Smiles Around the World: A Day in the Life

4am and the roosters start
6am and someone runs around honking a horn. I can’t help but laugh thinking the guy is wearing a clown costume.
6:30am breakfast which is bread and if I am lucky some peanut butter, bananas, or mango
I wait for the CR to bucket bathe. Sometimes it is available right away other times I have to wait about an hour.
Then what feels like a Miss America parade officially begins because the minute I walk out of the door I am showered with hellos from people walking their goats, waves from people sweeping their dirt, etc.
I maneuver through the manure to the main road to pick up a multi cab to the city or hop on the back of some random habal habal (motorbike) depending on how long the wait for the CR was and whether any are available.
I wave the first multi cab down and head to the city. Sometimes it takes 30 minutes and other times an hour. You see it all depends on the multi-cab. Some go about 5 mph trolling for more passengers so we can be busting out at the seems, other times we’ll get a flat, need to fill for gas, get pulled over by cops, or break down entirely. Every day is a new multi cab adventure!
I get to the Holding Boys Center (HBC) and am welcomed with open arms running at me full speed ahead excited just to have some attention. It is now anywhere between 8am and 9:30am depending on the CR and multi cab situation. Many days this is about when I start wishing for a second bucket bath having been showered with dust and sweat on the way in.
The five to 40 kids and I start the lesson plan. I am always surprised what actually captures their attention and what they are able to understand. Scavenger hunts, not so much, but crossword puzzles are a big hit.
About ten minutes into any lesson we have the first fight. The fights are never too bad because thankfully the older boys always jump in to help me before they go too far. These kids definitely have a lot of negative emotions built up and not a lot of, or more accurately any, positive outlets. Rather than punishing the kids I try to talk to them and see what is really going on which always surprises them, sadly.
As soon as the attention span wears thin we play basketball, tag, etc. I have tried to teach them new games like Red Light Green Light or Red Rover, but no luck, yet.
I always try to spend a minimum of 15 minutes holding and talking to Baby James (this is the little guy who is about 10, but looks like he is 3 or so because he is only bones and lays in a crib by himself all day). I once read that if you put two pieces of rice in separate jars and simply talk to one every day while leaving the other one alone the one with the attention will actually grow. I felt like the same theory would apply with a neglected child and it certainly did. The first couple weeks I was here I couldn’t even get Baby James out of his fetal position unless I held up his head and weak body. Just last week he actually started to reach for me, hum, and he even stood up and walked around two days in a row. This might have been one of the most rewarding moments in my life. I try not to think about what will happen the day I leave…
Anywhere between 11:30 and 1:00 it is lunchtime where the kids eat mounds of rice and usually a spoonful of some suspect food on the side like the neon pink stuff that is said to be shrimp. Perhaps a blessing that the suspect food is only a spoonful?
This is when I am typically running out the door for water. I pretty much dehydrate myself every morning because I want to avoid the HBC CR at all costs.
Lunch is my favorite meal of the day. After a little experimenting I now know to go to Jo’s for the BBQ chicken, Sal’s for fresh veggies, BBR for a decent meal but one of the only places right on the water, the market for BBQ pork, or Ikea for siopao. If mango shake is not on the menu, it is not on the list. Sometimes they trick me though and advertise a mango shake, but don’t really have them.
Depending on whether I want to load pictures (my apologies for a lack of photos. Each one takes about five minutes to load) or write determines which Internet café I stop by. This is also when I prepare the lesson plan for the next day.
Then the exploring begins! Most days I wander aimlessly responding to the hundreds of hellos or hop in a multi cab to see what I can find. Some of my favorite afternoons include the day I ended up in the country at a friend’s house where they climbed a coconut tree for me to have fresh buko or the time I was stopped by someone asking randomly how the HBC was. He pulled out a paper and showed me a picture and article in the paper from my day of paparazzi. Turns out that Eugene was one of the guys there and the owner of the local newspaper. If I am walking around in the sweltering heat this is about the time I contemplate using the public bathhouse for bathing.
I typically indulge in an afternoon treat whether it be fresh pineapple or mango shake or halo halo. Think of the biggest and best sundae you have ever had, but Filipino style and you have halo halo. This means ice chips covered with milk, then a scoop or crushed cornmeal topped with a scoop ube ice cream. Ube is similar to a sweet potato and the color is always the brightest purple you can imagine. I have yet to see an actual ube so I am not sure if that is from the actual vegetable or dye, but it sure makes it seem more delicious. Then mix in mango, jackfruit, sweet corn, and a rainbow of jello and you have halo halo.
If I am not too exhausted I’ll try to find somewhere to watch the sunset over the mountains other days I start to head home around 5pm or 6pm
On my walk to the multi cab I say hi to all my new friends at the fruit stand and the roasted pig stand before my buddy packs me into the multi cab.
It doesn’t matter whether I get a familiar multi cab driver or not, they all know where to stop for me. It is as if all of Ormoc knows everything about me. Strange, but also comforting.
I typically get off at the main road so I can stop for my favorite coconut treat freshly baked over coconut shells (yep, eating AGAIN) and begin the return trip of the Miss America parade. I absolutely love it because I never go more than five steps without a smile or hello. I always see the same kids playing basketball, another group of kids huddled around one window watching a TV, and the older women playing bingo. Everything and everyone makes me smile.
If I get home before sunset I go “fishing” with Aloha and Dominick, which consists of dragging a bag through the river or play the game guess what’s in Ate Jessie’s suitcase. For some reason it never gets old for them.
Now it is finally time for the second bucket bath that I have been waiting for since the morning. I knew the bucket and scoop would soon be desired!
Then it is dinnertime, which always includes rice and something fried (chicken, eggplant, squash, fish, etc.). My favorite nights include fresh papaya or star apple from the backyard for dessert. Star apple is one of my new favorite fruits. It is the shape of an orange, but has a green outside. Then inside is a soft texture with a milky juice that is not too sweet. Delicious!
If we have saturation (where we go into the city and find kids out past curfew) a driver will typically come between 8 and 9 to get us and return around 1am. Sometimes he doesn’t show so saturation is cancelled for the night. Strange, but the Filipino way. Some nights I find myself cranking out a karaoke session with the family. Entertainment at its best! Sadly my singing abilities did not improve once I stepped foot in the Philippines, but fortunately they don’t care (or at least they pretend not to). Other nights I collapse into bed before 9pm to get ready for another day of adventures.