Day 2 Part-B

Upon stepping outside of the church, one of the first things I noticed was how fast the environment absorbed most of the evidence of a hard rain. The ground was damp but not soaked and the clouds were not the type typically for rain. Massive patches of blue sky blended nicely with the stretched and bulby white clouds. Most notably, the temperature was very pleasant. Oh I can get sooo used to this... Some of the congregation has assembled outside the church. Suddenly I had another urge to take a few photos so I crossed the road to snap off a few of the front of the church. A constant thought that was in the back of my mind whenever I took was of my concern of the local residents reacting negatively to me taking photos. I was a foreigner to their country and I did not want to give offense to my actions. As quickly as I took the photos, I placed my camera back into the pouch, Merly called me back to the front of the church. She said that Pastor Ronnie was going to drive her, me and a few of the church youths back to Chamorita for the church picnic. We piled into his car with Merly in the front passenger seat, me and the youths occupying the back seats, Merly's niece Shawe had to sit on my lap. She was shy to do so at first; then immediately, the novelty of being next to the foreigner who happens to be part of her family took hold as her friends were in their own ways exhibiting their own amount of curiosity. I mentally giggled in the assumption that Shawe's friends were also envious of her and Shawe was somewhat enjoying it. I redirected my attention to the drive; and once again, I noticed the drastic differences of the driving etiquette in Naval and in the United States. Yesterday's drive in Tacloban coming from Jollibee's was interesting and startling from my perspective and today was the same. One thing I told myself was not to bother trying to apply my driving skills here for the simple reason I am not familiar yet with the etiquette. Instead, I admired the view of the landscape as we drove along. (BTW- I will explaining the differences of driving etiquette later.) When we arrived to Chamorita, everybody spilled out of the car. Once again, I had that brief moment of clowns endlessly emerging from the stereotypically small car. A walk around the grounds revealed that some of the congregation had already began to arrive. Some of them were already preparing to ignite the fire for the grill. The youth that rode with us had quickly dispersed in different directions to meet others while Merly and I went to our room to change into more leisurely clothes.

