A Teen Immigrants Journey To Hawaii
A Teen Immigrants Journey To Hawaii
A Teen Immigrant’s Journey To Hawaii
Joan Michelle A. Pagaragan
4:00 am – There was no sign of the sun, the crow of the rooster woke Carlos up. He sat up, scratched his head, rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms. “Yawn”, he says. His stomach started to growl. ‘Let’s get some food’, he thought to himself. He put on his rubber slippers and walked slowly through the bamboo halls. He went to the kitchen. It wasn’t very big, but it had an open stove that you can put a block of flat cement so that you can put a pan on it. A brown paper bag with warm pan de sal and fresh milk in a bottle was waiting for him at the table. He pulled out the wooden chair and sat down. He remembered to say his prayers and since they were catholic, he did the sign of the cross. He gobbled up his breakfast quickly, changed into his work clothes, and sprinted to the fields.
The morning dew stuck to his feet as he walked through the wet grass. It was still dark out, and it was quiet. The only thing you could hear was the crickets and the occasional grunts of his father as he dug some holes in the ground. When he got to the field, his father stopped working and he looked up.
“Anak, its good you’re finally up. Come and help me dig some holes in the ground, we have to get started with planting new plants.” His father said as he handed Carlos the shovel. His father was a farmer and they owned 9 acres of land in Batangas. But even though they earned that much land, they weren’t very rich. They owned a medium size nipa hut that was built under the narra tree to provide more shade. His father had planned to plant half the field with rice and the other half with fruit bearing trees, like mangoes, atis tree and some chico trees. They dug holes and plowed the land until the sun rose.
Finally, it was 6:30 am, and the sun was up. Carlos had remembered to come back home to help around the house and to take care of his younger sister, Maria. He ran back to their house, washed his hands and feet at the poso and ran to their room. There, he saw his little sister, Maria sleeping, and clutching her pillow very tightly. She was very young at the age of 4, although she tries to help around with Carlos’s work. She looked exactly like Carlos, the brown eyes and the light brown skin.
“Maria, wake up.” Carlos said softly, as he was lightly shaking his little sisters’ back to wake her up. Maria sat up and rubbed her eyes. Carlos laughed. She was trying to copy him.
“Kuya, I’m hungry.” She complained in her soft voice.
“I know, now let’s go to the kitchen to get you your food, okay?” Carlos says as he carried her to the kitchen.
When he got to the kitchen, he placed Maria on the chair. His mother was standing in front of the stove, cooking his father’s favorite type of fish, tinapa. She was also making sinangag, which is garlic and rice with salt. Carlos got a plate and put the sinangag and some fish on her plate. He sat down beside her and fed her. After feeding Maria, he usually makes her take a bath at the poso, or the pumping well outside. After that, they both clean the house. Sweeping the floor, Carlos also runs outside to start the laundry with his mother. His ordinary day is always like this, except for that one day.
Carlos wakes up again, and he does his daily morning routines. But today was different. As Carlos walked back to their hut to get the laundry basket that his mother told him to get, he saw a kalesa outside. Peeking through the door to their living room, he saw a white man, dressed in all white. The man in white was in a deep conversation with his father, and all you can hear is the faint murmur of their voices.
“So how about it, Mr. Tolentino? Do you accept our offer?” the man in the white suit asked.
“Hm. I’m not sure, I mean, I’m going to have to give up all my lands and that’s my hard work! I’ve been at it nearly all my life.” Manuel Tolentino responded.
“I’m quite aware of that, but sir, think about it for a second. If you sell your land to us, we’ll be able to have better care of it and you’ll get money! And we recommend that your family should immigrate to Hawaii, I hear that there are a lot of opportunities there and that they’re bringing in Filipinos to work at the plantations.” He told him enthusiastically. Mr. Tolentino was quiet for a moment. He pondered to himself, and after a few minutes, he finally spoke.
“Okay, I agree. You may have our land in exchange for your money and for my family to get to Hawaii.” He said.
