Soul Highway

Expanding our social circle

The past couple of weeks involved a flurry of social activities. I was recently introduced to three other Filipinas who reside in Maryland; two of them are first-time moms. One was relieved to know I was a year older than her. I, on the other hand, was quite pleased that none of them started calling me “Ate” (ahh-te), a Filipino term commonly used to address an older sister. I’ve no hang-ups with age – I just prefer being called by my first name even with the huge possibility of it being mispronounced. In a month, I will be turning a year older. Drat. Where did all those 30 years go? Haha!

Anyway, Bernadeth and I, with Re’Sean in tow, drove to Anne’s house where the girls cooked lumpia. I told the husband later that night that it was an eye-opening experience watching the girls frying spring rolls or cooking rice with the babies attached to their hips, grabbing feeding bottles in between. Interestingly, their babies reflected the daunting stages of child-rearing – one was still being breastfed, the other was crawling and Maribel’s little girl had just learned to walk. There couldn’t be a better classroom on everyday challenges of motherhood than that. While sitting in Anne’s kitchen, I knew the inevitable question would come up. They turned to me and asked when I was planning to get pregnant. I told them I’d catch up with them before they know it.

Hot mamas Anne, Bernadeth and Maribel, with their babies, in action in the kitchen.

Re'Sean trying to "entertain" (or scare?) Lindsay.

Turned out all three girls – Bernadeth, Anne and Maribel – go to the same school where they’re taking up ESL classes. Another Filipina, who arrived in the US only in June, joined us later in the afternoon. When the day was over, we talked about having a picnic. After our trip to Illinois and a few phone calls later, we finally met up in DC and had our picnic at a park fronting the Tidal Basin. I invited my friends from Virginia, Rose and Lynden, to get to know the Maryland girls. Food and drinks were overflowing and although the girls were divided between two Filipino dialects, we (and hopefully our husbands too) had a great time. What sucked was our having to walk all the way to the Holocaust Museum to find a restroom. Overall, we picked a good day to spend time with newfound friends.

The Virginia-Maryland link: Maribel, Bernadeth, Anne, Lynden, Rose and Fleur.

Did I mention work follows him on weekends?

To spare Re’Sean from feeling stuck in the house this summer, Rose, Lynden and I decided to take him to Cameron Run Regional Park in Alexandria where we had a mini-picnic before jumping in the Great Waves pool. The boy was simply thrilled to be with other kids and ride the man-made waves. I wonder if he will be as thrilled if the husband and I will take him to the beach in the Philippines where he could feel real waves, with real sand under his feet. Re’Sean proved, by accident, that he was a lot a braver than us when we tried the water slides. Two other kids beat him to the red and green flumes and ended up with the yellow one, which happened to be enclosed. When he finally emerged from the slide, he assured us he was okay. Heck, I would have been freaked out myself if I was caught trapped in that flume. Unfortunately, our fun was cut short due to thunderstorms. Two hours at the park were simply not enough. We might get lucky, weather-wise, another day.

Enjoying lunch at Cameron Run with Rose, Lynden and Re'Sean, who took this picture.

Crowded Great Waves pool at Cameron Run Regional Park.

Re'Sean being his best self - again.

On July 4, Rose hosted a barbeque party at her house which doubled as a farewell cook-out for Lynden, who is moving to Houston with her husband in a few days. The husbands were making funny faces and strange noises when we showed them the featured dish of the day – grilled whole fish. By whole we mean its head is still attached to its body when we cook and eat it. I feasted on kinilaw (raw fish soaked in vinegar) and Rose’s potato salad. We missed the fireworks in DC but we would have been trapped in traffic if we decided to go at the last minute. We ended up watching all the action on TV.

Celebrated July 4th with a barbeque party hosted by Rose and husband Phillip.

We gave the cook-out a Filipino twist, adding sinugba (grilled whole fish) and kinilaw (raw fish soaked in vinegar) to the menu.

How was your Fourth?