Friday, May 05, 2006

home on a jet plane

My parents, aunt and grandmother came back after 3 months in the Philippines. Retirement is good! We hauled six balikbayan boxes up the stairs. One box of only the freshest alamang (shrimp paste) straight from Pangasinan. Another box of bagaong. One box of frozen fish: tilapia, bangus. Another box of tailored pants and clothes. A jar of sweetened bananas. And in between every crevice were banana wrapped rice of coconut or bibingka. Rice desserts make excellent shipping packaging. We didn't stick around to see what was in the other two boxes. Though I suspect it's probably more food.

The barrio was full of construction with my uncle building his house there, my aunt upgrading hers with nara wood flooring, and my parents rebuilding the family home. We watched a video of my uncle's near completed home made of concrete and steel. It reminded me of the Berkeley City Club designed by Julia Morgan with it's concrete walls textured to look like wood beams. That's what they're doing, they smooth out of the concrete then sand it and paint it over as if the walls were made of wood. This is the latest trend and has been the trend for a long while. The Brain Drain generation is looking for a retirement home.

Condos in skyrises in Makati selling for bay area prices $200-$300K. Small bungalows in suburban gated communities complete with indoor bath and aircon. Filipinos who can't afford the American dream, willing to finance that dream in the Philippines to fulfill both dreams: an American house with American amenities in the Philippine world/neighborhood they grew up in, where people still stop and chat on their porch stoops and enjoy lanzones on the tree. A way to merge the two "homes" they have ever known.

It is inevitable. A friend's dad has now decided to spend half of the year in the Philippines and the other half here, though he spends half his time here planning what he'll do in the Philippines.

No comments: