4 AM in Sibulan.

Sunday, 4 AM. Sibulan, Negros Oriental.

Cathy and I can’t sleep. She’s busy dealing with the clothing we shipped here in balikbayan boxes. She has her 4 AM project, as I do. My project - plug into the Rolling Stones via Spotify while writing a blog post.

This is a great time of day for writing; everyone in Sibulan is asleep. I have the world to myself and I’m not bothered by distractions. Even the ubiquitous roosters are sleeping, finally.

The cable TV and Internet are a priority, though not a top one. They’ll be connected, but not immediately. In the meantime, I’m using the wifi provided through my sister-in-law’s mobile phone service. The wifi isn’t reliable enough for everyone to get a proper connection during the day. 4 AM is the perfect time for me. During the day, getting Spotify is spotty. Now, the music is nonstop and I can write to my heart’s content.

When we built the house, Cathy’s mom built a little annex in front to be used as a sari sari store.Unfortunately, every Filipino with a foreign connection-and there are many- tries to operate a sari sari store, without success. The annex is dormant at present. Cathy and her sisters had thought of having a “yard sale” to make a little money off the clothing. I suggested that they turn the sari sari store into a used clothing and alterations shop. Mama is a seamstress and we just happen to have a brand new sewing machine arriving in the next balikbayan box.

Nobody will get rich off the enterprise, but it will bring in a few well needed pesos.

Papa has access to a bit of property in Tubtubon where he and Mama sleep, where he raises pigs and plants a few vegetables. In addition to the sewing machine arriving soon, the box also has a wide variety of seeds from Georgia-cantaloupes, watermelons, hot and sweet peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes. I’ll be planting tomatoes and bell peppers behind our house, but there’ll plenty enough seeds to go around for Papa.

Before we arrived, I thought that I might put some money behind Papa’s pig business. However, he’s not interested in selling full grown pigs. I guess his “profit margin” from selling weaned piglets is satisfactory. His sow had piglets the day we arrived from the States; when the time comes, we’ll buy one and continue to raise it in Tubtubon. I’ll provide the feed and we’ll put it in the freezer when the time comes to slaughter the little booger. 

The Rolling Stones on Spotify have become repetitive, so I’ve bumped them for Frank Zappa. It’s getting close to five and I’ve already seen one of J.P.’s cousins headed from the CR. Soon, everyone will be awake and it’ll be breakfast and Church. It’s as good a time as any to end this post.

So, I’ll say, Maayong Buntag from Sibulan.