Before I turn 24...

...I want to go back to Sierra Madre!

Morning along the banks of Angat Dam in Bulacan

Blame Marj for making me think of what to do when I turn 24. Haha. But on a serious note, I'm being down and depressed lately and I realized that if there's one place I want to visit again, it'd be the little colony in Sierra Madre.

Last 2002, I visited the Agta-Dumagat tribe in the Angat and Ipo reservoir in Bulacan with some fellow college seniors to document the illegal logging activities in the area. Basically, some younger tribe men carry logs on their heads and walk kilometers in the mountain area, in the dead of night, hiding from rangers, to deliver their goods and get paid. It's a risky job and it was an equally risky documentary.

What I miss most about the trip was how far away from the city it felt like, though its only in Bulacan. There's no electricity inside, the day ends when the sun sets, sleeping in a little classroom, cooking dinner in open fire--I love everything about the experience. Walking from the area to Norzagaray where I took this photo was likewise the most challenging part of the whole experience.

Angat Dam as seen from Norzagaray, Bulacan

In this part of the Sierra Madre, I wrote my last poetry and my last personal essay. Read: I am not a poet, I don't know the nuisances, the phrasing, etc. Anyway, I couldn't find the personal essay but here's my poem:

pen in hand,

paper near my face

random thoughts lurking

at the back of my head.

meager fire crackling

one stick to last the night

not enough. never enough.

breathe in. breathe out.

savor every moment

it is the only one, after all.

the only one i could find.

thin cloth behind my back.

feet struggling in the dark.

orion peeks between

the bamboo slates.

urging me to sleep.

sleep and dream of home.

midnight breeze howls

in my scantily clad skin.

and i pulled myself closer.

the heat is not enough.

never enough.

silence cradles the night.

engulfing me.

until i am falling.

in my dreams i am flying.

flowing in time.

i finally succumb

to the darkness.

with nothing but

the smell of water.

and the endless chanting

of voices in the mountains.

I want to go back to Sierra Madre and make old memories come back to life. These days, I want to do something daring, something I've never done before, and something that's not just traveling and wasting money. In short, I want to travel like a DevComm. Haha. I need a change of environment, something that would make me remember that there's a reason why I'm writing and there are people who finds value in what I do. Ugh, I'm getting dramatic. I think I'm suffering from some quarter-life crisis.

In Ipo dam, I had my first boat ride without safety vest