At 3 a.m. the sound of the roosters, dogs and traffic announces a warning that the day will soon begin. A couple of hours later the sound is amplified and the inhabitants awaken to the smell of tinapay (freshly baked bread rolls) fill the air. Often the smell of basura burning in the air is added to it and within an hour or so it may be all you can smell. Small fires can be seen frequently in the early morning or late afternoon usually unattended, sometimes with kids playing with them. Never did I see a fire get out of control and catch the nearby brush. At one time this smoke was probably benign, but eventually plastic wrappings and containers have been added to this traditional and most common form of refuse disposal in the Philippines. Sometimes trash is burned near a tree in the hope that it will aid it in its growth. The unburned trash is afterward buried. In the dry season it is common to see trash in the stream beds of rivers with the trash trail leading up the bank to the location where it was dropped from up above. I saw one woman dumping her trash into the large lake of Laguna de Bay and wondered where she thought it might go. With the sole trash compactor and two dump trucks (provided by Japan) for an area of more than 66,000 people (according to a census taken five years previously in this rapidly growing area) it is no wonder that people have not stopped burning and burying their own trash. We did happen across a couple of community trash areas in two distinct provinces: one was on the side of the road outside of a principle residential area and another was a river just below a bridge. Filipinos seems to generate far less trash than their counterparts in the United States. My rough guesstimate would be that a Filipino household might take as long as a week to generate as much as an American household does in one day. The reason is probably more incidental than that Filipinos have to deal more directly with their own trash. I believe it has more to do with their consumption habits which are relatively minimal as well as a keen sense of value illustrated by the fact that coffee jars are commonly cleaned and recycled as drinking glasses in the provinces.
(no water)
By 5:30 a.m. a small boy's voice can be heard as the child walks through the streets carrying a cardboard box full of the freshly baked rolls yelling "tinapoy! (tinapay). About an hour later, a man carrying two covered tin buckets, one at each end of a pull carried over his shoulder, walks through the barangay calling out "taho!...taho!" Taho is a warm, soupy drink made from caramel, tapioca, and soybean curd which is prepared while you wait and costs a mere P8 or two cups for P15.
(A Taho Vendor)
Before you can enjoy your breakfast, you have to take a shower less it be too late. You turn on the shower and before you know it the steady stream turns into a trickle. The water pressure is all but gone on the second floor where the shower is because every one else in the area is up and showering as they prepare for school and work even though it is only 6:30 a.m. (walang tubig-no water). Many have already gone off to work. You use a tabo (a small cup often with a handle), dipping it into the basin that was filled with water just for such occasions and wet yourself before soaping , repeatedly dipping the tabo into the basin to rinse. You're upset at yourself for not getting out of bed earlier, not because it is easier to use the shower than the tabo which it it is, but because the water that comes from the faucet is warmer. There is only one faucet handle though, like many places in the Philippines, but this is Los Baņos where the tap water is naturally heated by volcanic aquifers. Because the water pressure has dropped you can only flush the toilet one more time in this house before the water pressure builds up.
(house)
The construction on this house is still incomplete, but it is more modern than most because the owners are successful entrepreneurs. Most of the homes in the province are simple, open-air, made partly of cement (the more expensive homes at least), use wood extensively, have very nice tile work, and some even have impressively carved front doors. the owners of this home have used decorative wrought iron around the windows and the stair banister. They have a cellular phone for their business which is located on the first floor, but no other phones. It is still unusual for people living in the province to own phones, but their are many more than there had been a short nine years earlier. Now there are phones in many businesses and some homes (we only saw telephones in the homes of the wealthier families we visited, and in a couple of homes where japayuki [see section below] lived). The toilets in many homes consist only of a toilet bowl-some without seats which isn't a problem because Filipinos squat naturally-with a faucet next to it and a basin beneath the faucet. This basin is filled for kaw-kaw, washing your puwit after you defecate and for refilling the toilet bowl using a tabo. Often times there is no sink. In the poorer home there may be a sink in the kitchen but none in the bathroom nor a shower, only a faucet for filling the basin with several tabo nearby. In these households there is usually a water pump outside either for that one particular house or for several households where water is used to shower or gathered for the individual households.
In Barangay Bucal, Calamba people can be seen on the side of the road washing themselves and their clothes, and swimming in the bucal (a small, natural spring). The bucal is bordered by the Hi-way on one side and railroad tracks on the other. Homes fill in the foreground of the landscape and rice fields extend into the background as you look towards the bucal from Hi-way. The houses on either side of the train tracks encroach to within five meters designating them as squatter housing on public land. These are simple houses. Almost all are entirely wooden homes, and you will even see a water pump with a small group of children playing as they wash can be seen here. Here the sabong is an impromptu gathering, the coliseum is too far and besides it has an admission price for those without fighting cocks. You might happen across two boys carrying a rooster in the direction you came from. The say they are going to have them fight.
