Filipino House
In the front part of the house was a large room called a sala (sä′-lä), and here the family sat when their friends came to see them. There were a number of bamboo chairs and a table in this sala; large windows let in the light and air, and offered a view of the blue Pacific and the great Mayon (My-ōn′) Volcano which lifted its head high among the clouds a few miles to the northward. These windows were not made of glass, however, but of small shells about three inches square, fitted into wooden frames that slid back and forth along the sill.
The floor of the sala was not bamboo. It was made of a beautiful hard wood of a dark red color, and was kept very smooth by polishing it with banana leaves; this was Francisco’s work, and he took much pride in it. Very often when friends came in for a visit, the table and chairs were pushed back against the wall, José brought out his musical instrument that looked like a guitar but sounded like a mandolin, and all would join in a dance.
The house contained several sleeping rooms with bamboo beds. Francisco preferred to sleep on the floor wrapped in a petate (pe-tä′-te), or grass mat. The beds were very simply made with bamboo legs and a bottom of woven rattan much like a cane-seated chair. José had learned at school that mosquito bites cause fever, and therefore he had arranged his own bed to be covered with mosquito netting; but the others of the family slept as Francisco did, completely wrapped in their petates.
Making Bamboo Beds
The kitchen was a very different sort of place from those in American homes. The stove was a large square platform about four feet high, covered with soil packed down till it was almost as hard as rock, and having on it several stones. When Francisco’s mother wished to cook rice or boil a chicken, she made a little fire on this platform, drew two or three of the stones near it, and placed the pot or kettle on them and over the flames. Filipino houses never have chimneys, but the smoke finds its way out through the cracks in the bamboo walls. The wood used for cooking is usually cut into small sticks an inch or so in diameter and twelve or fifteen inches long, and, fortunately, burns with very little smoke.
Adjoining the kitchen was a small square room containing nothing but a large tin can with several small holes in the bottom, and a long rope passing over one of the bamboo rafters. When Francisco wished to take a bath, he filled this can with water, pulled it up over his head, and fastened the rope so that he could stand under the shower. The water ran on down through the bamboo floor to the ground below, making a cool, damp place for the pigs to lie.
Filipinos enjoy frequent baths because the hot climate of their country makes bathing a necessity. José would get home from school each morning about half past ten, take a cool bath and lie down for a siesta (sĭ-ĕs′-tä), or nap, during the hot noontime, for school did not begin again until half past two; then he would go back feeling refreshed and ready for an afternoon of hard study.