two days with nature

the first thing that people always notice about me which i would nonchalantly brush off is my getting red in the face whenever we're drinking something with ethanol. i've been in these sessions many number of times to know that thanks to my dad's unique genes (yes, he too turns tomato red and chats or sings the night away when he's drunk), my excesssive blushing won't escape the notice of my drinking mates once they've seen me in enough light. such was the case during my last drinking soiree last night. twas my first time to drink lambanog and in a bottle of mineral water to wit, and all the while traveling through quezon, laguna, batangas, slex and the rest of metro manila in an 20-or-so-seater jeepney. haha! all thanks to the efforts of ate ina, daughter of our PI prof, sir nilo ocampo. we were on our way home from a most memorable field trip from dolores, quezon, home of the rizalists.

it was two days of constantly getting wet, walking paths through the maze of stones big and small, mossy or not, and getting your whole body through some small, just-barely-(candle-)lit spaces. all the while, i've knocked my knees countless times enough to have some bukol on them after two days, scraping my elbows and arms (buti na lang i don't bruise easily) and have had to pull myself up so that my armpits kinda hurt (this tells me i need to strengthen my upper body and arms). and this getting wet portion - it's not as if we had any choice. we only found out when we got to the falls that we literally have to take a bath and not just get ourselves wet by passing through the river. as a sort of cleansing, we had to stand under the very cold waters of the talon ng sta. lucia. we went through four different cleansings, the last one done by our faci who scooped up plenty of cold water inside the cave where we went through.

it was my first time to bathe in a river, and nature is really something. those waters are sooooo cold. brrr! it was my first time to get inside caves. and my golly. nothing beats Husgado. you're really being tested there. thanks to our group leader lec, i was able to pass through the caves that needed passing. i'm kind of a dimwit when it comes to ascertaining the space and the size of my body haha. we were also supposed to climb the hill called Kalbaryo, but since we took plenty of time in the caves, it was getting dark when we were making our way to the top that we met sir ocampo on the way down. our group - taimis, and the other facilitated by ate ina - placido penitente - were the ones who were not able to make it all the way up to kalbaryo, only some 1/3 of the way. by the way, our faci was kuya alex, he of the violet-banded braids, violet bag, and almost-perenially rudy project-shielded eyes. hehe. we got separated from him on the way back to qc because he had to be the faci for one of the other jeepneys. anyway, he was an accomodating person - well, i guess he was, with the many demands or pangungulit that my groupmates were making.

on the second day, there was still a hole that we had to crawl through (for the fun or challenge of it - methinks that's the only reason we had to go through it) and one cave (the last cleansing for the trip), and a jump from 10-ft high into a 10-ft deep river below. i don't really know how to swim because i can't survive in bodies of water where my feet can't touch the bottom. but i took up the challenge. was actually nervous right before i made a jump. but i jumped. and i fought to burst through the water when i realized it was taking quite a long while for me to touch the rope that they provided for crossing. but it was a great experience. if only more field trips were like this hehe.

now, the religious implication of this field trip - Dolores, Quezon being home to many Rizalist groups... i'll leave that for another time. or maybe when you've finally enlisted the pinaghihirapang i-enlist na PI 100. hehe.