Padre Burgos 1999 - A Strange Encounter

How could I have overlooked this strange encounter ...

This happened on our first night in Burgos: My family - all 4 of us - slept in one room. I believe 2 of us slept on the floor. There was an electric fan that tried to keep us cool during that hot summer night. The windows on 2 walls were left open just to let in the sea breeze that occasionally wafted in.

Then all of a sudden, in the middle of the night, a rushing wind (or so I thought) woke me up. Then in the darkness, something swooped around the room and stopped. I could sense its wings when it passed by me. Too big and heavy for a butterfly or even a small bird, I thought. It swooped across the room once or twice more before I decided to get up and turn on the light.

Yikes - a huge BAT!!!

Pandemonium hit the room. But not to worry, after somebody threw a bedsheet (or was it a towel?) on top of it, the poor thing got caught. Upon closer examination, our bat friend had a wingspan of almost 2 feet. I felt squeemish touching it with my bare hands though, but I could feel its texture through the sheet. The wings felt it was made of thin rubber material. I didn't particularly want to see the face or head, fearful it would bite or something. But after that quick inspection, we released our winged visitor through the open window.

Although the bat visit was exciting, no one wanted a second encounter. You guessed it, we had the windows closed. Never mind if we sweated it out for the rest of the night, the brief encounter was good enough to last us a lifetime. Ah, only in Burgos a bat paid us a visit - up close and personal.

Padre Burgos Remembrance - Angry Mood

I saw Padre Burgos take on a howling, angry mood...

It was on our 2nd visit to the place in October or November 1999, I think, when I saw this mood change. (Charis, my daughter, was in Japan taking her 1-year scholarship in Osaka University.) Sam (hubby) and Muey (son) also went along this trip with my twin sister's family (the Princesas), who owns this brand-new home in Padre Burgos.

It was overcast and raining when we travelled 4 hours to this hidden community tucked in a peninsula called Bondoc Peninsula. No one cared at all if the rains came for we came with one goal, and one goal alone: to swim and kayak. Okay, let's make that two goals then!

Oh yes, as soon as our ride hit the beach home, our feet went racing toward the shore edge. And for the rest of the day we were in saline bliss. Little did we know that Burgos weather was going to rear it ugly little head the very next day.

Yes, we knew even before the trip that there was this storm coming. But the weather bureau's batting average on storm forecasts has been rather off of late. So we simply dismissed the warning (just this once) and decided to go ahead and enjoy the weekend in Burgos.

BIG MISTAKE! (But then again, maybe NOT!)

The following day after our arrival in Burgos, the winds started to pick up. First, the birds, leaves and small twigs were flying about along with the rains. Later in the day, mango fruits were flying as well.

Next, from the balcony of the Princesa home, we saw the tops of sea waves were frothing like mad - as if searching for something to smash its weight into.

Then, the winds started to HOWL at varied intensities and decibels - the worst of which we've never heard before. It was like a whole symphony of high-pitched sounds punctuated by cymbal-like crashes from the crakling and breaking of tree branches. But towards the end, as if to signal its climax, there was this eerie screech and then a sudden loud thud and swoosh. Not far off the house, a huge acasia tree just gave up the fight and fell!

Aerial acrobatic scene: Later in the afternoon, a piece of the neighbor's storage shed roof (a GI sheet) ripped off. It flew straight into the neighbor's 2nd floor window, shattering it. As if not yet satisfied, it flew off one more time but landed safely, this time, in another neighbor's yard.

As the rains and winds pounded the house in full fury - the whole house seemed to shake. We were so fearful that the glass windows or doors would pop off or shatter. The winds just wouldn't give up, and it simply pushed the rainwater into every exposed crevice of the house, so much so the house flooded, in both the first and second floors.

Everyone went into action. Everyone was either armed with a mop and pail, or old rags to soak up pools of water and squeeze them in all sorts of containers, or a broom to sweep off puddles of water in the lower floor. This went on for a whole afternoon and evening.

Great! We went swimming and rowing alright - right inside a storm-swept, flooded house! TWO GOALS ACHIEVED!

(Plus exciting EXTRA side features to boot!)

Vacation satisfaction? AWESOME!

Padre Burgos Retreat in 1999

I remember the very first time I came to this little town in a province called Quezon in the Philippines...

It was hot and humid for the home where we were staying was on a hillside and a sea just below it. But everywhere was filled with plants and trees. And oh, such strange-looking , iridescent birds just about flew here and there, and how they just sang such sweet high notes that I'm sure the grumpiest of spirits would mellow and coo along.

A Snippet:
Bob Villena, a Padre Burgos resident and local subdivision developer, gave me and my family a tour of his home and the "aplaya", or sea shore several meters away from his home. As we were walking down a hill towards the fishing boats docked along the sea shore of Punta, I spotted a tiny bird trapped in a fishing net used as fence line along the barrio road. Its feet and wings were so entangled in the fine nylon mesh that we had to cut off the nylon strands that were strangling the poor creature. Many hands (Bob's, my sister's and mine) held the tiny bird just so it could be safely taken out of its nylon trap. But finally, the poor little bird was free! And we released her to the open heavens and familiar trees.

I don't know about Bob or Daisy, my sister, but this experience touched me so much, I shed a happy tear. Month's later, however, I learned from my brother-in-law, who owned a house where we stayed in Padre Burgos, that Bob had all the fishing net lines used as fences - removed from the Punta area. I guess Bob, too, was touched.

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How I love the unstructured, rural look of the community! Dirt, rock and pebble road, or should I say, pathways, that lead to nooks and crannies of the hills and small houses that look more like mushrooms than dwelling places.

There are huge, bent trees that have so much character in them that somehow when you pass by them you can't help but pay homage to them and utter "With your permission, may I pass through, sir or madam?" You wonder if they could speak, and what stories they may spin of early Spanish lords commanding the pueblos, or Japanese officers planning an assault on resistance holdouts, or perhaps anti-government rebels egging townfolks to join their movement ... Oh, let them be. Let them remain mute witnesses to a colorful past ... So, may I pass through, ma'am?

Mary Ann Raya's Thoughts and Interests

Got to try out what blog is all about. I just don't know if this has any use for me, but I'm willing to give this a try. Who knows, I just might get hooked on this ... or not! OK, let me start off by sharing my deep belief ...

MY MISSION STATEMENT IN LIFE:
My mission is to serve my lord, savior and master, JESUS CHRIST, as a form of thanksgiving, by devoting my spirit, soul, mind and body for His glory. This I do in response to His love for me when He died in my place on Calvary, and saved me from eternal punishment one fine day in University of the Philippines as a college freshman (1971).

I shall serve Him using the resources, talents, gifts, intelligence and physical strength he has bestowed upon me - honed and developed all through these years - to use all these that others may be blessed.

I shall be the best spouse to my husband, the best mother to my kids, the best employee to my employer, and the best boss (as IT manager) to my staff. I shall try to share this wonderful experience of eternal salvation and security to all whom I encounter as best I can - at home, at the workplace, among family relations, on the net, or wherever the Lord sees fit for me to share the Good News.