Last wednesday was my yaya's birthday. Her name is Jennifer and she is still young, under 30, but already has two kids, a beautiful girl called Jamaica, of nearly 7 years, and a gorgeous 6 months old baby called Jhaira.
Don't be surprised, it is perfectly normal in the Philippines to have at least 2 or 3 children at that age, or even more. As you know, the population in the Philippines has hit more the 100 million, putting a strain in the country's resources.
Jamaica lives with her grandma in Bacolod while Jen works in Manila. Bacolod is known by the filipinos as the "city of the smile" and it is in Negros Occidental. Indeed, Jen has a beautiful smile, even when my son performs a tantrum on the floor - though he doesn't so much anymore, thank goodness. More precisely, she comes from Hinigaran, a poor area close to the sea, and that's why Jen is a good swimmer and jumps happily in the pool with my children - not many yayas know how to swim, lucky me (I am not fond of water so much).
Jennifer lives with her baby Jhaira not too far from my house, and has a cousin-yaya to look after her during the day, until Jen comes back home from my house.
Every two weeks, Jen's salary disappears fast. From each pay date, she has to pay the cousin-yaya and send money to her province for Jamaica's maintenance and Jen's brother's scholarship. As you see, there is not much money left to open a savings account.
Sadly, there are millions of filipino families which are separated - some 10 million of them live and work overseas, not counting those who - like Jen - are separated though they remain in the country. It is a difficult choice but, in the end, they have to go where they can make a living.
This is a post dedicated to her beautiful daughter Jamaica and the first time she left her province life of Bacolod with her grandma, who also came with her, to spend more than a month in Manila with her mum Jen, during the school holidays.
The first day Jamaica came to our house to meet Aurelia, Gabriel and Juanan, was fun and interesting at the same time. She quickly released her mother's hand and held Aurelia's…and soon was dressed up as a princess or jumped on the trampoline or in the pool. It was the first time Jamaica swam in a pool.
I proudly observed how my kids welcomed Jamaica quickly as if she was already part of the family. This friendly attitude from Aure and Gab helped Jamaica to feel comfortable and happy playing with them. Well, it was not to hard to be warm to her because she was as sweet as her mum, always smiling and very polite.
They communicated with Jamaica in English but she replied in hili gaiynon or elongo, the musical dialect of her province. It was funny to listen that conversation English-elongo between them. Children have a magic way of playing and understand each other. Despite my own life experience, the language barrier doesn't exist sometimes!.
In the afternoon, Jamaica had a bath with them. She was totally absorbed in her world playing with the shampoo and the bubbles, while Aure and gab splashed water all over. She didn't like having hot water, only cold, like being in the sea. She didn't want to leave the bath even when it was obvious her skin was all wrinkled. Jen told me it was Jamaica's first bath, ever (in her province, her family uses the sea or the water from a pozo or a well).
It was also the first time Jamaica tried broccoli and yogurt. When I offered her a plain yogurt for dessert, she dipped her finger in it and tested it. Her expression was telling me she didn't like it much so I gave her a chopped papaya, a familiar fruit for her.
Jamaica has been coming to play almost every afternoon since then. The days she didn't come, my children were upset and they really missed Jaica, as Gab calls her. Aurelia discovered that things that she usually takes for granted, are fascinating for her new best friend but she also tried to understand why Jamaica wasn't living with her mum in Manila, although I explained her the situation.
When Jamaica left with Jen about 7.30pm, I found Aure playing with Lego.
- What are you building, Aure?
- A house for Jamaica in Bacolod. You see? Here, it's the bath, a big one. And here is the pool, the TV, and a playroom…Do you think she will like it?
- I am sure. You can show it to her tomorrow when she comes again to play with you and Gab. Maybe, you could build a house together and see what it looks like!
I realised that she was, is, and will be the only filipina friend Aurelia has had during our posting in the Philippines (Gab has a couple). Well, it is never too late, I suppose. (Aurelia has some filipino (boy) friends at her school, but no girls.
In my opinion, living a diplomatic life (moving around the world if you want to call it) expands your mind and enriches your life. I just hope one day Aurelia will put into practice, in the best way possible, these cross cultural experiences from meeting new people with completely different backgrounds.
Thank you, Jennifer for allowing me to write a short story about you and your lovely family. All of you will be terribly missed when we leave.
I made up this pudding-cake for Jen's birthday. It was the first time she had shared it with her daughter Jamaica, but it is a favourite treat for dessert in my family.
The bread I used for this sweet pudding is called Challah which is a Jewish and is eaten during the Sabbat, but it is equally delicious made with Panettone and even brioche. I like Challah bread because it is dense and absorbs the custard very well. If you want to bother to make the bread, I give you the recipe I used and it is from Charlie Brown (yes, the clothing label) whose book Cooking from the heart helped me to understand and discover the Jewish food (also Ottolenghi's "Jerusalem" cookbook is fantastic).
It is better to start the day ahead (or two if you make the bread at home). I cut thick slices of the Challah bread (or any one white sandwich bread) and place them on top of a rack overnight so they are crunchy and dried in the morning.
Challah bread (it looks like the braid of Elsa in Frozen!!!- Aurelia said excited)
- 55g caster sugar (I substitue for 3 tablespoons of honey)
- 7g dried yeast
- 60ml vegetable oil
- 2 eggs
- 500g bread flour
- Sesame seeds to garnish
- Combine sugar, yeast and 250ml warm water in a bowl. Set aside in a warm place for 10 minutes or until the mixture bubbles (if it doesn't the yeast won't work)
- Stir in oil, 1 egg, flour, and 1 tbs salt to form a dough. Knead until smooth (I used the Kitchen Aid with the hook attachment for 8 minutes). Place in a oiled bowl and set aside in a warm place until doubles in size.
- Knead the dough briefly, then form a loaf. Rise again. Preheat oven 180C.
- Cut in three pieces, and straight them as you were making a baguette. Do a braid (or just place it in a bread tin) and brush it with a beaten egg. Sprinkle sesame seeds.
- Bake for 45 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack.
- Grease a 1l capacity rectangular oven dish with butter. Warm 1l of full cream milk with a vanilla pod (scrape the seeds and add them to the milk; or use 1 teaspoon of vanilla paste or essence) over low heat. In a blender, add the warm (no hot) milk, 4 eggs and 2 egg yolks, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg, 30g melted butter, 1/2 cup caster sugar. Blend for 1 minute.
- Place the challah slices in the oven dish, one behind the other (like a domino game!). Pour slowly the custard mixture and press the bread to make sure all the slices are well soaked.
- Transfer the dish into the oven and bake until it puffs and a bit brown on top.
- Drizzle with Orange Blossom honey or any honey you have (or Maple syrup). Serve it warm with blueberries and extra icing sugar.
We ate it with spoon in hand, straight from the dish. No better way.
PS: If it is for a birthday, don't forget the candles!
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