The Waiting By Ron Darvin Written as a springboard for discussion of how long-term separation impacts the lives of migrant families, this short play was first performed at the University of British Columbia in ancouver, Canada in !ovember "#$%,&' !o set is re(uired to stage thisplay' The two characters-)sabel, a *ilipino woman in her early s, and +iguel, her %-year old son-face s on-face the audience as they recite their monologues' )sabel )sabel +abuhay. +abuhay. +y name is )sabel and )$m from the archipelago archipelago of /,%#/ islands, high tide- /%#0 low tide-the 1hilippines. )$m 2%' )3m 4ust 5idding. )$m &%' ) 4ust wanted wanted to see if you$ll you$ll believe believe me' Because you 5now, 5now, my friends, friends, they as5 me 6)sabel, 6)sabel, what$s what$s your secret for loo5ing loo5ing so young76 young76 8nd ) tell them, 69ay na5u, lnday, t$s all about moisturi:ing. That$s why ) use Dove' ;ou 5now7 $Because you$re more beautiful than you thin5.6$ There are many Doves, but my favorite is Dove 1omegranate' 8y, 8y, it smells so good. ;ou ;ou 5now in +anila ) didn$t even 5now what a pomegranate was' The first time ) saw one here in Canada ) said, o ) got a 4ob here at Tim 9orton$s near the train station''' on Broadway. 8fter another two years, ) got my permanent residence, and of course ) tr ied to get my family here right away' But that too5 another two years' =o much paper wor5. 8nd plane tic5ets aren$t aren $t cheap you 5now' 5no w' ) haven$t gone home to +anila for si? years ''' 8y but who cares about that city7 They don$t film movies there li5e *ifty = hades of @rey-unless you$re tal5ing about pollution. 8nyway, last yea&, my son +iguel'''+iguel +iguel'''+iguel moved here to be with me' 9e$s % now' 9e was barely seven when ) left +anila but now he$s here' +y son is here' 8nd after all these years of waiting, this, this is all that matters'' +iguel 9ey' =up' +iguel here' Been in ancouver for over a year' W hat$s that7
uite$ when there$s nothing $sweet$ about it' *ree:ing during winter, and ) can$t play my music because +r' Ra4agopal upstairs complains it$s too loud' )t$s nothing li5e the place we had in +anila, where we had real windows that overloo5ed the street' !ow the street overloo5s as' Basta ne?t year, )$m turning %A, and ) can$t wait to get a 4ob' )$m gonna g et one at Timmies, earn a shitload of money, and get out of this dump' ;eah, that$s all that matters' )sabel =ometimes ) wa5e up in the morning, when it$s still dar5 outs ide' ) loo5 at the white beams of the ceiling, and ) say to myself, 6Where am )7 9ow did ) get here76 ) feel li5e )$m in that mo vie of eonardo di Caprio' Uhm, what is that7 The one where you$re in a dream of a dream7''' 8y alam 5o na . l 5now ) 5now' )nception. Then ) reali:e, <+@) The dream is real' ) have to get ready for wor5. = o ) ma5e brea5fast for +iguel and me' =pam, fried eggs , garlic rice, and lots of banana 5etchup' )$m sure you didn$t 5now you can ma5e 5etchup out of bananas, no7
Ugh, ) hate tuna salad' )$m sic5 of bagels$ ) want rice' 8nd sini gang'
) fro:e' 6Eust li5e her'6 The words echoed in my head the whole day, as ) served these sausage biscuits and maple donuts, and swiped cans of beans and corry and handed out plastic bags' Fust li5e her' What does it mean to be 4ust li5e me7 When ) got home, all ) wanted was to see +iguel, to hear his voice' ) w anted to find in his face some sign that )$ve made the right choices, you 5now, that )$ve been a good mother7 That ) wasn$t 4us t 64ust li5e her'6 ) 5noc5ed on his door' +iguel7''' 8na57 '''B ut he was asleep' +iguel Couldn$t sleep last night' )t$s e?actly a year today since ) las t saw ltay, my father' ) wonder how he is' )f he thin5s of me, sometimes' When ) was living with my lola, and lnay was here in Canada, my father wor5ed in Cavite, 5ilometers away my lola$s place' 9e had a sales 4ob there, and because traffic is really bad, he rented a room in Cavite, and left me with my lola' 9e would go see me on =aturdays, and sometimes held stay till =unday' ) remember he used to say, Don$t worry, ana5, we$ll see your lnay soon' Eust wait and ne?t thing you 5now, you$ll be playing in the snow and eating spaghetti and meatballs every day. very night ) would w ait for the phone to ring, for lnay to call and say, +iguel, come to Canada tomorrow. But as years went by, and as ) waited for that particular phone call, ) began to see less and less of my father as well' 8t f irst, he$d say he had to wor5 overtime, that they needed him to wor5 =aturdays' =ometimes it$d be because of the traffic''' But you 5now even if he didn$t come, ) 5new' ) 5new that 4ust li5e me, he waited for lnay to o' )sabel Roberto7 ) can$t wait for the time when my blood doesn$t boil ever y time ) thin5 of that sonof -a-bitch'''
