Friday, November 07, 2008

Visiting Bohol



It has been a week since we visited our province Bohol to visit the graves of our loved ones there. It was a short but very meaningful trip. It has been seven years since I last visited Bohol and a lot has changed. On our flight to Bohol it was very evident that our province has become a tourist attraction as our flight was composed of 60% foreigners from Koreans to Japanese to Australians to Indians to Americans. I'm very happy for our province because before it was underrated gem in the Visayas.
For the first time, we stayed in an inn and not with a relative. Well, since our visit is really short and the cemeteries we will visit are miles apart it was practical for us to stay in an inn in Tagbilaran city plus we rented a car for easy transportation. And well since our maternal grandmother passed away, whom we usually stay with during vacations, it wont be the same anymore.
Anyway, when we saw the house of Mama Iyang (maternal grandmother) I really felt sad since she is no longer there to welcome us. But what made me smile is that her brother and his family is living there and they reallly maintained the house like how Mama would. And they are a big family, with her wife and her daughter's family. It was the opposite before because Mama lived alone for decades in that house. Somehow I know Mama is happy since her home will be well taken care of.
You know what, I've realized that the more you try to repress your emotion the more that it will burst up. This is what I felt when I saw Mama's grave. I was not in the funeral last year because of school. I tried not to cry when I saw her grave but later on I could not control it anymore and I really cried hard to the point the kids in the cemetery were looking at me, well I got conscious and eventually my emotion subsided.



We visited more cemeteries and most of them are located in hills so it was a bit tiring.
The next day since we only have limited time before our flight back home we only had a mini road trip to Bohol and visited some places. Like the church where my parents got married.




Although our "pasyal" time was short it was still a refreshing trip. I appreciated the simple life there. See the photos of my trip here.



Hopefully, this would be a yearly trip for us.

No comments: