I remember it quite well. My mom would be awake quite early in the morning and I'd wake up too. She'd get ready for work while I was still in bed. Heck, we didn't even have a bed. We didn't even have any sort of mattress on the floor. We essentially slept on the ground. Of course, we put some stuff to lay on so it wasn't cold nor too hard. But it was in fact how we slept. I believe the majority of my time sleeping in the Philippines was spent on the ground. And I'm not ashamed to admit it. In fact, I am almost proud of experiencing that. Along with stepping on carabao shit and picking snails up in a rice farm. Not a lot of people could say they have experienced such things and I'm glad I have.
My mom would get out and head to work in the morning. And she'd drag me along with her. We'd exit through this small metal gate painted in maroon or something. And after that, a convenience store to the right side and a sort of park with a basketball court on the left across the street will be some things we'd pass. After the court, you will see a small shack where they serve food. Mainly, porridge and soup if I remember correctly. In the morning, when my mom would drag me with her, it was so she can buy me some champorado and let me walk home with it as my breakfast. Since she'd be gone for quite some time. And after that, she'd leave me money. I think the maximum she'd leave me was 2 pesos. That was quite a bit at the time.
(I'd walk home with champorado for breakfast after my mom leaves.)
So I'd walk back home with this chocolate porridge and pocket money. I suppose I had to eat my breakfast alone. In fact, I spent a lot of time by myself when I was really young. Since my father was dead and my mother had to work her ass off. It wasn't like I had any brothers nor sisters either. So I was essentially left to my own devices the majority of the time. Hell, I don't even remember how I ate lunch during those times. I just know I ate breakfast alone and for dinner time, she'd be home to eat with me. But the rest of the day, it's quite a blur to me what I've done and how I managed. Though I remember a lot from that place. My guess is, I ate with the landlord's family. Thinking back now, my mom risked quite a bit with me walking home alone like that. But I know she didn't have a choice and she trusted me. But it was still a bit dangerous, I suppose.
As a young kid, I guess I didn't really think of being alone as such a bad thing. I didn't question the fact that I didn't have any sisters nor brothers like the other kids. It didn't occur to me that I was different for only having a mother. And it sure didn't bother me that I'd spent most of my time by myself and everyone around were strangers or just familiar faces. Perhaps my innocence as a kid kept me from asking those questions and thinking more about my situation. But I'd like to think that because of that, I have become an individual that could easily handle being solitary and have the flexibility to adapt to a more social and extroverted attitude. Some people may do well with others but can't handle being alone. And some might be pleased to be by themselves but cannot deal with a crowd. I'm glad to be somewhat capable of either scenarios.
So I'd walk back home with this chocolate porridge and pocket money. I suppose I had to eat my breakfast alone. In fact, I spent a lot of time by myself when I was really young. Since my father was dead and my mother had to work her ass off. It wasn't like I had any brothers nor sisters either. So I was essentially left to my own devices the majority of the time. Hell, I don't even remember how I ate lunch during those times. I just know I ate breakfast alone and for dinner time, she'd be home to eat with me. But the rest of the day, it's quite a blur to me what I've done and how I managed. Though I remember a lot from that place. My guess is, I ate with the landlord's family. Thinking back now, my mom risked quite a bit with me walking home alone like that. But I know she didn't have a choice and she trusted me. But it was still a bit dangerous, I suppose.
As a young kid, I guess I didn't really think of being alone as such a bad thing. I didn't question the fact that I didn't have any sisters nor brothers like the other kids. It didn't occur to me that I was different for only having a mother. And it sure didn't bother me that I'd spent most of my time by myself and everyone around were strangers or just familiar faces. Perhaps my innocence as a kid kept me from asking those questions and thinking more about my situation. But I'd like to think that because of that, I have become an individual that could easily handle being solitary and have the flexibility to adapt to a more social and extroverted attitude. Some people may do well with others but can't handle being alone. And some might be pleased to be by themselves but cannot deal with a crowd. I'm glad to be somewhat capable of either scenarios.
(I spent a lot of time alone as a young kid. Probably made me better. Or not.)
I'm not particularly sure where that place was. All I could remember was that it was close a convenience store that had a long area of windows, but they only used a small portion for their store. It was also close to a sort of park with a basketball court. And if you turned left after exiting the gate, you could very well be heading to the market place. Turn right and right again, there should be a restaurant. That's pretty much all I could recall in terms of the geographical aspect of that location. And supposedly, the lady that owned our residence died and before that, she gave my mom a rosary made of crystals. Probably not real crystals though. I have a few more memories from that place. I will have to write about them as well.
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