When walking around town, you become acquainted with some of
its residents. Most will talk about
family, or health, or even the weather (but not much so in the
Philippines). However, if it is a close
friend or relative, then you are also blessed with the seedier side of
life. The other day I was visiting the
kids Aunt and Uncle. There was quite a
bit of commotion further down the dirt lane at a neighbor’s Nipa (house made of
Bamboo and roof of Palm branches) and Marianne commented that it was a family
squabble. Not long after that, a woman
in her late 50s/early 60s tromped by murmuring loudly. Suddenly, the daughter came from out of the
tropical thicket brandishing a large Bolo knife and heading directly for her
retreating mother. It seemed that the
daughter’s husband (65-70 years old) was drunk and when the mother showed up in
a sexy t-shirt and short shorts, I was told that he was “feeling” her, for lack
of a better description. The daughter
caught them and thus the fight ensued.
I am told that Filipinas are notorious for getting
jealous. When in the Navy (decades ago),
I recall one instance where a Filipina chased her boyfriend (a coworker of
mine) around the house with a butcher’s knife because he had been with another
woman. I have also seen other foreigners
suffer with their wife’s tantrums. In
another case, a Filipino man actually stabbed his wife to death on the Naval
Installation where I was stationed. I do
believe it was for the same reason (infidelity). Fortunately, in this situation (mother and
daughter), I did not see the flesh fly, so to say, but have heard or read about
other occurrences of the spouse exacting revenge. I am
just thankful I don’t have to deal with such issues in my life….suffice it to
say that if you (men)ever decide to come to the Philippines, FOREIGNER BEWARE!…those
women keep their knives sharpened at all times!
I bought another motorbike this past July and had a sidecar
added a month later. I have really
enjoyed its ability to haul all of my family here and there at one time. The gas mileage isn’t that great because of
the side car and for acceleration, sometimes I think a sprinter could put me to
shame in that regard; but I can still haul everyone, along with groceries or
picnic lunch without riding a bus or making multiple trips upon the two
wheeler.
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| Clarisse, Mae Mae, Toy Toy, Santiago Baguio & Daryl Cleveland |
The price for the motorcycle was more than reasonable, but
you also got what you paid for. In my case, the motorbike cost under $2,000,
but right away I had to replace the spokes with heavier duty ones (at my
cost). Then yesterday, the rear tire
wore out with only 2,800 miles on the odometer.
I was rather disappointed with the in-opportunity as I had to push the
three wheeler three blocks to the hardware store and buy a replacement tire (6
ply) and tube (total cost $23). Then I had to push it another kilometer (or
more) down the highway to a vulcanizing shop to get the tires exchanged. Cost for the tire change was only 75¢.
I suppose the worst part was the locals all asking what was
wrong with the trike (that got annoying after the twentieth time) and then
everyone seeing the FOREIGNER pushing it upon, as well as along, the National
Highway! It was something you just don’t
see in the Philippines (Filipinos doing that – yes…sane foreigners – NO!). I could have had it towed behind another trike
to the shop for a couple of bucks, but I guess I was too embarrassed for doing
that. At least I gave the locals
something to talk about over their afternoon coffee (yes, the men here do drink
native coffee and gossip, just like back home).
When I rented this house, I knew there were locks on the
bedroom doors and thus, with kids living here now, I always feared that a door
would get locked and closed and that no one would be on the inside to open it
back up. When living on Cebu, I had the actual
situation occur wherein Charissa Mae actually locked herself in one of the bedrooms. She was still three years old and didn’t
know how to work the lock mechanism.
Fortunately for me, the window was open allowing Toy Toy (who was thin
enough) to fit in-between the security bars and get the door unlocked. With the exception of a very few, all houses
have bars on their windows. Well, last
week, the nightmare came true for me again.
Kids were playing in their room and when Jocell (a
neighborhood friend) was the last to leave the room, she shut the door. Unfortunately, there was no one left in the room
and the door mechanism was locked. I
will admit that I never had it happen to me as a youngster (all doors locked
with skeleton key in those days), but with ALL my kids, if something ever went
awry (of their making), they suddenly acquired a contagious virus called “Childhood
Amnesia”. When this catastrophe was discovered I
gathered that joyful throng (six kids) and asked who locked the door. Of course, you immediately heard the replies
of “Indi Ako (Not Me)!” That was except for little Jocell who shyly raised her
hand. First, I was impressed with her
outward honesty. Still, I was in a quandary
as to how to get that door back open. I
didn’t want to go to the landlord to discover he had no keys to those rooms,
but then Junior came to the rescue. He
got the back window open and then (somehow) used a long piece of bamboo to get
the door unlocked. In the end, I really
didn’t care, but just relieved the situation had a happy ending.
Now, did my kids learn a lesson from Jocell’s honesty? Probably not, since we have had several cases
of “Childhood Amnesia” since then.
As usual, there was no camera along to capture the moment
during many of the above episodes.
Perhaps, next time. Sorry.
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