Our second day in Tinglayan was all about love.
We met Ate Concepcion’s husband, Manong Brilliano, and had a conversation with the couple about their love story. The two had been long time friends before they got together. They would spend their afternoons by the Chico River with their other friends. It was only later on in their lives when Manong Brilliano decided to woo Ate Concepcion. He went to the mountains to get wood that he would bring to Ate Concepcion’s family. In their tribe, this was how a man expresses his intention of marrying a lady. When Tara asked him why he chose Ate Concepcion, Manong Brilliano replied, “Because I love her!” Cute! Hihi.
In the afternoon, Ate Concepcion and the kids brought us to the wedding. In Tinglayan, everyone’s invited to attend the festivities, even if you don’t know the bride or groom or anyone in their family.
It was interesting to see people wearing modern clothes dance their traditional wedding dance, with gangsa (or, gong). These dances would be done several times for the hour and a half that we were there. In between, some would go to the microphone and sing in their local dialect or give well-wishes to the newlyweds.
It was almost dark when we headed back to Ate Concepcion’s house. When we got home, we had dinner, prepared for us by Manong Brilliano. We stayed up a bit more to have conversations with Ate Concepcion and the kids. The night was awesome and the following day would prove to be another awesome one – we’re meeting Fang-od, ayiee!!! Excited! :-)
Related articles
- Visiting indigenous peoples communities in the Philippines – The start of it all
- Project Breaking Down Barriers: How we got to Fang-od in Buscalan, Kalinga
- Project Breaking Down Barriers: The Adventure of Getting to Fang-od’s
- Project Breaking Down Barriers: Meeting the cutie-pie rockstar lola Fang-od
- Project Breaking Down Barriers: Getting Inked by the Last Kalinga Tattoo Artist
- Project Breaking Down Barriers: Village of Buscalan, Kalinga
- Project Breaking Down Barriers: Before leaving Buscalan, Kalinga
- Project Breaking Down Barriers: Stuck in Tinglayan
- Project Breaking Down Barriers: Sorta Creepy Bontoc Experience
- Visiting indigenous peoples communities – how we did it
Liked what you read? Share the love! Follow See ya, Monica on social media to get updates on my recent travels, with tips and a lot of shares on what I got during my trips. Plus, some barely edited photos to give you the most authentic feel of the place. (I do not know how to use Photoshop, and what I can only do are cropping, adjusting brightness and colors the way I remember it):
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/seeyamonica
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/seeyamonica
Thank you! And, in whatever space you’re in now, I hope that you get something from reading my articles.
See ya,
Monica
