Filipino Tapestry: Tagalog Language through Culture

12. Buhay sa Bukid (Life in the Country)

153 12 OBJECTIVES • Conjugate and use the magpa and pa–in/pa–an verbs in complete sentences. • Discuss and describe the ways and attitudes of small town living in the Philippines. • Expand sentences using kung and kapag. OPENING PHOTOS Bahay kubo Bukid sa Camiguin, isang Islang malapit sa Mindanao Buhay sa Bukid Life in the Country 154 Filipino Tapestry On your own: When you think of the terms bukid, probinsiya, barrio, and palayan, what images , feelings, fears, thoughts, and ideas come to mind? Isulat sa ibaba. Images Feelings Fears Thoughts Ideas Small group/in-class: Share your images, feelings, and so on, with others. Create a mural depicting life in the barrios based on them. Share it with the class. Glossary pulo – island kapatagan – plains lambak – valley bundok – mountain burol – hill bulkan – volcano ilog – river karagatan – ocean/seas lawa – lake bukid – rice field halaman – plants puno – tree magsasaka/magbubukid – farmer trabaho – employment palay – unhusked rice kanin – cooked rice bigas – uncooked rice kalabaw – carabao (water buffalo) mga hayop – animals probinsiya/lalawigan – province palayan – rice field barrio – small village magtanim – to plant mag-ani – to harvest mag-abono – to fertilize magdilig – to water plants mag-alaga – to care for magtinda – to sell bumili – to buy magpa-ani – to have someone harvest (a crop) magpa-abono – to have someone fertilize (plants) magpa-alaga ng hayop – to have someone care for animals magpaluto – to have someone cook magpalinis – to have someone clean magpatuyo – to dry something magpabili – to have someone buy ♪ 155 Buhay sa Bukid CULTURAL NOTE: BUHAY SA BUKID As a contrast to the Philippines’ new urban culture, this chapter recounts some traditional elements of rural life, including community relationships, agricultural cycles, and diet. Despite recent urbanization in the Philippines, nearly 40 percent of the country’s population still lives in rural communities. Although over half of the inhabitances are below the poverty line, earning roughly two dollars a day, and engage in incredibly arduous occupations, rural life in the islands offers a rich and rewarding experience. The values of hard work, peaceful existence, and bayanihan (sense of community) in the Philippine bukid have been depicted romantically in national literature and art for centuries. Despite the cosmopolitan allure of large cities, many Filipinos long for the pleasant simplicity of provincial life. Ang buhay sa bukid frequently revolves around agricultural cycles. Planting, harvesting, wet and dry seasons, and the health of animals all deeply influence the worldviews and habits of rural Filipinos. Religious celebrations and folk beliefs are often tied to land and the desire for fertility. The Pahiyas harvest festival in Central Luzon, for example, pays homage to the patron saint of farmers, San Isidro de Labrador, with elaborately decorated homes and exhibitions of the finest products of the harvest. It is generally believed that these displays demonstrate profound gratitude to San Isidro and solicit further blessings as his statue is paraded through the town in a jubilant procession. Two of the most celebrated aspects of rural life in the Philippines are an abundance of fresh foods and a slow-paced, peaceful, and intimate relationship with the environment and one’s neighbors. With a moist tropical climate, the Philippine islands naturally produce a tremendous variety of fruits and vegetables. Most rural Filipino families carefully cultivate fruit trees and vegetable gardens to augment their diets and incomes. The products of these plants provide a constant supply of rich organic foods and give rural cuisine a distinctly fresh texture and taste. Enhanced by native vinegars, fermented fish pastes (bagoong), and locally raised meat and fish, provincial cooking is certainly one of the most desirable aspects of life in the bukid. Rural communities typically consist of a number of families or clans that have worked the land for generations. Their relationships with one another through blood and marriage create an atmosphere of inclusiveness and kinship. Far from the anonymity experienced in large cities, rural inhabitants find themselves in a multistranded web of familial and friendship networks. Relatives, friends, and neighbors often work, play, study, and celebrate together throughout their lives. One knows and is known by virtually all other members of the community . While rifts and disputes are certainly not uncommon, members of rural communities generally enjoy a reliable support system that buoys them throughout their lives. GUIDED CONVERSATION On your own: Read, listen to, recite, and then translate the dialog below. Share your translation with a partner. 156 Filipino Tapestry Usapan ng...