The Christmas Season and the Belen

December 25 has come around again. Another Christmas brings with it an air of nostalgia for most of us. Maybe our childhood memories are still as vivid as they were 15 or 20 years ago. Or maybe not. Memories of Christmas Parties in high school create flashbacks that can make you cry due to laughter! And what of those in college? Hardly do I recall any because back in U.P. Manila, all I remember was studying in the library!

Well, in my case, Christmas memories continue to be as colorful and as poignant as they were --- because these were Christmases spent with those we love, and those who love us back, even if we were not made aware of it --- or felt it --- in a way we imagine it to touch us.

Bacolod Traffic: Thoughts of a Commuter on the Jeepney and Its Negrense Drivers

One of the things I realized in the first few months I spent since arriving in this city was that it is home to a people who have seemingly removed “rush” and “haste” in its day-to-day travel vocabulary. This is not a negative statement. If you are from Manila and you suddenly find yourself here in Bacolod, you would know why what I just said leans more on the positive than in the negative.

As a daily commuter, it beats me to see how jeepney drivers make a gentle reverse to pick up a passenger they passed by some seconds ago as they missed seeing them walk along an alley. Or as daily experience proves it in jeepney terminals, drivers seem oblivious to the time they spend waiting for passengers to fill up their vehicle. Or again, whenever a jeepney plies near you, drivers never fail to ask, “Sakay ka ‘Day?,” to which one may respond with a simple shake of the head to indicate and say a polite “No.”

Having lived and worked in Manila all of my 30 years, this almost daily scenario of commuting in Bacolod and its environs has taught me several things. Even if Bacolodnons may seemingly have eradicated “rush and haste” from their mind, doing so has some downsides to it. I have listed a number of lessons gathered over a period of six months, which I can aptly call “Daily Commuting 101.”

Number one is that, you cannot accurately calculate the time you spend traveling from your house to your workplace. This is because waiting time in terminals or pick-up points really just varies everyday. However, this is only true for those who take the jeepney as a daily public transport. For one, it depends on the temperament of your jeepney driver. If you want less waiting time in a terminal, wish for a phlegmatic driver. He will not be patient enough to wait a long time and will not be bothered whether or not he has a full load of passengers before he speeds away en route to your destination. A choleric driver on the one hand wants his vehicle properly filled up, the kind who exhibits much zeal in getting all the passengers he possibly could in just one single trip. Those drivers who gloomily speed away with one or two passengers --- this after seeing he has a lot of competitor-drivers --- may most probably be your melancholic type. Finally, your sanguine jeepney driver may show his easy-go-lucky ways by either flitting from one pick-up point to the other speeding away without a plan for the day’s trip, or by waiting in a terminal to what seems like eternity because he got entangled in an engaging conversation with his conductor (or barker)-friend. So what should you do to be on time for school or work or whatever appointment you may have? Just be patient, relax and don’t lose your cool when you are not right on schedule. You may still leave your house 30-45 minutes earlier or even make it one hour in order to be punctual for your appointments. Continue doing that. Your constancy and patience will bear fruit in time.

Number two lesson is that for you to get off to your destination without having to walk some meters back, say “Lugar lang…” with your lilting accent fairly a hundred meters ahead. Why? Bacolod City jeepney drivers have a great propensity to speed away even when not in the highway. So, chances are, if you do not give a 100-meter warning tone to your driver, you would really end up walking back or worse, you’ll have to take another jeepney back to your real stop! That’s P6.50 or P7.00 more from your wallet. “Big deal!” you may say, but no! For somebody who is conscious enough of how much one is earning and spending on a daily basis, it means something, and a lot!

Number three lesson is to bring a hanky with you when commuting. Maybe the city government has already done its share of reminding all public utility drivers to undergo a smoke-emission test, but I wonder how many have truly gone through this test. This city, unfortunately, has a lot of smoke-belchers. That’s why, a hanky is always handy to cover your nose so as not to inhale nitrogen-filled smoke which make up most of urban smog.

Number four: take care while crossing the street.
One dangerous thing with many public utility jeepney drivers is that they oftentimes are careless turning from one corner to the next since they do so without looking where they turn. And well, even when they are not turning from a corner! More than four times I have witnessed how drivers speed up when somebody is about to cross the street. This just goes to show how much road courtesy education is still needed by many of our public utility drivers. I wouldn’t be surprised why the percentage of those who die due to road accidents is on the increase since it was reported two years ago. I know that the city government and its concerned departments are doing something about this, what with all these new traffic lights recently installed in a number of intersections in the city. But the question is, is the message conveyed by these traffic lights followed by drivers?

Road Education is what we need. And a lot of discipline, too. Plus, a kind of professionalism that would speak well of our local public utility drivers who are supposed to have a good and solid background on road courtesy.

Driving a public utility vehicle is not just about getting a lot of passengers everyday in order to bring home a big amount for one’s family. I know it’s a difficult job to do, especially if you don’t own your jeepney, bus or taxi because the day’s boundary is always a concern.

However, I think the main job of public utility drivers is to bring their passengers to their respective destinations safe and sound, all in one piece, happy, and grateful that they arrived to school or to work on time, ready to face another day’s challenge.

Driving a public utility vehicle (PUV) --- jeepneys, buses or taxis --- is a noble occupation. If all PUV drivers would just think of their main job as I would like to suggest them to consider seriously, then perhaps, their job would take on the nobility it truly has: a profession worth the trip.

Mudhouse Atbp.

