Bahay Kubo

Xyz Ani Gaia N. Olaya

Barangay Arado is not a difficult place to find, it is located just along the street of National
Highway where cars mostly pass by when they are on their way to the municipalities of Sta. Fe, Alang-
alang, Carigara, Jaro and also to the Northwestern part of Leyte, Ormoc City. Barangay Arado is two
kilometers away from what the Palon-on people calls “Proper hit Palo”, which are the 6 proper
barangays namely; Luntad, Cavite West, Cavite East, St. Michael, Sta. Cruz and Buri. When we go past
through the last right corner of the highway, it is already the Barangay of Arado. There a lot of means in
reaching Barangay Arado, riding a pedicab, jeep, tricycle, motor, and a 5 minutes’ walk could lead us
there.

Barangay Arado is a special place for me but there is something more special about the place, it is
where our home used to be located. Specifically at Zone III-A, Barangay Arado, Palo, Leyte. Going to
Arado, our place is located on the very first left corner of the highway across the river bank. Turning in
that corner, beside a white tall house of my Aunt, is an empty lot with tall grasses growing on them is
where our home used to be.

Whenever I visit my Aunts house, our neighbors would always ask, “Uy, san-o kamo magbabalay
utro didi?”, “Mabalik pa kamo dinhi?” these are the most common questions they would ask and always
replied with, “Di ako maaram kanda Mommy.”

Looking at the empty lot through the window of my Aunts house, I remembered that twelve years
ago a bahay kubo made up of bamboo stood before me it was a few feet above the ground, octagon-shaped,
well-ventilated, and a unique house was built in that specific empty lot. Table and Chairs made out of wood
was placed in the center of our front yard, flowers and plants gave beauty to the place, just a few meters
away a fish pond was located on the right side of the house, beside our house on the left stood a bamboo
tree, chickens and ducks were everywhere, a playground located just below the house and the ambience of
the place is welcoming and comfortable. Looking through our porch is a vegetation, a beautiful scenery that
lightens up our mood. Fresh air cools down the place whenever the sun is scorching hot. The only best word
to describe our home is beautiful.

The windows of our house are open and only the elegant drapes of the curtains are the only ones
that covers it. In our living room, a family portrait of ours is placed in the center of the wall along with the
others. Each portrait has a significant event, one of the family picture were taken when we had our home
finished and a picture of our family when we were in Cebu way back in 2004. Our very first television was
TLC, we would always watch our favorite cartoons, Banana’s in Pajamas together while sitting on the floor
because there were no chairs in our living room but only the well-furnished floor. In the corner, a shelf full
of books is placed which was collected by our Mom and Dad. In our dining room, the dining table was
different from what the Filipino people usually have in their home, and it is like those tables in Chinese
restaurants that we should cross our legs to be able to sit in a comfortable way. Our dining table used to be
our favorite spot, it is where we eat our Dad’s delicious cook and chat along with everyone. The kitchen is
my favorite place in our home because I love to cook just as much as how I love gardening. Especially
when my Dad teaches me to cook for our breakfast. We all had our respective bedrooms, my bedroom was
enough for me, it had a varnished bamboo wall and posters of Disney princesses mostly occupied the space
of the wall. My siblings also had their own room and a lot of toys was displayed everywhere. My mom and
Dad’s room was located at the center of the house and just above their room is the office of my Dad. Each
part of our home is special because it made a great contribution in making our house beautiful. It probably
won’t give other people any useful information, but it can still be helpful in terms of overall impression.

