If there’s another thing I would associate with Eastern Samar apart from the beaches, the notorious roads and consistent power outages, then it would be the rain.
Anybody who lived in Eastern Samar for a significant period knows how the weather here can turn from good to bad in a short time. After all, Este, as Eastern Samar is often called by locals, faces the Pacific and serves as the doormat for almost all the typhoons that visit the country annually. There’s even a joke that during typhoons in the province, the winds can be so strong that they can bend the light coming from flashlights.
Rains have been a significant part of my stay here in the province when I was in high school. My friends and I spent countless afternoons braving the rains just to play basketball even if the court was slippery wet. There was even a time when I made do with a tiny umbrella in the middle of an unforgiving rain just to give a girl I was courting my pasalubong when I returned from Manila. I was wet and I was freezing, but what the heck, I couldn’t wait for another day to see her.
And then there were the winds the province is known for. My friends and I were at Baybay one time when strong winds were blowing from the Pacific. The winds were so strong that we had difficulty walking against them. So novel was that experience that we tried walking against the winds several more times, nevermind if we looked stupid.
Sure, the rain makes any day conducive for sleeping. But in a way, it can be a time machine of sorts too. Rains are a part of the way of life in the province and I’m sure all of us who stayed here long enough have at least a couple of memories that we’ll associate with the rain, rainy day stories I would like to call them.
So what’s your rainy day story?
Ced Solidon is the blog's founder. He currently works as a freelance writer. Aside from that, he also maintains a writing blog, Write Like a Rock Star! He loves to read books and play music.
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Hi Ced,
This is a nice article! It reminds me of my similar experience when I was in high school in Borongan. Some years ago, during a regional SCUAA held in Baybay, Leyte, the first day of games was suspended because of strong winds and heavy rain. But instead of going back to their quarters as what the others have done, athletes from Eastern Samar started playing mixed soccer (men and women combined) despite the really bad weather and appeared to be really enjoying themselves. This was a nice surprise to the other delegations and the officials of the host university. In fact it was an instant attraction. People were then saying, iba gud liwat it mga hiara hit bagyo, diri nahadlok!
Cheers!
vic
Haha. Yeah, that’s true. Kamangkahiara ta na man gud siguro hin hit bagyo nga bisan makusog it hangin, life goes on. Thanks for sharing your story, Vic!