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A Senior comes to
Paradise
Part IV
Since my arrival, my people experience has been totally Filipino/a.
Except as noted in previous Parts, I have been more than comfortable
with my people environment.
First of all, the compound I live in is unique because it is
essentially a family compound. The house I am in was finished
shortly before I moved in. The compound is the remainder of
substantial holdings of landlady’s deceased father who was a medical
doctor. Landlady owns a bakery which is on the premises. She employs
a staff of ten. At times she is tempted to stop but feels she cannot
put so many out of work. She is the living personification of Mother
Theresa. How often she has sent me goodies from her kitchen or bake
shop. How many time has she volunteered her services and extensive
contacts to sort out a personal problem. She does not believe in
“tomorrow”. She does it right now. Her house is in the compound. Her
80 yr old mother has a separate house. Unfortunately, she has
beginning Alzheimer's which has destroyed her short term memory.
During pleasant weather, I often like to sit outside especially in
the sun. Filipinos do not like the sun so on the streets thee are
more umbrellas in sunny weather than in rainy. When they see me
deliberately sitting in the sun, they think I am etched in the
head. Of course that does prove how intelligent Filipinos are. LOL
Often landlady’s mother whom I call grandma will have her helper
bring her out to join me but not in the sun, which means I am in for
an excruciating half hour of the same questions repeated over and
over and over. She has no short term memory. In the meantime, her
helper and my staff out of sight of grandma are laughing themselves
silly at my discomfiture. Escape is impossible.
The affable husband of landlady is also the product of
A substantial old family which once owned about half of famous
Boracay island where they still have a resort. While his wife
manages the compound with its hundreds of plants and trees many
collected by grandma in her younger years, husband who is a serious
cock fight enthusiast maintains a flock and staff. .These cocks are
seriously confused or have been afflicted with strange jet lag. They
obviously flunked cock crowing 101 because they start between three
and four in the morning outside my bedroom window. In the first
weeks, I developed a fierce hatred for these beasties. The term,
‘murder most fowl’ had special significance. I developed a
passionate obsession for Kentucky Fried Chicken. I finally developed
an antidote. I get out of bed at four in the morning but please
don’t tell my nurse. I come to the computer and start writing or
calling my son in California. Gradually, the cocks faded from
consciousness and I lost my taste for Kentucky Fried Chicken. The
cocks have won again! For me it is cock flight not cock fight !!
Another challenge is the compound location. We are at the end of the
airport runway. Sometimes it sounds as though the jets are coming
into my room. Again I have developed a tolerance. I defy the fates
that challenge my desire and will to stay here. I think I am
winning. Part of this is due to my reliance on “G.A” G. A. and I
have a long standing relationship. During my driving days, if I
wanted a parking space close to an entrance, one would always show
up many times in the first ten tries LOL, Then the exhausted
passengers are required to say “Thank you G.A.” (Guardian Angel). Ok
I never said I was not eccentric. It really is fun and much easier
the older you get. G. A. tends to be a show off. This is not the
place to recount the many times my life has been saved. In short, I
can fall off a cliff and land on a cloud. Thank you G.A for getting
me to Paradise and helping me stay.
There are the compound guardians, a colony of four dogs given to
shameless incest. The most curious case of which is the little old
grandpa, Taboo with one eye and one ear that will not stand up who
has managed to impregnate a big Labrador who can stand over grandpa
without touching him. Talk about relentless ambition and extreme
sport ! Then there is Brownie who hangs out on my doorstep because
the housekeeper slips scraps to him. They all loudly announce any
stranger that comes into the compound making a fearsome noise which
doesn’t seem to scare anyone. I am sure that if there were a regular
mailman, (is there such a creature here?), the guardians would be
noisily delighted. When I was in college, I worked at the post
office delivering mail during high volume times such as Christmas,
so I am still mystified about mail delivery here. I have never received a
personal snail mail. That does not worry me since I am an email
addict.
Derek, name changed), landlady’s 22year old son is a recent graduate
of St Augustine University in Iloilo with a business degree…My
hiring of his girlfriend, Cher was a win affair. Cher moved in with
me just yards from Derek’s house. He works with me alongside of
CHER. They have established an unusually strong relationship and
Derek has become a caring companion. Often the three of us will sit
in my bedroom with my computer to just talk. The computer usually
does not participate. I have loaned them my Macintosh PowerBooks
with a complete set of programs including “Super Text Twist” a game
which presents jumbled letters from which you make as many words as
possible. Those rascals were delighted when they were able to beat
my high score. Cher is brilliant. That is disgusting. That child who
had never heard of a Macintosh computer, can now open my Quad G5 at
one time the most powerful desktop in the world, and change the
memory !!!! To add insult to injury, more than one time she has
solved a computer problem that baffled me and she has done it in
minutes !! Doesn’t she know I was working with Macintosh when she
was a nursing infant! There out to be a law 1!! Doesn’t she know
that I worked with computers before my children, that I actually
taught retired professionals at one time!!
Like the late Rodney Dangerfield, I get no respect!
