Coffee Overdose

Barangay Sta. Lucia, Dolores, Quezon sits at the foot of Mt. Banahaw, which is believed to be a mystical mountain. There are over 100 religious sects and cults in the whole mountain complex. What makes it also interesting is the history and culture of the place.   Among others, it was where Macario Sakay and other Southern Tagalog revolutionaries  fled when they were being pursued by the Spaniards during Spanish colonization.

            Having been going there regularly for over the years, both for academic  and personal pursuits, I was familiar with the culture of the place  My friends Boy and Maria Montelibano, Boy and Merle Fajardo and Suprema Isabel Suarez (of Ciudad Mistica) accommodated my students in their houses.

.           I brought one of my undergraduate  research classes to Sta. Lucia to experience data gathering in a place so different from urban and rural areas. My class did preliminary research on the history and culture of the area and I drilled them on interviewing techniques and discussed the communicative behavior of the residents before we set for Sta. Lucia.

            The students were divided into small groups during the planning stage and all they had to do was implement their sampling technique and do interviews. While they were gone, I made brief visits to some people I came to know well.  News travel fast and I would be considered a snob if I did not show myself if only to announce personally that indeed, I had arrived with my students. They were not long visits. They were just to say “hello” and ask how’s life with them since we last met (Kumusta na?)

            It was mid-afternoon and the groups came back to the Montelibanos’ as instructed. They were in high spirits even if tired.

            “Ma’am”,  one student said in a loud voice. “Nanginginig na  ho kami!” (We are trembling).

             “Bakit? (Why?), I asked, concerned that something happened  to scare them.

            “Kasi po,sa lahat halos ng pinuntahan namin, pinainom kami ng kapeng barako!” (Because we were served barako [Batangas] coffee in every house we went to). "We have an

overdose of strong coffee!".