the area my grandmother told me.

Nafagod sa kakalakad si Tita Poorshya niyo at lumawit ang dila hanggang lupa dahil sa sobrang init.

I am not really familiar how big is my grandmother’s farm. I only remember na noon when my grandfather was still alive. They used to plant sugar cane and tobacco on the upper part of their farm. Para itong cake eh na may tatlong layer or levels. Doon naman sa mid level, puro lang ito kape at cacao, at mais naman sa pinakababa. Now at present, everything has changed…they only grow coconut dahil daw less work and maintainance. Most part of my grandmother’s farm ay high grasses nalang ang tumutubo. Which I find “sayang”. Halos lahat kasi ng male relatives ko ay nasa city na or somewhere outside Butuan nagtatrabaho.

Now what to do with my piece of land? Well, I already have ideas in mind at may worker na rin akong kinampanya doon. I am planning to go back there para masimulan na ang plano ko. Ano yon? Hehehe, secret