Sojourn in the Mountains

 The week started with an enormous adventure out of the school halls: to the mountains. As part of our CLF class and CES line of activities, we were to be exposed to those who are living far away from tall buildings, bright lights, and leisure. Far away from the city proper. And we were welcomed in our exposure site: Kang-atis.

We assembled in the covered parking area of our school by 7 AM and left the school premises on a 4-wheeler truck that holds three persons by the front seat (the driver, our homeroom/class adviser, and a personnel member) while 29 of us, out of 47 (three didn't join us) sat at the back part of the truck. Three vans from three of my classmates were joining us, having the rest of the 18 people ride there.

The whole 1 and a half hours of travel was a complete blissful experience, most especially the strong wind blowing on our faces since the back of the truck was open. It was fortunate for me to sit near the opening of the back part. And what was more hilarious was our misunderstood interpretation of our faces after several bumps on the road which really caused us to hop on our seats and hurt our butts. Though it was a bit scary, our screams overcame our fears. It was epic!

Then we arrived and had to go to the nearest comfort room. Thereafter, we gathered in pairs and each pair was assigned with a kid who would lead us to his/home. It was a 30-minute walk for us since we had to climb steep mountains and it was horrible! I slipped twice and had ruined by slippers but walking on barefoot was way better. And my partner and I enjoyed the company of the family assigned to us and had a wonderful lunch with them.

By 1:40 PM, we had to leave and fortunately it was easier for me to go down than to go up. Yes, and my partner had a hard time going down. We're completely opposite, yeah. 

View of the road from the opening at the back part of the truck

Running into the woods

Twilight-like

Dora dora dora the exploreeeeeer!

The environment was mesmerizing. Totally green. There were a lot of trees and grasses and flowers. I was even thinking that I was in that forest scene in Twilight. The road may be bumpy to walk on, but that's nature.

Then, we had another bumpy ride after an hour of waiting for the rest to load into the truck and vans. Left Kang-atis with beaming smiles and heavy loads since the families gave us coconuts, bananas, plants, vegetables, fruits, corn, and the like. It was really touching. :)

Exposure in Kang-atis was one of the most unforgettable experiences I have in my last year in high school and these experiences really made a great impact in my life.