I have always had a passion for travelling since I was a child. My travels have taught me valuable lessons about life, culture and the environment, shaping my worldview and making me more compassionate and empathetic. My childhood travels were the foundation of my love for exploring the world. At age ten, I visited my home province of Pangasinan...
Rural Pangasinan, the land of my ancestors, the Gonzalezes with doble zeta, was my home on weekends, holidays and summer vacations, as a child. However, my interest in visiting my hometown, Rosales, waned as I grew older, reduced to a nostalgic referral before crossing the long bridge of Carmen over the placid waters of the Agno River on the way to Baguio.
Thirty-five years after my last visit, I was invited in 2008 by Municipal Mayor Ricardo Revita to receive an award as an illustrious daughter of the Municipality of Rosales at the opening of the town fiesta. I pondered over the prize and what made me deserve this distinction in the town that now seemed unfamiliar—and especially to stand alongside an exceptional awardee, the National Artist and novelist F Sionil Jose, a true native
