First of the Many

Finally, it was the long awaited weekend. My friends and I have been planning for this getaway ever since the tedious and grueling Nursing Licensure Exam review days a few months ago. And now that we are officially registered nurses, we felt we deserved this more than anything. We decided to leave Cagayan de Oro City by 1:00pm so that we would arrive at the City of Malaybalay by 3:00pm more or less. There is an annual Kaamulan Festival happening that anyone shouldn’t miss and we dare not pass on the opportunity. We had to ride the bus on the way there but because of the sheer excitement, we couldn’t care less as long as we arrive there safely. We stayed at the Murillo’s Residence for the entire trip and we had the house all by ourselves!

Zhy and Tiffany on the bus

Yani, moi, Tiffany and Zhy at Zhy's house

When we arrived at the city, the hustle and bustle of the upcoming events cannot be contained so we went immediately to the house to rest for a while (although ironically, we should have rested well on the two-hour bus ride) but hey, sitting for a long time could also be very tiring! After a few hours, my friend Zhy’s mom told us we should eat dinner at a local restaurant so that we could also stroll along the Capitol grounds. She offered to treat all of us so the decision to go or not was not that hard at all. The Capitol grounds was a very big space filled with lots of little stores selling almost anything of everything, we even stopped by a store which sells hermit crabs which looked a lot like snails and their shells were painted with cartoon characters, it was cute and unique but too expensive for a pet. After we ate at Sir Edward’s, we went home immediately to rest and prepare for the next day’s activity.

Waiting for our ride home

We woke up very early the next day to watch the street dancing and although it started a little bit late, it was very well worth the wait. Different tribes with colorful costumes and unique floats with intricate details paraded all over the streets. Dancers told stories through their dance and moved graciously with every beat of the drum and sound of music. Stories that must have been centuries old retold over and over again yet reflects how the tribe came to be. From the very wise and experienced elders down to the children who participated not only for fun but more importantly, for the love of culture and tradition. After the street dancing, we walked all over the city again, bumping into a couple of friends who were also enjoying the festive environment. After our lunch, we headed to the Kaamulan grounds to take pictures and then to a Korean store where some of my friends tried on a couple of dresses. We bought ‘pasalubong’ for our families and then decided to go home and rest. There was a concert featuring national artists earlier that night but we decided not to go and we settled for ice cream and girl bonding instead.

I woke up to the sound of the rain and cold weather the next day and we were supposed to go to mass together before going to the bus terminal but because of the rain, we decided to attend mass when we get back to CDO. The ride home was surprisingly faster and we were able to catch up a 12:30 mass at the Cathedral. After the mass, we all went our separate ways and headed home. It was the first out of town together with my friends and we are already planning a couple more throughout the year!

Unforgettable moments with awesome friends are worth treasured forever. :D