Drawn and hooked

By Kristine Oineza

I was born and raised in La Union but I, as I believe majority of us Ilocanos are, have strong Pangasinan links.

My father is from Bani. I have an aunt from San Fabian and another from Natividad. 

We never really went on family visits to their hometowns during my growing up years. But I have always been somehow aware of my ties with our neighboring province.

Outside family, I had a best friend in high school who is from Asingan. We shared that once-in-a-lifetime kind of bond that makes for true and lasting friendships. Now that we are both in college, we have gone to different schools but we remain among the best of friends.

My first visit to Pangasinan actually was to that bestfriend’s home. It was under unfortunate circumstances: their house got burned. Nonetheless, that first visit on Pangasinan soil left  me with a good impression of the province and its people.

I couldn’t help but admire not just the simplicity of the place but also the warmth and hospitability of its people— you get a chance to greet and talk with everybody and they won’t snob you, they  entertain you with sincerity and they never treat you as their visitor. Asingan had that classic small rural town ambience where everyone was simply so nice.

Next time around in Pangasinan, I had to join my groupmates for a shoot in Dagupan as part of a school project.  During my stay, in an urban setting this time, it seemed to me that Pangasinan just got better. There were of course more people in the city, but I felt the same warmth  from the people. And better, my stomach never felt empty.

My groupmate from Dagupan, the appointed director for the project, was our host and his mom prepared superb home-cooked meals. We had all sorts of delights from the sea: tahong, adobong pusit and of course, Dagupan’s tasty and ever mouth-watering bangus!

Then came a course on investigative reporting. My instructor (who just like me was not from Pangasinan) assigned me to do a report on the waste management project in Bayambang. I stayed there for almost a week and I never got bored. It was quite a tough issue, not to mention controversial and  it  was not always easy talking to the people about it. Still, that experience made me love Pangasinenses all the more for I also got around to  investigating  further Pangasinan’s other culinary delights! I love the buro (this really makes a good appetizer), halu-halo which was in a way I never tasted before back home in Ilocandia, and of course I never got tired of bangus.

And now I’m doing my internship in Dagupan. Soon I will be spending more time in and exploring Pangasinan. 

It seems to me that Pangasinan has been drawing me to her. Like some invisible strings at work in the universe are pulling me towards this province. And somehow, I do feel I belong here. Perhaps some day soon, I will find the time, energy and resources to trace my Pangasinan roots.

(Readers may reach columnist at marifijara@gmail.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/roots/
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