 |
 |
 |
|
My Early Recollections in the Philippines Childhood to me was a rather monotonous daily existence. I had everything that I needed; I had my own yaya (a maid) who took care of me. She took me to the public square where we played with other kids, while my yaya flirted with her admirer. Her admirer once caught a frog and gave it to me! At random, among first impressions of my world was evening family prayer. Grandparents, parents, uncles, and aunts all attended this daily homage to the Lord. I was placed in a play pen near the altar where my folks were praying. All of a sudden, I started to sing a local composition in the vernacular. It was about the war in Manchuria, which was waged by Japan against the territorial holdings of the Chinese government in Manchuria. My grandmother paused from her prayer and admonished me to keep quiet. One day I got sick of what our family physician termed as rheumatism of the knees. He bound my knees and legs after applying a liniment called Rheumasan which felt warm and comforting but smelled of turpentine. This treatment went on for a while, and luckily I got well without ill-effect. While I was sick, I got lonesome and missed my pet goat. So I requested my father to have the goat brought into the house so that I could see it. Poor billy he was very compliant! Andres. One of the most interesting persons I have ever known was Andres (he had of course a family name which escaped my memory). Everybody knew him as Andres, the man Friday of Juan Hari (John, the King, which was the moniker of my maternal grandfather). My grandfather told us that many years ago, he found a young boy trying to harvest some banana fruits in his orchard. He looked emaciated. My grandfather took pity on him and took him into his family (when he died, the family took care of his funeral expenses; he was a member of our family!). It was the task of Andres to come to the assistance of grandfather whatever he needed him. In addition Andres was responsible for maintaining ample supply of farm products for household consumption. Once or twice a week, Andres went to the farm of grandfather, balancing on his shoulder a bamboo pole and two empty baskets upon which he would load the farm produce on his return trip home. The farm is about four kilometers away, and he hiked that distance for several years. We kids were indeed very happy to see Andres returning home because he always brought some fruits. Long before what is known today as "Happy Hour," our Andres had already his own version. Every night after his chores, he went to a corner store to buy tuba. This is the fermented juice of the coconut tree, which when properly aged could give a man a happy hour(s) indeed! Sometimes he lost his way and some neighbors brought him home. It was not unusual for him to drop by a roadside store and drink tuba. This occasion became a concern for the family because sometimes he fell into the ditch and lost his load of farm produce. Anyway, Andres had always been a jolly guy and never failed to entertain us with his guitar playing. He never married, but later when I was grown, he told me about his romantic interludes with our house maids. He had always a pet dog, and when he died, his dog never left him at his bedside until our family discovered that he was gone. |