The guy in the white suit smiled. They signed some papers and he handed Mr. Tolentino a thick, white envelope. Carlos was devastated about what he just heard. He thought about his life in the Philippines. And the first thing he thought about was his best friend, Kevin. The fat, obnoxious, funny kid that Carlos grew up with. He remembered the times that they used to climb up trees just to get some fruit because Kevin got hungry. He also laughed at the thought that Kevin used to hide food like suman and sapin-sapin in the pockets of his shorts. Kevin used to come over a lot to eat at their house. But even though he was in love with food, Kevin never failed to be a friend to Carlos. During the times that Carlos made trouble to the lady in the store, Kevin would always have his back. With a heavy heart, he went to his parents’ room to get the laundry basket, ran outside and handed it to his mom with a frown.
“Anak, are you okay?” his mother asked with concern.
“Oh huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine.” Carlos said quietly.
They were having dinner and they were waiting for his father to sit down. When his father came, they prayed and then started eating. They had adobo and rice. Then his father made an announcement.
“I have something to tell you guys,” his father said with excitement.
His mother looked up from her plate. Maria stopped chewing her food and just swallowed. Carlos also stopped eating.
“So you guys know that there was a businessman that came today. And he asked me about our land. He offered to buy it and I agreed. The land is no longer ours, but, we got money and a chance to go to Hawaii!” he exclaimed.
“WHAT!?” Christina Tolentino shrieked.
The whole house was in complete silence. Both Carlos and his sister were just silent and were looking around on what’s going to happen.
“I know you’re shocked but if you think about it, there are more chances for our future over there.”
“But this is where both of our kids grew up! This is where we both grew up!” his mother argued.
The argument went on the whole night. His mother was very upset, but his father was talking to her to think otherwise. Finally, by the next day, his mother had agreed. They had to go. They only had a couple of days to get packed to leave because the boat was coming.
The cold breeze woke Carlos up. This is it, the final day, he thought to himself. He scanned his room. There wasn’t a lot to look at. All the wooden drawers and cabinets have been emptied. There were just a couple of bags that were waiting by the door. The mattress was already given away, and so where the other furniture. All of them were sleeping on the rattan floor, on some old blankets. His mother and father were already up, double checking on their luggage and checking if they have the tickets. Maria was already up and she was sitting on the steps of their house. Carlos stood up, folded the old blankets and placed in on top their luggage. He approached his sister and gave her a hug.
“It’s okay Maria. We’re going to a better place. It’s going to be fun. We have a new life and better house and better everything.” He says, trying to sound cheerful.
“But I don’t want a better house! I don’t want to leave! I want to stay here!” Maria sobbed.
“You have to trust us on this, and besides, it’s a lot nicer over there. You’ll make new friends. Now stop crying, we’ll get through this.”
“Um, Okay” she says, following her brother back inside the house.
At 10:00 am, they rode the kalesa to go to the piers. As Carlos stepped in the kalesa, he took one last look at their house. Goodbye Philippines, forever, he thought sadly.
The pier was loud and crowded. Carlos fell asleep in the kalesa and his father woke him up.
“Anak, we’re here. Help me take out luggage.”
Carlos stretched and jumped out of the kalesa. He went to the back and took their luggage out. After taking it out, he brought it to the man who placed the luggage into the ship. The sun was up in the sky and it was noon. Carlos felt beads of sweat roll off his neck. It was very humid and the sudden honks of the ship was deafening. The tolentino family had to undergo the health inspection, to make sure that all of them were healthy. They stood in the line for hours. When it was their turn, the doctor had injected them and they had to have a physical exam. It was very uncomfortable for Carlos to take off his clothes in front of a stranger. Finally, after all that discomfort, their family was done. They took one last look at their home, and walked slowly up the ramp with long faces.
The ship was rocking slightly, left and right, left and right. That movement made Carlos’s stomach churn. He felt like he wanted to vomit. It’s been 3 weeks on the ship and they’ve been living in a cabin that was very boring. The money that the businessman gave them got to buy them good enough rooms at the boat. They have their own cabin with 3 beds. Maria was usually just running around on the deck or sleeping. Carlos just stayed in their cabin and got out sometimes, but not very often. So one day, Carlos decided to get out of their room to explore the ship.
As he got out on the deck, he saw a girl. She was Filipino, just like him and she was about the same age. She had brown-ish skin, and long black flowing hair. It swayed gracefully as the wind blew. Carlos had an urge to talk to her, so he went by her and he saw her face. ‘She’s very pretty’, he thought to himself. Carlos tried not to make it so obvious that he was making his self look better by fixing his shirt and patting his hair down.
