To be able to write this blog requires that my day begin
at 4:00 a.m. Some mornings it is
challenging crawling out of bed, but then again, it is nice to be able to sit
in the darkness of the living room with only the laptop’s screen illuminating
the space around me, producing a white sterile light which faintly reflects off
the white walls. Every now and then I
can hear the resettling of one of the children as he or she tries to find a more
comfortable position to nestle into.
When the kids first moved over here to live, they were restless and, in
the case of Clarisse, she would grind her teeth incessantly while asleep. It was a terrible sound and when hearing it,
I swore her teeth were going to crack and crumble under the pressure. I want to stress that I had noticed Clarisse doing
this when I visited the island of Cebu, but even more so there. Now, as I sit within this darkened room, I no
longer hear that gnashing of teeth and I feel comfort from that. It just makes me wonder what kind of dreams
could cause such actions.
I am sure that some of you have wondered what my daily
routine is like here in the Philippines.
Well, prior to my current writings,
I would awaken at around 5:00 a.m. and take a four kilometer walk to the
new market and back with Toy. Then,
after our return, it would entail breakfast with the four kids. When they departed for school, I would play
Frisbee for thirty minutes at the basketball court in the town’s plaza. There are no grassy areas here in Himamaylan
City large enough to toss the disk around.
Afterwards I would sit in the waiting shade (a small rectangular area
with concrete benches and roof overhead where people would wait to ride trikes
or buses) for another thirty minutes and watch the traffic/pedestrians pass
by. Walking back home, I would cool off
before the pedestal fan and read from my Kindle or write emails. Consider the days when we would have actually
written correspondence vs. typing on a keyboard, or actually receive letters in
the mail. The only mail I ever receive here is a letter once each year from the
Social Security Administration asking me to fill out and return a form to show
that I am still alive. The kids would
return home for lunch and many times would bring along classmates for the noon meal. Consequently,
it would not be unusual to have eight or ten people dining instead of only
six. In the afternoon, I would settle
down like many Filipinos to take a siesta in an effort to stave off the
overwhelming heat and humidity. After
the four children returned home, it would be some family time together, then
supper, and if I was lucky, a return walk to the plaza to sit in the waiting
shade once again and watch Himamaylan City roll up its “sidewalks”. The first time I heard that phrase being
used was in a small Iowa town. I was
told they would roll the streets up at 9 p.m., but never realized it was just a
pretense at that time. We were so
innocent and believing when we were small; sometimes it was hard having to grow
up and face the reality of life along with all the cruelties associated with
it. I far preferred the innocent and believing
World I inhabited so many decades ago.
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| Students on Fun Run |
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| Himamaylan City Central School |
Santiago went on a fun run yesterday from the Western
Visaya State University Campus to his elementary school in Himamaylan. The distance was a little under three
kilometers (about 2 miles) and most of the school (of over 2,000 pupils)
participated. I sat along the highway
and watched the throng of tiny bodies wend their way alongside the national
highway while traffic officials monitored the students as well as the passing
cars, trucks, motorbike, buses, and trikes to ensure they kept a safe distance
from the migrating pupils. Santiago
stood out in the group as he was the only one wearing a ball cap. Maybe he wasn’t at the head of the pack, but
he was toward the front of the mass and I was just proud to see him jogging
with his classmates.
Yesterday was World Toilet Day. It is a program promoted by the United
Nations to promote safe sanitation for everyone in this World. The UN states there are 2.4 billion people in
this World without proper sanitation.
Clarisse needed a slogan for class and came up with: Proper
Sanitation Saves Lives. I thought it
appropriate for the occasion. The router for the website is below.
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| Trail leading north past my house |
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| Road Leading to Yonder Street |
My residence is against the back wall of a compound with
around thirty other homes. It is about 300
feet from the street access with only a trail passing my house on its way to
three houses to the north of mine.
However, there is always motorbike, tricycle, or foot traffic passing by. Either it is vendors selling their wares or
the families who reside within those homes beyond, passing back and forth. So, even though I am not in the mainstream of
society, it is never really quiet here either….which is not always bad.
Daryl A. Cleveland
November 20, 2015
Enjoyed
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