--RIVER GONE WILD--

‎--RIVER GONE WILD--
WHEN THE HEAVENS BECOME HEAVILY LADEN,
THE SKY WILL WEEP WITH TORRENTS OF RAIN,
THEN THE  EARTH WILL BLEED WITH BROWNISH EXCREMENT,
AND RIVERS WILL SWELL AND RAMPAGE DOWNSTREAM.

LIKE HUMANS IN TURMOIL THE WATER WILL SEPARATE ,
AND GO THEIR OWN WILD BEWILDERMENT,
BUT ONE THING IS SURE FOR IN THE END,
THE WATERS WILL JOIN AND BE ONE AGAIN..

--Taken during a Drive down Kennon Rd., Bued River,Twin Peaks Area, Benguet.

ON THE HIGHWAY OF LIFE,WATERFALLS AND SURPRISES.

WHEN THE FUTURE SEEMS VAGUE, DO SLOW DOWN AND APPRECIATE THINGS YOU SEE ALONG THE WAY. WHO KNOWS, YOU WILL GET INSPIRED ON THE THINGS YOU SEE THAT WILL MAKE YOUR JOURNEY MORE CERTAIN.

-This Photo features a unique waterfalls showering the road at the twin peaks area of Kennon Road. --Passing vehicles get a free refreshing carwash as they pass. It serves to give a thrill to surprised travelers.

FOR THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN'-The Legend of the Lowly Sayote.

‎--FOR THE TIMES THEY ARE A CHANGIN' --
- Life moves on and things change whether we like it or not. Bulging waisltines and wrinkles come a calling, we can't hold that, it's a given and it comes with age...

--Nothing is permanent in this world, the mighty ones come a tumbling down, the poor become rich, even the lowly SAYOTE can change lives!

... -- Wanting to have some diversion, i embarked on a childhood dream of planting vegetables and eventually to be able to harvest them for food. As a boy raised in the City, i never had the Chance not until now that i am a boy again, after 50 years!
--And so having been blessed to buy an open lot at Tam awan,Pinsao in Baguio wherein i could utilize to realize my dream, i started to try my hands at wielding a hoe and driving a shovel to make plots in which to plant beans and pechay, etc.

-- Burdened by my aching back and blistered hands i am forced me to seek help. Well, it is that after our boys did all the Manual work, i was able to plant my dream vegetables. Talk of late Bloomers.. well, tilling the earth is therapeutic, i feel as if as i said, i'm a young boy again.

-- God gave us the earth that is so abundant, it's an - all in- deal. All we need to do is make something productive out of it and it will give us rewards. It will be both spiritually and financially.
-- I love to see Norman, a neighbor in Tam-awan who is always jolly. Well why not, he found out the key to happiness is in maintaining a SAYOTE yard wherein he harvests --The fruits of his labor-- The sayote grows so fast that he harvests and brings them to market almost every other day---IN STYLE! for with his Sayote earnings, he was able to buy a Brand new Motorcycle! A thing not possible before. Times have really Changed.

-- Now, Norman goes to market with ease. Talk about the lowly Sayote that grows everywhere in Baguio. We used it as a target for our Slingshots in my younger Days, my mother used it to feed our Pigs and would you believe? -- it sustained a lot of students who came to study in Baguio when their food allowance was spent for something else.

-- Sayote is best when cooked with aloy-oy and ok-okneg. (an Ibaloi Delicacy).. Aloy -oy? ok-okneg? --what are these? Do ask any ibaloi Karambak, they know..

LIFE IS ALL IN THE MIND

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Pio Velasco

AYUUHAAAY KABUNYAN (GOD) BLESS RAMBAKLANDIA!
--- LIFE IS ALL IN THE MIND ---
--Here's a General - THANK YOU SO MUCH! - to all of you Karambaks who wished me well. Your Prayers and Well wishes all gravitated to an energy that served to force me up despite that of my mind wanting me to just linger in bed and dream of- when i was a kid and all the world and things around is just so wonderful.

--I...'m so sorry that i can not stay long in front of the computer screen. I feel so nauseated and i always feel i want to vomit. That is most especially when i see Pictures of worms and large snakes, Gruesome pictures of Victims of Traffic accidents , brutal treatment of innocent kids and all such other posts that disturb the mind. --So i'm so sorry that i can not browse and like and Post Appreciate as i noermally did lest i chance upon a post that may trigger again my Nausea. What i'm undergoing right now is maybe all psychological, a mental revulsion since all i ever wanted is a world free of hurt, pain and sufferings. I will get through this, soon...

--THE WORLD WE LIVE IN IS ALL BUT IN OUR MINDS- And that is what i am in right now, i belong to a world of my own making. A world that my mind made for me. Since I can not stop things that i don't want to happen, my mind now is doing self defense by making me shy away from things that i do not want.
Being sick lately weakened my resolve and made my tendencies take over my mind. Well it's good to realize that. I am now tasked to coax myself to go back to the mainstream, i need to.