“Hi, my name is Carlos,” He says, as he reached out his hand for her to shake it.
“Hey, I’m Amelia,” She replied softly, as she shook his hand.
Carlos started to make conversations with her, asking her where she’s from in the Philippines, and why did she go on the boat and other things. Amelia said that she came from Ilocos Norte and that she came to Hawaii because someone was going to build a factory on the land that they were living in, And because her uncle had invited them to come to Hawaii, which is good because her dad didn’t know any other job except farming.
The sun was starting to set, and the sky was turning to shades of pink and orange. They were silent for a few moments until finally, Amelia spoke.
“Oh, hey, so um, I have to go, my parents might be looking for me, and its kind of late na. You know us girls from the Philippines, we have to be home before dark,” Amelia said uneasily.
“Haha, I know. Okay lang. I have to get going too anyways. My little sister is looking for me.” Carlos replied.
“Oh okay then, I’ll talk to you tomorrow, if we ever get to meet again.” She said as she walked away.
When Amelia was out of his sight, he strolled back to his cabin. As he lay on his bed, he thought about Amelia and it got him excited. He was happy to have met someone who actually feels the same way about this whole journey and besides; he thought to himself, it’s good to have some female companionship.
The next morning, Carlos got up early to look for Amelia. But he couldn’t find her; he also noticed that the people on the ship lessened. He saw the captain of the ship.
“Sir, where did the other pasaheros go? Bakit the ship isn’t that puno anymore?” Carlos inquired.
“Half of the passengers that are also going to Hawaii have been transferred to another boat dahil there were too many pasaheros on this one.” The captain replied.
Carlos thought about what the captain had said. Is that the reason why Amelia wasn’t around anymore? Could it be that she was on the other ship? Carlo’s heart sank. Things were only starting to get better when he met her. Because she was gone, he wouldn’t have anything to look forward to and wouldn’t have anyone to talk to anymore. He was very miserable. Ever since the time that he found out Amelia was gone, he started thinking negative. I’ll never see her again, not anymore. I bet we’re a million miles apart. She didn’t even say goodbye, he thought to himself.
*****
3 long and boring months on the boat have passed and it finally docked at Hawaii. His father took their luggage and they all walked down the ramp together.
“We’re here! Salamat sa Diyos, yung buhay natin, starts now!” his father declared.
His mother took a deep breath and sighed as she took their luggage to the van that was going to bring them to the plantation. Looking around his new surroundings, Carlos saw a lot of interesting things. He saw plenty of new types of people. They were Chinese, his father explained. Small eyes and light skinned. Japanese and Koreans were the same, although they have different practices. He also saw white people; they were Americans and Puerto Ricans. He was also looking at the incoming boats, hoping to see if Amelia was there, but still no luck.
“Sayang, I hoped that I’ll see her again, but I guess not.” Carlos murmured.
“CARLOS!” he heard someone yell. Carlos was surprised to hear that voice, it sounded like Amelia. No, it can’t be her. She’s far away. He thought to himself. Something in his head told him to take a look around, and so he did.
“Amelia?” Carlos exclaimed. “I thought I would never see you again!”
“Ako rin, but then we had to move to another boat because the ship was full already. And sorry dahil I didn’t say goodbye, we just had to leave already.” Amelia explained.
“I know, I asked the captain. And okay lang. The only thing important is that you’re here!” Carlos said as he gave his friend a hug. They both started telling more stories about what happened to the both of them when they weren’t there.
“Carlos, Anak! Halika na, the van is going to leave already.” His mother shouted. She was standing by the van with her hands on her hips and an impatient look on her face.
“Mai-iwan ka ng van! Hurry up, we have to go, there’s a lot of people who’s going to get picked up too!”
“Mama, hold on! And look, it’s Amelia!” Carlos yelled back, pointing at Amelia.
Amelia waved to Carlos’ mother and she started talking again.
“Haha, your mom sure is something. Well you should get going. Look, the driver of the van is getting aggravated already.” Amelia joked.
“That’s true. So this is it then? The happy end to our story?” Carlos asked.
“No Carlos, this isn’t the ending. This is just the beginning” Amelia replied happily.
