my family is from the province of pampanga, in central luzon. it is along the northern edge of manila bay, and where the chinese, spanish, and portuguese explorers first landed. the name pampanga comes from pangpang, which means "by the river", and where the spanish explorers found most of the natives' homes. there is evidence that there were other foreign settlers in the area long before the spanish arrived, most likely chinese traders. the regional dialect, kapampangan, has more in common with indonesian and malayan dialects than most of the other filipino ones, probably due to the early influences from outsiders and being brought along on voyages throughout southeast asia.

i don't speak it. i barely understand it. heck, i barely understand tagalog, and english confounds me on my best days. i speak in arrrr arrrrr arrrrgh most days.

where was i? oh yeah. pampanga is under mount pinatubo, an active volcano which erupted in 1991 after 500 years of dormancy. our town of santa rita used to be home of an ancient forest of giant trees, but is now covered in lahar and ash. luckily, it is not buried under like many towns that have literally disappeared off the map, but the giant dyke around the town that is meant to stave off any future lahar flows is a sobering reminder that there is a possibility that this town may not be around forever. that is possibly the biggest reason why i want to get to know it better, because it may all just be a memory one day.