Province is my home, but the city always holds a big place in my heart.
I was born and raised in a rural area, therefore, ever since I was young, I was surrounded by lush green scenery with fresh air. I am deeply in love with our place that I would want to stay here until I get old. In the morning as I woke up, the glowing sunrise welcomes me with delight and as the night starts to break, the wonderful sunset will then bid its farewell. I am so blessed as well that these two happenings can be seen vividly in the area I am in.
By the way, I am from the beautiful municipality of Manolo Fortich in Bukidnon province. I always get mesmerized by the environment I am in as I have witnessed a lot of wonders that I never thought I would be able to feel and experience. Every hour of every day, no matter what I do, I end up appreciating my place because of every wonderful thing it possesses. Because of that, I feel grateful always.
But as I have mentioned, no matter how much I love my province life, I can't help but feel the warmness of the experiences I once had around the city. Those experiences can't be replaced with any jewels in this world.
Anyway, the city that I am referring to is Cagayan de Oro City. tthe nearest city to our place as it will only take me at most an hour to reach it by jeepney, van or bus. Honestly, way back when I was young, my heart was away from the city. I don't feel like living it because of the things that I heard from others. Even if there were big establishments, I don't find it so awesome that I wanted to visit them more often. Way back when I was little, I always find it annoying whenever my mother and I go to the city as there are a lot of busy people here and there, and the noisy surroundings disturb my peace of mind as a child.
But everything has changed when I finally get to experience living in the city all by myself.
When a province girl lives in the city, what to expect? As for me, I was scared. I was scared that I will not be able to live a fruitful life since I will be on my own. I also feel afraid that I will be lost in the city or something, and so I did. I remember back when I first started boarding in a boarding house around Velez, Cagayan de Oro City. I need to board a room since I was still studying in college at that time and it was still so hard for me to travel around an hour and all. So what happened was, I went to the nearest Jollibee around and when I was done ordering and finally decided to go back to the farm, I tend to forget that I almost got lost. Good thing that I get to ask the people around me and they were so warm. The scary feeling that I felt disappeared in an instant.
Now, these thoughts suddenly showed up when I went to the city last time with my family. I have realized a lot of things that have opened my eyes to how I valued the city before. When I checked McArthur Park, it also reminded me of the wonderful moments I had with my friends before. I love how it made me feel. Such a great place. When I go to the mall, I also get to remember the times I get to eat out with my friends on our favorite fastfood chain.
Moreover, when I started living in the city, I realized that the people that I get to meet were so heartwarming. They will help you whenever you needed something. I also feel grateful that God surrounded me with the right people that have helped me to grow into what I am not. These heartwarming people have helped me to become a better one.
Another thing that I love about the city was the thought that I have learned a lot of meaningful lessons that I never thought I would be able to learn. One of the many lessons I learned was knowing that there lies beauty around everything even around busy streets and all. Furthermore, I have a lot of wonderful things around the city that I will always love. Hope I will be able to visit it again and share a wonderful moment with my friends. The person that you want to talk about is just anything.
So those are some of the things I love about the city. If given a chance to live it again, I'd surely make the best out of my moments like the old times.
Disclaimer: All Photos are My Own