6/29/2023 0 Comments Panghilod na bato![]() I've had the pleasure of the 'hilod' experience. I remember having gone through the taking-a-bath sa may bomba, but still, walang hilod. I can picture it, the deep-well bomba, the palanggana, and the hilod. Never.never ever have I had the misfortune of being bathed with a "hilod". Nice segue!-the esoteric-ness of the common "hilod." I also had my share of it during my childhood days.aray ko talaga! Like a purification ritual. It's good loofas and body scrubs are already commercially available nowadays. But it's true that it's painful to the skin. Ha.ha.our servants also used this before and I did tried that too. ![]() Labels: Growing up memoirs, Local culture We just had to prove to her, though, that we could do it ourselves, and do a good job of it!Īnd so the rest of that summer in Subic was once again simply grand. ![]() You see, the way she applied it, our skin felt as if it were being scraped off our tender bodies. My father did talk to Tia Kikay about it, and from that moment on, whenever giving us a bath, she never used that piece of stone on us ever again. And when I told my sister Inday and cousins that our misery was about to come to an end, everyone started screaming and jumping, buoyed by unadulterated bliss. Nonetheless, I knew how to get to my father's heart - with my teary doleful eyes.įinally, he relented and assured me he'd speak to Tia Kikay about it. I was never one to rat on anybody, but in this particular case, I had no other choice.Īt first my father didn't believe me because I couldn't show him any evidence such as a blister, an open wound, or any sign of physical damage on any part of my body. No longer able to cope with such agony, one Saturday when my father came to Subic with my mother, I told on Tia Kikay. And once the metal basin was filled with water, the awful ritual would then commence. Tia Kikay always tried to hide it from us, but we all knew that her right hand held that nasty piece of stone that we all dreaded.Īs we marched to heed her call, the ever loyal maid Ojang, with her trademark sneer etched on her sinister face, would vigorously pumped the water out of the ground like some brawny stevedore. It was when our Tia Kikay, one of my father's sisters, would yell for us kids to stop our play and get ready for our morning bath in her usual thunderous roar prompting the nearby animals to run away as if sensing an incoming cataclysmic act of God. Such frightful episode was caused by a regular occurrence not under the cover of darkness, but in broad daylight. I was simply frozen out of fright my siblings and cousins displayed the very same reaction. ![]() It wasn't because I was trying to project an inner composure. It was the same as when frightened, especially at night when older cousins would suddenly lunge at us from the darkness like wicked phantoms - we'd scream our lungs out, too, then.īut come to think of it, during one summer in Subic, I must admit there was a time when I'd react with stillness and silence. A fine virtue to embody, indeed, but may be easier said than done.Īs kids enjoying a summer vacation in Subic, we couldn't help but express our delirious happiness with screams of joy and laughter. In Zen, it is advised that one ought to regard both exuberant and horrific moments with the same degree of equanimity so as to retain a dignified, placid composure when dealing with either circumstance.
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