BROWNSVILLE OBSERVER EDITOR HONORED IN THE PHILIPPINES AS ELDERLY

Hesel and I with her Elders

The Philippines, a cluster of a hundred or so islands rising from the sea, seems to be run by young people on behalf of the old.  As an elderly one myself, I'm frequently pointed to the head of  lines or queues, being given extra honor because of age. 

The man behind me is Hesel's grandfather, 94.  Sitting alongside are two grandmothers and Hesel's mother.

The small concrete house is shared by three generations with Hesel and her parents living in a basement "apartment."  A wrought iron circular staircase in the center of the house leads to the second floor.

After the family decided in the Cebuano language that I "looked tired," I was shown a bed in the basement apartment on which to take a "power nap."  I thanked them, but laughingly declined.

Behind the house is a storage shanty, an outdoor cooking area, a "dirty kitchen," and a tropical forest with the lot sloping almost straight down.

Hesel's family home is in Upper Carmen, a sort of suburb of Cagayan de Oro.

  

The family was anxious for me to meet the young man above, a boyfriend of Hesel's cousin, described as "half American," said to be capable of "intelligent conversation in English."

We did meet, talking about everything from Trump/Duterte to the NBA.  Yes, the boyfriend was articulate in English, not an American at all, but the son of a Netherlands father and Filipina mother.  

When I asked him what language he uses to think and dream, he said up to now, Dutch, but more increasingly, Cebuano.

 

The four young people above run an internet cafe/hostel in Cebu City.  Chy, in the white shirt above, gave me a guided tour of the cafe, the dining area, the projection room, even the rest rooms.  She says as many as 350 come each day to access the internet.  

Internet users, she stated, may bring their own food or eat at the cafe or even spend the night.