Every day, several times a day, I hear the thud, thud, thud of a basketball being bounced on the road outside my house. The boys walk a long way, up the hill from one of two basketball courts in the area to practice and play. The game is taken very seriously here and there are a variety of tournaments. My new house has what was designed as "Commercial space " at the front onto the road. I decided to turn it into my office, dining room and lounge area. It means everyone can look in at me ( now I know what it feels like to be a goldfish swimming around in a bowl!) and I can see them as they walk past.
It's always a worry moving into a new home - will they accept me ( especially as I am "Maputing Tao" ( white man) and they are Moreno ( brown). I heard lots of stories of Gangsters and was told by my friends to lock the shutters every night . Regular readers will know of the problems I had with the UK banking system when I moved here as the UK Tax authority, HMRC, classifies the Philippines as "High Risk " of money laundering. I was told to keep a "Low profile!" .
There is no AC currently in my office so I keep the windows open
My landlords, Mick and Maggie ( M &M) , reassured me the area was safe and Maggie explained she and the kids grew up in this area and so I left the shutters open and then the magic started.
Little faces would appear at the window and say " Hello , sir" and " How are you today" . Children in the Philippines are bought up to respect their seniors. One day 10 brothers and sisters took it in turns to say "Hi" and practice their English. One brother and sister ( he told me he is 10 and she is 9) stop and chat regularly and her English is amazing " What are you working on today , sir".
At the top of my road they make the best Mullangay Pandesal ( hot bread) from 6 am ( 2 pesos each - that's 0.014 Bahraini Dinar or 0.030 Pound sterling ) . It's traditional for the kids to get sent to buy the fresh bread before they get ready for school . Each day there's a procession of kids going to fetch the bread and take it home. One boy can never resist the smell of the hot bread and when he gets to my house he looks around, opens the brown paper bag , and puts one of the hot rolls in his mouth! He then eats it the rest of the way home. I will not name him in case his family are reading this!
Opposite my house is a big tree so the guys building the next M & M often sit there on their bikes for their Meryenda ( snack). Sometimes the Food Panda delivery guys or trike drivers rest there in the shade. All day long you can hear little bells and horns as people go up and down the road selling different food items . There are ladies selling fresh fish, a guy who sells Taho (a Filipino delicacy made of silken Tofu, Sago Pearls, and Brown Sugar Syrup. It's a delicious vegan soy dessert traditionally enjoyed for breakfast or any time you need a quick boost of energy.) They also sell fresh vegetables, dirty ice cream and we even have lorries delivering Sam Mig and Tanduay! It is truly a wonderful place to live , and much better wit the blinds up than down.
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One of the lads who sits and smokes opposite my house each morning
On June 6th I saw a group of the basketball players in the street looking at my open window and holding some letters. Often in Awali, where I lived for 11 years and before in the UK, kids would come asking for sponsorship for charity or some event or other. They had a short discussion as to who should approach the white man:
" You go"'
" No you"
" Hurry up, he saw you"
" Lets all go"
So they came , 6 of them, and gave me the letter below....
Greetings!
In line with the
celebration of the Feast of Patron St. Peter, the Barangay Bagong Sikat SK
Council will conduct activities in our Barangay as part of annual tradition and
recognition of the abovementioned Saint. One of the activities is the
Basketball League with a theme “BOLA KONTRA DROGA” and we would like to join
this league that will be held in the basketball court of Purok Seaside II and
will start this second week of June 2022.
As member of the youth
of this community, we would like to set an example to others by joining the
said league, however the main condition to join is to have a team uniform with
the SK logo attached to it. In line with this we, from the Purok Centro would
like to ask for some financial support or sponsor to provide the said
requirement.
Any amount will be a great help to us and rest assured that we will do our best to be the best example to the younger generation. We are looking forward for your usual support and we are thanking you in advance regarding this matter.
Kino Zaskie Del Valle
Team Captain
Team Captain Kino
By way of explanation "the basketball court of Purok Seaside II" is at the bottom of my road, down the hill, by the sea, where the fishing boats come in.
I was really impressed with the line:
"we would like to set an example to others by joining the said league"
The boys were all smart and polite and had the balls to come and ask a complete stranger, and a white man at that , to contribute to the kit they need to enter the tournament. That impressed me. Just like Jhoanna, Grecil and Rodel impressed me all those years ago.
Grecil and Jhoanna in my old house in Bancao Bancao
It reminded me of of younger self, who when my dad said " If you want money go earn it " when I was 13. And so I did , growing selling vegetables, washing cars, delivering letters and from 16 years old working in a hotel. When I was 20 my then girlfriend, Annie, and I travelled Europe and I worked as a room attendant in a hostel on a Greek Island. I was very brown and slim back then ( 63 kg as opposed to 105 kg now!)
Neil taking a nap while working on a Greek Island, age 21
Now I have retired and its my turn to give back. Sadly, due to the strict anti money laundering regulations in the UK and the fact that Her Majesties Revenue and Customs in the UK classify the Philippines as High Risk of Money laundering I do not have much money here. So I offered the boys 1000 pesos. (7 bd or £16 ) towards their kit. They then laughed and explained they were from two different teams and gave me another letter from the other team , and so I gave THEM my last 1000 peso and went without my pandesal Since then the third team members keep coming and asking for their money but I have to draw the line somewhere. I have done my bit, 2000 peso is enough. The following week I had another group collecting and I turned them down too.
Let us hope they win again
I asked for a copy of the letter and gave them my card and asked if they would send me photos when they got the kit so I could include it in my blog. Later I had a Facebook message from their coach thanking me for my help.
A picture of one of the Centro teams
Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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