birit

whirlwind of a weekend.
on Bonifacio day, Nathanel came from Baguio.
Indo-genius Festival to Madapdap.
Snake bones from Sagada.
Seed necklace from Baguio.

i hear my friend Joy’s voice imitating a precocious child,
“There is no seed in a perfect love.”

this dark, smooth, round seed, in this necklace, is me.
she is being held by a knotted net of beads and stones.
i am being held.
close.
and supported.
with room to breathe.
she is beautiful, just like me.
created by an artist, just like me.

brought out the Philippines map, and Nathanel and i traced with our fingers, hearts, and words the last two months of our journeys. we miss our friend Troy.

that night, friday night tiangge in Madapdap.
jogger’s haven park.
apparently this happens every friday.
had no idea!
pirated cd’s galore.
closet favorites purchased.
the whole barangay out.
eating, shopping.
boiled corn on the cob. 8 pesos.
puto bumbong. 10 pesos.
buko juice. 5 pesos.
lechon paksiw, kare-kare, two rice, big 7up. 102 pesos.
mangga, isang kilo lang po. 60 pesos.
goto, mami, balut, calamares…

the next morning, Nathanel and i are off to Prado. Lubao.
Reimon’s family compound.
and biodynamic farm.

Reimon has invited me to come every weekend.
for respite from the clinic, he says.
when i arrive, he always greets me with a big hug, and a “Welcome home.”
from Madapdap, there is a jeep to San Fernando.
it leaves when it is full. 35 pesos.
get off at the San Fernando intersection.
take another bus to Prado Siongco. 35 pesos.
this one playing the jams. “That’s me in the corner, that’s me in the spotlight…”
i sing. and smile. because i am so damn happy.
the Philippines is so beautiful.
Nathanel and i look out the window, wind blowing our hair.
sugar cane waving in the wind.
young corn coming up.
glints of sunlight reflected off the rivers.
the bus goes so fast, i can’t see the trash.

biodynamic farmer’s market every weekend at Prado.
yakon, lettuce, oranges, passionfruit, and whatever comes from Baguio that morning.

tsokolate eh in the morning.
with pinipig.
Mommy’s special roasted cacao.
and fried suman.

Manang is such a good cook.
cheese omelette made with duck eggs. such a delicate pale yellow.
brown rice.
crispy tocino.
suka with sili.
basil tea.
biscocho.

there are weekend activities for the local children at Prado.
music.
arts and crafts.

this month, advent.
candle lighting in the chapel.

the chapel is one of my favorite places in Prado.
Reimon designed it. it was built from love, and i can really feel it eh.
i go there alone and sit and sing and sing.
i sing the songs that i learned at my Center in Oakland.
and the three opera songs that i know from beginning voice class in college.

Nathanel and i teach the kids an Igorot chant.
he plays the flute.
i play the drum.
we chant and dance in a circle.
he also teaches them arnis.
i teach some of the high school girls the foundations of sitting meditation.

later that evening, we all head out to the duman festival, in nearby santa rita.
santa rita was one of the few communities that was spared from major lahar devastation when mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1991. surrounding communities were buried, some 30 feet in volcanic mud.

duman is the young green rice.
arti-sta. rita does a performance.
my friend Rowell, also the Prado music teacher, is in the show.
ang ganda.
one of the best parts is the song about mt. pinatubo.
brilliant costumes.
the entire musical was in Kapampangan.
such a beautiful expression of provincial pride.

Father Ed, Pampanga’s governor, was there, and he performed as well.
maganda ang boces niya!

following morning, get up early and walk the farm.
grab a banana from the kitchen and some water and set out to find Reimon.
he walks the farm every morning.
i time it so that i finish the banana by the time i get to the pigs’ home.
i throw the peel into their yard, and am delighted when i walk by later that it’s gone.

find Reimon by the rice field.
i pick basil leaves and chew them while we sit and chat.
never ceases to amuse us to watch the birds on the electric line that runs straight through the property in a straight line through Prado and neighboring conventional farms.
the birds only sit on the wires that are directly above Prado.
they begin where the rice field begins.
they end where the rice field ends.
nakakatuwa.
they all sit, with their backs to the sun.
Reimon says they must like sunning their butts.
i laugh.
i bring my camera and take pictures of the birds on the wire.
and a knot on a tree that looks like an eye.
and some water on a leaf.

