sense and sensibility

Even though it often bothers me how pleasure always takes priority over work here, having visitors is a good enough excuse to forget all and spend a day on one of the islands. On Monday we broke in Yuning and Elesita’s new pumpboat which we were able to help them buy with a small loan. We didn’t forget the tuba, but for the first time since I’ve been here, we managed to overlook our food. Hungry and stuck on a disserted island, we took to the sea. Jorge with his spear went off in one direction to hunt fish; Yuning, RJ, Berto, and I went off in the other to dive for urchins. It was high tide so the urchins were deep, and only Yuning and I were willing to take the plunge. It’s a rush diving 20 ft down, scooping up as many urchins as you can with a stick into a net-bag, before your pounding heart tells you best get your ass up. The urchins are de-spined with a thrashing of the bag, cracked open, and the mushy yellow flesh is eaten as is. Jorge’s catch of small reef fish and snails were simply thrown on some burning embers and eaten. We found some coconuts on the ground fallen from the storm, to open up and sip on.

Later that evening was KC’s debut (18th birthday) party in the parish hall. She’s the daughter of Salem and Willy the fireman, good middle to upper class folk, who are active in the Church and always go on outings with us. I was waiting all night for them to play “I’m Coming Out,” but instead “Let’s Get Retarded In Here” blasted from the speakers. All the important people in town were invited to give symbolic gifts to KC with accompanying explanatory speeches to welcome her to womanhood. My favorite was Madame Nova’s speech about her gift, a belt, which stood for KC’s self-confidence and maturity. Kind of a stretch, but touching nonetheless. As for myself, I joined the ranks of 17 other young squires vying for this damsel’s hand, as I presented myself and my red rose before here in exchange for a waltz. (Mervi’s dance lesson on the Baltic Sea has paid off it seems.) But alas, it turns out her heart has been conquered by another, from Tacloban, a land far to the East. Tall, dark, and handsome, is KC’s type it turns out.