Rolling Hills

Dacay House circa 1887

Portrait of an Ivatan

Shes 83 years old now. She could barely walk. But shes famous. She owns the Dacay House, a pit stop in every tourist's itinerary in Batan Island. It was built in 1887. Try googling her name, Florestida Estrella, and youd find plenty of her photos, in different blogs. When we got to her house, it was mid afternoon. She was sitting on a long wooden bench beside the window, wearing a red blouse and blue jogging shorts. There was a wooden bed on the other side, with different indigenous stuff hanging on the walls, some placed on a small cabinet beside the bed, with name tags and descriptions handwritten on white paper. It appeared to be a makeshift museum of some kind. I asked permission if i could take photos of her and her house, and she obliged. She was kind enough to answer all my questions. I asked her how she was feeling. She said she was having trouble making poo-poo the past couple of weeks. I felt obliged to help her. After digging into her most recent medical history and after checking the medicines she was taking, i found the cause of her misery: iron supplements. I told her to stop taking it. We chatted some more. I realized she had to do it, i mean the talking-to-strangers-all-day-all-year thing. Its probably her only source of sustenance. She could no longer work. Her brother is as old as she is. I spent about an hour in her house, and i felt privileged in a way. She probably wont remember me at all, but she will certainly be fondly remembered by many.