Cher does want to go to the States and if anyone ever finds out
about her, I will lose a good nurse and companion. She would love to
be involved with NASA’s
Space program. I am keeping Cher my private secret. That is why I am
not too concerned about my salaries for Cher and Derek. For those
who have expressed concern about the impact of their salaries,
hospitals here pay private duty nurses 32,000 php per month. Cher is
underpaid. They are precious gems which I have discovered. Don’t you
tell now, hyeah !!!
Madam Dureen (name changed) does the household chores plus cooking.
She starts administering medicine.
At 0600 in the morning and every hour thereafter until noon. After
lunch, more medicines until 2200 (10:00 PM). Madame Dureen goes off
at 2100( 9:00 PM) then Cher and Derek take over. They give my final
medication at 2200 (10:00 – now you did not notice, I am showing
off). I go to bed at midnight. Madam Dureen’s duties do not stop
with medical administration but include preparing the hot water for
my daily bath. I have a perfectly good shower but the water from the
deep well tends to be hard, so every morning water is boiled and I
cool it to the temperature I like and can stand. I like hot water.
Madam Dureen believes I am not competent to bathe myself so despite
some misgivings, I let her wash my back. which she does with an
intensity mindful of Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth: “Out out damned
spot” Madame tests the temperature of the water by pouring it on my
back and measuring the volume of my screams. Then she mumbles
mmuhot? It is very effective! Why don’t I tell her? Well our
communication is somewhat less than Cambridge I can’t understand her
mumbles and she does not understand mine. Oh well, the screams seem
to work.
The frequent hospital visits, the doctors bills and daily medicines
began to put a squeeze on my budget. In the States I could never
have afforded this personally but then I had excellent Federal
Employee Blue Cross/Blue Shield with a hefty monthly premium (a
little less than $300) which I had been paying for years. But I got
my own in my latter days in the States. Once here, I began to
consider canceling assuming no BC/BS coverage here, because the
monthly premium alone could cover much of medical expense. Four of
my five doctors charge 300 p or $5.91per visit. My regular doctor.
charges a “foreigner” fee of 500p $9.86 at today’s exchange rate of
$1.00 = 50.73 php.There are tests which cost more and the daily
medication which begin to mount. I was on the verge of asking son to
cancel Blue C/Blue S which would be irreversible, when I stumbled on
info that their coverage was worldwide. (Thank you G.A.) So Cher and
Derek set about collecting all of the required hospital info and
receipts, medical receipts which Cee had kept in a folder. They
spent day and night over ten days preparing the claims for
reimbursement. Then they fedexed claims and sure enough
reimbursements started trickling in. Let’s hear it for G.A.! (such a
showoff !!! I could do with a little less brinkmanship )
One could be critical of my lifestyle here because I am living in a
privileged cocoon. Landlady and family cannot be described as
poverty stricken. I can say that there is an awareness but like so
many wealthy, a bit of patronization creeps in. I am accepted as a
member of the family and the extended family is in the United
States. Landlady’s brother works at Carnegie Hall although he is a
trained lawyer. One other brother is a Psychiatrist in the US and a
third brother practices medicine there. One brother and a
grandfather had been famous in the RP as basketball players. At
least one played on Philippines’ Olympic team. The family owns one
of the 7107 islands. They plan to developed it. I am distressed at
the devastating effect of the oil spill which is affecting this area
and destroying so many lives. In the compound it is a matter of
casual comment but then I am not having dinner with the family so it
is unfair to characterize them as unfeeling.
There have been several surprises for me here in addition to
demented cocks of crowing persuasion.So far none are deal breakers but I do wonder are there explanations
such as why are the toilet seats removed in public toilets even
hospitals? Don’t you miss the toilet paper? Why are incandescent
lamps so hard to find? Is it my imagination, or is reading a rare
phenomenon among Filipinos? How do the truly poor and there are many
of them, manage their medical and health requirements? Ilongo
speakers when using English, Say: “I will be the one to (verb e.g.
“go. Do etc”) instead of “I will go” Does this construction apply
throughout the Philippines's?
Are the allegations of corruption in government and the halls of the
high and mighty really true? If so, is there any element in or
outside of government sincerely dedicated to change? Is it true that
western media has ignored the oil spill a major disaster in the
Visayas.? Is traffic regulated by rule or by custom?
Finally, I have to admit that all the evidence I have support the
premise that age really makes no difference. Not only that but so
many young women express a preference for older men. Of course one
could explain that in several ways. They suspect that I am too old
to roam. I will neither affirm nor deny. Old men are likely to have
resources and financial stability. Well, it COULD happen ! They will
not be troubled by insistent physical demands. Don’t woke ‘em let
‘em slept. Oh yes, G.A. has a warped sense of humor. Now,
I am plunked into a vat of honey after I lost my taste buds. If you
think that is something, get a load of this. Years ago in the States
I subscribed to a Free Lotto service. They post your numbers
automatically. Then I gradually forgot about it. In the past month I
have been getting almost daily notices that I have won not only one
but TWO MILLION dollars. So why am I sitting here? I do not have the
required numbers that I must submit to collect !! G.A. are you
telling me something? And don’t give me “It’s only money crap!” It
is life changing, American style house on a beach, long lost
kinfolks, new loves, friends you don’t need, happy grandchildren,
travel – first class etc etc. On the other hand that is now dream
deferred and I have the advantage of realizing that all my life has
been rich. I just never had money.
So, I have always been and remain eccentric.
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