303 years of devotion and growing!

Last Friday, September 13, thousands of pilgrims from all over the world gathered around the Penafrancia shrine to witness the annual traslacion of the Our Lady of Penafrancia, Patroness of Bicolandia. The holy image of Ina was known to be miraculous and thousands of devotees pay their homage every year for each favor they received.  

Traslacion, is the transferring of the miraculous Image of the Our Lady of Peñafrancia and of the Divino Rostro to the Metropolitan Cathedral.

The feast of Our Lady of Peñafrancia is celebrated on the third Sunday of September in Naga City. It is preceded by a nine days of prayer in honor of the Virgin and holy masses are celebrated every hour by the priest from all over the Philippines. On the ninth day, the image is returned to her shrine following the Naga River route. The colorful evening procession is lit by thousands of candles from devotees in boats escorting the image. This tradition begun in 1885. 

It was more than 300 years and yet her devotees grow each year. Despite all the trials, present economic condition and technological advancement not to mention the growing number of religious sect, believers are still coming and growing to visit her shrine. I cannot say that maybe because we inherit this traits from our forefathers who was remnants of Spaniards nor that maybe because we are just doing this because someone required us to do so but maybe because it’s the faith that makes us united and draw close near her.

Adorned with fresh flowers and new mantle her holy image together with the Divino Rostro are being carried by strong men. They are known to be voyadores. Not all men can be a voyadores. You have to be tough and responsible to be one. You don’t need to wear your high classy outfit and smells good but you gotta be strong! 

Strong that will make you reach her image .  Touch and kiss her image and have the courage to wipe a small piece of cloth even in her mantle. That piece of clothing is a treasure to every voyadores and wiping one means everything to them. It is believed that anyone suffering from physical ailments are relieved once that piece of cloth touch them. Sometimes voyadores get hurt and even fainted. But the faith they have never ceases. With INA every bicolano is always safe.

For every bicolano, the traslacion isn’t just a tradition it is also the time to reflect and be thankful for all the blessings we received. As a practice each time her holy image passes by the street it is being showered with flowers and confetti. Some business establishment fly balloons and spray water for the voyadores. The busy streets of Naga are being filled with good old friends from all walks of life. It is the time for every bicolano to go home and reunite again. The traslacion is an opportunity to meet with the old friends and get along with them during the procession and an avenue to make new friends.

As one of her devotee and growing up with the strong catholic faith and as a witness for her miraculous deeds for my mom I came along with my brother every year to witness and join the celebration. No matter where we are we make sure to go home for her feast. Not because we were obliged by our parents to do so but because we want too and you can’t explain the mix emotions you get when her holy image passes by. 

We can’t afford to be a voyadores since I am a girl and my brother, I don’t know if he has the guts to be tough and all but together with our friends we make good pictures and share it to the world. That way we can contribute to spread the devotion and give a glimpse of the traslacion to all our fellow bicolanos around the globe who can’t make it home. The weather, the smell, the environment you have to endure it along with other devotees men and women young and old alike.

Ina is the mother of all bicolanos. We are lucky she is just a ride a way. We are lucky we are under her mantle. I am lucky she makes my mom ok. And if there is one wish I want right now is that may she heal all those who are suffering from illness specially those who were able to read this and believe in her.

As bicolano may we continue to pray, honor and believed in Ina through the rest of our life.

Viva la virgin! Viva!

photo credits and with permission by jojo prieto 

my 30 years of stint in this universe!

Happy of living 29 years to the fullest and enjoying every little thing each day life could offer, today with so much thanksgiving i turn 30! i am very happy that i have reach this age. i am halfway then.  funny it may seem that the more you ask your fb friends for candy crush extra life, i, too was there begging god for my extra life. you never know how much i pray to god to give me more strength each day. i really wanted grow old and live more. i was afraid that like my older sister i cant make it on my 30. but today marks another milestone of my existence, im happy that i was able to make it .  i am happy i was born in with loving family and met friends who supported me all the way. I am so proud for as you read this I am now a 3 decade baby.

the only pictures i have from my childhood. 

