Day 4: Quick Visit to Argao, Cebu Philippines

Monday, Sept. 19, 2016

View from the roof top of BJs by-the-Sea B&B in Argao, Cebu, Philippines.

After running errands around Cebu City, Debrah and I headed to the South Bus Terminal and caught a bus to Argao, one of my favorite Filipino towns where I lived for two months at BJ's by-the-Sea. I love co-owner Joy Fallon's cooking so much, I worked a deal where the food would be included. She prepared lots of yummy, healthy salads, fruits and veggies for me, even though the typical Filipino diet includes lots of pork, fried chicken and white rice. Her American husband Billy is always fun to talk politics and music with.

Billy and Joy, owners of BJs by-the-Sea, with their grandson Liam

From the first time I invited Debrah to visit me in Argao, she fell in love...both with the town and Joy's cooking. On the way, in a town called San Fernando, young vendors hop on the bus to sell tiny buko (coconut) pies. I bought two boxes of 10 each for a total of $4.50, still warm from the oven. It's nice to bring something to share with Joy, her family and other friends. Since I was the only white woman living in Argao, it seems like everyone knows me.

Liam and his Ate (big sister) Precious in the Chinatown caps I brought for them

I also brought a big bag of gifts from the U.S., mostly for Joy's grandkids, and for the ball boys at the Argao Tennis Club where Joy is one of the top players. She loaned me a racket and balls when I first arrived in June, so I could relearn the game. Racquetball is my main sport, but I did play Junior Varsity Tennis in high school, a game that my grandma Leslie loved and shared with me. The Argao players made me feel welcome, and after two months I was feeling in shape and stronger in my game...just in time to return to the U.S. for my father's 86th birthday. I had hoped to have time to play today, but we got a late start after getting my laptop repaired by Joy's brother, buying socks to pair with the nice used tennis shoes I'd brought for the ball boys, and new grips for the used rackets, visited the Montessori school...actually I don't know how we squeezed it all into one day.

Happy bunnies with water in their new water dishes at Argao's Nature Park.

In addition to giving gifts and enjoying one of Joy's delicious meals, Debrah and I also had a mission to visit the Nature Park in Argao to see how the staff was treating the rabbits, monkeys and various other animals. Sad news, the snake had died. But at least the new water dishes I'd bought for the rabbits did have water in them, and they had grass to eat. The monkeys were as angry and neurotic as always. A lifetime of therapy wouldn't help them after being caged and tortured by the public all these years. I cry every time I see the condition of these animals, wishing I had time to volunteer in the Argao classrooms and lead field trips to the Nature Park. Debrah says she's learned a lot from me regarding compassion for animals, but it's not really part of the Filipino culture. This time I brought some water feeders for the monkeys.

I stopped by with granola bars and buko pies for my favorite neighbors and local venders, like Nene who does my hair and nails, and the woman who sells buko juice, and Butch the singing used clothes vendor who inherited the big duffel on wheels that I brought everything in.

My friend Nene, mother of two, does hair, nails, and threading at Tommy's Salon in the Central Market.

The give-away at the tennis courts went better than I could have imagined. Every ball boy picked out a racket and tennis shoes that fit. I even had a nice pair of K-Swiss that fit Debrah perfectly (which was great since I make her walk so much), and a large pair for Roslyn the nanny of Joy's grandkids. And Joy spotted a Head racquet she wanted. Joy later told me that the other members of the club were offering to buy the rackets and shoes from the ball boys, but so far the kids were busy rallying across the net and hitting into the practice wall. I wonder if they'll ever wear the tennis shoes, which are a requirement to play with the club members, but the ball boys are used to running barefoot or in flip-flops.

Anthony is my favorite ball boy to rally with.  I hope he can learn to play in tennis shoes.

Unfortunately, we couldn't stay long enough to play tennis with the ball boys or swim in the warm ocean water because our night ferry to Surigao City was waiting for us in Cebu City.

Swimming for an hour in the ocean was part of my daily routine when I lived in Argao for two months.