And finally, their journey to get to Hawaii has ended. Well, it just started too, as they have to start new lives on the plantation.
Joan Michelle A. Pagaragan
4:00 am – There was no sign of the sun, the crow of the rooster woke Carlos up. He sat up, scratched his head, rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms. “Yawn”, he says. His stomach started to growl. ‘Let’s get some food’, he thought to himself. He put on his rubber slippers and walked slowly through the bamboo halls. He went to the kitchen. It wasn’t very big, but it had an open stove that you can put a block of flat cement so that you can put a pan on it. A brown paper bag with warm pan de sal and fresh milk in a bottle was waiting for him at the table. He pulled out the wooden chair and sat down. He remembered to say his prayers and since they were catholic, he did the sign of the cross. He gobbled up his breakfast quickly, changed into his work clothes, and sprinted to the fields.
The morning dew stuck to his feet as he walked through the wet grass. It was still dark out, and it was quiet. The only thing you could hear was the crickets and the occasional grunts of his father as he dug some holes in the ground. When he got to the field, his father stopped working and he looked up.
“Anak, its good you’re finally up. Come and help me dig some holes in the ground, we have to get started with planting new plants.” His father said as he handed Carlos the shovel. His father was a farmer and they owned 9 acres of land in Batangas. But even though they earned that much land, they weren’t very rich. They owned a medium size nipa hut that was built under the narra tree to provide more shade. His father had planned to plant half the field with rice and the other half with fruit bearing trees, like mangoes, atis tree and some chico trees. They dug holes and plowed the land until the sun rose.
Finally, it was 6:30 am, and the sun was up. Carlos had remembered to come back home to help around the house and to take care of his younger sister, Maria. He ran back to their house, washed his hands and feet at the poso and ran to their room. There, he saw his little sister, Maria sleeping, and clutching her pillow very tightly. She was very young at the age of 4, although she tries to help around with Carlos’s work. She looked exactly like Carlos, the brown eyes and the light brown skin.
“Maria, wake up.” Carlos said softly, as he was lightly shaking his little sisters’ back to wake her up. Maria sat up and rubbed her eyes. Carlos laughed. She was trying to copy him.
“Kuya, I’m hungry.” She complained in her soft voice.
“I know, now let’s go to the kitchen to get you your food, okay?” Carlos says as he carried her to the kitchen.
When he got to the kitchen, he placed Maria on the chair. His mother was standing in front of the stove, cooking his father’s favorite type of fish, tinapa. She was also making sinangag, which is garlic and rice with salt. Carlos got a plate and put the sinangag and some fish on her plate. He sat down beside her and fed her. After feeding Maria, he usually makes her take a bath at the poso, or the pumping well outside. After that, they both clean the house. Sweeping the floor, Carlos also runs outside to start the laundry with his mother. His ordinary day is always like this, except for that one day.
Carlos wakes up again, and he does his daily morning routines. But today was different. As Carlos walked back to their hut to get the laundry basket that his mother told him to get, he saw a kalesa outside. Peeking through the door to their living room, he saw a white man, dressed in all white. The man in white was in a deep conversation with his father, and all you can hear is the faint murmur of their voices.
“So how about it, Mr. Tolentino? Do you accept our offer?” the man in the white suit asked.
“Hm. I’m not sure, I mean, I’m going to have to give up all my lands and that’s my hard work! I’ve been at it nearly all my life.” Manuel Tolentino responded.
“I’m quite aware of that, but sir, think about it for a second. If you sell your land to us, we’ll be able to have better care of it and you’ll get money! And we recommend that your family should immigrate to Hawaii, I hear that there are a lot of opportunities there and that they’re bringing in Filipinos to work at the plantations.” He told him enthusiastically. Mr. Tolentino was quiet for a moment. He pondered to himself, and after a few minutes, he finally spoke.
“Okay, I agree. You may have our land in exchange for your money and for my family to get to Hawaii.” He said.
