Guerilla Wife by Louise Reid Spencer

Author:Louise Reid Spencer [Spencer, Louise Reid]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, United States, Europe, General, Germany, Asia, Japan
ISBN: 9781787207325
Google: W_kwDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Published: 2017-07-19T03:04:07+00:00

VIII

THE NEXT DAY was 26th of March, and it was a red-letter day for me. Spence arrived at Bunglay. We had not seen each other for two months, during which time he had been very ill and I had been very much worried. He looked fairly well but terribly thin; his dysentery was not completely cured, but his condition had improved. He had found a Filipino doctor who put him on a strict diet of soft, mushy rice, soft-boiled or raw eggs, and milk. This diet was good for curing dysentery, but it could not build up his strength; he tired very easily and could not hike for a long stretch. It was always difficult to obtain milk, and he could not get much. There are no cattle on the island, but there were carabao, whose milk in very nourishing. The only trouble was that the Filipinos hardly ever milk their carabao. For a while Spence had had a supply from a tao who milked his animals, but then he had moved on to his present station and there was none to be had.

Carabao milk, when it was obtainable, had to be diluted with water, half and half, it was so strong. Then it was brought to the boil, both for reasons of hygiene and flavor. It was tastiest served warm and seasoned with a little sugar.

We remained at Bunglay for two months, during which time we fared well. The food was the best we had had since before Christmas at Hopevale. Eggs, tomatoes, squash, and carabao meat were fairly plentiful, and could be obtained at markets held on a different market-day in every part of the district. The area was entirely free of the Japs at that time, and the Filipinos were free to go about their activities, such as holding their little markets to sell their farm produce. Other Filipinos sold items of dry goods which they had saved from their tiendas at the time of the invasion. The prices asked for these articles were exorbitant, but we purchased numerous little things which we had needed for some months. We found a few pre-war bottles of the tonic called Tiki-tiki. A bottle of 25 cc. cost one peso, and we bought a good supply. Tiki-tiki was manufactured in Manila as a preventive and cure for the tropical disease of beri-beri, which is caused by the lack of vitamin B in the diet.

The house at Bunglay was quite spacious. It was a two-story one, built of wood, and had hardwood floors. The roof was of grass. We occupied the top floor of the house, and the family of the owner had the floor beneath.

Solomon was up at the radio station, looking after Claude, and Spence sent his cook, Auckalino, to work for us. He slept downstairs with the family, and the stove was also downstairs, so our cooking was done there. In the room on our floor, there was a native bed, and my husband had borrowed a canvas cot from a well-to-do Filipino friend when he was ill and had brought it over to Bunglay.

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