I’ve always been a city girl. I grew up in the city and I’ve never had a province to go to for a vacation, not until my father lost his job during the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 and went to a very remote place at the southernmost province of Luzon: Barcelona, Sorsogon. He established himself there as a businessman, owning a grocery store and a piggery.
To be clear, we don’t have any relatives there. It’s a very long 12-14 hours bus ride from Manila I don’t know how and why he chose such a far and secluded place to take residence, but as they say, it is what it is.
When I started going to the university, my mom decided to follow him there. Since I have classes, I would visit whenever I can. Semestral break, Christmas break, summer break, I would take a bus Barcelona. Even as a teacher, I would go there whenever I can. Sometimes, I would come announced, often I would surprise my parents.
Barcelona is a town in Sorsogon that is between the sea, the mountains, and rice fields. It’s the best of everything that rural life can offer. If you’re tired of the sea, you can go up the Mt. Bulusan or some other mountains nearby.
What I love about the place is that my father’s house is just by the sea. In the morning, you would hear the mesmerizing sloshing of the water onto the riffraff. The cold sea breeze would contend with the warmth of the morning sun. At night, it’s as if all the stars that I could never see in the city were all trapped in the Sorsogon sky. Bright twinkling stars illuminate the dark. The huge round moon a lamp for the fisherfolk out on the sea.
Surrounding the house and the pig sty are a number of coconut trees. I would ask our helper to get me fresh coconut as a snack. I would pair it with pan de coco that’s just full of coconut (unlike the ones sold in the city where the coconut filling would just be a pinch). Sometimes, my mom would make buco salad for our dessert.
When I am bored, our friendly neighbor who’s a fisherman would take me out on his boat and go around the mangroves. We would circle around, sometimes swim, but most of the time, he would just park the boat somewhere to just stare off at the vast sea and marvel at the view before us.
When I get tired of the sea in front of my father’s house, I would walk along the shore towards the park and play there. The waves at the “Sea Wall”, as we fondly call the park, are far stronger than the ones by our house. There are also various food stalls there where we can go for a food trip. It’s a good place to play, eat, and take pictures. The historical St. Joseph Parish Church is right across from the park. It is one of the oldest churches in the region.
It’s really nice to have a province to go to when city life gets too hectic and draining.
I edited the first picture using Canva.
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