Early in the morning, people can be seen sweeping in front of their homes or business with a walis ting-ting, or watering down the dirt to keep the dust from traffic down to a minimum. Most of these businesses outside of the town proper are sari-sari stores or some other kind of tindahan.
Tindahan is a generic term for a market or store. A sari-sari store is a tindahan, but tindahan refers to stores other than sari-sari stores as well. Pan de sal tinapay is sold for 50 centimos each at a tindahan. Other goods often found at a tindahan include a small bag of yelo (ice for roughly eight glasses) for P1, a small bag of charcoal good for cooking at one mealtime for P2, and a 500 ml Coke for P9 the deposit for which is P2.
(Fruit)
In addition to the well known guava, papaya, pineapple, and banana, the Philippines is home to a variety of fruit that is an important part of the Filipino diet and are available at numerous tindahans. Duhat is a purple-colored fruit, very similar to a grape, but it doesn't grow in bunches, and has a large seed. Guyabano is a large spiky-skinned fruit with sweet white meat. Jackfruit is large (it's about the size of a watermelon) with a hard, spiky shell. Kalamansi is a small green citrus similar to lemon, but milder. Filipinos often use kalamansi with soy sauce to dip Tilapia, or some other fish, into before eating. Kamias is a yellow-green fruit that grows in clumps, is sour and tastes similar to a pickle, aand is used to whiten and remove stains from clothes and dishes. Lanzones tastes similar to grapes though they have a bit more citrusy taste to them. Rambutan is a deep red colored fruit with thick, hairy looking growth covering it. It is larger than a duhat and its white meat is very sweet. Santol is a sour, orange-colored fruit with fuzz on its thick skin similar to a peach, and it is rounder than an apple. Tsico tastes something like spiced wine, and the meat has a texture similar to that of bruised meat of an apple.
(Eateries)
A karinderia is an eatery that is simpler than a restaurant, and may or may not have seating for customers. The food sold at a karinderia is usually kept in covered pots and is poured into plastic bags for take-out. Food at a karinderia is the basic food of all Filipinos: ulam and kanin. Kanin is simply rice and ulam is the food eaten with rice. At one, average karinderia, the price for vegetable ulam was P10, ulam was P10, ulam with meat was P15, and kanin was P5. By contrast, a meal for two at Jollibee Restaurant, the largest fast-food chain in the Philippines, was a little more than P100. A similar meal at McDonalds would be more than twice that much.
Many street-side table vendors sell snacks such as fish-balls; barbecued chicken intestines, chicken feet, chicken and pork; empanadas; and drinks.
(School)
Whereas in an urban center in America you might see throngs of women in dresses and men in alike suits rushing to their offices, in the barangay, early in the morning, there are groups of children more than any other kind of person walking, waiting for a jeepney or tricycle on their way to paaralan(school). Once at school they will do their morning exercises, at some schools they will say their prayers, and then perform their morning exercises before beginning classes. Here is the Panatang Makabayan or Oath of a Nationalist that is recited during the flag ceremony:
Iniibig ko ang Pilipinas
Ito ang akin lupang sinilangan
Ito ang tahanan ng akin lahi
|
I love the Philippines
This is the land of my birth
This is the home of my race.
|
Ako'y kanyang kinukupkop
At tinutulungan,
Upang maging malakas, maligaya
At Kapakipakinabang.
|
I am watched over
And being helped by her
To be strong, happy,
And useful.
|
Bilang ganti, ay diringin ko
ang payo nang aking mga magulang
Susundin ko and mga tuntunin
Ng aking paaralan.
|
In return, I will listen
To the advice of my parents.
I will obey the rules and regulations
Of my school.
|
tutuparin ko
ang mga tungkulin,
Ng isang mamamayang makabayan,
At masunurin sa batas.
|
I will carry out the responsibility
of a nationalist
and follow the laws.
|
Paglilingkuran ko
Ang aking bayan,
Ng walang pag-iimbot
Ng buong katapatan.
|
I will serve my country unselfishly
and with all honesty.
|
|
Sisikapin kong maging
Isang tunay na Pilipino,
Sa isip, sa salita,
At sa gawa.
|
I will try to be a true Filipino,
in my thoughts, in my words,
and in my actions.
|
When Karen and Kathy were in grade school, the students were expected to return early from lunch about once a month to clean their wooden school desks with an as-is leaf. As-is is a very coarse, wide leaf of a common bush, and functions similarly to a man-made pot scrubber.
Classes are all taught in English except for Pilipino class which is taught in Tagalog. We were told that there was a goal in place to replace English with Pilipino (Tagalog) as the language of instruction by the end of the decade. Students graduate from high school when they are sixteen-years of age and then go on to college, often away from home. Because of this it is often considered the age when children become adults.
PRINTER-FRIENDLY FORMAT
