I have been in
my hometown for five years straight but my family and I always find time to go
back to our hometown in Laguna, where I spend most of my formative years. We
always go back to our roots, they say.
It is a fresh
sight to see tall buildings, new restos, coffee shops, malls that have not been
there when I used to traverse the paths of my simple city. Change is
inevitable, they say.
Transformations,
too, happen to me when I left my birthplace to study. The first year of my new
residency bought new perspectives. I’ve been consciously watching the words I
utter ever since my friend drew attention to the way I speak. Apparently, I got
a provincial accent, where I always start my verbs with ‘na’—nakain, nainom, nalakad when I suppose
to mean kumakain, umiinom, lumalakad.
I embraced
the changes out of fear and judgment perhaps, that people will never accept me.
Change is good, they say.
So whenever I
find myself in my hometown again, I am no longer the girl I used to be, at
least in the way I speak. And my hometown is no longer the way I used to
picture it.
But I will
always find comfort in my home. Nothing feels like home, they say.
***
From the City
of Seven Lakes with love, happy New Year!
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