The search for my word.
After 10 long hours, I got off the bus with my small backpack and a trolley bag. The nice, cool temperature greeted me at 8:30 in the morning. “I am finally in Sagada”, I thought to myself. “Oh, yay! I am in a small town!”, I thought to myself again, but this time, with enthusiasm. I drag my trolley bag to the tourism office and registered. I was greeted by a friendly local and asked, “Are you with someone?”, “Yes, me and my other 5 personalities”, my mind answered. “No, I am alone”, I smiled. “Where will you be staying?” I haven’t booked it yet”, because who needs a perfect plan?
If you are following me on social media (and doesn’t skip my stories), you probably have seen my posts about “Eat, Pray, Love”. I have watched the movie several times and read the book once. It’s my “go to movie” whenever I feel like looking for answers or I want to travel and eat. The story was about a recently divorced mid-thirties woman who is a successful writer, and looking for her word. She traveled across Italy, India, and Bali. While having lunch with friends, she was asked what’s her word. So she was not just recently divorced mid-thirties woman who is a successful writer, she was also in search of her word. Fast forward to the end of the movie, her word was..
*spoiler alert*
“Attraversiamo.”
“Let’s crossover.”
Now, let’s go back to my story.
In the Philippines, aside from being a beautiful small town, Sagada is also renowned for the movie called “That Thing Called Tadhana”. The town became well-known for people who want to move on from a failed relationship. Well, I am not here because I am heartbroken or because I want to runaway from my emotions. I’d do that in my bed at home. Why did I call this post “I did my own ‘Eat Pray, Love’ in Sagada”? Well, I am not divorced, I’m not in my thirties yet, I won’t call myself successful yet, but like Liz, I am looking for my word. See, that’s what happens when you watch a movie several times, it provokes your thoughts. I broke down this post into three parts to summarize this experience. Obviously, I named these parts: Eat, Pray Love.
The Eat
Oh, the pleasure of eating. My first day in sagada was mostly about eating. I wanted to try their traditional dish, pinikpikan for my first meal, but I ended up eating a whole wheat cheese bread (and it was worth it), because there was no open diner yet! On my last day in Sagada, I was trying to think which of the food I tried is my favorite. It was a difficult decision to make, but my most favorite place must be the unnamed small coffee shop nearby the hanging coffins. As I write this, I listen to the tweeting birds, murmurings, jeepneys nearby, I thought, there’s no fancy restaurant that can compare to the comfort of having a 20-peso coffee here. The weather perfected it, it’s 21 degree Celsius, and the cold breeze and the warmth of sunshine touch my face, a perfect combo!
Perfect place to have a chat with a friend while having coffee and a piece of lemon pie.
The Pray
I’ll meet you at the altar. 🙂
As I mentioned earlier, Sagada is well-known for people who wants to move on or just want to reflect on their life. That’s the thing with people, we want run away to a strange place just to reflect. But when you reflect, the right words do not always come out. Like the words in this blog post. Sometimes, there are no words coming out even. When you meditate, it is not certain that you have peace of mind or a quiet mind. While in Sagada, I love getting around the town by foot, because almost everything is accessible by foot. It was a good time for me to appreciate how beautiful this small town is. There is a nice view beside St. Mary’s Church, it is not full of people, except when students nearby it finished their classes. It looks like a perfect place to relax, meditate, or write. So I’m doing one of those, writing this part of this blog post under pine trees.
The Love
Love does not always mean romantic. When you travel, you don’t always find romance, and you don’t have to. Sometimes, learning to love yourself at your darkest is so much more fulfilling. It’s not every travel you will have your word, or find yourself, or heal your heart. Travel does not make everything better, but it makes you appreciate whatever you have in that moment, and it broadens and deepens your perspectives. I fell in love with this small town and little by little, in every destination, I learn to love myself more.
So if you ask me what my word is, I haven’t found a single word yet, but I have a phrase.
“To be continued.“
Little by little, in every destination, I learn to love myself more.
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