one early morning in the countryside

11 Feb, 2025

Written on an early Sunday morning on the second weekend of the month of February, in the year 2025, somewhere in southern Luzon.

Last night, I slept on the wooden floor of a house which may or may not be as old as I am. It is of age, I assumed, because it’s the kind of home that you see in films from the 70s and it has some features of a traditional Filipino house, especially the elevated ground floor. There's also capiz lighting fixtures, the 2-step staircase to the bedrooms, maximalist wall decor and the lot. This was way, way different from all the other times we had a gathering slash trip out of town with my extended family, especially because this time, the entire trip depended solely on my mom’s cousin’s husband’s cousin’s hospitality, his vacation home and the fact that we did not have to pay a single cent.

Here is the thing: I, including most of my family, don’t know anything about our host and the vacation home he offered for us to spend the weekend in. Except of course, my mom’s cousin and her husband, who have stayed here before. All I know is that they invited us here, and my mom’s cousin’s husband’s cousin said we could use the swimming pool.

I’ve grown quite fascinated with the whole ordeal, even if all this sounded like a premise of a thriller movie and I did have my skepticism initially as we began the drive south. I had just come home from the city the day before, so like our previous trip, I was less engaged in the planning and did not allot any time getting ready for a getaway. I had a lot of questions. What does the place look like? Will there be other people? Is this something my mom’s cousin’s husband’s cousin just does for nothing but the kindness of his heart? Please... just one picture or a pin on the map... In the end, nobody could answer me as my questions were too late to be of any importance.

It rained and it was cold while we’re on the way. So much for a “summer” getaway in early February¹. Then, we were told we couldn’t use the pool after all. Then, another update: the strong winds broke one of the roofs in the compound. Fortunately, no one got hurt, but the sopas (macaroni soup) and sinampalukan (chicken tamarind soup) they were cooking in that shed fell to their demises as the metal roof decided for a shorter distance between itself and the surface. Two more chickens and a goat for a caldereta (meat stew) dish from the farm had to be cooked to make up for it... All that, and having no idea what the place looked like or our host, did some numbers on my anxiety while on the drive, so I decided to take a nap and prepared for the worst.

Later when I woke up, the sun had already set. We made a turn off the highway, where the road grew smaller until it was wide enough for a single vehicle and nothing more. Only the houses separated by their patches of farmland illuminated our path. I could barely see anything and there was no cell signal, so it was fair to conclude we were officially in the middle of nowhere. Weirdly, I thought that was good. This was a sign we were near, and you can imagine my relief, the moment we reached the green gate and the cemented wall with green paint (the only information I knew about the vacation home at that time). So we stepped out into the drizzle and already then and there, someone was singing on the videoke, which had its own kubo adjacent to the main house. I saw the chairs and tables made of mahogany in a spacious veranda of an even bigger bungalow, its design and make you just know is hard to find anywhere outside the provinces, and immediately, the feeling of being home and at peace dawned on me as if the house itself greeted us in welcome. I knew at that moment there was nothing else to worry about.

The rest of the compound was rough around the edges, but nothing short of cozy and comfortable. I got to learn about its history as the time passed. There are about 5 small houses (varying from small to large modern remixes of bahay kubo and bahay na bato²) in the compound. kuya a, my mom’s cousin’s husband’s cousin, bought the plot of land with the houses with it. And yes, it was literally a vacation home, and yes, he just lends the house for nothing but the kindness of his own heart to close relatives and friends. I thought there had to be something strange in there, but then I found out the place is just one of his many other properties...

We had dinner, sang on the videoke and played bingo where I giggled at every call and it was so silly that I even won a couple of rounds. Then 2 different drinking tables were set up, one for the tito’s then one for my cousins, the younger ones, and I retired a bit earlier than most of them, laid my own blanket on the floor because my tita’s needed the bedrooms, and I slept on the wooden floor listening to a drunk and loud rendition of Beer, a song that is a staple to every videoke session that involved alcohol, the sound of the shaker³, then the call for a letter and a number.

In the morning, I woke up earlier than most of everyone again to write this and have coffee. Soon enough, we will have breakfast at the long table then get ready to head to the beach later in the day. I don’t know how things will play out on the beach, but one thing I was sure of is that we will eat good food, like our family always do in all previous beach trips. Though I have to confess most of it is just grilled meat, I just know it will hit different once we’re on the sand and there’s salt in the air.

With everything that happened the day before, I know well enough at this point that I don’t need to know about everything and I’d better just see where the day takes us from here. While taking sips of my coffee in the corner of this beautiful house among hectares of farmlands and the woods, I thought about the highlights of my week and how I ended up in this exact spot and in this exact moment. I see the edges of the night in a gap between two trees with small leaves and thin branches, gray and even grayer blue merging into white light, where the sun will slowly climb the sky. I hope we may have a reprieve from the rain and the cold today.

I ought to write about my weekends from now on since I’ve essentially pledged before that it has to be interesting to some degree in a previous post. However right now, my mind is still far away from everything but the sunrise and my coffee.

This was nice. I am grateful for where I am. I shall surprise myself and you, when I muster up the energy to write something like this again at the same time next week.

See you then, maybe ^^

#2025 #life #weekends