The Jesus of Camiguin

The road out of Cagayan de Oro is choked with traffic as usual. Filipinos may not have invented the wheel, but they surely are inventive with it. We pass Jeepneys, Pedicaps, Motorelas, everything that spins is attached to some sort of housing and employed for transit. It is an hour travel to Balingoan where the ferry travels to Benoni on Camiguin island. As we leave the city proper things open up a bit. The road is smooth and unmarked, it is an amazement to me. We stop at a shell station for snacks and the mini mart inside is spotless; the entire set up is identical to a shell station in the United States except the man inside calls me sir and he smiles. I ask Toto what is that mountain, he replies Abu Sayaff, much laughter of course. They like to tease me with Abu Sayaff.

When we get to Balingoan there is a lot of negotiating. Toto has to pay the man, pay the man pay the other man. The government jokers. He returns with a wad of receipts and stamps, stapled six times. We board the ferry and wait for a half an hour. I am told this ferry is "broken". We troop off and board another one. The people sleep, I think they can sleep standing sometimes.

In the dirty water beside the boat small boys bob about like coconuts.

What are they saying?
They want coins. I will throw one, you see.
Wow, he is all one lung it seems. He was under for a minute at least.
Yes, he has that. And now he has a peso.
What is that one saying?
I don't know. It is a muslim language.

At night on Camiguin island the sky is made of ink. It is so black that the stars crowd one another to be seen. I see clouds of stars, oceans of stars. This is further from man made light than I have ever been. I did not think this was still possible, but it is.

We return to the hotel and play billiards. The cue is slightly bent and there is a small warp to the table. We play teams, and Toto begins, he picks up the chalk and says 'Jesus Christ!' Each time he shoots, he picks up the chalk and says 'Jesus Christ!'. He does not miss much. However we rearrange the teams, I am always on the losing team and Toto is always on the winning team. At one point I have an impossible shot, two rails and then english? It is my only shot. As I lean down to size up this impossible shot Toto tosses the chalk to me, 'Jesus Christ!' It bounces off my forehead, leaves an ash wednesday mark, I shoot and the ball goes in, somehow. Jesus Christ indeed. Finally I let the others play, I am no match for them. I sit at the bar and at one point I turn around and see Toto laying on the pool table, shooting with one hand. Every few minutes I hear 'Jesus Christ' and an eruption of laughter.

I walk back out to the lane to check the sky. There is only sky and sea and Mount Hibok-Hibok, a volcanic mountain with big shoulders. Black sky, deep indigo water, and the dark green volcano, they all melt together. Then I go and float in the ocean, look at the stars, many of them falling. Is there any other place like this on earth, I wonder. Jesus Christ.