29 years passed by too much quickly! half of me reminds me that i am now 30 and half of me said i wasnt aware of that. Roll out loud but that is what i feel right now. And as of this moment it doesnt come to any of my senses that i am this age. Literally, i grew up but i never grow old. it was just yesterday! i am always a kid my father love me about.

 but even so i have to accept that fact, after all who wouldnt want to turn 30 when 30 feels this good :)

I am 30 as the song goes i, too is young, wild and free!  I am not Perfect. I have learned that pretending to be perfect doesn't make us perfect. I am not perfect, and I never will be. I make mistakes and bad decisions, and I fail at times. I stumble, fall. I am human as you are. 

With whatever reasons, with whatever purpose why i am now 30 i will surely enjoy every aspect of it. 

For these milestone nor did i ask myself if am i already old for this carefree life of mine? I am viewing age as a positive simply because I have learned a ton of lessons that not only help define me, but will make future years enormously successful - emotionally, professionally, and socially.

As I look back at my last 29 years of life, there were so many special moments that came and went. I wish I would sit back and enjoyed the moments more. Absorb the good times because they are the first things you forget my mom often told me. Oftentimes you don’t realize how powerful your lives can be until you reflect and share your experiences. that's why i created this post. Opps did i say create? yah! create and not write...i find it hard to write with pen and paper. my writings goes bad. I want to reflect on my life and be sure to enjoy the lessons learned instead of regretting whatever outcomes I didn't like at the time. should i say that? anyways, here how it goes.

From where i am today is the product of all the things i have learned from my 29 years of stint. A great part was the things i have learned from my constantly reading wide range of books over the years and continues schooling, not to mention of course are the things i learned in the four corners of our office whom i consider as my second home, things i learned inside our home with my family and understanding relatives and the real life lessons i get from the people who are much wiser and older than me that i encountered everyday. 

as i wake up today i say a little prayer to god. thanking him for all the wonderful blessings he gave me and my family. waking up healthy today makes me reminisce all the things that i had endure. and as i account everything, i am happy to know that all were that positive and i was enjoying the most. although there are some major circumstances of which i had to experience i am happy to know that i had make it through. That's what i assured my aboeji in his grave, that whatever things life would bring me i will make it through!

Every little scars i have on my feet and legs reminds me of how happy my childhood was. Contractubex doesn't disappear the scars completely for it stays within. It reminds me how many times i fall from the skateboard and bike. on how much i tried to fly a kite. on how long my hair is now today tells me of how much hair i cut because i dont like the hairstyle the hairstylist done. They said that the dove soap can make you flawless and white but the soap failed me to be one believe me i have used tons of that. 

My university diploma and the amount of money mom had to spent reminds me of how much i really wanted to escape school, run, ride my bike and discover the world. I skip school and boring classes. i got A+ i got D too. I wasnt that typical college student who used to excel in class. I was never be befriended with algebra. believe me in my school days nor did those x and y axises intersect! As when im about to finish my first two years at the university I suddenly realized that I needed a college education to be taken seriously and given respect in society. Going to college provided me with the setting to meet people from all walks of life, travel to and study in far-away locales, learn about myself and the world, and ultimately, to cultivate my goals in life and figure out what is important to me.  I was on my second year when i first taste and smell the beer! The compilation of photos and the pile of albums reminds me of the bus rides, ship rides and plane rides and the long hours of travel to get to my father’s place. the endless questions of why i have to do it all mom when i was asked to clean the house, sweep the floor and be friend with the dust and the ultimate tiresome task of washing the dishes and my own clothes. and why on earth i have to please everybody. why i need to be kind and responsible all the time and why on earth i have to kiss the oldies hands on family gatherings when some smells like a donkey and cigarettes. endless questions like why cant i live my own life and let me live the way i wanted it to live it. Remembering all those things makes me laugh out loud. Not to mention how much I try to kill the cockroach but I just cant kill them.

she's the woman who brought me into the world

The countless toys and robots on our shelf accounts of how much money I have wasted to spend for the stuff I believed had bring me too much happiness even its inappropriate for me. I have always love cartoon network, tom and jerry and ang of the avatar but killua of the hunterxhunter has been my all time favorite. I take everything on their lighter side. I had always been a positive thinker. and sometimes you don’t have to tell me what to do. I am a WWE addict. i love john cena! The running shoeses reminds me of how much hatred I had to kept within me because I was known to be patient and kind that I don’t like to get mad to anybody and rather run and shout on the seashore until I run out of breathe so I could digest all things I am mad about. 

this is my grandmere and i love her so much.

