Friends, Fiestas, and Fangs

The night before I left for Manila, my friends and I met some guys hunting fruit bats in the street. While their massive prey are feeding on banana trees, the young men use air rifles to stun them, then string their loot together on a stick ready to cook the following day.

Karaoke is huge here. Nary an event goes by without it, and most every house has their own karaoke unit through a DVD player in their house. This picture is from the 50th birthday party of Bebeth (singing), who works in the budget office at the municipality. Held at a nearby beach, we enjoyed a buffet featuring ‘lechon’ (rotisserie pig), the traditional holiday food before the party got started in earnest.

The Baraks. This is where our group of friends hangs out on a nightly basis. My good friend JM, the young man to my left, acts as a big brother to much of the group, and has organized them into a formidable ‘collective’ which involves themselves heavily in the church and in community service.

Father ‘Roni’ Tindoy, the priest at our local Catholic Church, is another one of my best friends here. I join him at the church nightly for dinner, and have often attended events offsite which he has presided over. Here, he held mass at a grave for the one year death anniversary of a young woman. We then joined the family for a reception at their house.

My first fiesta, of many to come, was the Fiesta of Medisina on April 27th. Medisina is the name given to the hot springs located just outside of town. A disco was held the night before the fiesta, which kicked off with singing and dancing competitions and a Miss Medisina 2014 beauty pageant.

The hot springs of Medisina. If this is not what you had pictured, I'm with you. I surely expected a waterfall cascading into a wide pool of hot water perfect for swimming. Instead, it is currently a shallow water well of lukewarm water which can be fetched for bathing. Refreshing nonetheless, and the municipality has plans to improve the site for tourism.

On the day of the fiesta, a mass was held at the chapel pictured above, followed by a feast hosted by the church.

Bobi, my counterpart in disaster risk reduction and management, has been facilitating a joint training by the Philippine National Army and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office. Over 150 volunteers from all 11 barangays in Rosario were trained over 2 months as Reservist and Disaster Response Volunteers. Their graduation ceremony was held on April 27th.

Bobi hosted a beach outing at a resort at Haven, San Antonio for everyone who helped with his training. This was our group as we entered the resort. (Photo Credit: Aida)

I was joined by four of my best friends from the ‘Baraks’ on this excursion. Pictured above: Me, James, Rik Rik, 'Turtle' (Pug Pug), and Aida. (Photo Credit: Aida)

Grilling locally-caught fish along the crystal clear, pristine shoreline of Haven. The ocean here may not have waves, but it sure was a relaxing spot to spend a day. (Photo Credit: Aida)

My favorite part of the resort, the floating cottage! These rafts float along the sea, threaded along a rope. It can be pulled into shore or out to sea along this rope. It was an awesome place to hang out while drinking and snacking on the ‘sumsumna’ (accompanying food for drinking), and allowed us to take a refreshing dive into the sea at any moment. I spent most of the afternoon and evening there. (Photo Credit: Aida)

Coconut trees. Coconuts are such a central part of life here, not only for their tasty milk and fruit, but also for cooking most Filipino signature dishes. (Photo Credit: Aida)

I joined Mayor Tidot and his wife Regi, my friends and now hosts, at my second fiesta, hosted by the barangay of Guindaulan this past Monday. A disco was again held the night before, with the main event always being the caracha dance. Couples are called up to dance together, with a box or fabric placed in the center. People then come up and place money to acknowledge the dancers and support the cause of the dance. I closed out the evening with my best rendition of what I had quickly learned.

And their pageant was for Mr. and Mrs. Guindaulan Young Matron 2014. It was one of the most awkward events I’ve seen in my life. No prior planning was done in the selections. Names were simply called on a whim by the organizers from those who attended. There were 5 runner-ups, all paired as couples. But these couples weren’t couples in real life. There were often huge age discrepancies, but the honorees had to parade about as if they were married in life. Laughter was the only common thread.

When snakes attack? This Filipino cobra slithered against the wall of the Baraks as we were chatting the other night, prompting everyone to flee. But one brave soul fished the snake out with a stick and beat it to death. Oddly, we then found that it was carrying several large eggs in its stomach.