The siesta habit is a very general one in the Philippines. For an hour or more before and after noon, shops are closed, business stops, and the streets are deserted, while behind drawn shutters, the people are peacefully sleeping after their midday meal. About two o’clock, they take up their regular duties again, thoroughly rested from the morning’s exertions and the extreme heat of noontime. The custom is almost a necessity in tropical countries, and would undoubtedly be a valuable habit for the busy, hurrying American to practice, if he could only feel that the time could be spared for it.
CHAPTER II
FRANCISCO’S WORK
Until Francisco was old enough to go to school, he spent a great deal of time in helping his mother about the house, carrying water, going to the market for bananas and fish, or polishing the shiny floor of the sala. His mother was very neat and did not like to have the ground about their home littered with leaves or sticks. So, every few days, some one of the family would sweep carefully all around the house, using a broom made of strips of stiff rattan about two feet long fastened tightly at one end but loose at the other.
Boys carrying Water
It was Francisco’s morning duty to carry water from the creek to the house so that his mother would have plenty for cooking. If you had watched him at this task you might have seen him carrying a long bamboo pole on his shoulder. This he filled with water and brought back to the kitchen where he stood it up on end in a corner. When anyone wanted water, the bamboo pole was tilted to let it run out, and if you had asked Francisco for a drink while he was carrying it to the house, he would have told you to put your mouth to the edge of his bucket and drink all you wanted. Filipinos can drink very easily in this way, but you would probably have poured most of the water on your clothes.
Women Washing