C’est La Vie Part 6 by Patrick Duffey
The next day I rent a boat to take me back to Hilabaan and Butna for a few days. The people are curious about my returning so soon and why I love it so much on their island. It is somewhat difficult to explain to those who had never yet seen the big city with its big city problems, crime and smog. A place where people do not know their neighbors and have little time for “hellos.” These people here live in a world of that only God can create and which Hollywood can only imagine with thier cinamatic special effects.
In the evening I walk across the islands with Melvin and Noling to observe that Mr. Math and Miss Science talent contest at the town Plaza. The people take it upon themselves to do some creative fund-raising for the school here.. They vote for friends and relatives with their meager earnings so they can become King and Queen of that subject for the semester. Trust me; the winners don’t have to show any talent in the subject matter that they’ve been declared royalty of.
I dance the “curacha” and with the high school teacher that I met to in Tikling. People throw some money toward us throughout our dacing. (wonder if I could earn a wage here?) It is enchanted evening with everyone in the village having fun at the festivities. A giant moth with a wing span as wide as my hand dances under the bright lights in the Plaza. Exhausted, it lands on the floor. A boy with his dance partner does not wish to share the dance floor and he crosses deliberately to place his shoe upon the moth- SPLAT! I leave in disgust.
On my last day on the island, I rent a pump boat to explore remote islands and atolls, some of which the locals have not even been to. Back in United States I’ve heard of the remains of native Filipinos 10 feet tall, but it seems nobody here has any knowledge or wants to speak of this. I was told this by a friend who explored the Philippine Islands and took pictures for Time and Life magazines.
At dinner one night, Rebecca tells me of this cave on Santa Monica Island and early in the morning we set out to where the bones of these giants may be found. My whole reason to find these items is to preserve the treasure in a museum but a good probability is that someone has smashed the like a moth. We find ourselves in a squall as we head back toward mushroom shaped islands.
Carved out by the seas furry these pedestals rise to tall at low tide. Some have trees and plants growing on them. There are many deep water pools - 20 feet across and 15 feet deep – safely far enough away from the break waters where once again I can swim.
Later we walked towards town and have lunch at the house of Rebecca’s cousin where I hear that the barangay chief had sold the remains to an American probably for a few dollars. I am terribly disappointed that I am too late to preserve this important piece of history. It is now time to go back to Manila why must complete business there and also in the United States.
Life interferes with those who make daily plans, and this is true in my life. Before leaving Samar and after saying my goodbye’s to everyone. Rebecca tells me that there might be a chance for us meeting up in Makati when she travels there on business in a few days.
In Manila, I get a message from Rebecca regarding dinner plans. The taxi driver that I take seems to want have fun with me by driving around in circles and in the wrong area as well. I know my way around well enough Makati and areas of Metro and have him pull for so I can literally jump out and get an honest one. But not before I’m shortchanged a few hundred pesos because of my haste – c’est la vie!
I get to the restaurant to join Rebecca and her nephew, Bismark along with her niece, Sugar. Indeed, I have always had a sweet tooth! As we eat our dinner we are entertained with the ethnic dances of different cultures from the islands. The body language reminds me of the romantic dances when I lived in Hawaii.
Of course, the waiter insists on me joining the others onstage. I politely refuse, Sugar however takes the challenge. She’s had plenty of practice ever since she was small and performs the ”tinikling” with bamboo sticks cris-crossed moving at her feet, GOTTA move fast! She does this flawlessly in my eyes. I think that maybe she should admit to her calling, she is excellent. And once again the evening and is all too soon.
A day of work, a day of play, I do enjoy the schedule around here. What would usually take me only a few hours back in the states takes me all-day or sometimes even longer to achieve around here, so I pace myself accordingly. I observed on my last visit that the Manila City Hall has two different times upon its clocks tower. Depending on where you are, one clock says 12:00 any other one would tell you its 1:30, your choice, A.M. or P.M.~~~~ Filipino time.
To start of the monsoon season came about two months ago in September when I first arrived. Occasionally in Samar there would be brief downpours and people would try to have me take shelter under an umbrella, but I enjoy the rain. Back here in Manila, there are much stronger storms. The thunder is like nothing I’ve ever heard except for when I lived in the Arizona desert. It shakes my hotel room in cracks my eardrums. A typhoon warning signal number 2 is given to Manila, while Samar is given number 4, signal 5 is the strongest.
The bureau upgrades Lling to a super-typhoon status as it hits central Manila with unforgiving fury. Dark clouds consume the daylight; rain comes in horizontally as the trees bend into the wind with gusts up towards 300 kilometers an hour. The hardest hit places are Isabella and in northern Luzon.
Towns and people are swept away in walls of mud and debris. Another storm sits right off the coast of Samar. Most of the typhoons brew off the coast of Dolores and Broongan, within its pathway. Loling hits my hometown with signal No. 3.
After the storm I visit Noling, my driver, at his mother’s houses in Damarinas, Cavite. This is a relocation area from Tondo of where these people once lived at Manila’s waterfront. The government took the land from them and moved them about 40 miles away and gave them a small amount to build their lives. Because of the typhoons all the lines are down too the banks and any other connections to the United States have been cut. I have a few hundred pesos and therefore have to last me for more than a week. I’m taking well care of but these are not rich people, so I try not to impose myself upon these good people.
I have my basics of rice, fish and mineral water and that’s about all. I have lived it like a King with a charmed life that most people can only dream about having. Now ~ I will live like everyone else, I don’t dare to complain or cry here! I believe that it is wise to experience various seasons, to see the good and bad aspects when entertaining the idea of being somewhere for a spell. Last time it was hot and dry with little or no rain, this time is the opposite.
Last time I was lucky I guess without any incidents, this time I’ve witnessed deception and have been robbed gently a couple of times when I was not careful. Every paradise has a price to pay in some way or form. The Philippines is not unlike any other place with this world or even in the U.S. No place is perfect and one must be aware of their surroundings and choose the type of people they wished to spend their time.
I suppose what brings me back are the people, most are kind in genuine. I believe that no one else can match the hospitality of the Filipino. To be totally truthful, what I particularly appreciate is a natural elegance and charm of this sea-shelled eye’s of the Filipina.
White sandy beaches and pristine crystal waters. The scenic coves and hidden islets with its diversity of marine life. Hidden treasures that await the eye at almost every turn to corner. Sometimes I am interrupted by the passing of the land crab with a seashell upon its back as I sip on a cold one while the gentle warm waves lap my feet. I sometimes feel as though I’m in one of those commercials telling me “change your latitude.”
I see an airplane above and I know that my time becoming soon to go back to Hong Kong before arriving back in San Francisco to return to the usual routine and left once again to my fond memories only.
Roadwarriors copy written
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