I didn’t help to rebuild the chapel in Baguio Gold today because I’m sore, I got up late, and the Watkins Glen IndyCar Grand Prix was televised here. I hadn’t been called to tutor Mrs. Laongan’s sixth-graders. I didn’t walk down to Baguio Gold immediately after the race broadcast, because I had a feeling that Nick would be here to return my jacket, to plug-in Mack’s cell phone to recharge it and to bring thank-you notes for Nana Geller. Sure enough, he came — with his sister Rose, their grandmother and a friend, Dennis.
Nanay volunteered to cook a late lunch or early supper, as she does every couple of weeks. And she gave to me a list of needs for the family. So I set to work on that, requesting online at National Statistics Office’s eCensus website birth certificate copies for Rose and Nick. I told Nanay that she didn’t have to cook, as Dominic and I would take Nick to the city to get student supplies for him and Rose, groceries for the family and eat dinner downtown.
I gave to Nanay rice and corn and another 250 pesos for Rose’s Kindergarten teacher, and I gave to Rose a small basketball that I had bought days ago and labeled with her initials. We dribbled it and passed it in the apartment while Dominic prepared to go out. Then Nanay took Rose downhill while Nick, Dennis, Dominic and I trudged uphill to Tuding Road to await a jeepney ride.
Dominic and I got an affordable meal in Mongolian Grill for us and the boys, then we got groceries. Tomorrow I will return to the city during ‘business hours’ to pay 630 pesos in a Union Bank branch for the birth certificate copies, and I’ll but chicken feed. I’m still waiting for a call or text message from the grade six teacher or principal in Baguio Gold Elementary School…
The tribe in the commune behind/below our home has been partying for hours, banging a gong and carousing. Dominic fled to the big city. Mack and I went into the city to look for certain educational posters and paper for his homework in the stationery/student supplies stores along Session Road plus a cheap early dinner at Gobi Mongolian Grill. I try to feed Mack and his siblings whenever an opportunity presents. Around 4:05 we left to go to Our Lady of Fatima in Turning Point. »→
July 5 fuel prices in Baguio City converted to U.S. dollars (45.405 Pesos per dollar) »→
Dominic and I rode a jeepney from Tuding to Mabini Street in Baguio City then walked most of a mile past City Hall to a Bureau of Immigration field office. We went to renew our tourist visas for two months. A light ‘sunshine shower,’ followed by misting rain, fell while we hiked uphill. But we haven’t had a ‘rainy season’ shower until now.
This morning Rose* started Kindergarten in a borrowed classroom in Baguio Gold Elementary School. Tuition costs a whopping p120 per month ($2.66). I gave P240.
I also gave new pedals for Nick’s* bike, vitamins and bread for the family. The metal BMX bike pedals should last longer than plastic ones.
I rode jeepneys and walked to Taoist Bell Church in Baguio City to take some photos in not-so-harsh light. Some of the church property is inaccessible in midweek. A sign reads, “Open Saturdays, Sundays and holidays 8-4.”
I see semi-humorous signs in Baguio City. When walking from Bell Church toward downtown Baguio City, I read, “No Parking For Costumers Only.” A decal inside a jeepney read, “GOD KNOWS HUDAS NOT PAY” (the fare). Previously I’ve seen, “DO NOT FALL IN LOVE W/ D’ DRIVER.”
*name changed
Well, I have a headache, I’m tired, and I don’t know what to write. I rode a jeepney to Baguio City to get lunch in Pizza Volante, a haircut, vitamins for me, the kids in Baguio Gold and their grandmother, omega-3 capsules, and various supplies for this flat and the A/V/C/A family’s shack from Ace Hardware, Baguio Soliman Hardware and elsewhere.
I visited the post office to mail a postcard and I found in my box a greeting card from JoAnn P. I bought pedals for Nick’s bicycle and undershirts for Mack to wear with his BCNHS uniform… spaghetti, sauce, pancit (ramen), a 5-gallon water jug…
