A young Filipino named Andres used to come frequently to see us. He lived in Tambilago barrio and earned his living by fishing, and after Ren taught him how to make soap, by peddling it from barrio to barrio. He was handsome and gay and I often saw him making sheep's eyes at Auri who always seemed to have something to do nearby when he came. I cautioned Mari about a probable romance but she was quite indignant and said Andres cam only to see Ren as he was so grateful to him for teaching him soap-making. His visits became more frequented and it was noticeable when he went home Auri was always on her way to wash clothes or bathe along the same trail. Still Mari would not listen to my suggestions that Andres came to see Auri not us, but a little later when Auri eloped in the middle of the night she had to agree with me. Mary had awakened to hear whisperings outside the hut and when she got up to find out what was going on, arrived at the door in time to see two figures disappearing through the trees leading down the trail. Lighting the lamp she went over to Auri's mat and found no one there, and rushing over to our mat, she forgot all about souls out of bodies and wakened Ren up and begged him to rush off after the couple. She wailed that she could never go home now. Auri had lost her virtue and it was her, Mari's, fault. Auri's mother would kill her.
Ren went down to see the guilty pair later in the day at the boy's home, but they would not come out of the little room they were in so Ren had a long talk with Andre's father, and their marriage was arranged. Later in the month we were invited to the wedding and to accompany the Bridal Party by boat to Liquan for the ceremony, but we decided against the boat trip to Liquan for safety reasons. On the day we joined the party at the Groom's home. We arrived in time to welcome the pregnant bride (in her virginal white wedding gown) and groom as they stepped from the boat. The Wedding Breakfast was splendid, delicious omelettes filled with crab meat, fish cooked every possible way, and heaped dishes of rice tinted festively with saffron. Beef had been bought specially on the mainland and was cooked in coconut milk with numerous vegetables. To end the feast there were cups of hot sweet native chocolate, candied guavas and santols. I don't believe any one enjoyed the food as much as the five white guests. What a feed to remember for months!!!
The dancing continued right into the night, though our party left about four in the afternoon. We had a long hot walk with two very tired children and all of us were extremely full of food. Ramon told us afterwards that Andres' father had spent all his money and bartered hens and pigs for the feast. Like the Chinese, the Filipino feels he will lose face if he doesn't put on a good feast for such an occasion and he does not care if he has to live on plain rice for weeks afterwards.
Mari was quite happy now that Auri was safely married, though she assured us she would have made a far better marriage in her native Appari. As for us, we had enjoyed a wonderful feast and had our first outing since the Guerrillas landed weeks before.