The next day was Monday, and Jovy had to work. She told me she would be doing marketing, which basically meant she would be wandering around trying to find new students. Once again, she appologized profusely for not being able to be with me. I assured her I was fully capable of entertaining myself, and not to worry about it. Worry about it she did, though.
I went walkabout, which is to be expected. By about 2:00 in the afternoon I had covered most of the town, and found myself sitting in a Shakey's Pizza. I sat there for about 20 minutes waiting to get waited on, staring aimlessly out the window, when guess who walks by. Jovy and her friend. We smiled and waved, and they walked on. I sat there about another 10 minutes, and finally a girl comes over and asks if she can take my order. I responded "Please do". I told her I wanted a hero sandwich, an order of mojos, and a beer. She told me they had a special for the hero and mojos, and you get a free coke. I told her the special was only for a half sandwich, but I wanted a whole sandwich, also I didn't want the coke, I wanted a beer. She told me "But sir, the special is a much better deal because you get a free coke!" I don't want the coke, I want a beer, and I want a whole sandwich, not a half sandwich. "If you want a whole sandwich, sir, order two specials, then you get TWO free cokes" NO! Just bring me a whole sandwich, a side order of mojos, and a beer! "But sir, with the special you get mojos and free cokes!" OK FINE, bring me two specials, and a beer. "OK sir, that will be about 30 minutes." I've been here 30 minutes already. "Sorry sir, but we' very busy." I looked around, there were 3 tables occupied, other than mine. Nevermind, cancel it. I walked out.
This is a good example of the kind of service I came to expect in many places. They are so adamant to give you what you need, they fail to take into consideration what you want. If you go into a restaurant, they will bring you a menu and stand poised over you with their pencil waiting. If you ask them to give you a minute, they will disappear into the unknown and you will never see them again, as if you insulted them. Maybe a Filipina can explain this mysterious phenomenon to me? Back to the story.
After leaving Shakey's, I walked down to the public market, and sat on a corner taking pictures of the traffic. After an hour or two of this and wandering, I decided to head back to the hotel. I still hadn't eaten anything today, and it was by this time close to 5 PM. I was walking along taking in everything when a tall filipino stepped in front of me and said Hi. I said hi, smiled and stepped around him, then thought, "he looks familiar" and looked around again. There are about 4 people with him, and Jovy is one of them. Then I notice they are all wearing the same shirts, he looked familiar because I had met him at the college. They had been walking the other way. Had he not stepped in front of me I would have walked right through the middle of them and not noticed. We talked briefly and then continued in our separate directions. Later I recieved several txt msgs from Jovy, again appologizing for not being a better hostess, and not being with me all day in my wanderings. I tried to assure her that yes, I knew she had a job, and I am perfectly capable of entertaining myself for awhile. Other than in my wanderings, I didn't see her this day.
Tuesday AM she txts me that she will try to take the day off, if I really want to see her. She always comes off as though I am forcing myself to be with her, that really I want to be away and forget about her. She is constantly appologizing, and worrying about nothing. By this time I've probably told her to stop worrying so much a dozen times. I assure her that if she can get the day off her presence is requested. Most men would probably not find Jovy attractive, but by this time her direct openness and honesty have won me over, and I found myself more than a little bit attracted to her. I haven't a doubt in the world that everything she has told me was true to the best of her belief, and after just a few days there is a considerable level of trust. We met that morning at Mcdonalds, and did nothing of consequence, just wandered aimlessy. We also bought a plane ticket for me to Davao on thursday. Late afternoon it comes time to eat, and when she asks me what I told her a "real hamburger". We went to a place called Consuelo's. I had told her the story of shakey's the day before, and that this type of service seemed to be almost normal. When they brought our burgers, they were huge. About 7 or 8" across and 3+ deep. Upon biting into it, however, something is amiss. There is absolutely no beef flavor or texture. None. Now there is a patty in there, but even the coloring is wrong. It is kind of a yellow color. It didn't taste bad, though, and hit the spot. I ate 3/4 of mine, and Jovy ate 1/4 of hers. I made a joke about wondering what they mixed their beef with, and she took it as it was, a joke. We asked them to wrap up our leftovers so we could take it with us. While they were doing this I noticed a sign that said "100% corn fed beef". I commented "That's what they mixed it with, corn!" She snickered. We parted company, and on the way back to the hotel I gave the rest of our meal to a man on a skateboard with withered legs.