The guy in the white suit smiled. They signed some papers and he handed Mr. Tolentino a thick, white envelope. Carlos was devastated about what he just heard. He thought about his life in the Philippines. And the first thing he thought about was his best friend, Kevin. The fat, obnoxious, funny kid that Carlos grew up with. He remembered the times that they used to climb up trees just to get some fruit because Kevin got hungry. He also laughed at the thought that Kevin used to hide food like suman and sapin-sapin in the pockets of his shorts. Kevin used to come over a lot to eat at their house. But even though he was in love with food, Kevin never failed to be a friend to Carlos. During the times that Carlos made trouble to the lady in the store, Kevin would always have his back. With a heavy heart, he went to his parents’ room to get the laundry basket, ran outside and handed it to his mom with a frown.
“Anak, are you okay?” his mother asked with concern.
“Oh huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine.” Carlos said quietly.
They were having dinner and they were waiting for his father to sit down. When his father came, they prayed and then started eating. They had adobo and rice. Then his father made an announcement.
“I have something to tell you guys,” his father said with excitement.
His mother looked up from her plate. Maria stopped chewing her food and just swallowed. Carlos also stopped eating.
“So you guys know that there was a businessman that came today. And he asked me about our land. He offered to buy it and I agreed. The land is no longer ours, but, we got money and a chance to go to Hawaii!” he exclaimed.
“WHAT!?” Christina Tolentino shrieked.
The whole house was in complete silence. Both Carlos and his sister were just silent and were looking around on what’s going to happen.
“I know you’re shocked but if you think about it, there are more chances for our future over there.”
“But this is where both of our kids grew up! This is where we both grew up!” his mother argued.
The argument went on the whole night. His mother was very upset, but his father was talking to her to think otherwise. Finally, by the next day, his mother had agreed. They had to go. They only had a couple of days to get packed to leave because the boat was coming.
The cold breeze woke Carlos up. This is it, the final day, he thought to himself. He scanned his room. There wasn’t a lot to look at. All the wooden drawers and cabinets have been emptied. There were just a couple of bags that were waiting by the door. The mattress was already given away, and so where the other furniture. All of them were sleeping on the rattan floor, on some old blankets. His mother and father were already up, double checking on their luggage and checking if they have the tickets. Maria was already up and she was sitting on the steps of their house. Carlos stood up, folded the old blankets and placed in on top their luggage. He approached his sister and gave her a hug.
“It’s okay Maria. We’re going to a better place. It’s going to be fun. We have a new life and better house and better everything.” He says, trying to sound cheerful.
“But I don’t want a better house! I don’t want to leave! I want to stay here!” Maria sobbed.
“You have to trust us on this, and besides, it’s a lot nicer over there. You’ll make new friends. Now stop crying, we’ll get through this.”
“Um, Okay” she says, following her brother back inside the house.
At 10:00 am, they rode the kalesa to go to the piers. As Carlos stepped in the kalesa, he took one last look at their house. Goodbye Philippines, forever, he thought sadly.
The pier was loud and crowded. Carlos fell asleep in the kalesa and his father woke him up.
“Anak, we’re here. Help me take out luggage.”
Carlos stretched and jumped out of the kalesa. He went to the back and took their luggage out. After taking it out, he brought it to the man who placed the luggage into the ship. The sun was up in the sky and it was noon. Carlos felt beads of sweat roll off his neck. It was very humid and the sudden honks of the ship was deafening. The tolentino family had to undergo the health inspection, to make sure that all of them were healthy. They stood in the line for hours. When it was their turn, the doctor had injected them and they had to have a physical exam. It was very uncomfortable for Carlos to take off his clothes in front of a stranger. Finally, after all that discomfort, their family was done. They took one last look at their home, and walked slowly up the ramp with long faces.
The ship was rocking slightly, left and right, left and right. That movement made Carlos’s stomach churn. He felt like he wanted to vomit. It’s been 3 weeks on the ship and they’ve been living in a cabin that was very boring. The money that the businessman gave them got to buy them good enough rooms at the boat. They have their own cabin with 3 beds. Maria was usually just running around on the deck or sleeping. Carlos just stayed in their cabin and got out sometimes, but not very often. So one day, Carlos decided to get out of their room to explore the ship.
As he got out on the deck, he saw a girl. She was Filipino, just like him and she was about the same age. She had brown-ish skin, and long black flowing hair. It swayed gracefully as the wind blew. Carlos had an urge to talk to her, so he went by her and he saw her face. ‘She’s very pretty’, he thought to himself. Carlos tried not to make it so obvious that he was making his self look better by fixing his shirt and patting his hair down.
