The Beauty of Province

 

"The beauty of the place cannot just be seen with eyes but can also be felt by the heart."

 

If you are used to live in the city with big buildings surrounding you and a lot of malls around your area, and you have not yet experienced how it feels like to be always surrounded by trees and fields or to live in the province, I will share you the beauty of it in this blog.

 

You must include living or staying in province in your bucket list. The surroundings, the big trees and the warm breeze will help you calm your mind. 

I decided to feature our province in my blog to also celebrate the Angot Festival. It is always celebrated during 22^nd until 28^th of September. Upon two years of living here, I haven't really talk a lot about our province and what is it like to live here but since it is our town's fiesta, allow me to express the beauty it that more than coconut trees and grass fields could ever tell.

 

Fiesta is the most awaited event in our place but due to global pandemic, we can’t have grand celebrations like we always used to have. We celebrate the fiesta for a whole week and within that week, there are beauty competitions, sports competition and many more. Residents are enjoying the whole week celebration because it is well-planned by our municipality to make everyone entertained.

 

If there is no pandemic this year, we are probably outside every night to enjoy the events and to watch the opening and closing remark of the celebration while watching fireworks explode in the sky for ten minutes. We are probably eating streetfoods outside at the middle of the night because the celebration and fun always happen at night until dawn.

 

Every fiesta celebration, our municipality will put an amusement park for fun and entertainment. Every family or every house will celebrate the fiesta with lechon in their table and a lot of foods with desserts like macaroni and mango graham float. Some people will visit our house to celebrate the fiesta with us. Last year, my classmates came and I accompanied them to get their foods. Unfortunately, they can’t visit our house this year to celebrate the fiesta with us.

 

We still prepared some foods and invited only close friends and families. The fiesta this year doesn’t feel lively but our safety is more important. So far, we have no positive cases in our town and I hope we will maintain this until the global pandemic is over. Until then, we can celebrate the fiesta again and experience the fun that this year took us.

 

I hate myself for not taking any pictures when I still got the chance. It’s sad that I can’t share the beauty of our surroundings in this blog. But, the beauty of our province from within can surpass its outer beauty.

 

Ever since we moved here, I never experienced a heavy traffic. I will travel from home to school, and even though I am exhausted, I am always comforted by the trees outside. They didn’t just bring me a beautiful view to look at but they are also giving me a refreshing air to breathe. The breeze touching my skin brings me warmth and it is instantly taking my tiredness away.

 

We moved here back on May 29, 2018, I honestly don’t like the idea of living here because I am really used of living in the city. I consider myself as a city girl but now, I turned into a city girl living in a province. The irony.

Then, I realized that it is not what I want that matters. It is what God’s purpose that matters. I usually question Him for bringing us in province and taking us here again after a decade. Yes, a decade ago, we lived in the province when I was still four until five years old. A decade had passed and we’re here again.

 

Year 2006 and 2007 when we lived here for two years. I finished my kindergarten here. All of the things that happened to me and my experiences here weren’t clear at all. I just remembered few things like how I always play with my cousins and neighbors, on how we make our own store made up of wood, will collect plastic of chips and junkfoods to sell and the bottle cap will be our payment.

I remembered walking across the hanging bridge, always frightened I might fell so I always bring someone with me. 

I remembered befriending my classmates and teachers in kindergarten and we will play around the school, running in circles.

I remembered the happiness I felt during those times. I always wear my wide smiles that my mouth can almost rip apart.

 

Those are the few things I remember back when I was still a kid and living in our province. I may not remember a lot of memories that happened to me here but I can still remember the happiness it made me feel.

 

May 2008 when we lived again in Manila. Being a kid, I didn’t grow an attachment with our province, I never searched for its surroundings when we got in the city. I treated the two-years stay as our vacation because I thought we will never go back from it again. 

 

Then, after a decade, we came back. It’s ironic that I experienced to lived here a decade ago but stepping my feet here again made everything seems new. I feel like I am in a foreign country and I suddenly don’t know where I was.

 

Then, it hit me… we lived here a decade ago when I was still unaware of everything. In the age of four, I didn’t understand everything around me. All I ever thought was to have fun. I was oblivious in my surroundings unlike now that I can understand everything.

 

On why we needed to live here.

 

On why we needed to leave the city.

 

On why we needed to be here again.

 

I started to understand everything and I was no longer the kid who ever thought was fun. My mindset changed. My perspective changed. As I grew older, my opinion about it changed. Back when I was a kid, the first thing that will come to my mind when I hear the word “province” is fun. Now that I grew up, the first thing that will come into my mind when I hear the word “province” is hope.

 

A hope to live again.

 

A hope to survive.

 

A hope to overcome the challenges.

 

The time where we almost lose our hope and we are running out of choices, God showed us the only way that can save our lives. When I lose my mom, I thought I also lose everything because she is my everything. This is apparently the reason why she brought us here in province for us to live a good life after she will be taken away from us. It is such a long story to tell but our life can’t be secured in the city. The phrase, “mother knows best” is really true. 

She knows that it is better that we live here. It is better to continue our lives here after she will be gone and no one will watch over us but my relatives that she trusts.

 

During those moments, living in the province is the best option for us. The way it gave me hope during our hopeless situation. The way it comforted me during my vulnerable state. The way it made me feel that we haven’t still lose everything. The way it witnessed my tears and breakdowns. And, the way that it will witness on how I will rise again… made our province beautiful.

The beauty of our province lies within my heart. And, I’m grateful to be here.

Yours truly, 

Clar ♡