sipping kofi 3 in 1, the prize of the hike up and down the steep hill from the batad to the sari-sari (variety) store down below, thinking of misty mornings in the afternoon with heavy duty sore legs from 300+ steps up and 300+ steps down but i lost track of counting at the 77th step. stop, breath in slow, breath out slow, breath in the green jungle abound of water bearing trees. relinquishing the cool spring water, gifts from the mountain-side spring. mag-nga nga. chew the betel nut. spit out the red laway (spit). when asked what is mestizo in ifugao, an ifugao leader answered that there is no ifugaw word for it. instead, the ifugaw leader said that ‘german sheperd’ is used to refer to a foreigner. spit out the ‘german shepherd’ after 400+ years of colonization

Uhaj, Banaue, Ifugao, Bansa ng Pilipinas

bayanihan – ancestral banaue rice terraces made by hand and water to move the earth. community building with the indio-geniuses people of the north, the ifugaos of luzon, t’bolis from the south, mindanao with balik-bisayans from oakland, califas. immerse in the diverse cultures, learn and teach each other about our varied languages of ancestral lands in the now. akyat, baba (ulitin pa rin) climb up climb down (repeat) the mountainside of banaue

yellow birds follow as the red birds fly by. black winged palm-size butterflies flutter by in numbers. expose sa ibat ibang salita ng bansa (diversity of languages in the motherland). planting seeds katutubo ifugao with strength of mighty giants flying up and down the rice terraces, mighty giants katutubo ifugao closest to heaven on earth. kiphodan di bilid, kiphodan di payo; for the good of the forest, for the good of the rice terraces, lagud uhaj, banaue, ifugao. buy a tree, plant a tree