Nathanel joins us after a bit.
and we tell him the story of the birds.
i don’t tell them that these same birds pooped on me last weekend.
twice.

Nathanel and i go up to wash up and pack.
Joy arrives and brings her friend, Simi.
hugs, hugs, and more hugs.
i love when new folks come to Prado, because i love giving them the tour.
afterwards, sit down to congee breakfast, sunday staple.

then we pile into the family van and head out to subic.
our friends Liana and Rodney have invited us to eat lunch at their house, on the edge of the rainforest.
love going to their place.

aviary.
bunnies.
doggies.
kitties.
and a trampoline!

drank some beer and ate some Doritos.
nice combo, right?
then decided to jump on the trampoline.
Nathanel, Joy, Simi, and Rowell were already jumping, jumping.

fun, fun.
lunch was Prado salad (biodynamic greens and hibiscus flowers!), veggie lumpia, spinach pancit, grilled prawns and fish, broccoli, cauliflower, and rice.
yum!
Rowell brought Santa Rita goodies for dessert. his hometown is famous for delicious sans rival, candies, and sweets!

then off to El Kabayo Falls to swim!
Nathanel, Joy, Simi, Rowell, and i set off walking, passing a deserted playground on the way.
we all drop our bags and run towards the big slide.
one by one we go down four, five times.

Kuya Eugene, Reimon’s driver sees us walking and picks us up in the van and brings us to the falls.
the road to the falls is muddy due to the recent rains.
we slip and slide.
i sing softly to myself as we walk.
the trees form a long canopy covering the road.
Nathanel says to make sure we “Tabi tabi po.”
i do this silently, then quietly.

we get to the falls.
the jump is at least 25 feet down.
yahoooooey!
scared as all get out.
thrilling.
must have done jumped down 6 or 7 times.
it starts to get dark.
so we get out and dry off and get dressed.

walk back down to main road.
Simi loses her tsinelas in the mud.

we call winstar taxi and they pick us up to take us to the victory liner bus station in olongopo.
again with the jams.
everyone is singing at the top of their lungs.
even the Manong driving.
maybe him most of all kasi it’s his cd!

we all fall out of the fx, laughing and punchy, high from our synergy.
we eat at dumplings and dim sum.
or is it dim sum and dumplings.
basta.
really terrible food.
that’s what i get for trying to order shark’s fin dumplings (homage to Laurel) at a fast food joint.
best part though was sitting outside at a table and chatting and singing again.
Christmas carols. (gulp.)
bon jovi. (double gulp.)
“i’ll be there for you. these five words i swear to you. when you breathe, i wanna be the air for you…”

after, we part ways.
Nathanel to his tito’s house in olongopo.
Joy and Simi to manila.
Rowell and me back to Prado.
board the bus.
we’re so tired.
texting with Reimon.
he is trying to keep me awake, i think, so that we don’t miss our stop.
he is headed to manila already, as he has an early flight to bohol the next morning.
Rowell is already dozing.
kawawa kasi, he has to get up and leave at 3am that morning to pick up instruments at his house and then go to manila for rehearsal and another performance that evening.
me, i get up at 6am.
visit the chapel and sing a goodbye song.
visit the pigs. (i’m sorry, i still eat you. i’m trying to stop. kind of. here's another banana peel.)
say goodbye to birds on the wire. (thanks for missing me this weekend!)
drink basil tea.
and let a kalabaw milk pastilla dissolve on my tongue.

wait outside on the dusty road to get on a bus towards san Fernando.
then a jeep to angeles.
then another jeep.
then another jeep to angeles university hospital to meet with an orthopedic doctor for the clinic.
ang daming bitbit ko, including my drum.
waited two hours to talk with the medical secretary to find out that the doctor was pulled into surgery.

lunch at a turo-turo.
fruit salad sundae at mister frosty.

then another jeep towards mabalacat.
then a trike from mawaque to madapdap.
home sweet clinic.

i unlock the door. the key sticks, as usual.
i make a reasonable amount of noise so that the ipis know to scatter before i come in.
mental note to use the WD 40 i got from Justin on that lock.

i smile, remembering Nathanel’s text from that morning,
“Yesterday was 1 of the funnest days of my life.”