Lessons in June

June may be the bridal month, but for my maturing family, it is a blessed month for a vacation where we silently close the doors that are wide open the whole year for everyone’s woes. June gives the family time to express varied points of view, even those that lead to discussions.

This June’s respite was well deserved. Dapat nga before arthritis, Alzheimer’s, gout, and high-blood pressure set in. God forbid all these and more.

The day had come, and I departed with an eagerness resolving to be happy and light-headed. All things after all are lodged in the mind and attitude. With that outlook, I was at peace with myself and thankful to have a family that’s healthy. I had questions that flashed in my mind. How often will we be able to go overseas and enjoy good fortune while affirming our commitment as a cohesive and loving family? If only it could be for always… and time just stood still every June.

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What makes holidays special aside from sightseeing, eating and shopping? Learning something, of course, which I did from the History Channel. It’s the educational channel for all ages. From narratives and film clips on the American-Indians, I noticed similarities between our race and theirs. The Indians came to what is America now in migrations from Eastern Asia confirmed through archaeological, linguistic and physical anthropology. They crossed to Alaska through land bridges that appeared during the Ice Age when huge glaciers caused sea levels to fall by as much as 300 feet to produce the Bering Strait. If they were indeed Austronesians, so are we. Our race and theirs are from mainland Asia and parted ways due to lack of food. The Indians went to the American continent following the herd of mastodons. Those were large Ice Age game animals who crossed over land bridges and along the coasts. Our ancestors moved southwards into what is now the Philippines around 3,500 BC to hunt and fish for food on boats.

An American-Indian’s forehead in 603 AD was bound tightly against a cradleboard at birth to give it an enlarged, sloping look, a Mayan fashion that marked him a member of the royal caste. Ancient Filipinos also practiced skull molding. From graves found in Butuan carbon dated to 900 AD, the Visayans practiced it, too. The ancient Visayans considered broad faces with receding foreheads and flat noses handsome and compressed their babies’ skulls to achieve them. Dozens of such skulls have been discovered from burial sites in Albay, Marinduque, Samar, Cebu, Bohol, Surigao, and Davao.

Indians of the northeastern woodlands buried their dead, along with personal ornaments and tools, just like the ancient Visayans, Tagalogs and Bicolanos. Most graves of our ancient ancestors have yielded personal belongings such as jewelry, plates, spears, bolos and even a golden mask in Butuan. Likewise in Oton, Iloilo, another golden mask was unearthed on the skull of a skeleton.

Then came the Longhouse, great longhouses of the American-Indians reminiscent of the torogan of the Maranaos, the Manobo’s tulogan and Igorot’s ulog. How could continents apart be so similar?

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I realized that to "go with the tide" was an appropriate motto that kept me tied up to my children’s timetable, which meant sleeping longer. Vacation! A time to keep a slower pace, but I continually observed my children become more attentive to my husband’s needs and mine. Tidying up their beds and mine. It’s a matter of getting used to a new task. Questions like who’ll set the table, cook the meals, heat the frozen waffles, peel the onions, skin tomatoes, and wash pots and pans weren’t imposed because every accomplished chore was an affirmation of concern.

It was a good thing for us that the architecture of American houses makes living convenient because facilities are within reach… from a stove, a kitchen sink, a TV room where a baby has come from, from watching Barney. And me? I love to wash feeding bottles. It helps Nana Sandra. I go all the way back to when I myself was a new mother, soaking feeding bottles in water to melt the milk’s residue. Every duty gave meaning to a purposeful life concentrated firstly in the home.

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As days went by, we justified unhealthy diets as, "It’s vacation anyway," which led us to an overindulgence of french fries. The end result was Lipitor to lower cholesterol levels.

Soon enough, we had some form of acidity. Dr. William Fee of Stanford Hospital medicated us all! Let me share his recommendations on a reflux.

He said the average person consumes about four liters of food and liquid per day. In addition to this amount, the stomach produces two to five liters of fluid, which contains very strong acid and digestive enzymes. Our esophagus normally acts as a pathway for food. Occasionally, this one-way path becomes a two-way path allowing the acid and enzymes to percolate up to the esophagus and even into the mouth. This is the event which causes heartburn and an occasional sour taste in the mouth and then, we’re in for a reflux. There went another visit to Walgreens for Prisolec.

As we cleared our throats, he advised us no eating or drinking two hours before bedtime, limit carbonated beverages, especially at night, and take antacids in liquid form, two tablespoons before bedtime. Elevate the head of the bed four to eight inches with, say, a phone book under the bed’s legs at the head portion. An extra pillow won’t suffice. Sleep on your right side. Why? Sorry, I forgot to ask. No tight-fitting clothes.

See how loving our family could be… in sickness and in health. It’s as though Doctor Vic Gisbert hadn’t warned me before. Still, we’re on vacation, and eating is a prerogative.

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Again, Doctor Vic was haunting me. He and Doctor David Cabatan had cautioned us: "Always bend your knees before you lift heavy objects, like a suitcase or groceries, to save your back from injury and pain." That led us to be weight conscious regarding luggage only as those over 70 pounds wouldn’t be accepted at the airport check-in counter. So, pull out another luggage or a balikbayan box. Our balikbayan boxes are covered with blue or gray flannel with canvas handles to look more presentable and add to the security of our belongings.

I just discovered a safety lock where the customs officials can press a button to open luggage for inspection. These way the luggage aren’t broken open. If they are, the lock will indicate that.

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I discovered that shopping for high-waisted blue jeans is an impossibility in America (andhere, too). The denims are low-cut, below the belly button, and that certainly restricts the age limit of the wearer. The solution is a tucked-in blouse, a longer T-shirt or exposing the tummy casually… without tagging at a T-shirt downward.

What else was a spoilsport? The bad news is it used to be painful enough multiplying one dollar to P28, then to P40; now, it’s P53. But the good news is shoes are always my priority in America in this yearly respite, so I justify their prices and origins.

I end this by saying all things we like are either fattening or self-indulgent. Vacations emphasize that.