The month of May
May, Mayo, Mai, Go-getsu - this month brings a lot of happy childhood memories to me and I guess to a lot of Filipinos too. May is the peak of summer vacation in the Philippines. During this scorching month, every kid in my little hometown is out somewhere playing in the rice field, along the beach or in the mountainside with all of his close friends. Everybody is loud and happy, braving the torrid summer sun, telling tall tales about fictitious characters like dwarves, elves or witches while hiking and munching those ripe guavas freshly picked along the way.
Since it was vacation, my parents would send me to my Lola's (grandmother) place. I'd be very excited to see her and to hear her stories about ghosts, magic, fairies and her experiences during the war. At night when the moon is rotund, my cousins and I would organize a ghost hunting trip, play "taguan" (hide and seek) or just tell stories under a big mango tree. We would scare each other until we run frantically, laughing and teasing each other. We also built straw huts where we would cook rootcrops or fish from the nearby pond. In the afternoon, our Lola would bring us to the church for the "Flores de Mayo" prayer that she organized every year. Of course we went! The snack was delicious - banana-que, bilo-bilo, halo-halo, ice-scramble or pansit.
During this month too, my aunts and uncles in Manila would invite me to come over and spend my vacation with my cousins there. I always loved to travel by ship. I wouldn't sleep during to entire 12-hour trip and just go around to see my friends, or gaze upon the stars or the sea, wondering what was deep beneath its blue waters.
I miss being a kid but I had a happy childhood so no regrets at all. If all of us would be kids at heart - happy, forgiving and honest, this world would be a better place.
Since it was vacation, my parents would send me to my Lola's (grandmother) place. I'd be very excited to see her and to hear her stories about ghosts, magic, fairies and her experiences during the war. At night when the moon is rotund, my cousins and I would organize a ghost hunting trip, play "taguan" (hide and seek) or just tell stories under a big mango tree. We would scare each other until we run frantically, laughing and teasing each other. We also built straw huts where we would cook rootcrops or fish from the nearby pond. In the afternoon, our Lola would bring us to the church for the "Flores de Mayo" prayer that she organized every year. Of course we went! The snack was delicious - banana-que, bilo-bilo, halo-halo, ice-scramble or pansit.
During this month too, my aunts and uncles in Manila would invite me to come over and spend my vacation with my cousins there. I always loved to travel by ship. I wouldn't sleep during to entire 12-hour trip and just go around to see my friends, or gaze upon the stars or the sea, wondering what was deep beneath its blue waters.
I miss being a kid but I had a happy childhood so no regrets at all. If all of us would be kids at heart - happy, forgiving and honest, this world would be a better place.
posted by dondon at 2:23 AM
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