Growing up years: Part I

It's raining outside and as usual it's making me feel melancholy and reminisce my childhood. Of course I am not saying that my growing up years were sad. It's far from it actually.

I grew up in the southern part of the Philippines - Surigao del Sur. It's one of those remote areas in Philippines. When I went to college in Manila, nobody has even heard about our province. Classmates would ask me "Are you a Muslim?". It didn't surprise me though. I was already warned by my brothers. They too studied college in Manila.

So anyway my growing up years were filled with fun, laughter and adventure. I was one of those girls who can do anything the boys can. If the boys went to the pond to catch a fish, I wasn't left behind. If the boys played bamboo guns, I had one too.

TV was almost non-existent then. Although we had TV at home, shows weren't as exciting as the outdoor games. Well maybe because the shows were mostly filipino action movies.

I remember being excited going to our farm and playing with the "barrio kids". During summer, I always look forward to the rice planting season. This means, being able to play at the rice fields all day and swim at the "irrigation" later on.

I also had a blast picking up snails and getting paid by my father P20.00 for a days work. It wasn't child labor. It was all play to me. And if I collected a pail of snails, I could sell it to my uncle for P10.00.

Summer times were not only fun. I made a lot of money too. Well, for a young kid having P100.00 was like being a millionaire! Hahaha.

Although it made me darker compared to my classmates, I didn't mind. What counts was I was having a time of my life.

I wonder what do city kids remember from their childhood? Was it as fun as mine?