Long Written Product

My Journal
Anor Damazuin
(Translated by Dylan Gera)

4/15/19
The plantation life was just as harsh and unbearable as my brother said upon his return to Luzon. Am I really better off here than I was in Azourion? I think not. At least there I actually knew people. Here the workers are all too busy to talk or bother to get to know the new people. And even the ones who want to talk all speak a different language. Soon I will be just like them, falling into the routine of things because it’s the only way to get along out here.
4/18/19
Today they burned the cane field. It brought my workers and me a brief reprieve from the hard work of cutting cane. After they (the luna) made sure that the workers were safely away from the cane field, they set it alight. The fire was fairly short, yet bright, and it reminded me of the fires used to cook the chicken adobo back on Luzon (all the food here tasted like rat). I used the break time to sit and drink water and noticed that I was one of the few workers who were still around by the fire. The rest had gone on to check on their children or down to the local general store for a drink. As I watched the fire burn, I was reminded of the again of the food of Luzon and a wave of homesickness hit me. I missed all my family and friends. Also, there are hardly any Filipinos here (compared to the other ethnic groups)! I’m sick of seeing so many Japanese or Chinese.
4/22/19
Today I received my first pay. It was more money than I had ever had at one time. Although I do not know how many dollars here transfer to pesos. I received around 70 “cents”, in the American money, and I immediately put it into a sock in the wicker basket that was provided for me by the Americans. The Americans say that I am supposed to get paid 10 “cents” every day and that they pay me at the end of every week. After I got my first pay I went down to the general store and bought what the Japanese call a “bento”. The bento was well made but I had to eat it with some difficulty as it was made by Japanese… The bento was actually delicious, however, but not quite as good as the chicken adobo my father used to make.
4/25/19
I have worked on the plantation for 10 days now and am beginning to get the feel of the language the other workers speak. When they spoke, it was if a garbled pile of words has fallen out of their mouths. I sometimes did hear words in Tagalong when then speak, however. But now I have come to appreciate the beautiful combination of languages they mix together. When I was cutting cane today all I did was listen to the conversation of two nearby workers as they hacked cane. I spoke neigh a word and instead listened to their sing-song like conversation.
4/26/19
Today I was walking through the cane field back to camp when I realized that I had strayed off the beaten path. I was lost in a seemingly endless maze of 10 foot high green walls. I started to panic, as I couldn’t remember if today was a cane burning day of not. I walked backward hurriedly…and was knocked to the ground! I rolled over and noticed my attacker was Japanese. I was about to attack him, when he explained to me that I had almost walked into an irrigation ditch. I looked over and saw the tumbling waters pounding along the sides of the canal. If I had fallen in I almost certainly would have drowned. As it was almost dark he invited me to his camp and began walking. After a moment: I followed him.

4/27/19
I have finally become friends with one of my fellow workers.. Before coming to Hawaii, I never thought that I would be friends with any Japanese, Korean or Chinese peoples. But the work we share and the fact that he saved my life have made me realize that we are all human regardless of our country or race. After work I happily enjoyed eating some traditional Japanese food. And I did not long for anymore chicken adobo.
4/28/19
I made a good choice coming here, I think. And so did my other Filipino brothers and sisters. After the initial wave a homesickness was finished washing over me, I realized that here I good have a better life for the family I might someday have. Here there is education and plenty food and good pay. These things were hard to come across back in the Philippines. And I am happy here.