It was dawn of September 14 when I was born and on that day proves of how much love god had showered me that he really wanted me to experience the beauty of the earth. i was born dead...my mom had a hard labor and loses hope but after an hour i cried out loud! i think that day will always remind mom and all those who were present of how much i really wanted to live. They said that i was that big and squishy and absolutely perfect and as i grew older they  often tell me I used to speak to my warders freely, friendly and clearly.

i grew up knowing only whats left and right. That's my mom's rule or maybe the rules my aboeji inherited from his forefathers. i dont have a lot of choices. there's no in between but even so i was so happy i live that way. way back if i dont like to then i dont have to and today every decisions i make i dont have to ask someone to fix things for me or to help me decide. it is always my instinct that favors me. therefore, i dont have to step behind. i always go to the right side. The side that fits me. The side i enjoy creating of which nobody ever tried to cross in it. Somehow my parents employ other people to mind over me and I seldom see them attend PTA meetings before. But that is ok because growing up with that situation ables me to survive and live the slanting world. Later did i know that in order to have all our needs sometimes everybody has to sacrifice. 

I grew up knowing tinkerbell and I wish to have a tons of pixie dust, i do believe in fairies! much as I love ariel (the part of the world thing yah!) taz, mr. bean and the old time favorite tom and jerry and mr. bean!  Dr. Seuss yah dr seuss i love green eggs and ham and lucky to find out how the grinch stole christmas! You see in my mind I live in wonderland and my mind is only for lighter side. Not too boring not too complicated just me. i know its crazy but i have always love the way i live. i love to play in the streets with my cousins who loves to play peter pan. i have always had a great time! i was known as "ada" by my friends and classmates but seldom knows my real name. my aboeji calls me vicoy and that's the name i am missing the most.

I was 9 when we've meet an accident along marcos highway but an angel save me and my father. the investigator told them that its impossible to survive that accident for our car was ruined siting on top of the other car. For whatever reason on how we were able to survive such thing then I don’t need and I don’t feel like knowing. What matters to me now is that i know that I’m a very blessed human. I didn’t wake up this morning in my crap and forgot my name. I have a great family, a job enough to feed me, and I’m able to do the things I love. When I find myself complaining, I just have to stop and realize how fortunate I really am compared to many in the world.

i was a middle child for 25 years until my big sister went home to heaven. The characteristics of being one remains and will always be in me. I am happy that when i was a kid i wasn’t bullied that much. Nor did my family expect a lot from me. i was love by my older sister and that of my older cousins too. In their eyes i know they still see me as young kid but even so i am happy that they love me and that what matters. 

Growing up made me pay a visit to the orthodontist quarterly i have a very bad set of teeth.I suffered a lot of pain to have this beautiful teeth. and right now i have my last set of wisdom teeth to grow sometimes it kills me but unlike before i can bear the pain and endure it too. 

I got my university degree when i was 19 and had my very first job too.  I learned how to make money and i found out that earning some is wasnt that easy. That in times when you dont feel like waking up because the weather is killing you, you have to. So did i learn how to save and look after my finances. my brother told me i will be the most thrifty person on earth if i will not change my style. hearing so make me laugh because i know when he reach my age he will do the same after all i just learned it from my kins. i have a glorious wallet i got as a gift from my aunt but honestly speaking i dont usually put any amount in their its just that everytime i put my cash in that wallet it easily runs out. so i prefer not to put them there i just used an old coin purse.   i lost my father when i was 25. i cried too much that mom told me not to cry anymore for i dont know how to stop. i find it hard to speak and understand my native language fluently but i did tried my best to comprehend it. its the environment that hinders me. in our home bicol is seldom use.

