2019.03.09. Views from the Mountains

 (Currently: Just got home.) 

The ancient civilizations built their cities (or, at least their castles and citadels) in the mountains and hilly terrains. This provides a natural protection from hoards of invaders; aside from it being harder to reach due to the elevation, it is easier to defend by hurling down projectiles, making good use of gravity. 

In the modern world, the mountains are usually associated with being disconnected from civilization. The English word boondocks actually came from the Filipino bundok; during the Filipino-American War, the American soldiers actually observed the backwardness of the Filipinos living in the bundok, thus creating the connotation of the adapted word boondocks with remoteness and uncivilized behavior. 

Here, near the capital region, living in the mountainous areas is no longer associated with backwardness; in fact, many of the prime real estate properties are in Antipolo, in the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountain range to the east of Metro Manila. This is not just due to the geographical conditions (almost the entire Metro Manila area is a delta, and bounded to the east by the Manila Bay, leaving the mountainous east for the residential areas), but due to the crowded conditions of the metropolis; people choose to go to the hilly places far from the noise of the busy city. 

The latter is partly the reason why we chose to live in a mountainous areas. There really is a sense of relaxation just by getting away from the bustling sounds of the city. The drives through sinuous roads is worth it. Especially with the very nice views that come with it. 

Even so, our area recently has experienced lots of changes due to the influx of people who escape the floods during the rainy seasons. And with increasing population comes services and businesses; we actually quantify this in our research. Convenience stores, laundromats, drug stores, and the like sprout along the road, in the formerly woody areas of our barangay. 

But it will definitely take some time to really transform the hillsides into a bustling urban center. We have a few more years, probably even decades, to enjoy our escape from the busy city. ■