---Thanks to all your Advices Karambaks for me to hold a DAW -ES -(An Igorot ritual of Butchering an animal to end bad luck or whatever undesirable situation befalling a person.)
Of all the modernities of life and all the great advances in science, isn't it awkward to think that most of you are advising me to perform a Ritual based on our ancestral beliefs, and yes You all did advise me via the INTERNET!--- Well Nobody can change mindset, all our beliefs and values in life are -- All in the mind..

-- Got a problem though , all the Lallakays i know who knows how to do the Daw -es ritual are gone...
---Well, that means me and my batchmates in the Community are now tasked to do the Daw Daw-es as have all the elder ones before us did. ...

--During the Oct.16,2011 Rambak Get Together, i requested that an old man be summoned to do the BUYAG before the pig will be butchered.. Nobody came since either one is sick or is.. dead. So, no choice, i had to do the BUYAG...

The realization hit me slowly, of all the Lallakays, I am now next in line?... Oh my Kabunyan...
I still feel so young to be doing things meant for older men...
--Or is it all only in my Mind?

OF BEING SICK AND THE TWO SIDES OF LIFE.

GOOD NOONTIME KARAMBAKS!
-- OF BEING SICK AND THE TWO SIDES OF LIFE --
        More than a week after that - Killer Flu- as i may term it, i still feel so weak and disoriented. Spasms jolt my body everytime i exert effort to lift anything or move abruptly. I believe it's no longer a common ailment but maybe my Tired old Body is now revolting and wanting of rest. A lifetime of toil and effortful action maybe have taken its toll..
         But looking back to my life that had been so colorful, i honestly feel no remorse. What i lament is that the - A.M.-morning part of my life is over. I look up and it's noontime. The ever faithful Mr. Sun is smiling menacingly at me as if saying, What now Piow?
         -Halfway through my journey, i'm now Looking now at the P.M. of life. It's a world to be explored. Though this time, i'm now wiser and more informed in contrary to my earlier life wherein i have to learn of things through the hard way..
          Scars of all kinds Cover my body and that it includes the spiritual and emotional scarring  that is co equal to learning. As all other mortals ahead of us, my greatest fear is ,what would it be like at the end of the road when GOD my creator will finally Call on me? Will it be like my father who when he passed on at 86 has to agonize for months with his failing heart? I just hope it will not be like that.
           LIFE had always been balanced by the long and the short of it, by negatives and positives, by the Good and the bad. With my two and a half Score years of existence, one thing is evident, there is a power that sees over things. For if none, then we will not be here. God is always there for us who believe, For those who don't, -They will soon....

        Wisdom can only be achieved from Experience, for without living through it, the mind would have nothing to extract information from.
           There are always two sides to everything. It is evident in all things and situations and even in the way people look at things. You can always be surprised that  when you say NO,it means YES to a person. Oftentimes it comes with a funny twist.
          Being sick did not excuse me for experiencing such situations. being Bedridden for a week made family and friends do all sort of things to help get me well. All kinds of food are brought to me. Fruits, Lugaw, Pinikpikan, vitamins, antibiotics, Ginataan, sabaw ti dogMeat, etc.etc. One suggested Buko juice.Well, yes! i read about the benefits of coconut water.
          So one was asked to go buy Ten pieces of Young coconut (buko).  I  said, please just buy three pieces ta bulky Ken please "Paukisam" Bassit tapno rumuar diay "Puraw" nga skin na tapno lumag an ken saan nadagsen nga awiten.
           An hour later, The 3 pcs. of Buko arrived.... Rimmuar nga agpayso diay Puraw na- Naka pur puraw talaga ta pina ukisan na metten inggana rimuar diay Puraw nga Laman na. Maasi ak pay idiay niyog ta talaga nga nakalbo.
           Another manifestation of the TWO SIDES OF LIFE.

OF LIFE'S PAINS AND THE PLEASURE IT BRINGS

• AYUUHAAAY! GD EVENING RAMBAKLANDIA!
  ------OF LIFE'S PAINS AND ITS POSITIVE EFFECT-------
  --Since i was a kid, i had been a creature of suffering. Being sick and in pain was normal to me then. As a 6 year old boy i had a dislocated Left ankle joint as a result of riding along with my brother in a borrowed bicycle. My foot got stuck in between the wheel and the Bike frame.i had to be in crutches for months.
  
  --Being able to walk later did not spare me from the pain of bleeding feet as a result of going to school barefoot in Sabangan's road spread with Razor sharp crushed gravel. Gad dil (Ringworm), Durek (Infected Ears) as a result of Bathing in the Chico River was common to me then.
  -- Migrating to Baguio City at the age of 9 did not end my pains as we lived then at the City camp Lagoon and it was flooded for the first time. My mother and i had to swim out literally since the house went underwater so fast within half an hour. My ears took infected water and There, i got Durek again.
  
