The Sophomores Hit Sagada

Ilocos 2013

Shortly after our Ilocos Trip last year, the Arki sophomores were already looking forward to our next big thing. Back then, I wrote about new friends and good vibes, as I had only met everyone two months before it. It was super fun, yes, but, this trip was known to be even better. :)

At around 3 PM on the day of our departure, hardly anyone could pay any more attention to the Building Materials lecture being given by our professor. By that time, you could already hear the random screams from both Arki buildings. You could already see the random bursts of excitement. From everyone. It was crystal clear on all our faces.

People left their respective classrooms with giant smiles and eventually, left the school campus and headed for the grocery to shop. Yes, food for the bus is a very important part of a field trip. People left to pack and others left to buy things last minute. No one was thinking of academics anymore. No one could. Because it was time.

It was finally time for Sagada. :)

I'm about to turn this into a photo blog because there's just too much to say about the trip and I don't want to bore you with words, haha. But since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are a some of my favorite photos from our trip! [Heehee it was really great, I'm still so happy. I can't get over it.]

From back to front : Dav, Renzo, Kyle, Gabby, Lance, Big, Kat

Left: Madrid/ Joson students modeling by the gabions. Cause they knew what it was. Cause they learned about it in their class. Huhuhu

Right: Being tired from trekking = Lying down on the grass = Taking a cheesy friendship photo. <3

"Parang isa lang yung barber dito." (Dela Rosa, 2014)

No matter what their gender was, the little kids were super cute, with rosy cheeks and hair like that cutie in the photo above. Hahaha. 

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Okay, here. One of my favorite parts of our trip was the traditional wedding we attended. Apparently, weddings last for around 3 days over there. The first day is for the couple - it's the ceremony itself. The next two days, however, are for the community. It's all fun and festive, with lots of gong - playing and dancing, eating and drinking... so much happy vibes. 

 After a few rounds of watching them do their thing, it was our turn. And that was the fun part! We all kind of just stepped in the circle and did what we were told. I'm pretty sure we all looked as stupid as we felt while dancing but, man, it was pretty fun to do so!

Gabe, learning the dance 

Anna and Tomoko

I think it's pretty obvious how happy we were and how much fun we were having. Haha. After a while, they sort of cleared the floor and a man started dancing alone in the center. Then, I kind of freaked out a bit because he looked at me and told me to join him. And so I did...

Thank you, Gabe, for taking my pictures during this dance!

 

I'm sorry for being so awkward and nervous. For some dance steps, he needed to hold my hand and come pretty close and stuff. Hahaha.

I had fun and I was super happy!

Until I realized that it was an engagement dance...

HAHAHA KIDDING

But, that's what people were joking me about after.

Whoops, what if I accidentally got engaged for real?

Scary. Haha. Anyway, after that, the boys had their turn of playing the gongs too.

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We weren't really lucky with during the sunset and sunrise, haha. It was all clouds and fog but, yeah yeah yeah, because of the company, it was beautiful and meaningful nonetheless. #cheesy

Happy Lance.

Serious Mico.

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From Sagada, we took an 8 hour bus ride back to Baguio. The trip was pretty tiring, I gotta admit. It was my first time back in Baguio in a long while and man, it's changed a lot. There were so many people. The traffic was pretty bad. And there's now a giant SM over there. Huhuhu.

My heart always breaks a little whenever I see a place that's been transformed by commercialism and modernization - especially, when I witnessed what it once was. It used to be so beautiful. Huhu. It makes me so sad and so, so, SO scared for places that haven't been affected in that way yet.

I got so scared for Sagada.

It's such a simple community but, they're efficient and they're "modern" in their own way. Just enough, I guess. I'm gonna pray every single day now - that their culture and way of life is preserved and respected - enough for others NOT to try to change things up over there. I'm aware that there's always a good side to moving forward but, the manner by which it's done always leaves room for a billion consequences.

Hopefully, when I go back up there ten years from now with my future kids, they'll still be able to witness a traditional wedding and dance with the locals. And God, I'm hoping and praying that when I do go back ten years from know, there won't be a giant shopping mall blocking the view from our little inn. Hopefully, there'll still be that Sagada Lemon Pie House, the Yogurt House, that Sagada Weaving place and that we'll still be forced to walk everywhere, haha... hopefully, the people there love their culture enough not to let it go. Ever.

Huhuhu so much feels...

If you're still reading, thank you. This blog entry is much longer than I intended for it to be. But, don't worry, it's about done. I'm about to finish here because I really need to start working on my homework, haha. Thank you Lord for that wonderful break from Thursday night to Monday morning, for the amazing people I shared this experience with and for giving me the privilege of witnessing the beautiful culture of the people in Sagada. 

And just as I do whenever I have as much happy vibes as I do now, I shall end this blog with the simplest one liner that, I'm hoping, captures all the contentment and happiness in the world...

Oh, life is good. :)

Sagada 2014, Photo taken by Gilbert Bercero