“Hi, my name is Carlos,” He says, as he reached out his hand for her to shake it.
“Hey, I’m Amelia,” She replied softly, as she shook his hand.
Carlos started to make conversations with her, asking her where she’s from in the Philippines, and why did she go on the boat and other things. Amelia said that she came from Ilocos Norte and that she came to Hawaii because someone was going to build a factory on the land that they were living in, And because her uncle had invited them to come to Hawaii, which is good because her dad didn’t know any other job except farming.
The sun was starting to set, and the sky was turning to shades of pink and orange. They were silent for a few moments until finally, Amelia spoke.
“Oh, hey, so um, I have to go, my parents might be looking for me, and its kind of late na. You know us girls from the Philippines, we have to be home before dark,” Amelia said uneasily.
“Haha, I know. Okay lang. I have to get going too anyways. My little sister is looking for me.” Carlos replied.
“Oh okay then, I’ll talk to you tomorrow, if we ever get to meet again.” She said as she walked away.
When Amelia was out of his sight, he strolled back to his cabin. As he lay on his bed, he thought about Amelia and it got him excited. He was happy to have met someone who actually feels the same way about this whole journey and besides; he thought to himself, it’s good to have some female companionship.
The next morning, Carlos got up early to look for Amelia. But he couldn’t find her; he also noticed that the people on the ship lessened. He saw the captain of the ship.
“Sir, where did the other pasaheros go? Bakit the ship isn’t that puno anymore?” Carlos inquired.
“Half of the passengers that are also going to Hawaii have been transferred to another boat dahil there were too many pasaheros on this one.” The captain replied.
Carlos thought about what the captain had said. Is that the reason why Amelia wasn’t around anymore? Could it be that she was on the other ship? Carlo’s heart sank. Things were only starting to get better when he met her. Because she was gone, he wouldn’t have anything to look forward to and wouldn’t have anyone to talk to anymore. He was very miserable. Ever since the time that he found out Amelia was gone, he started thinking negative. I’ll never see her again, not anymore. I bet we’re a million miles apart. She didn’t even say goodbye, he thought to himself.
*****
3 long and boring months on the boat have passed and it finally docked at Hawaii. His father took their luggage and they all walked down the ramp together.
“We’re here! Salamat sa Diyos, yung buhay natin, starts now!” his father declared.
His mother took a deep breath and sighed as she took their luggage to the van that was going to bring them to the plantation. Looking around his new surroundings, Carlos saw a lot of interesting things. He saw plenty of new types of people. They were Chinese, his father explained. Small eyes and light skinned. Japanese and Koreans were the same, although they have different practices. He also saw white people; they were Americans and Puerto Ricans. He was also looking at the incoming boats, hoping to see if Amelia was there, but still no luck.
“Sayang, I hoped that I’ll see her again, but I guess not.” Carlos murmured.
“CARLOS!” he heard someone yell. Carlos was surprised to hear that voice, it sounded like Amelia. No, it can’t be her. She’s far away. He thought to himself. Something in his head told him to take a look around, and so he did.
“Amelia?” Carlos exclaimed. “I thought I would never see you again!”
“Ako rin, but then we had to move to another boat because the ship was full already. And sorry dahil I didn’t say goodbye, we just had to leave already.” Amelia explained.
“I know, I asked the captain. And okay lang. The only thing important is that you’re here!” Carlos said as he gave his friend a hug. They both started telling more stories about what happened to the both of them when they weren’t there.
“Carlos, Anak! Halika na, the van is going to leave already.” His mother shouted. She was standing by the van with her hands on her hips and an impatient look on her face.
“Mai-iwan ka ng van! Hurry up, we have to go, there’s a lot of people who’s going to get picked up too!”
“Mama, hold on! And look, it’s Amelia!” Carlos yelled back, pointing at Amelia.
Amelia waved to Carlos’ mother and she started talking again.
“Haha, your mom sure is something. Well you should get going. Look, the driver of the van is getting aggravated already.” Amelia joked.
“That’s true. So this is it then? The happy end to our story?” Carlos asked.
“No Carlos, this isn’t the ending. This is just the beginning” Amelia replied happily.
And finally, their journey to get to Hawaii has ended. Well, it just started too, as they have to start new lives on the plantation.