BARNES' HOME IN MANILA

Our relatively modest 2500 sq. ft. home looks like the servants quarters compared to some of the mansions in Makati's exclusive Dasmarinas Village. While living in a gated community would not be our preferred lifestyle in the States, here we feel very lucky to live in a quiet enclave apart from manic Manila.

We live on a peaceful tree-lined street. We can go for walks, the kids can rollerblade and ride their bicycles, and we have fewer security concerns than in the States. A wall in front separates our house from the street. It is overgrown with bougaunvilla bushes which should be blooming soon. Olive has planted some bird-of-paradise flowers.

A long hall leads from our front door to the livingroom. An Indian mask hangs on the front door. A Persian-style carpet lines the hallway and a Philippine Mandaya weaving stretches the length of the ceiling. Bulul, the Ifugao Rice God, guards the end of the hallway. The hall is rather dark as our house does not have much window area. I guess Filippinos think this is cooler.

Our livingroom is fairly large with terrazo (artificial marble) floors which are quite cool here in the tropics. We have two sitting areas. This one by the back windows is where we spend most of our time. The Embassy has given us some old rattan furniture and some formerly white upholstered furniture. We put the flap of a Tibetan tent on the ceiling to give us a sense of a smaller living area. The space is also demarcated by an antique Ifugao totem placed between the floor and a ceiling rafter.

Our 500 year old Ming Dynasty bed anchors the other sitting area. Here we have a coffee table and two end tables made locally in Chinese style that don't look too bad. This area is relatively dark and we don't find it too inviting. It's mainly the guest overflow area. Actually, we rarely entertain as our house is not very suited for it. There are three bedrooms and two bathrooms on the other side of this wall. Someday we will pick them up and take a picture.

Our diningroom has a table that can seat eight. We use it as a buffet when we have more guests. Like all the other rooms it has a wall mounted airconditioner. These "wallbangers" keep the house cool enough, but the sound is rather loud and about as pleasant as a gas powered lawnmower.

We have a small backyard just outside the rear sliding class door which we still have not figured out how to open. The yard has some interesting plants which we enjoy looking at. There are a couple of small guava trees which have a very interesting multicolored peeling bark. A gardener takes care of everything. We are rarely tempted to brave the swarms of mosquitoes that inhabit the yard to do any hands on gardening. More of a vicarious experience here in Manila.

There is a small room just off the livingroom that is separated by a sliding glass door. This window faces the front wall where there is a small Japanese style courtyard garden. The former tenants used this room for a study, but we are using it as a TV room. It has its own bathroom with a shower. A sofa-bed has been ordered so it can double as a temporary guest room when people visit.

This is our previously mentioned gardener. He comes once a week. He does a good job in keeping everything neat, but is not skilled enough to do any serious landscaping. Despite my former interest in gardening, I rarely venture out into the garden here. In addition to the mosquitoes, the heat can make the outdoors less than inviting. Unfortunately, we do not have any covered patio area for entertaining.

This is our maid Nora. She is from a fishing village in Leyte in the Central part of the Philippines called the Visayas. This is where most of the maids in Manila come from. The more educated maids from Manila generally go overseas to work. There are nearly a million Filipinas working as maids overseas. In Manila, we have not seen any educated people working as domestics.

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