WAITING SHADES, A FEW MEMORIES OF IOWA, AND JOE

Sometimes it is difficult to recall what has transpired in my life over these few short years.  There were times when living here was like riding a roller coaster, yet there were moments when I was in absolute awe of the tranquility which surrounded me. In certain ways, parts of Negros Island is like being back in Iowa, while in other ways, it is totally dissimilar. In comparison to the other locations I have visited around the Philippines, the people on this side of Negros Island are truly friendly.

Himamaylan City - Waiting Shade at the Plaza

When I lived on the island of Cebu, while walking into or back from Balamban, no one talked to you.  When in the town, no one spoke to you either, unless they wanted to sell you something.  Yet, what I have experienced here on Negros is quite the opposite.  More times than not, complete strangers will greet you with a cheerful voice.  In Cebu, if your motorbike should break down, you would be out of luck, unless you had a lot of pesos to get a tow home.  Here, passing Filipinos would not only stop and try to fix your motorbike right there on the side of the highway, but if not repairable right there, someone would offer to tow you home for free, but I always paid them generously for their kind service.  

Yesterday, I was playing Frisbee with the kids in front of the municipal hall (we can only do this on Saturdays and Sundays when the building is closed) and one of my errant throws landed the Frisbee down a rain gutter.  There was no heavy metal cover to access the hole, but you literally had to lift up the concrete slab to get to the Frisbee.  A trike driver was parked nearby at that time.  He walked over and assisted me in lifting up that large slab so Santiago could retrieve the water soaked disc.  In Cebu, payment would have been expected before any assistance was offered, yet that trike driver helped me lower the slab back down, then sat back down on his trike and continued to wait for any potential customer who might walk by.  

Should I be sitting in the waiting shade at the SW corner of the plaza, Ceres Liner bus drivers, mini-bus drivers, trike drivers, and even motorbike drivers will occasionally wave at me or honk their horns as they pass and I have not a clue who they are.  Still for whatever reason, they have found some connection with the foreigner.

Carabalan Road - Waiting Shade atop a Knoll

  Of course, there are several different waiting shades I sit at.  On the back roads, such as Carabalan Road, the children on the trikes will wave at me or yell, “Hey Joe!”   Then at other waiting shades, it is the stares that I receive from those who travel by which give me a chuckle, craning their necks around and wondering why the foreigner is sitting in a waiting shade amid

Binalbagan - Waiting Shade among the Sugarcane Fields

unending fields of sugarcane.  When I was able to travel more, I would usually pick out a waiting shade or two during the day, park the motorbike, and just relax there, enjoying a cooling (albeit very humid) breeze while observing the many vehicles and pedestrians passing by. 

Now, you may think that I am a bit unbalanced doing that, but I will tell you that it is one of the most soothing and content feelings there is.   The first time I remember doing something remotely like the above was when I was in high school back in Iowa.  I would sit along the Des Moines River in Loomis Park and just watch the water slowly flow by.  Or, when the spring floods came to visit, I would park the car at an observation point by the flood gates of the local hydro-electric dam and watch the turbulent and churning water rush through the open gates in an attempt to keep the water level down.  When in college, I would go to the back of Oleson Park and study my homework or just write.  I found that location to be quite

Murray Hill - Little Sioux Iowa - 2005

soothing as the scenic view overlooked the Des Moines River valley on the SW edge of town.  In later years, I found solace in climbing atop Murray Hill  (click on the name to visit the site) in the Loess Hills by Little Sioux, Iowa, observing the farm tractors working the fields, or the movement of distant traffic along Interstate 29, as well as a passing train or two paralleling the interstate.  After sunset, the shimmering lights of the small towns, the moving lights of yon interstate traffic, as well as the mesmerizing constellations above removed whatever stress one might have in their life.  I do recall taking Brad atop that hill one Spring day when he was only four years old and read children’s poetry to him while eating Pistachio’s and just watching the land below……Oh yes, and let us not forget sitting atop the retaining wall at Sergeant Floyd Monument in Sioux City with the Interstate (29) and Missouri River below us.  Brad would eat his “Happy Meal” while I dined on a Cheeseburger and fries.  Once when Brad was all of three years old he was waving at the traffic passing on the Interstate quite a ways below us and after a while complained to me that no one had waved back!

Perhaps that is why I enjoy sitting in waiting shades here in the Philippines so much. I will tell you that they are underutilized by the public and no one ever just sits there to enjoy the World about them and for that I am glad to have those shelters all to myself.

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Since my arrival in Himamaylan City, there is a fish vendor at the old market who I have greeted almost every morning for the past four years.  Embarrassingly, I don’t know his real name, but from the very beginning he has called me “George” while I have called him

Himamaylan City - Joe the Fish Vendor with Jane in back

and his wife “Joe and Jane”.  It has always been the challenge to see who would spy the other first.  When we did see each other, it was a big “Mayong Aga Joe!” (good morning Joe or George) with right hand raised high in the air.   Since he doesn’t understand a word of English and my conversational Ilonggo is rather limited, our interaction pretty much ends there.  Still, I think it is the highlight of his day as he (and of course Jane) have a momentary connection with “the foreigner.”  Nope, no one else there greets me like that, but all will laugh when we acknowledge each other.  It doesn’t take much to make people happy here on the island of paradise.