As noted in my recent entries, I had headed up to Manila to spend New Years Eve with Joysa. i had imagined an evening on the terrace. I sublet a condo in Citiland de la Rosa, which is about as posh as it gets in Southeast Asia. The "terrace" is a rooftop pool looking out actoss the city and though in Makati, one can still see Manila Bay and its fireworks display just as the clock strikes midnite. Of course things often have a way of not coming together and so it was that I reveived an unwelcome text as I visited the Israeli Embassy around the corner from the condo. I had been there to modify the End Users Certificates on a hundred piece sale of Tavor Bullpups, the best micro assault rifle in existence, having concluded a sale to the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines).
Joysa: Hi baby, I hope u wont b 2 angry with me but we arent gonna b able to spend tonight on the terrace.
Rachamim: (Secretly relieved ay not seeing Joysa) Damn honey, i bern missing you so much and tonight of all days?
J: Ohhhhhhh, I miss u so bad! Thats why I told everyone u would b meeting us at Tita Gem's place in Pamp! (Tita Gem is Aunt Gemma, the Japasuki I have written about in the past. "Japasuki" is Philippine slang for Filipinas who head up to Japan on what they imagine to be lucrative labour contracts. Much to their suprise they are sold into sexual slavery. Gemma was able to become a "Mamasan," or, Head Prostitute- no double entendre please . Returning home to the Philippines she was able to build what amounts to a middle class house in this dark corner of G-D's green acre.
As the "richest" member of her large extended family Gemma became the de facto family leader. Her sister Susana, Joysa's mum, had entered into common law marriage with Joey, Joysa's dad, at the nubile age of 14. the teenaged couple then built a shack literally four meters from the banks of the Haganoy River in the toen bearing that same name in Bulacan Province. Joysa was born two years later and today lives in that same dilaphidated shack.
Basic Education is ostensibly guaranteed through high school but in reality, not many people can afford to pay for their childrens' kncidental expences. In a nation where most familrs live on $3 a day- when they are fortunate enough to actually find work- pencils and writing tablets take a rear seat to mealy white rice and the bitter melon thay constitutes the daily staple here. It was Gemma who ensured that both Joysa and het slightly younger brother Jhon [sic] finished school. Indeed, Gemma theb bankrolled Joysa's two year junior college degree, thereby saving her from repeating the unpromising life trajectory of Joey and Susana.
In the past I have discussed probably the most important thing Gemma has ever done for Joysa. More than ten percent of ghe Philippine Economy consists of remittances home from OFWs, the Overseas Foreign Workers. Whether they dole out lifesaving medical care as RNs in the UD, hand out donuts in Krispy Kreme franchises all over Saudi Arabia, or distribute handjobs in Tokyo- just like Jemma used to do- they serve as status symbols and role models formost of the nation's teeming masses. It is not suprising then to know that even before graduating from junior college Joysa attempted to gain a position in Japan.
To be continued...
Joysa: Hi baby, I hope u wont b 2 angry with me but we arent gonna b able to spend tonight on the terrace.
Rachamim: (Secretly relieved ay not seeing Joysa) Damn honey, i bern missing you so much and tonight of all days?
J: Ohhhhhhh, I miss u so bad! Thats why I told everyone u would b meeting us at Tita Gem's place in Pamp! (Tita Gem is Aunt Gemma, the Japasuki I have written about in the past. "Japasuki" is Philippine slang for Filipinas who head up to Japan on what they imagine to be lucrative labour contracts. Much to their suprise they are sold into sexual slavery. Gemma was able to become a "Mamasan," or, Head Prostitute- no double entendre please . Returning home to the Philippines she was able to build what amounts to a middle class house in this dark corner of G-D's green acre.
As the "richest" member of her large extended family Gemma became the de facto family leader. Her sister Susana, Joysa's mum, had entered into common law marriage with Joey, Joysa's dad, at the nubile age of 14. the teenaged couple then built a shack literally four meters from the banks of the Haganoy River in the toen bearing that same name in Bulacan Province. Joysa was born two years later and today lives in that same dilaphidated shack.
Basic Education is ostensibly guaranteed through high school but in reality, not many people can afford to pay for their childrens' kncidental expences. In a nation where most familrs live on $3 a day- when they are fortunate enough to actually find work- pencils and writing tablets take a rear seat to mealy white rice and the bitter melon thay constitutes the daily staple here. It was Gemma who ensured that both Joysa and het slightly younger brother Jhon [sic] finished school. Indeed, Gemma theb bankrolled Joysa's two year junior college degree, thereby saving her from repeating the unpromising life trajectory of Joey and Susana.
In the past I have discussed probably the most important thing Gemma has ever done for Joysa. More than ten percent of ghe Philippine Economy consists of remittances home from OFWs, the Overseas Foreign Workers. Whether they dole out lifesaving medical care as RNs in the UD, hand out donuts in Krispy Kreme franchises all over Saudi Arabia, or distribute handjobs in Tokyo- just like Jemma used to do- they serve as status symbols and role models formost of the nation's teeming masses. It is not suprising then to know that even before graduating from junior college Joysa attempted to gain a position in Japan.
To be continued...