Baguio -- circa 1926   (as described by Carlos Bulosan)

        Baguio is a small city in the heart of tall mountains where the weather is always temperate.   There are no rains nor heavy winds.   But in the morning there is a light mist in the air and when you walk through it you feel as though you are walking through silk. The roads are asphalt and the most modern and beautiful in the Philippines.   The houses and theaters are built in Western fashion.   Tall pine trees cover the mountains and at night one can hear the leaves singing in the slight wind from the deep canyons beyond the city that comes up with the sweet tang of fragrant vegetation from the surrounding valleys.   Far down, there are lustrous truck farms where industrious Igorots produce grapes, cabbages, lettuce, and various fruits.

        In the center of the city is a lake strung with multicolored light bulbs that sparkle at night.   Near the lake is a dancing pavilion, open only on Saturdays.   And farther down, within shouting distance of the town hall, is the public market, teeming with European and American tourists.   Under the cement awnings are numerous oxcarts owned by the lowland people who come to Baguio periodically to sell rice, corn, and bananas.

        It was at this market that I first landed.   Europeans of affluence, Americans with big businesses in the islands, and rich Filipinos lived in Baguio.   Their beautiful white houses dotted the hills.

                      -- pages 66-67,   America is in the Heart   by Carlos Bulosan.
                           (Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1973).