WIP
At breakfast, I learned from Kristian that Mayon was traditionally male, and interpretations of it as female were more recent. I got to learn more about Sigrid, which allowed me to ask more questions later on the day. Over breakfast, Hannah opened up to me the possibility of teaching poetry at the Makiling High School for the Arts (MHSA) for once a week between 2–6 pm on Tuesdays. This unexpected possibility is easy to say yes to than the full-time opening at PPC. I think I will take this route.
While waiting to leave, I chatted briefly with Lisa about her masters in children's literature and her internship with Goethe in the Philippines.
Our first destination was the Partido Riviera overlooking the Caramoan peninsula and the island province of Catanduanes, the textual reference of which was Francisco Mallari's "Ibalon Under Siege." After standing up, walking around, and taking a photo at the view deck, which took less than ten minutes, we left and made our way to Mirisbiris Nature and Garden Center at Santo Domingo, Albay. We passed by Tabaco City along the way, which reminded me of a friend during my days in Baguio.
Along the way, I chatted with Sigrid and Jaya about my past and motivations, including writing in Pangasinan and the challenges of translating oneself.
We arrived at Mirisbiris after more than three hours and a few minutes past noon. After arriving, we immediately sat and listened to Chris Newhall introduce Mirisbiris, an organization that teaches environmental protection to locals, especially children. It is also open to artists and has a cafe and resort business aspect to it. We would later learn that Mirisbiris refers to the sound of water trickling from rocks. After introducing the center, Chris then talked about volcanoes, specifically Mayon, whose recent eruptions has changed the schedule of our program. He assured us that we are safe at this distance and that the activities of the volcano were normal, following a pattern that lasts for months.
After this presentation, we immediately had lunch, a tasty and healthy lunch made up of perhaps the tastiest pumpkin soup I've ever had along with fish, beans, ginisang upo, adobong pusit, and a ginataan dish. I also had iced coffee.
After lunch, we were introduced to some of the artists holding an event at the center. A couple of the artists were from Pangasinan. I introduced myself in Pangasinan, but I later learned that the artists were Ilocanos living in an Ilocano part of the province, which I forgot to ask. They may not have understood a word that I said.
After Mirisbiris, we went to the house of Abdon Balde Jr. at Tiwi, Albay. He talked about how he got into writing and the arts. He was a son of a farmer who only agreed to send him to college if he took engineering. He did, but he continued writing and painting. He was one of the earliest surreal painters according to him. He and his household served us some local delicacies made of fried coated banana and camote along with buko juice.
Abdon recited a poem in Filipino called Tren and one in Bikol, both of which were humorous poems. He then showed us his paintings and an art installation called Orgasm No. 5. Finally, he showed us his book collection. Balde had around 30 books, four of which were award-winning.
We then visited the abandoned Naglagbong Geothermal People’s Park, which contains the site that Jagor visited.
Later, we watched a man create teracota plots. He demonstrated how to do a large one, possibly used for bonsai and a small one used as chicken feeding container. The latter costs ten pesos when sold. We asked how much the mud he uses costs him and he said it is two thousand pesos. He needs to turn the soil into pots immediately before the clay looses its moisture. After watching him, we then visited the nearby Philippine Ceramics Arts and Crafts Center.
At Joroan, Tiwi, the parish priest, Fr. Joseph Salando, explained that Joroan means a place of refuge. It is where people came when pirates infested the waters surrounding Bicol during the Spanish occupation. The priest said that the church has been taking care of the Lady for 250 years or so. Kristian said earlier that the Lady is controversial because only Christ saves. A later discussion about the statue of the Lady revealed stories about how the Jesuits were questioned about what the statue depicts, critics saying it goes against Catholic teachings because it depicts the Lady taking away a soul who has already went to inferno. However, the Augustinians said the Lady is only preventing the soul to go to the devil.
After talking more about the religious history of the church and the place, Agta people, led by a mother and her children sang the Pasyon Bikol, a rendition of which almost moved me to tears. Vic, a co-fellow, said it made his hair stand, something he hasn't experienced from other renditions of the pasyon in other Bikol places. Their performance was followed by the Gozos, sang by two teenage boys. Then, the Agta people performed another song, a religious farewell song.
We had delicious dinner after, consisting of ginataang alamasag among others and a dessert that included traditional pili nut brittle.
We drove back to Naga after. I listened to Sigrid and Mazlum's conversation.