Immersion Souvenirs: Faux Chicken Pox
(It's not because I'm nervous, but I feel like I have an army of ants crawling all over me.)I've been enjoying the comforts of home for three days now. After returning from my Immersion, I now appreciate the small things that I have so much more. It's easy to just feel like the world unjust, but when you closely see how much less other people have, I tell myself, "shame on you."
Samal is a quiet and peaceful place, close to Nature and full of her abundance. I and my partner, Rae, were assigned to one of the poorest houses in the community. Nanay Tess and Tatay Alberto had five kids, where four were still living with them, namely, Tope, Buknoy, Camille and Roy. Their house were the mere size of my room and bathroom combined. Their cabinet is the size of my desk. The number of their utensils must be less than the spoons and forks I've carelessly lost in my lifetime.
They didn't have a sink, nor a bathroom (yes, I peed on the grass and didn't poo for three days! And the five girls of our Theology group, took baths together in plain sight--and
no, not naked, but with our clothes on.). They also didn't have decent walls to protect them if anyone wanted to harm them. They didn't even have electricity, which made the insect-reigned night even darker and spookier.
I didn't know just what convinced them to take in two more children, even for just a weekend, because as far as I saw, we were merely extra burdens for the already impoverished family. Sure, they were farmers, and 'Tay Alberto sidelines as a fisherman and there was always good food during mealtimes. But when it comes to monetary issues, our parents had so little.
The thirty pesos we casually throw away for one Auntie Anne's pretzel was enough for the family's day allowance. The 100 bucks we squander on a Starbuck's Frappe was enough to get them through a week's gasoline expense, since the house didn't have electricity so we used gas lamps at night. And they weren't the cute lamps we were expecting, but rather they looked like the ones that were filled with gas, stuck with a long, twisted piece of cloth that people could throw at their enemies to blow them up.
Despite the family's lack of material wealth, what they have is a vast wealth of morals and tight values. While they didn't have the techie stuff that we use to entertain ourselves, they had themselves to chat and play with. They are a happy family, amidst the unjust poverty, and we are so grateful to them for letting us be a part of their family.
Rae and I slept on makeshift bamboo benches, the width must've been less than half a meter, situated in the "living room" where what protected us from the outside was just a piece of sack used to cover the doorway (they didn't have a door). So, we technically slept outside because there wasn't an adequate covering to keep the dogs, cats and what-have-you from entering and exiting the house, which is also why I have faux measles all over.
For the two nights we spent sleeping on those wooden "beds," I acquired extra eyebags, bruises and around fifty pimple-like mosquito bites on my face, arms, hands, elbows, ankle, thighs and elsewhere, which is why I still squirm like crazy when I have itch attacks. My brother actually stayed away from me when I came home in fear of getting "Chicken Pox."
Actual Souvenirs from Samal, Bataan:One of the constellations on my face.
The big Pox on my thigh.
But after all the ups and downs, and splitting migraines of the trip, I am still happy that we went through the Immersion, because each of us had so many beautiful memories to take home with us. I also now know
exactly what the song, "Magtanim ay Di Biro" means. Most of all, we are so fortunate to have been taught by the greatest teacher--Experience.
I'll never forget Nanay's cooking!
Soleb, suman, calamay, sinigang...YUM!