I remembered that a lot of beautiful things that happened in our home, these memories are the ones
I carried with me up until now, memories that are worth remembering. Our home was built during the year
2006, I was six years old that time and a kinder pupil. I remember when I was six, I was trained together
with my kuya to water the plants every afternoon after school and feed the ducks and chicken. It was the
very first task that we did without the help of our Yaya. When I was a kid, I never wanted to play at school
but instead I would immediately go home and take off my uniform and black shoes and place it carelessly
on the floor and runs to our garden to help my dad in the nursery, transferring the seedlings to the plot. It
was fun that I became fond of gardening and liked how the soil dries in my small hands. My brothers and I
would always play with the children of our workers, go around the garden and find caterpillars in a leaf of
an okra, digs up the soil to find earthworms to feed our ducks and chickens. I still remembered that every
time we harvest our vegetables my friends and I would go around the neighborhood to sell them and we get
paid with five pesos, if sold. We would also play balay-balay, climb up a guava tree, go through the rice
field to fly a kite and we used to play purugsilay (a bamboo toy gun that uses wet paper as a bullet). These
were some memories that made my childhood fun and memorable. Our home used to be our comfort zone
and our playground perhaps in my dreams it will forever be.

Our front yard is the favorite place of my mom especially in having coffee with her friends under
the shade of the bamboo tree and chatting along with them. I and my brothers would sit by the huge rock
beside the fish pond and wait for our Dad to arrive from work with a pasalubong, our favorite Jollibee fries.
During Saturdays, We all go out for a picnic in our tree house by the garden until nighttime to watch the
stars and the moon. By seven o’clock in the evening we all go home together. I even remember how my
Dad was angry because someone tried to copy the design of our house without any permission from him,
we were scared of what could have happened if the misunderstanding got beyond control but fortunately,
they talked everything out and made everything okay between them. There were also a lot of challenges
that came our way especially during financial problems. The memories and joy we experience in our home
will always have a special place in my heart.

When summertime came around again, our home was my favorite place to be. I always play with
my friends and there was always so much to do during summer. Activities consisted of playing hide and
seek, go fishing in our fish pond, riding bikes, and so much more. Once my brothers and I had our picture
taken by the well while taking a bath and hanged in the wall of our living room. Sometimes our
neighborhood would organize an activity for everyone in our front yard, and we would grill and enjoys each
other’s company. Spending the party by our front yard made the event so much more enjoyable.

Six years after, I felt the change of atmosphere in our home, I knew that something was wrong but
I tried to divert my attention from that matter and think of happy thoughts but I cannot get over the fact that
my Mom and Dad would talk about my Dads work abroad. It was quiet sad but if I look on the bright side,
I know that he’s going abroad for his work to give us a brighter future. If he leaves, our home wouldn’t be
the same anymore, there would be minimal changes in our home that we have to be used to because change
is not permanent. By the time he left, it was only Mommy, Kuya, Hnz, and I. The only way to keep in touch
with my dad was through Skype. Whenever we talk to him he would always ask if everything was all okay,
reminding us to behave, feed the ducks, chicken, and fishes, to water the plants, and clean the house.

Our Dad would always tell us that the house should be the same when he left and by the time he
comes back. It seems that it will ever happen again. A year have passed, our home was not as it was before.
We lost communication with our Dad, we don’t know where he is and even his friends have no idea where
he is. I knew that he found a new place he calls home, not with us anymore but with someone he chose to
be with. In the year 2012, I never felt happiness in our home anymore, I felt like our home was a prison and
I was a prisoner. I never wanted to stay in our house anymore, I always wanted to stay out. We never
maintained its beauty, dusts and cobwebs were visible in every corner of our house. I see myself waking
up in the morning, goes to school, and comes back by the evening. The same routine every day, nothing
more, nothing less.

November 08, 2013, the day I never expected everything to suddenly disappear. Typhoon Yolanda
ravaged and wrecked the house I was in love with, the house I grew up in, and where happiness was
achieved.
 If I could I would go back and relive some of these memories. No matter where I go, our home will
always be in my heart. No matter my age, our home holds some of the most memorable and cherishing
parts of my life.

The house we’ve had may never be replaced, no house may ever amount to our old house, the
memories I’ve had with that house will never fade in my memories.