After a quick change, I plopped on the bed for a brief stretch but made all effort not to fall asleep. I really doubt if I would go to sleep in knowing the congregation was on their way. All together, we were in our room for less than 15 minutes. That was plenty enough time for me to have a moment of quiet relaxation. Just before we exited to meet with the others, Merly received a phone call. It was Perla. She was already outside and chatting with some of the other people. After a few minutes of talking, Merly handed the phone to me. It was amusing in the fact that I would be talking face to face with Perla in less than 2 minutes yet we had a moment to greet each other with grand enthusiasm. I could not stop smiling at the thought then when I finished, I handed Merly her phone and we departed the room. When Merly and I approached the first set of people, Perla and her niece Ivy was there. Perla had her back to me and did not see me yet. I recognized her; but, I did not make any overt actions towards her. Merly established contact with her first and it was hugs and smiles. Perla then saw me and her smile was as bright and wide as Valles Marineris: The Grand Canyon of Mars. We exchanged hugs and smiles. Perla fired off a few questions such as: how was my trip, was I happy to be in the Philippines and some other related questions. I replied positively to each question to Perla's satisfaction. I was privately glad she was approving. Perla is in fact the person who in her own way matched me to Merly. In the beginning, I was chatting with Perla; but when Perla learned I had established first contact with Merly, she highly recommended I pursue the friendship with Merly. Perla was telling me of Merly's good qualities and it was in my best interests to make Merly my friend. I took her advice and I am so grateful for Perla. Merly, Perla, and I took a seat at one of the gazebo tables already occupied with a few other people including Pastor Ronnie. I obviously did not understand all of the conversation topics; but just from observing the tonal quality and the facial expressions, I could easily assume it was all good. There were times in which I was included in the conversation when either Merly, Perla or Pastor Ronnie would translate for me. One of the interesting moments were when I was asked a question and I would reply using what little Tagalog I could easily remember. The startling revelation that I knew some of their language and was making effort to speak it was totally impressed on them. Everybody was smiling and laughing with grand approval. Sometimes another woman would say something to Merly and Merly's reaction was huge smiles then she would lean over to me and tell me what was said,"She says you are handsome..." or "She says we are a good couple..." Another conversation was a humorous topic was related to my efforts to speak Tagalog was my skin color. Pastor Ronnie and Perla joked that I have some Filipino in me. Everybody including me laughed. My only reply was that as I understand it, I do have some Chinese by way of a great great grandmother. I'm not entirely certain of the accuracy of the statement yet I never bothered to verify it. I accepted the comment as a possible fact. It is a "universal fact" that conversations have a duration of seven minutes then suddenly all talking stops for a brief noticeable moment then a new topic arises. To be honest, the universal fact was something I discovered from the many late night group get togethers at the local restaurant during my early college days back in the mid to late 80s. Over twenty years later, here in the Philippines I just noticed the sudden quiet and I softly said "Seven minute lull". I explained to Merly what I was talking about and she understood and translated. I also noticed as Merly was explaining, a new topic was rising and my attention was redirected to another table that was occupied by some that were preparing some of the food. I excused myself to go sit at the other table and quietly observe. About a minute later, Merly followed me over. Again some of the ladies would say to Merly "He is handsome." with smiling approval. Again Merly translated for me and again I had to restrain from big faced smiles. I could tell from Merly's reaction she was so proud. I mentally made a commitment to myself to be on my best behavior as the most worthy gentleman with Merly at all times while in public. I would later discover that this attitude I happily exercised would be my best asset. Merly and I sat next to each other enjoying each others company. I was closely observing one lady preparing what appeared to be red onions. She was chopping them into small bits. Another person was handling what appeared to be potatoes. Merly reached over and took one, broke a section and gave it to me. It appeared and felt like a small Russet potato. I took a bite and it tasted like a hybrid of a Russet potato and yam. It was sweet. My brain was processing this new potato. Merly told me the name of the 'potato' is cassava I was thinking how much mom would enjoy eating such potato. The aroma of the onions were pleasant. I was curious to what food dish they would be included with. Merly was busy in conversation and I sat with her both observing the food preparation and listening to everybody speak. I tried very hard to identify some of the words spoken; but, the speech was still too fast and there was something about it I did not become aware of just yet. I did not let it bother me since this was my second full day of cultural immersion. I did have a moment of curiosity when I was to have 'culture shock'. I would like to think such event was not ever going to happen since I have had over a year of language familiarity from watching as much Filipino programs on Tv as possible, self teaching myself the language and the tutelage of Merly during our first phase of our relationship. I also tried to be as culturally aware of life in the Philippines.

A few of the ladies were busy preparing a dish made from fish called Paksiw. I tried to observe the process without being too obvious about it. There was a moment when I could think I was experiencing a sensory load from hearing, visuals, taste and smells. I was thinking I could detect the scent of ginger as one of the ingredients for the dish. All in all it was developing into a most interesting item.

Some of the guys were grilling a couple of large fish and another set of people were making improvised music with guitars. I continued my random observations and thoroughly enjoyed the company of the people here. It felt so relaxing and welcoming to be in their company. I realize there was a level of respected shyness from them since I was the foreigner; but, everybody was going to lengths to see that I was being well cared. The time to eat had come and Pator Ronnie gave the blessing then everybody converged with typical organized chaos. I filled my plate with a good sampling of everything and Merly was surprised I also took some of the paksiw. She watched as I took my first bite of the paksiw. I could definitely taste the ginger. It was not overbearing; but, just enough to notice the flavor. Overall, the taste was sweet. I quietly gave her the nod of approval and continued to eat and observe. Everybody was having such a wonderful time in conversation and laughter. Merly was amazed when I took more servings of the paksiw. She honestly did not expect me to enjoy it so much. I simply told her that I was willing to sample almost any dish at least once. I could sense that she was proud of my attitude in that regard.

In time, everybody had eaten to their satisfaction and the after meal socializing began. Clean up and collection was fast and organized. I assumed conversation topics varied as the congregation parted into smaller groups of a minimum of three people. Just the conversations were starting, Perla indicated she had to leave. She gave both Merly and I hugs then she left. Merly said to me that we would see Perla later in the week. By this time, the sun had already set below the horizon and it was getting dark. With the remaining light, the congregation started their exedus from the area and they all gave reat and appreciated thanks for providing the food and drinks for the picnic. I responded appropriately; yet deep inside, I felt a sense of pride that I was able to have such good and fond fellowship with them. When the last member departed, Merly and I sat in one of the gazebos for a short while listening to the kareoke singing then we went to our room.

My first full Biliran Day.

I don't want it to end.