The 1st Mudhouse Building Workshop ended with a simple dinner and a graduation ceremony for 17 resilient and persevering participants from nearby cities --- Talisay, Silay and Sagay --- held here at Nature's Village Resort (NVR).

The rains didn't dampen the efforts of our first batch of students --- they worked away quietly and with a lot of gusto!

Mixed with rice straw, rice husk, water and hydrated lime, and woven onto a giant bamboo grid --- which served as the mudhouse's structure --- neatly and carefully, the mud that came from our own backyard has finally hardened. Ms. Moltzau, our instructor, said that it will make the structure sturdier as time passes.

The topmost mudhouse photo is the one being built in our Campsite. The next two are sample mudhouses in other countries like Tibet and Africa.

We are excited to make this mudhouse another special feature in Nature's Village Resort's Campsite soon. It will have its own living room, dining room, bedroom and kitchen --- its toilet and bath will be built soon as making it won't fit the workshop schedule.

Nature's Village Resort's first mudhouse hopes to inspire and convince many hacienda owners in this part of Negros Island to adopt this technology to make their own mudhouses to house the families of their employees.

A mudhouse stands the test of time.

The Scabby Donkey

Today, October 6, is the Anniversary of the Canonization of St. Josemaria Escriva, the Founder of Opus Dei. The late Pope John Paul II proclaimed him as The Saint of Ordinary Life in St. Peter's Square last 2002.

I was then staying in a training center for girls in San Juan, and we were watching the ceremony broadcast live on television. It was 4:25 pm, Philippine time, and 10:25 am, Rome time.

It was my first time to witness a very solemn ceremony. It was moving to see this man I recognize as my spiritual father, proclaimed a SAINT in the 21st century. He used to call himself a 'scabby donkey,' a title known only to him and his guardian angel.

He liked to describe himself as a donkey because donkeys are known to be hardworking, and they thrive on a meager diet. They don't complain about the load placed on their backs by their masters. They are silent and attentive to what their masters want them to do.

He qualifies the donkey he'd like to be as SCABBY, the kind that doesn't have a noticeably healthy skin or hair. Scabby ... graphically put, sores and scars come to mind as images of this modifier.

Our Father, as we address St. Josemaria, wanted to be just like that --- a scabby donkey. And he did become one.

He worked hard for Opus Dei to be recognized by the Holy See. He did so with his own blood, sweat and tears. And with the help of our brothers, of course.

He prayed and denied himself a lot for Opus Dei to spread to many countries, such that before he passed away in 1975, there were already 80,000 members of Opus Dei in five of the world's continents.

He sacrificed so much to spread the universal calling to holiness, 'the load' placed by God on his shoulders. And along the way, there were not a few persecutions, but he faced them all smiling, forgiving and giving thanks to God.

He taught us a beautiful Latin expression "Omnia in bonum," which he translates as "Everything works unto good for those who love God." It's actually taken from St. Paul's letter to the Romans, Chapter 8 verse 28. 

Our Father never complained. He did the will of God as best he could. He showed us how to live our vocation in the middle of the world. In good times and bad times, he made sure --- and makes us feel --- that he is by our side to protect and defend us: to defend our happiness on earth in order to secure our happiness in heaven.

I am one of his many daughters. And I am happy to say that, with the grace of God, with the support of my sisters, and with the help of this spiritual father of mine who is now a saint of the Catholic Church, I am taking on the challenge to continue what he started --- back in 1928, the 2nd day of October, on the feast of the Guardian Angels, when God 'showed' him Opus Dei.

The lessons of the heroic life of the 'Scabby Donkey' were not written nor lived in vain.

Thank you, St. Josemaria, for being a wonderful father to us all. And to ensure that you will always be by our side, you have never left us orphans. Up to this day, we enjoy the living reality of having a Father in the Prelate of Opus Dei.

Like you, I wish to live and be called a scabby donkey myself.

Now, I begin. And everyday hence.

Building with Mud!

Today at 9 am, I helped out in the registration of a Mudhouse Building Workshop which was launched here at Nature's Village Resort (NVR) where I work. This workshop will run for 7 days. Our instructor came all the way from Thailand, Ms. Lynn Moltzau, a Norwegian-Canadian.

Attending the workshop are workers of haciendas, mostly men, who were sent by their employers to learn this ancient technology.

The organizer of this workshop is Ms. Kaila Ledesma, a Negrense. She is with Philippine Reef and Rainforest Conservation Foundation, Inc. (PRRCFI). Kaila is supported by her father, Mr. Gerry Ledesma, Mrs. Sonia Sarrosa, the owner of Nature's Village Resort, and Ms. Nina Paras, the interior designer-consultant of this resort-hotel.

Held at the Isabel Room of the resort's restaurant area, Ms. Moltzau gave a talk on mudhouse technology using an LCD and a laptop. So, why build with mud? The number 1 reason is that it is eco-friendly. Much has been told about global warming. Mudhouses preserve the environment and maintain ecological balance. It also facilitates creative personal expression. She showed us pictures of existing mudhouse structures which were taken from all parts of the world: China, Thailand, India, Iran, Yemen, the United States, Mexico, Tibet, Timbuktu, and a lot more.

What's interesting to note is that 50% of the world's inhabitants actually live in mudhouses!

The main tool in preparing the mud you will use for building a structure is none other than your feet! And your hands! Or your whole body! Bamboo is used as the main structure for building your mudhouse.

In the afternoon, the group went to the Campsite Area where Nature's Village Resort's 1st MUDHOUSE will soon rise!

More updates in the days to come ...