So Cool Summer!

My summer has never been this cool. After 10 years, I had once again visited the place of our parents, where Tausug tribe came from, the Jolo, Sulu. I still remember before, where cell sites or even TV stations were not available in the place, with not so good roads, no department stores or even food chains. I even tasted salty water for drinking. I started to recall of these things when I left the city to see the place once again. As my sister and I stepped down the vessel together with my three nieces, I started to look around and tried to remember familiar views, I didn’t recognize any of the things I saw,I don’t even know where to take a ride, a tricycle or anything to reach out sister’s place. But my older sister just guided us and we rode on a ‘motor’ (we used to call it a ‘tricycle’ in zambo, the term ‘tricycle’ to Tausug refers to the ‘pedicab’), after couple of minutes, we started walking along the shore, It was really a long walk, with all the baggage from the trip, it took me several stops before finally reaching the place. For the first time I have seen where my sister and her family live. Her husband works as a policeman and my sister has a small sari-sari store. Together with their four children, they live in a very simple home between the sea and the woods. The place now has electricity, with TV station, cell signals and they even have water supply for free.

We had a small picnic with my sisters, nephews and nieces just outside their house and it felt like we were in a place somewhere else. We also attended a wedding, it was my first time to witness a very traditional Muslim wedding, although I attended some Muslim weddings in the city, it was really different, from the preparation, down to their clothing, the rituals and other stuff. The celebration lasted for three days.

In spite of the trouble caused by the ‘Abu Sayyaf Group’ in the province, people there managed to live their lives normally, somehow it’s just a matter of getting used to. Spending you summer doesn’t always have to be in Bora-like beaches or going on an expensive trip, a simple family get-together will do, as long as everyone is there and enjoying the simple things you do as one big happy family, that’s what matters most.

These are some of the photos our Summer Vacation in one of the Beaches in Jolo Sulu

Stuck in a Frozen River...

"I would spend my every second making them feel that I would still be here for them while I still can"

Last night, as I was having problem with my sleeping habit, I looked for something to entertain my self with (gross!), something that would really lay me to bed. I opened my PC and checked the drives where I saved all the movies that I downloaded. I realized that I still had 10 movies to watch and most of it are Drama. Since I was forcing my self to sleep, i double-clicked the FROZEN RIVER film and started watching it, thinking that it would help me walk through my bed. As the movie started, i got more and more interested with the story. It was about a mother who sacrificed a lot for her 15 and 5 yrs old sons. It made me miss my mom so much, like a flash back, I recalled how much our mother sacrificed for us. That after the death of our father, she faced everything just to raise us all (four of us).Did so many jobs just to feed us, and send us to school. I envy TJ (the 15-yr old son in the film) so much, because he had the chance to make her mother feel that he will always be with her, that he loved her so much without even saying the words. I wished i had all the time to spend it with my mom and my sisters more. How I wished I could turn back time and would make up to her.Wished that I could make her feel the joy and happiness without going through so much pain. But I guess that's how life is, everything is borrowed and not permanent, what He (God) creates shall go back to Him indeed. But I'm still blessed coz I still got my sisters, and soon my own family. I would spend my every second making them feel that I would still be here for them while I still can.