  --I got hospitalized twice after. first when i and my friends ate,"Wildberry" at the then un housed Upper Rock Quarry. It turned out to be Poison berry pala. Then Joseph my newly arrived friend from Kiangan asked me to drink "GATAS"- straight from the faucet. It is what we call the water coming out from the Faucet back then. It is so white like milk that you have to wait for a while before the whitish consisteny evaporates. We had a contest to drink so many glasses at that time. Result: We were both hospitalized for Chlorine Poisoning. A chemical used as a disinfectant by the BWD.
  --Later on, i had to contend with Mumps, Pigsa (as a result of Riding on the wet back of a Carabao in Apayao. My whole inner legs were lined with them,i couldnt walk.) A fractured right knee bone came as top prize as i engaged in motocross racing in my mid twenties. I had to wear crutches (again!) for more than a year.
  --Ulcer, Painful flu and other unexplained illnesses later, i found myself in Hospital later with a gunshot to my right leg (again!), this time i almost died from loss of blood. A result of an ambush as i campaigned against Corruption in my locality. What a price to pay.
  
  --LIVING A LIFE OF PAIN pushed me to believe that i'm born so unlucky. For this week despite my having mellowed an having aspired for a peaceful life,i was struck again by my ever loyal- Painful flu. Everytime this friendly flu strikes me, im flattened.Unable even to carry my body up. Even just to sit up is impossible with the general weakness that i feel.
  AMA PALPALDONGAY, OUR WIZENED OLD KARAMBAK CAME TO VISIT ME.
  
  PIOWLO: Thanks for the visit Ama Paldy, You know, I believe i'm so unlucky.
  AMA PALPALDONGAY: No, Don't say that Piow, Rejoice because you are Blessed in reality. Your Pains and ilnesses are just factors to make you appreciate your good health and make you utilize your time to good use.
  PIOWLO: Uhumn, Thanks Ama paldy, Yes, i think you're right. Since i noticed that everytime i recover from pain or illness, the more that i'm inspired to achieve something. Thanks for making me aware of that.
  
  ---Well, it seems i'm not so unlucky after all. After all the pain and miseries i've been through,it served to inspire me more to strive harder in life. So that when i get sick, i won't worry of where to get my sustenance... Now,i can live comfortably as i please. I can choose to sleep when i like and wake up anytime of day with no boss to reprimand me.
  -- Being in pain all of my life made me instinctively put up some businesses that will survive even if i'm down and sick as usual. Now at my age, i can smile even though i'm sick again,,,, as usual.
  
  ---So Rejoice Karambaks, If youre in pain or you are sick, that is a blessing. Use it as an inspiration to strive more, to gain something. Spiritually for your well being, Physically for your good health and economically for your family not forgetting us your Karambaks too if things come so plenty.
  
  -----------For Good feeling, Shout-AYUUhaaay!-With your tongue sticking out in the -HAAAY part. Try it, it works. ------

REFLECTIONS FROM THE CORDI HOMELAND

Pio Velasco

GOOD MORNING RAMBAKLANDIA!
Part 1 : REFLECTIONS FROM THE HEART OF OUR CORDI HOMELAND.
It's Thursday here in the Cordi Homeland, it's a bit Chilly as we were relentlessy romanced and battered by Mr. Wind lasting the whole night. It's a wonder that Mr.Sun chose to be Shy today hiding behind a dark overcast sky.
Cold as it may, we are still grateful that its a comfortable 16 degrees Centigrade. Ou...r Homeland is still the most perfect place to be. Complete with surprises and typhoons but it is mostly with lovely weather and climate that makes us say, "Thanks GOD, i live in Cordi! ". Life would be so boring minus these spices of life that will make you appreciate even the simplest of blessings coming your way.

Rambaklandia is still on this ship journeying through the heart of the Cordillera Homeland. We hope to see Culture,Arts and traditions as we travel and we get periodic servings of that. But as a fact, what we see now is our present Culture of a Cordillera trying to make ends meet.
We are a region of Mountainous terrain that served to divide communities apart. We have seen tribes not so far apart from each other but with diverse ways and even language. We are so near each other, yet we are so far in our ways.
---This is a fact in the Cordilleras that we advocate to cope up with. To unite us as one in the spirit of Love,Caring,Sharing and Respect.
---Divided be the Communities are, we come to see the current trend of Families being divided too , by distance this time. The current economic situation of our Region forces Mothers and Fathers to seek for greener Pastures, overseas.
--No amount of tears, of love ,of longing can bridge the gap. Of children looking far up among the clouds ,asking when will they see their Mom, their Dad? We see mothers and fathers trying to reach out across the distance to bring their love to their offsprings. Someday, unification will come. . Praying and hoping will make a difference. I know,i once was an OFW two decades ago.
--Meanwhile we are all undergoing a process, how it will end up to each and every one will depend on how we will work for it. Do aim for the best so that if you fall short, you will still end up good.
--For now, we Have RAMBAK CORDILLERA to help us ease our pains and bring us closer to our loved ones.
Do try to help keep our page and Rambaklandia as wholesome and as homely as possible. iT'S OUR HOME.