Pecuniary Talk

Earlier, last week, Jenny, one of the latest additions to our roster of teachers asked me if I could lend her some cash- enough to suffice up her family needs more than a week before the company's pay out. I have known her for barely a month but obviously that incident where she discreetly approached me at my station was not something I had to take against her. I used to be a money-borrower myself and in all honesty, I still do until now.

"Teach, I am wondering if you have some spare..." she said matched with the hesitant and the hopeful expression in her face. I knew what she meant and I was momentarily speechless not confident enough to say 'yes.'

She went in to continue that she and her family just moved in to a new apartment and they have to start filling up their small room with their own domestic properties like stove, pots, dishes, as well as diapers for her baby and their daily provisions. She is just one of the moms out there I certainly commend for the courageous move to settle for a nuclear family in the city in exchange of the extended family she belonged in, back in her hometown in the country.

I never promised a favorable response of her untimely need since I myself had nothing to spare. I just told her I'd ask AJ if he has some to lend her.

Jenny is definitely one of the best teachers we want to work with in the company. Knowing she is trying to make things fall through right for her and her family- (she's got a toddler and a homemaker hubby) instantly left a good impression on me. I really wanted to help if I could.

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My Beginnings and the soy sauce with rice

I was born on September 6, 1978. I am the second child in my family. I have four other brothers and one sister. I was raised in a small city in the Philippines called Baguio. When I was younger, my family used to live in a shanty in a land owned by the government but which my dad was given the right to own eventually. A squatter's area though in my place of birth is a little bit different from the ones we see here in Manila. I can say we are luckier in my hometown because there is more space to breathe and appreciate the beauty of nature around us.

We owned a very small shanty. How time flies? Until now, my family lives in that area. Life then was really hard for us. My dad was an energetic carpenter and his earnings of course kept my family survive. Other than that, he would spend all his money on drinking. As far as I remember, he would come home from work always drunk and my mom would always carry the burden of borrowing money from our relatives and neighbors so we can buy a kilo of rice. Most of the time we would have dinner without having any main dish. I and my brothers, (we were just four then)came up with our favorite food combinations. I liked soy sauce and some used cooking oil or lard with rice, my older brother prefered salt, water and rice. We were lucky if there were some sugar in the small jar which eventually got broken when my dad got wild once he came home drunk.