10:00 AM
I woke up early, 6 a.m., and found myself on the bed nearest the balcony (not the bed I originally slept in) and I wonder what time in the night I switched beds. Breakfast was not the first order of the day--I had to see to the washing of the clothes and the putting of the shirts in the small drawers. Summer mornings are pretty in Boracay, like a brown toddler in a yellow bathing suit. On my way to the terrace to hang the freshly laundered clothes, I spied several mayas going about their usual Tuesday morning rituals and I had to stop what I was doing to watch them for awhile.
5:45 PM
I am sitting here on the beach. While walking earlier, I saw a small boy utterly naked. I laughed. At least he could still get away with things like that. Most of the people around me look happy. Two middle-aged women dumped their beach things near me and smiled as if to say, “Hey, lady, watch our stuff, okay?” I smiled back. They went into the water wearing identical black T-shirts and long shorts, swam for awhile, and then sat very near each other on the bank. Everywhere kids are posing for snapshots and people are taking pictures of the horizon.
Me, I am content just watching the sun set.
7:00 PM
This is how I spend my days: Mornings, I laze around in my nice, cool room. I go out the balcony to catch my bit of morning sun, watch the mayas at work, observe the other hotel guests as they go about the business of waking up. I try to fix myself a semblance of breakfast: Coffee or tea, Vienna sausages or Spam eaten straight from the can. Some days I watch a bit of TV or use the computer, other days I just go right back to sleep. My days start late in Boracay. After finding out that the sun rose at the other side of the island, morning walks along the beach became uninteresting. Around noon, I bathe and join my husband for lunch, scour the talipapa for souvenirs, or lounge in one of the restaurants/cafes serving sweets. Noons are busy here. Of course, everyone lunched, the unwise go swimming, tanning, sailing. There are always hundreds of people milling about--walking, idling, conversing.
Three p.m. to sunset, I go for swims, have Banana Choco Peanut shakes at Jonah’s; sometimes I go sailing, perched precariously on nets or nylon threads woven together on boats locally called “paraws.” At night, my husband and I have dinner and by midnight enjoy a beer each, while listening to Reggae music played by a live band . . . or stargazing.
I woke up early, 6 a.m., and found myself on the bed nearest the balcony (not the bed I originally slept in) and I wonder what time in the night I switched beds. Breakfast was not the first order of the day--I had to see to the washing of the clothes and the putting of the shirts in the small drawers. Summer mornings are pretty in Boracay, like a brown toddler in a yellow bathing suit. On my way to the terrace to hang the freshly laundered clothes, I spied several mayas going about their usual Tuesday morning rituals and I had to stop what I was doing to watch them for awhile.
5:45 PM
I am sitting here on the beach. While walking earlier, I saw a small boy utterly naked. I laughed. At least he could still get away with things like that. Most of the people around me look happy. Two middle-aged women dumped their beach things near me and smiled as if to say, “Hey, lady, watch our stuff, okay?” I smiled back. They went into the water wearing identical black T-shirts and long shorts, swam for awhile, and then sat very near each other on the bank. Everywhere kids are posing for snapshots and people are taking pictures of the horizon.
Me, I am content just watching the sun set.
7:00 PM
This is how I spend my days: Mornings, I laze around in my nice, cool room. I go out the balcony to catch my bit of morning sun, watch the mayas at work, observe the other hotel guests as they go about the business of waking up. I try to fix myself a semblance of breakfast: Coffee or tea, Vienna sausages or Spam eaten straight from the can. Some days I watch a bit of TV or use the computer, other days I just go right back to sleep. My days start late in Boracay. After finding out that the sun rose at the other side of the island, morning walks along the beach became uninteresting. Around noon, I bathe and join my husband for lunch, scour the talipapa for souvenirs, or lounge in one of the restaurants/cafes serving sweets. Noons are busy here. Of course, everyone lunched, the unwise go swimming, tanning, sailing. There are always hundreds of people milling about--walking, idling, conversing.
Three p.m. to sunset, I go for swims, have Banana Choco Peanut shakes at Jonah’s; sometimes I go sailing, perched precariously on nets or nylon threads woven together on boats locally called “paraws.” At night, my husband and I have dinner and by midnight enjoy a beer each, while listening to Reggae music played by a live band . . . or stargazing.
Away from the city, the stars here blaze oh so brightly.
