Deanna
"Kakain na Love!"
Called Jema.
I was looking at the tv screen.
Yes, looking not watching.
Ever since umuwi kami ay nakatulala lang ako. Iniisip ko yung mga nangyari.
I did not think twice nung kinuha ko yung pera kay Jema at ibinayad yun sa hospital.
It is the right thing to do.
I miss eating meat so much, when Jema introduced me to a sautéd cabbage three days ago, I could not even chew it.
It feels like I'm eating grass on the garden floor.
Inisip ko na lang, this day will pass din naman.
I really admire Jema because she knows just about everything.
She knows all the household chores.
She washes our clothes. I want to help her but she refused.
Baka masira ko lang daw yung damit namin at maglakad kami ng nakahubad.
Sabi ko ay okay lang naman yun. Pero di na kami lalabas ng bahay. Maglalandian na lang kami maghapon.
Nabatukan niya ko nung sinabi ko yun.
Kaya yun, she washes the clothes and I will be the one to hang and fold it pag natuyo na.
But above all her skills, what I admire most was her cooking.
I watch Jema as she cooks so that I can learn it.
She heats the oil in the pan, adds onion and garlic, and then the veggies. She adds salt and pepper and that's it!
She told me things like how other people eat indigenous foods every day and how another some people doesn't have anything on their plate.
It somehow encouraged me.
Somehow lang.
Kinakain ko siya kasi I need to eat,
Kinakain ko siya kasi pagkain yun, a grace from God that not all people are priveleged to have;
And
Baka kung ano magawa sa akin ni Jema. 😅
Yesterday she cooked nilagang patola.
I thought it was a joke because what I knew about 'patola' was it is a term used to those people who easily responds to trolls.
It is a vegetable pala.
It was boiled with misua. I know misua because my grandmother cooks molo soup for us before. It has a misua on my grandma's recipe.
But patola with misua? 🙊
I had a hard time swallowing it. It smells like boiled socks and tastes like one too.
I am literally crying because I want to vomit, but Jema glares at me so I just chugged down some water every after spoonful.
I am so excited for today kasi finally makakakain na ako ulit ng meat!
Jema said she will cook pork something because it's her favorite.
