T'boli, the Next Day

When I woke up, I realized that the drum beat and sound of music had remained constant throughout the night, only to give way to the sound of somebody talking over a loudspeaker, and other, quieter music, complete with an entirely different drum beat. This was the sound of old music. I worked my way out of bed, looking forward to a good morning shower. In the Philippines, many rooms do not have warm water for the shower, while other rooms don't even have a shower. Often all that is available is a large bucket with a smaller scoop, called a tabo. The room I had chosen had warm shower, at least for a little while. As I showered, the water temperature dropped quickly to the point that I stepped out of the water just in time for it to swing back to scalding hot so decided it was agood time to end my shower.

As with any vacation, I took my time getting dressed, checking Facebook, messages, etc., and lost track of time. Then I remembered, "OH CRAP! I'm going to church this morning! I'm going to be late! No time for breakfast!" As if to reply, I heard in my mind, "Where are you?" Seems for a moment, I forgot where I was, then remembered I'm in the Philippines. Church rarely starts on time, and stragglers show up at various times throughout services, so my original panic at not being on time left, allowing myself to relax and focus on getting ready for church. As I headed out, the sight I beheld almost overwhelmed me with emotion. I saw children from the various barangay middle schools dressed in traditional T'boli garb, doing traditional street dances. It was at that moment I realized I would be very late for church as I settled myself in to watch. All my senses were being lavished by more beauty than I can remember at any point in my life. The sights of the brightly colored garb, the movements in unison, of the children doing their dances, the music, the drums, all of it overtook me and I was in each moment as it came, relishing in it, knowing this was Home.



Ayengg, a friend I met there in T'boli as mentioned in a previous post, worked at the hotel where I was staying. She and a co-worker came out to the streets, also dressed in traditional T'boli garb. Other people who worked there were dressed up as well. Something that caught my attention about these outfits is that they had so many tiny brass hand-made bells. The size of the bells, and the brass from which they were made, created a soft, gentle ringing sound as the ladies walked by, making my current mood that much better.

As the street dancers progressed down the road and the whole show slowly quieted, I headed to church. I arrived, quite late by American standards, and rather early by Filipino standards. There were only a few people there which provided me time to relax and soak up the warm, welcoming atmosphere, letting this new and amazing feeling flow through me.

Perhaps an hour or so after arriving, church services started. The pastor saw me, and talked about wanting to speak in English to accommodate this unexpected guest (me). He asked me to come up to and introduce myself, as it was very unusual for a foreigner to show up in this church, so far from a big city, with no wife or girlfriend. We discussed my callinig and the T’boli tribe, and he invited me to come to the mountains with him someday. He informed me that he needed to know ahead of time as he wished to inform the people in the villages we would be visiting, and to plan for at least 2 days for the trip. Because of plans I already had, I would not be able to go with him on this trip. At the moment, the idea felt good, but the time did not feel right. It seemed like I have other things I must experience first.

After church, I meandered around on foot and found myself back at Kakay's Coffee Shop, enjoying the atmosphere of the last night of the Ses'long festival. I waited for Ayengg to finish with work, then we took a walk. At some point, someone stopped to say hi and ask me how I was doing. We talked just for a moment. Instead of simply walking away or saying, "bye," and walking away, he politely said he would be going in a way that seemed almost like he was asking permission. Ayengg explained to me that this is how Tboli are. They are very kind and polite.

At the end of the festival, they put on an amazingly energetic fireworks show that would rival anything seen in the U.S. It was a good ending to an amazing day.