Jala-Jala Summer Youth Camp

We had our camp at Jala-Jala, Philippines last May 1, 2009. Its purpose was for us to be bonded closer to each other. There, I had fun and gained more experiences.

When we arrived there, we had to fix the hut near the main house so that we could stay there for the rest of the youth camp.

During mealtimes, we were not allowed to use plates, etc. The elders in our group like Kuya Arvin (age 25), gets to cook our meal while we prepare the ingredients and we even cut the banana leaves straight from the trees and to the table. Mostly, there were simple activities and drinking. I had a couple of shots of The Bar (vodka) and a few drinks of Red Horse (beer). We had a few games in the field while taking shots of Red Horse.

Kuya Dennis was fund of making fun of all of us. There was even a time when I saw baby birds in their nest, that I got amazed and took photos of it. While taking pictures, Ate Mari was behind me and so does Mhikee. He suddenly poured ice cold water on them that I also had my whole back soaking wet. Thank goodness that the camera did not. I saw myself shivering afterwards because of that.

Jala-Jala was a cold place because of the strong winds from the field although the sun is high up there. I also had trouble getting signal for my mobile. Our camp site was a mango plantation but outside the fences were rice fields.

I only brought a few clothes with me so I did not change at once (because I was also thinking that messier things would happen in a few moments), so I let my clothes dry while I was wearing them.

Ian was quite annoying at that time because he was just sleeping while we were all working for food. He woke up when it was time to eat.

Ate Mari changed to new clothes though she only brought few clothes as well. By the time my clothes were almost dry, we had to transfer to the other house, near the lake (the lake was huge though; that it looked like an ocean; but then you would notice that there were mountains surrounding it from the distance), which was outside the mango plantation. I was one of the late comers when we arrived there so I kind of missed some fun. When I arrived there, they got us soaking wet by using a hose. Everyone there was wet. Not just us late comers. The water was hot but the winds made me shiver. I already had enough vodka but this time, they were drinking tequila in order to keep themselves warm.

Ate Mari and Jen were suddenly picked up and thrown, sliding downhill on the grass. Mhikee and I were able to run for our lives.

Because of the winds, and the playing on muddy grass, we kept ourselves warmed by showering with warm water from the hose.

After the games, we took a bath and changed to dry clothes. Migz’s grandfather was there, shooting down some birds and he taught me on how to remove their feathers. I ended up enjoying the sticky blood of these aves creatures.

By nighttime, we had a bonfire and an irritating open forum. It’s confidential.

The older ones stayed on the house near the lake, drinking and stuff while we (Nico, Aleli, Jen, Jho, Mhikee, Cynthia, Me) stayed in our hut. We had scary stories, and drinking/eating stuff. It was late at night when Ate Angelica went back to out hut from the other house. We almost ran out of cigarettes at that time. I kind of got irritated by Ate Mari when she was almost drunk of perhaps drunk already though she still says that she was fine. (We were drinking Generoso). She had been talking about my ex-boyfriends and scolding me on my relationships while she prevents other people in the hut into talking about her own love life.

“Taena. Mga lasing na kayo eh! Lalo na ‘tong si ate,” I said

“Di pa ko lasing,” she said.

“Eh bakit pulang-pula ka na!?”

“Mabilis lang ako mamula. Kung lasing ako, tulog na ako.”

Ugh…I swear she was drunk. Her looks and the way she uttered her words shows it. We were talking and Nico told me, “Pa’no ka malalasing eh wala kang ginawa kundi papakin pulutan natin?!” Hehe. Gluttony! The hut was huge for the eight of us but we ended up compressing on one side because of the scary stories that Nico and I told them.

We ran out of lights in the hut and they were taking ****** already.

Six in the morning—I was the first one to wake up. Even the ones in the other house were still asleep.

Good thing that I was in the mood for taking a walk and taking pictures of the sunrise, animals, fields, etc. or I would have taken my lipstick and drawn stuff on their snoring faces.

The morning breakfast was burning hot that I had a hard time eating. My fingers had a difficulty in touching the food (banana leaf meal as usual—no plates, spoons, forks).

After meal, we picked tons of mangoes from the trees. It was raining mangoes. Kuya Dennis was on the tree, shaking the branches while mangoes were falling. It hurt more than the hailstorm we had. Good thing that I only got hit on my foot. Ate Mari had her shot on her back. Haha!!!

We returned the sacks of mangoes we had to the camp and then headed out to go hiking up the mountains. On the way back, Kuya Mark and I carried a bag of mangoes on our shoulders. The mangoes were hanging on a bamboo trunk while we were carrying it on our shoulders. It gave me such a work out. On the hike, there were more than twenty of us who went up. I had fun because the last time I went hiking was at Mt. Makiling.

At hike, we had to cross the rice fields to the mountains, cross the stream, slide through mud, climb, get a few scratches and insect bites, but it was fun.

Nico had his hiking remembrance. He got a leaf that was about five feet huge. I got a few thorns in my feet which I got when I was climbing uphill from the stream. We were not wearing our slippers at that time because of the steepness.

I was lucky I only had two punctures on my feet after the hike. The others had tons of cuts.

After the hike, we went back to the campsite for a while but we were told not to change clothes yet.

We then went to the lake for a disgusting swim. The lake was not meant for swimming but for fishing. There were fishermen in the lake. Not tourists. There were lilies, scallops, huge rocks not sand, fishes, even tadpoles on the shallow part. The water was not clear either.

I was screaming with disgust. We were only allowed to remove our slippers when the water is deep enough because of the rocks on the shore. The scallops were even sticking under my slippers and they were very hard to remove. As you walk deeper into the lake, you would feel seaweeds tangling on your legs. The waves were high and the winds were strong. Ugh... I really did not like swimming there. Kuya Arvin was pulling me while Kuya Dennis pulled Cynthia. I sensed trouble. I was screaming. “P*t*ngina kuya ayoko na dito! Ang lansa! Shet! Bitawan mo ako!” He then carried me up to the air, “Oh my goth! Oh my goth! Wag!” Then he threw me… Splash! Ewww… I got soaking wet again and lake-smelling too. They even put some live fishes into Aleli’s shirt. Hehe...

We played a few games in the lake (the water was up to my chest).

The camp experience was fun anyway. There were different fruits and vegetables around us. Langka, banana, mango, guyabano, eggplant, pepper, etc.

When I got home in Manila, it was then that I noticed that I had f-ing sunburns on my chest and shoulders. The cold winds of Jala-Jala made me feel numb about the burning sensation. I hope that I get back to my natural whiteness in a few days. We brought home a lot of mangoes and langka here in Manila.