4th February 2009

I needed a holiday after working so hard in the Korea, so when my good mate Raymond invited me to attend the fiesta in his village, I couldn't resist.  I have attended many fiestas here in the Philippines before (Tabucan, Nalu-Oyan, Ati-Atihan, Dinagyang, Pulao, Jardine and St. Agustin) , so it seemed like a great way to unwind before "real life" started up again.

Auitan is in the Isabella province, which is about twelve hours north of Manila, so we set off at about 5:30 am in the CERV van.  We made various stops along the way to buy produce, check out some churches, take some photos and observe some monkey sex.

The fiesta itself consisted of - well - preparing food, and visiting various people's houses and eating the food that they prepared.

There were the usual fiesta games as well as horse rides.  The horse carriages are still used commercially around the district, but tend to converge on the barangay (village) for the novelty value.  We also made a visit to Ray's father's grave.  The graveyard itself had a gorgeous (Acacia?) tree overlooking it.

The few days I was in Auitan consisted of helping prepare the food; reading God is Not Great - which Tom and Ingrid gave to me at my farewell party; eating too much food ("Eat more!") and taking too many naps. 

It was relaxing and just the sort of break that I needed after working too hard in Korea.