I am a church goer that never ever escape church on sundays. I have attended mass in any point of the country. i have traveled a lot from luzon to mindanao but never ever reached the municipality of tinambac which is just an adjacent town in our place.

in my 29 years of stint i have gained a lot of beautiful friends. I trusted and love them very much and they love me more too. I was blessed to have them in my life. I have said I love you the nth times and when I say it I mean it.

i only have a small circle of friends whom i trusted more than anybody else. i dont choose people. but i prefer friends who are crazy like me!

Beside games, photography, computer, english and robots i love my mom more than anybody else. my mom is my world. six years ago i have given up an international scholarship for her. for me she's the best thing since peanut butter! i am thankful for the things mom had provided me and for loving me unconditionally. In 29 years my only brother who loves choclates and who is 6 years younger than me has always been my bestfriend and no matter how bad it is to reveal the truth we never know how to cook food and dont eat the food we dont feel like eating. if it wasnt for the microwave and easy to cook food i dont know how are we going to survive the day.

in my 29 years i have always been dependent to alarm clock. i find it hard to wake up. i can sing but i cant dance...really! i only learn to play the flute. i have tried to play guitar but the guitar doesnt like me. brownout has always been my problem i cant sleep without light and that makes my life miserable. when brownout strike and i cant sleep that's my big problem comes.

i dont have any plans in my life for the next 30 years. I will let the universe mold me of what will I become and I am sure it will be absolutely perfect! If i have to plan ahead of me, my life will be definitively boring. But i am excited to know what will i be and how will i look like! Rest assured that i will take care of my finances and health and love all the people around me. And continuously grow as an individual and contribute to other people in a meaningful way. 30 years is a long time, until you live it. Thirty years may be more than you have. Thirty years may be a small fraction of your life. Thirty years though, may be all you have. I thank you for being part of my 30 years of stint in this universe and i hope and pray that on my next thirty  you will always be there for me.

I love you very much :) 
thank you for finding time to read.

the so called school life of mine!

im getting ready for my next module. i know its going to be tough next week. they have us downloaded the language were using. good thing the software plays on all platform. working on C++ was never easy but as the days goes on i find it cool. refreshing my university days makes me reminisce how hard is it to say hello world in perl. im not that inclined to perl  or some other family of high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming languages but i love java. clearly speaking i am more on the IT mode nowadays. 

 as i have told you in my previous post most of my classmates are boys and far much older and smarter than me.

   i work hard and exert extra effort for me not to be left behind

i love going to this kind of modular training's because i get to see the world infront of me. 

although sometimes the environment is boring but getting in this class is not everybody's privilege. 

 gathering around the training venue is one of my most favorite part. not because i will get to see my classmates or my crush but i get to see the latest gadget in front of me. i mean glorious gadgets which means from the worlds fastest notebook...

 to the worlds priciest netbook

 and up to the worlds smallest netbook

that i can never get my eyes off those machines although im using a touchscreen but i really like those little gadgets

Training duration's usually ends every 7th day and during this time, we experience physical development, emotions, friendships, relationships, and especially constant knowledge. Happiness, sadness and other emotions, or even love sick, we all can find it there. That's why this school life of mine is one of the best moments of my life. It is different from university life and adult life, very different! 

 usually we stay in a hotel room enough to occupy three people

 this is how it looks like with wifi, tv, aircon, hot shower and bath and the smell is so good

 sometimes we stay very late

 that sometimes when it so cold and youre sleepy you cant even restore the gadgets properly. we cant go shopping either. we do them on the last day.

 we ate a lot...that's basic!

 and drink a lot too :)

 for every modules its your own prerogative as how are you going to make it through the day. as for me i cant go without my droids.

 i play before i sleep that makes me alive!

 we start our day before the sun goes up

 and usually end them three hours after the sun sets down

you will never know how much we learned from this people and environment and i really love it here

This is my school life!

I love it because its above different :)