7:30 a.m.
it was a fine, brisk morning.
the coffee was hot, and the
breakfast tasty.
the rooster's were crowing,
the pigs were still asleep,
and our neighbors were up
and at it with their morning
chores.
amidst the pounding of rice...
...kids, laughing and playing
as they sharpen their bolo's...
amidst an endearing father,
carefully grooming his son...
...the distant and faint bouncing
of a basketball...
amidst this serene scene that defines
daily life in the village of buscalan...
i couldn't help but ask myself,
"why am i doing this again?"
(rewind to my first three hours)
look at me, all smiling and shit.
i was thinking, "i got this. this is cake, son."
then she started digging in my inner
thigh. that's when the fun started.
so on my second day, whang od's niece
happened to be loungin' nearby, peepin'
her work.
whang od -- who's been tatting us for three
straight days, at eight hours per day --
must've been tired and needed a break.
she tells her niece to take over for a bit.
the idea of a sixteen year old with barely
any experience with tattoos would make
anyone feel a little uneasy about the
situation.
so i'm thinkin' to myself,
"uuummmm... yyyeeah... should i,
should i say something?"
after a few hours -- your body's exhausted and your skin
starts to pull away from the needle -- your mind begins to
think "out of the box." it redirects its focus to a point far,
far away, in an attempt to overcome the pain.
my mind said,
"i'm not here, i'm over there... i'm workin' the fields...
yes, i'm workin' the fields with the 100 year old lady...
tending the rice terraces. i'm not getting a tat right
now, i'm tending the rice terraces."
after twelve hours and two days, i was finally done.
(for now)
a successful trip calls for a celebration.
at the discretion of celebrating in our room,
we basked in our last meal of ant eggs and
a bottle of tanduay.
the following morning, with a pat on the back and
many thanks, we bid whang od and friends farewell.
along with a pack of peanuts we were given a gift,
from a nearby plantation, that we enjoyed before
our bus ride home.
we took the only bus bound for tabuk,
and from tabuk went straight to manila.
(i left a present for the cordillera, in
a bush, a few minutes before we
departed.)
'till next time.
the end