Bulacao revisited

Day 8 :: 12.5.09 [Sat]

My last Saturday in Cebu.. I can't believe I've been here for a week already!  And what a way to celebrate it..

Today I was able to visit Bulacao, the city where the orphanage in which I lived, once stood.  We had some time to kill before Sandy, a few young chaps from CSC, and I needed to start the drive over to meet Paul, Marlys, and Ruth.  The boys who were invited to join us took time to get themselves dressed up just for the occasion [pulling out their favorite button down shirts, polishing their shoes, geling their hair just so..].  I took some time to play with the other children and let them take a couple 'pic-ters' with my camera - they were so proud of themselves.  I was also reminded by Jeffrey that I still needed to video him with the "shriveling fern" [aka: Mimosa Pudica], a most peculiar little plant that shrivels when touched.

A couple of the boys in their outing best!

 

On our way and looking sharp!

Finally, it was time to go.  Into Sandy's car we went.  We made a quick stop at MacDonalds drive-thru on the way, as we were a bit ahead of Ruth, Paul, and Marlys - always a treat for the CSC kids [a universal treat for many children, come to think of it].  The boys were quite modest with their order; everyone ordered a coke, except one, who wanted fries.  While we were waiting at the window for our order, a boy came up to my window holding a baby.  Both were dirty and wearing very worn clothes.  The boy made gestures that they wanted food and were hungry.  Begging from children is very common.  Sandy shared that many times it's pretty obvious that the babies 'participating' in the begging with their older sibling(s) have been drugged, as their eyes are glazed over and they don't seem to be aware of their surroundings.  She said many parents will send their children out to beg for money for the family.  We did our best to ignore the boy as he did not appear starving, but then a little girl with an even littler girl hanging onto her back like a baby monkey, struggling to keep her pants on, walked in front of the car.  The two older siblings seemed to know each other and stuck close to one another.  That was enough for Sandy to dig into her spare change drawer and give them a few pesos.  I looked back at the CSC children and watched them watching the children count the pesos they'd just been given, and couldn't help but wonder if they were recalling their pasts before CSC.

As we pulled out from MacDonalds, we saw Ruth, Paul, and Marlys drive by and wave.  What perfect timing!  We continued to drive for a few more minutes and eventually turned onto a side street that led us to where the Bulacao home used to be.  Much had changed on the property, but the rest of the area seemed quite familiar for Sandy, Ruth, Paul, and Marlys.  They pointed to an open grassy area and said that was where our playground was.  A modern house currently under construction, but near to completion, stood where the house once stood.

 
We then decided to remake the photo that is now CSC's logo.  The boys happily cooperated as we placed them in height order, getting it as close to resembling the original photo as possible.

 

 

After that, we took a nice stroll through the neighborhood.  Paul, Marlys, Sandy and Ruth would point out particular houses and recall how 'so-and-so used to live here', and 'such-and-such store was here'..  I wondered how long it had been since they were all here before today, as they were all fondly looking around and trying to remember the past.  One of the former school teachers from long ago still lived in this neighborhood and we stopped by to say our hellos and had a nice little mini reunion.  A group of children walked by, one of them carrying a basket of Cassava Suman [a Filipino dessert wrapped in banana leaf].  Paul bought some for the boys and for me to try.  It was very sticky, but there wasn't much taste - or at least, not in my bite. 

We continued on, slowly making our way back to the cars, walking past more houses and stores, ignoring everyone staring at us and the mini-tricycle transporters offering rides.  A man selling handmade Parols walked by, and Sandy bought one for each house, and one for me.

Bernie, one of CSC kids who was invited to come with us, grabbed my hand as we all walked.  Strange, but it all felt so comfortable and very natural.  There was just a slight element of familiarity and comfort in those streets of Bulacao.

We dropped the boys back off at the homestead, then Sandy and Marlys took me to this fantastic souvenir store where I went slightly nuts on buying trinkets for everyone back home.  By the time I was done, all three of us were starving, and luckily, there was a great little Thai place nearby called Krua Thai.  Everyone's food smelled simply divine.  We all treated ourselves to a fun drink - I got Thai Iced Tea, Sandy had green mango ice tea shake, and Marlys had a strawberry & banana shake.  We decided Sandy's was the best out of all three [it was just sweet enough but not too sweet, cold 'n refreshing for another horrifically hot/humid day, slightly creamy, and tart - hits the taste buds just right].

Sandy had them all enthralled with her guessing game

Joselito and I enjoyed ourselves several games of "hand-slap" - a favorite amongst the children, as well as 'Thumb War'

The Duterte kids eating dinner in their dining hall

Me and the lil' buggers in the play room
[L-->R : Augustan, Danielle, John John, Jimmy, Lovely's right arm]

We came back to campus in time to chill out with the kids for a bit before we had to get ready to take over for the house staff, as tonight was the annual Staff Holiday Party.  Always a treat to spend some quality time with all the kids.  I was assigned to the little tykes until it was their bedtime.  Sandy calls me 'the live jungle gym' as she amusingly watched them climb all over me as we played.  Once in bed, I joined everyone else outside for a movie under the stars.  The evening weather couldn't have provided a more perfect setting.  What a great ending to yet another great day.