Rambutan. I never thought this word has a different meaning contrary to what we mostly know. You would agree it is a red hairy fruit about a size of a coin, much bigger than the strawberries. We see them hanged in our fruit stands. Indeed, it tastes really sweet.
While enjoying ourselves roaming on the streets of Davao, in a prominent shopping mecca, we were met by Badjao vendors, children and adults alike. They looked like walking stores.Belts and sunglasses hanged on their bodies. Pearl necklaces and earnings grasped in one hand, and several other accessories on the other. They tried to convince people around to buy their goods.
A guard in a nearby store drove them away.Pointing the pavement, he advised them not to go beyond the mark he invisibly imagined. Instantly, I thought how the guard survived, driving these souls everyday from the shoppers like us.
I, myself was caught like a fish in a net. An adolescent approached me and offered a belt which, he says ,made of snake's skin. I told him, I have a new belt. Besides, I would not be wearing two belts at a time. Not contented with my answer, he lowered the price. He later pulled out a sunglasses, I bargained. I decided to buy a pair of it, prompting the hassle stops by the time he would sell one. My guess did worked, he left me smiling after I paid the amount.
Minutes later, another teenager approached me an offered a rambutan. I didn't see a single fruit on his hand so I tried to roll my eyes around to check if he has a companion, probably carrying the fruit. None. The other Badjao's were also busy courting the people around to buy their stuffs.
The teenager, whom I failed to asked his name, secretly drew out a small pack from his grocery bag, without hesitation handed to me the rambutan. I was flat-footed when I saw a goat's eye inside the plastic pack. The rambutan he was selling was not a fruit ,but a sexual paraphernalia made out of rubber which really looks like an eye. I guess it sounds fascinating and exciting for couples and lovers. The goods came from Malaysia. I even joked him if he had tried it. He just smiled back at me.
While sitting comfortably on the coaster, I pondered many times the things that I dealt and witnessed with the Badjao vendor, at such an early age, exposed to the world of adulthood.
Probably, including sexual education in our educational curriculum is a welcome development.
And mind you, a vendor might land to your house and sell rambutan. Not the fruit but otherwise.
While enjoying ourselves roaming on the streets of Davao, in a prominent shopping mecca, we were met by Badjao vendors, children and adults alike. They looked like walking stores.Belts and sunglasses hanged on their bodies. Pearl necklaces and earnings grasped in one hand, and several other accessories on the other. They tried to convince people around to buy their goods.
A guard in a nearby store drove them away.Pointing the pavement, he advised them not to go beyond the mark he invisibly imagined. Instantly, I thought how the guard survived, driving these souls everyday from the shoppers like us.
I, myself was caught like a fish in a net. An adolescent approached me and offered a belt which, he says ,made of snake's skin. I told him, I have a new belt. Besides, I would not be wearing two belts at a time. Not contented with my answer, he lowered the price. He later pulled out a sunglasses, I bargained. I decided to buy a pair of it, prompting the hassle stops by the time he would sell one. My guess did worked, he left me smiling after I paid the amount.
Minutes later, another teenager approached me an offered a rambutan. I didn't see a single fruit on his hand so I tried to roll my eyes around to check if he has a companion, probably carrying the fruit. None. The other Badjao's were also busy courting the people around to buy their stuffs.
The teenager, whom I failed to asked his name, secretly drew out a small pack from his grocery bag, without hesitation handed to me the rambutan. I was flat-footed when I saw a goat's eye inside the plastic pack. The rambutan he was selling was not a fruit ,but a sexual paraphernalia made out of rubber which really looks like an eye. I guess it sounds fascinating and exciting for couples and lovers. The goods came from Malaysia. I even joked him if he had tried it. He just smiled back at me.
While sitting comfortably on the coaster, I pondered many times the things that I dealt and witnessed with the Badjao vendor, at such an early age, exposed to the world of adulthood.
Probably, including sexual education in our educational curriculum is a welcome development.
And mind you, a vendor might land to your house and sell rambutan. Not the fruit but otherwise.
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