"Their lives start to revolve with these things that many of us living at the cities and working at the office don't know or not aware at all."
The more I traverse the length of the Mestizo River in Vigan via the Vigan Heritage River Cruise, the more that I appreciate the simplicity of life that many of us can't appreciate. We have always wanted a life filled with luxury and comfort (and who else doesn't want) but with the scenes I saw along the banks of the Mestizo River, my hypothalamus begins to send neurochemical signals that filled my emotion with a mixture of just many things.
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| Father and Daughter: What a nice way to start the day right checking the fish cages |
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| Maps by Wikipedia |
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| Location Highlighted in Red |
I was brought out in a simple family just within the corners of our house and never exposed to work at the fields or in growing livestock therein.
Of course, I am not also accustomed with the life near the river so seeing these scenes is a big deal for me because it is giving me a chance to explore more about life, society, our community and see the new things that I rarely see in my daily routine. The things I am seeing brought me to real life and to mature as well that the simplest thing in this world should not be taken for granted.
During the morning, the life along Mestizo River goes into action. Some residents living nearby, wearing their hut and long sleeves face the sun as they visit their fish cages to feed the fishes therein.
Aside from the fish cages, there are also livestock that are domesticated by the residents also just along the river and these include goats and poultry.
Their lives start to revolve with these things that many of us living at the cities and working at the office don't know or not aware at all.
As the boat [where I am in] continues to traverse the river route, there are some I have seen harnessing the natural resources they can get from this river.
Through the method they call in Ilocano as agkammel, people are able to catch their next food of the day from this river.
More over, the cruise kept going until the boat reached a place where several construction workers are working.
I salute how persevered these workers are and being a not so athletic or physically-capable individual to carry heavy objects like they do, I have to realize that no man is an island.
We have different strengths in life and we excel in different fields. For this, I appreciate how our lives revolve and how diverse life could be that blend too complex to build a community.
These construction workers are here to build this river control project to protect the residents nearby from the threats of erosion.
Under a hot day, they are unstopped by the circumstances and could you just imagine the role of these people in our society yet they are not highly-paid for this physically demanding work but still work hard for their families.
The river has been a part of their life and how inspiring to see these river kids enjoying a life with all those sweet smiles painted at their innocent faces.
From these children's smile is the effort of their parents to look for resources at Mestizo River to look for a food for the day or possibly things to sell at the market.
At the photo below is an image of a man catching a fish using traditional means of catching them. Pointed objects are sent toward the river and I can't explain the whole process since I don't how they did it but I was able to see how the man has done the method.
Under a hot day, they are unstopped by the circumstances and could you just imagine the role of these people in our society yet they are not highly-paid for this physically demanding work but still work hard for their families.
The river has been a part of their life and how inspiring to see these river kids enjoying a life with all those sweet smiles painted at their innocent faces.
From these children's smile is the effort of their parents to look for resources at Mestizo River to look for a food for the day or possibly things to sell at the market.
At the photo below is an image of a man catching a fish using traditional means of catching them. Pointed objects are sent toward the river and I can't explain the whole process since I don't how they did it but I was able to see how the man has done the method.
This is the Mestizo River, an ordinary river as it may seem but as I cruised to this river, I realized, I am just so ignorant and immature to say that this river is ordinary.
I have to say "read the book first before concluding for the title." The river seemed so quiet and just a simple river but hundreds of stories can be taken as you explore it and will learn and discover many things and understand the role of this river to the life of both ordinary and extraordinary Filipinos.
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Tags: Mestizo River | River in Vigan | People along the river | life along the river | living of people along the river
