Nostalgia

June 1, 2010

Nostalgia always fill any homecoming since I would only visit my hometown once a year. This year, I was able to visit Capul twice, first during the national elections and second during the fiesta in my village Barangay San Luis. In both times, I maximized my time visiting sites that are memorable to me. Armed with a camera, I captured the images that were part of my “playground”.

The Sea and the Light House

Upon reaching Matnog Sorsogon, there is always that longing to immediately see the beloved island that one missed for sometime. Any Abaknon would agree that he gets excited upon seeing the Capul Lighthouse as the boat approaches the island.  Everyone’s eyes would be fixed at the light house as the boat passes along it.  When the boat reaches this part, there is a sense of finally being home; home in the seas enveloping the beloved hometown.

As soon as the boat docks at the San Luis Bay, excited children would race with each other to cling to the outriggers ogling the new arrivals hoping that a family member is among them.

As a child, I used to wait for my older siblings each fiesta but each time they did not come home except for one time that they finally had their homecoming after a very long time. I actually envied some of my friends whose older brother or sister working in Manila go home every fiesta. For us Capulenos, fiesta is the most anticipated event of the year; New Year is another.

Fruits of the Season

Summers are the best time of the year on the island.  It is also the time when some local fruits are abloom.  As a child, picking Igot is one fun activity.  The Igot which looks like duhat are crimson-colored when ripe. It is best eaten with sugar “shaken” in chinaware.  This process is locally called “nilunggong”.

Pili nuts or piraway in the vernacular is best “nilanta” or blanched until the skin softens.  The outer layer is peeled off before it is eaten.  On the other hand, you have to cracked open the shell by a bolo or hammer before you could eat the nut inside.  

Of course the Cavendish bananas can be cooked boiled, fried or as ingredient for ginataan.

The betel nut is not normally eaten but these are used by old folks as ingredient for betel chew although few are doing it at present.  They are used for decorative purposes. This particular plant grows at our front yard and is used as a post for our “always open” gate where we have bamboo benches as tambayan or inuman with friends until the wee hours.

The Places of My Childhood Adventure

As I mentioned in earlier entries, my childhood is peppered with adventures like fishing, picking shells, crabs, wild orchids, sea weeds and others.

Pundang as I have mentioned is considered an enchanted place. During my childhood days, the place was still forested.

The Farm House

There are two farming seasons in Capul, the Habagat and the Amihan which are of course named after the monsoons coinciding with rainy days.  During such seasons, my family would stay in a farm house; a one-room house made of bamboo, coconut lumber and woven palm leaves. My family built different farm houses already in different spots of the family property. The existing house was built for my older brother’s family who now has a new house in the village. 

Unlike the bahay kubo which is surrounded by vegetables, this house is surrounded by fruit bearing trees such as jack fruit, montay (a variety of citrus), guyabano, macopa, mangoes, igot, guavas, bananas and coconuts.  Not far from the house is a low shed used for drying copra. This is called agunan where the copra (coconut) is smoked.