witchcraft and wizardry

Salem, Yuning, Elesita and I hiked up the hill and into the woods of Tuburan the other day for the birthday party of Mr. Docallos. Typical birthday fare: lots of people of all ages, cups continuously being filled with tuba, guitars, singing and dancing in the yard. We were late so the lechon was all bones (so many bones) by the time we arrived. Most of the other food was gone too, except for a few chicken feet ("addidas" they call them) and suprisingly a grilled fish barely touched left on the table. One taste was all it took to find out why: spoiled. I discreetly expelled it onto my spoon not wanting to embarass the host, like the others before me I'm sure, and I let the rotten mush fall accidentally under the table. I kept coaxing the cat to eat it, but it wouldn't.

Halfway through the revelry Lola Lilang, an aged woman with saggy eyelids and a laugh as warming as my own Lola's, pulled my ear close to her and wispered into it the most tantalizing of questions. "Do you believe in wizards?" she wanted to know. I was looking forawrd to then engaging in an in-depth discussion about White vs. Black Magic, Elementals, runes and other such enchanted objects, but we didn't. Her next question: "Do you like to eat goat?" Not waiting for a response, she quickly got up and shuffled out of the room returning later with a plate of goat's meat. I was hoping it would be a wizard. White beard, pointy hat with stars, walking stick / magic staff. Oh well.

After the party we walked up the path a little ways past the Docallo's to the cold spring of Tuburan which provides the entire town of Almeria with water. It's nothing more than a small hole but it's a refreshing sip to jump in and sit in the cold, clear water that ceaselessly flows from deep under the mountain.

Yuning brought the guitar as he usually does. He and Elesita are a married couple in their late 30's and are rarely seen apart from each other. They sell fish for a living, walking around Kawayan with their black bucket and conch shell horn. (There's no market in our town. The market comes to you.) Unoffically though they are church workers and very much a part of our family here. Every day they are at the convent. Yuning plays guitar during mass and Elesita, a nice looking lady with a lazy eye, prepares lunch most days. There is a running joke around here that Elesita will get me to marry their eldest daughter Nene but it's a long shot. Nene is a dear friend to me but perhaps the most difficult person I've ever known. One moment she's all sunshine, and the next moment you better watch out because she's a wild animal. Rahrrr!! (I have a theory that her erratic behavior is due to the death of her older brother a couple years ago, tragically stabbed at the fiesta of Kansanoc). Anyway there probably won't be a wedding anytime soon.

So I'm here now in Tacloban, a big city 3 hours away, killing time. Our truck is getting fixed, but I'm also here to buy Yuning and Elesita a small 5hp motor for a pumpboat so they can go fishing themselves instead of having to go through the alpor, middle-men for fish dealers. Elesita and Nene were planning on leaving for Manila next month to work in a factory (sweat-shop) to save the money to buy the motor themselves until I proposed this plan. It's on loan of course, but the interest is tiny and it's managable. They're happy about it.

We'll keep on jammin wherever you are. I'll let you know if I meet a wizard anytime soon, be he friend or foe.