Our day in the life of a local Cebuano

Apologies if you have no idea of the relevance of the Facebook pictures and what' they're all about!! I'm still battling with the technology of getting pictures from my phone to Facebook with relevant captions.

In the meantime my blog will hopefully fill in the missing gaps and if all goes well it won't be too long before I manage to find a solution.

So on to our next experience.

Yesterday was at the same time most enjoyable and very humbling. Emily (Carol's maid and companion) had invited us to her house and then to go to a festival at her brother's house. It turned out very differently from what I'd imagine it to be. For those of you who don't know the predominant religion in the Philippines is Roman Catholic ... and they are very devout.

Emily and Carol Ann

It day was supposed to begin with my first experience of the Filipino public transport system. Starting with a tricycle ride to the first Jeepney terminal and then 2 Jeepney rides to Emily's house which is located on Cebu island in Mandaue City. Mandaue City borders on Cebu City and apart from sign boards separating the two there is really no difference.

As Emily arrived to collect us it started to rain ... the options were take a chance of getting wet or taking a taxi. And I'm sure you can guess which one I chose!

It was about an hours drive (probably about 7 or 8 k's!!) over the Old Bridge up towards the mountain behind the cities. We arrived in a very narrow street and walked up to what she calls her "poor house". Small it might be, and sure it has very few western amenities or even basic facilities but it was impeccable. Some of her family were there to meet us and they varied from very shy to very outgoing - the outgoing one Grazie is a call centre operator who works in a company which employs 8 000 people serving a part of the US cellphone industry.

What hits you as you walk around is the massive differences there can be from one house to the next. One a very smart brick building with a couple of SUV's parked outside next to a wooden shack that is also a roadside eating house.

After a short break and the mandatory glass of water we headed off to see the new house that she and her husband are building. It's brick so should handle the heavy rain and winds that occasionally hit this part of the world. They are building a small 2 story home very slowly brick by brick as they earn the money.

Last year Emily was employed as a contract worker by NatureSquared when they were doing the Azzam yacht project but now that's over she would was out of work. She is now working for us for three days a week. There is no state subsidised unemployment insurance ... its simple you get money if you work.

Spider fighting

On our walk we passed a group of very vocal and animated men. On enquiring we were told that it was "spider" fighting. As this was quite intriguing we made our way over and saw exactly what it was about. A piece of string is suspended between 2 sticks about 30 centimetres above a table and the two spiders are encouraged on to the string by their handlers, if all goes well the spiders rush along the string towards each other and after a frenetic few seconds one or both head towards the table. The one that touches the table first is the loser.

This is a seasonal "sport" as these spiders are gathered from the surrounding bush at a certain time of the year. It's not only a past-time but a means of gambling as was evidenced by the money lying on the table.

So up the mountain we walked part of the road was cement strips and part similar to some of the rutted roads that we experience on some of our mountain bike rides. As we walked up motorcycles were passing us going up and down.

At the top we were greeted by the sight of the open air dance area which apparently had 76 speakers. Earlier we had heard music from this system which was very loud and varied from  reasonably harmonic and pleasant to real head bashing stuff ... I suppose everyone to their own.
There were a number of pigs on spits being patiently turned by hand, a small chapel and a large statue surrounded by flowers dedicated to St Antonio, young people handing out candles and in complete contrast a raucous group watching cock fighting. We decided to give the cock fighting a miss and after a snack of deep fried pork and a Pepsi wandered down to the edge of this steep cliff. There were chairs and tables laid out and a lovely soft lawn and it had a wonderful view across Cebu City.

Again the paradox. As you looked left you saw these opulent homes on a new subdivision, a crystal clear swimming pool, a building which was obviously a clubhouse and expensive cars and SUV's parked along the roads. On the right was a tiny wooden shack. All that separated them was a 50 metre high cliff.

A short while after we got there a group of about 20 young men arrived and tucked into a meal which had been prepared for them. They were the band who would later lead the procession through the town. At the arranged time the beating of drums started and the trumpeters blasted out  and the procession started down the hill.

The start of the procession

Old and very young slowly moved along. Some had candles and some were singing. Firecrackers were lit and the acrid pungent smell drifted through the crowd of worshippers. It was quite serene and it was easy to sense the feeling of piety and devotion. The group slowly made their way along a narrow street lined with people who had come out to watch and who, in some cases, also had burning candles.

The procession then made their way onto a main street and it was fascinating for me to see the patience and consideration of the motorists. Only one lane was open so they stopped and waited as the traffic slowly cleared itself from either direction. At the river the procession stopped and the statue was kissed by an old lady who is 101 years old.

Forgive me if some of my terminology is not quite right and I didn't quite get what was going on but through the noise of the band, the traffic and my lack of knowledge of these religious matters I think I got the gist.

Making our way back through
the town

Night fell as we wound our way back up to the top of the mountain. On arrival we were again fed.
This time pieces of the spit roasted pork, chicken (presented with its feet attached), some spring rolls and the customary rice. This time washed down with a glass of Red Horse beer (which incidentally I'm getting quite attached to).

During our meal everything went quiet and very dark. The power had failed and there was a "brown out". The lights flickered for a brief moment and then went out again. We were done and down the mountain again we went. This time guided by the cell phone torches of Emily and her lovely young niece Junhalyn who had spent the last few hours graciously looking after us.

Onto a taxi we made our way through the busy Saturday night traffic back to our house.

My final thoughts were about all the useless junk we collect and hoard in our lives. How meaningless most of it is. Our lives just accumulate too much waste.