"She's Leaving on a Multicab. Don't Know When She'll Be Back Again..."

So sang Jun as he hoisted my luggage into the multicab that Mario and he would transport me to my 2BR duplex in Santa Monica – about 5 minutes from my host family in Tiniguiban.

I was excited and ready to be out on my own.  My family was still slightly upset, but resigned that I was leaving (3,000 pesos each month is nice to receive, and I’m pretty easy to live with).  Brenda and I both shed a few tears, and she said, “Tita – thank you”…which I’ve rarely heard here.  I hugged her and told her how thankful I was for everything they had done for me and that I’d only be a few minutes away.  And then we were off.

About 20 minutes later I was alone – when Mario drove away I felt tears on my cheeks!  Wow, was it quiet.  And it was only 9am on a Saturday morning.

I had a list of things to purchase, so walked to the multicab stop (a lot farther than I thought) and hopped on.  Transferred about $150 from the US and purchased my refrigerator, blender, 2 electric fans and rice cooker (and they delivered it all!!).  However, realized I didn’t have enough money to buy a pad to put on the bamboo beds (which are pretty darned hard without a pad), cushions for the bamboo couch, curtains for the windows or mats for the floor.  And, found that there is no electric plug in the kitchen for the fridge, so found an extension cord that would reach from the bedroom through the window (although saw rat poop there and left the fridge inside).  Did buy a set of melamine plates, a protective dish-drainer for the dishes, cups and utensils from the yucky insects, etc, and laundry pails for the laundry which was long overdue.

I knew I couldn’t get it all on a multicab and needed a trike – the fare to Santa Monica he said was 100 pesos (wait – that was almost the fare to Aborlan!!!)  But, I was sooo tired that I said, fine, and we puttered out of the Unitop parking area onto Rizal Avenue, heading north to Santa Monica….

Oops – in San Pedro we were stopped for many minutes because the Hike for Life was starting – a 4 day walk from Puerto to Sabang (75 km), whereby young people speak about God and seeks converts.  Supposedly, every year Life Church (the born-again sponsor church) converts 200 or so out-of-school-youth to the church through this effort – funded entirely by the church.  The older girl (ate – “ah-tay”) and boy (kuya – “koo-ya”) in my family participated for the past 3 years.   But we finally moved through the crowd.

Oops - Only to be stopped again in San Jose at the Memorial Gardens for a funeral procession of a female barangay councilor.  That was something to behold – a white open air hearse carrying a white coffin beflowered with white lilies, and  50 people walking behind the hearse… followed by another 50 vehicles filled with people flooding the cemetery.  After perhaps 8 minutes, we proceeded.  I think he earned the 100 peso fare

…to my new home, where I fell exhausted into a hard bed.

….and awoke at 5:30am to the roosters, and perhaps 150 bug bites on my arms, legs and back.  Not mosquito bites – these were raised with clear liquid and painful as well as itchy.  Back to the store for bug spray.   I’ve asked several people what they are and have decided that they are either fleas – or, more likely, termites, which are really flying ants here!!!   Very upsetting to be seen as a piece of wood…I guess the Pilipino brand of termite likes blood as well as wood.  And, although I wear insect repellent, it hasn’t worked.

I’m not sure which is more upsetting – the bites and termites that leave mounds of wood shavings on my countertops, or the rats which poop in my shower.   As Scarlett said, “I’ll think about that tomorrow.”