From yesterday`s warm gesture of generously patronizing the local vendors, in return, my massause made some local eats like pinakbet, grilled fish, etc. Cora, Lucy, Jen and Helen brought the food over by our room to spread out the food on our patio. Just as we were about to eat, I was told by Lucy that they were signaled by the guard that they were not allowed to do so. Instead, we laid out some blankets under a Talisay tree and had a dinner picnic. They laid out the food so we can start chowing! Nolen and I gathered to prepare to dig in but no one else came to join in. Cora insisted we ate first then the rest of the girls will eat. We kept asking them to join in but none of them budged - so we started eating. Bugs began swarming our food so Reyna came by with a broken piece of twig with leaves on it and began to "pay-pay" shoo-away the flies while we ate.

Soon after we ate, Cora washed our plates and utensils with sea water in a plastic container then they all gathered around leftovers and ate, with their hands and used the utensils to scoop food from the main dishes. There were about eight of them gathered around picking up pieces of fish, scoops of pinakbet and plucking cooked rice from a plastic bag, using the plastic lid covers as plates. This was truly family style. Two or three people shared the same plate, scooping and adding to that plate. It was now my turn to "pay-pay" over the food while everyone else ate. Cora gave me an odd look as if she could not believe I volunteered to do so, then she smiled and gave a gentle nod. The scene was initially a bit of shock then the familiarity set in. I began to recall childhood memories of playing with poor children and during lunchtime I ate lunch in their hut. Main dishes would be poured over a banana leaf-lined plate, then the family would grab a banana leaf and lay it out flat on their left hand then gathered pieces of the main dish to eat, all with their hands.

It had been too long since I had been witness to this scene. An aura of closeness and community surrounded all of us. Nothing more could speak to the culture of the islanders than to simply watch a family eat a meal together.