o ) thought to myself, J +aybe, ) could do this' ;es, ) loved teaching but ) want to give my 5id a good future, and in +anila, a teacher s salary will never be enough' 8t first Roberto didn$t li5e the idea' !a5a5ahiya he would sayit s embarrassing' What would the neighbors say7 8 teachAr going abroad to be a caregiver in someone$s house7 ) told him 6Roberto , there s no space for hiya here' )f we want to build this family, we$ll have to let go of shame' We 4ust need to do what must be done'6 +iguel ) 5now ) really should do my homewor5, but who cares about that' ven if you don$t get 8 s, you$re still a winner hire in Canada diba7 University is 4ust for rich people anyway' The other day, +s' !elson, that$s my =cience teacher-as5ed me something about the migration of swallows, and ) read about it and shit, but ) couldn t spea5 up ''' ) guess you could say ) was 4ust 5inda worried, you 5now, that they might laugh again-the way they did a couple of months bac5 when ) said =haone -ssy instead of shaughnessy' ) don$t 5now why but ) could never get that r ight' )sabel ;ou 5now, in shaone -ssy, when ) was wor5ing for the Chois, ) got paid 0 dollars an hour' T hey too5 out 2" each month for room and board, and that left me with around K##' ) woul d 5eep %# to pay for my phone, my shampoo, and of course m y Dove 1omegranate, and some money for going out on my duty, off' T he rest ) would send home for +iguel$s school and his living e?penses' ) was happy to earn more than twice ) was earning in +anila, but of cour se ) was so homesic5' ) missed my family, gossiping with my friends' ) missed being a teacher' 8t first ) would call Roberto eve ry wee5, on =aturdays when he and +iguel were together, but then sometimes Roberto couldn$t go to +anila, and to save money, ) called
every other wee5' Then it became once a month' very night before going to bed, ) would loo5 at our family pi cture from the last Christmas ) spent in +anila, and thin5 about how happy we were''' 8y, ano ba, )sabel7 What$s a little homesic5ness7 This is for you r family. This'''is for +iguel' +iguel When my mom finally got the *amily visa for us to come o ver we had to wait another year to get the money ready for our tic5ets, and stuff' Things were 5inda o5 the-first couple of m onths we were here' verything was so new and different' =now' 1outine' Eapadog' 8s the weather got colder and colder though, temperatures at home got ho tter and hotter' lnay and ltay started fighting' 8 lot' 8nd it was always about money' ) could never hear everything at the start because they used to fight in their room' Then later th ey$d fight in the living room-and by then, my headphones were already my best f riend'
;aletown and my personal favorite, +etrotown' verything was new and e?citing at first' But then things changed when Rober to, no matter how hard he tried, couldn$t find a 4ob' 9e didn$t want to do something li5e Tim 9ortons' 9e thought it was beneath him ' )$d tell him 6But this is how it wor5s here' ;ou need Canadian e?perience'6 $!a5a5ahiya,6 he$d say, and we$d always end up fighting' Because of my two 4obs, ) hardly got to see both of them' )$d be so e?h austed when ) get home' +any times, Roberto would go five bloc5s away to the house of Li5o, who$s also from the same hometow n' Li5o lived with his wife, two 5ids, his sister in -law, and a cousin and Roberto would go there practically every day so that they could ta l5 about life bac5 in the 1hilippines, and how everyday was a fiesta' Lami naman, the only time we had as a family was my day off on =unday when we went to church' 8nd that$s when l$d pray to the Blessed irgin +ary to 5noc5 some sense into my husband$s head'
t 4ust to be able to attend a meeting at your school76 )t$ s always about ma5ing money' +ore money' 6)t$s for you, ana5, for your f uture'6 But what about me now7 What about my life now7 =he wants me to study college after, but what use is college anyway7 =he gradua ted from a university in +anila, she was a teacher, now she ma5es sandwiches and wor5s at a grocery' What$s a degree for7 =chool is such a waste of time' Basta ne?t year, when l$m %A, )$m gonna find a 4ob and ma5e my own money, so that ) don$t have to hear her say 6+oney doesn$t grow on trees, +iguel.6 and how she J sacrificed her life6 for me' But living so far away from me, not being able to see me for /' *GIM)!@' ;8R=' Tell me'''didn$t she sacrifice me too7 )sabel =a5ripisyo' =acrifice' This is what it$s all about right7 Blessed are the poor for theirs is the 5ingdom of heaven' That$s what *ather Dela Cru: used to 5eep on telling us at our parish in +alabon when ) was growing up' ) had this image of heaven i n my head' verything was gold-the walls, the curtains' 8nd there would be f ood everywhere- and snow. The angels would be flying around, and we$d all be dressed in white' =o even when my parents couldn$t feed their seven 5ids, and we would go to sleep hungry, ) thought, that$s, o5' )n heaven, )$ll have all the fried chic5en ) want with all the banana 5etchup money can buy' 8ll ) need is to wait' 8nd so when ) thought of coming to Canada, ) thought-what$s a few years of sacrifice7 )f ) could do i t for a better life7 *or my son7 The night before ) left for Canada, when +iguel was about to go to bed, ) held him in my arms' 68na5, tomorrow, )nay is going somewhere, o576 6Where )nay76 6To this place called Canada'6 6What will you do there76 6)$m going to find us a new house where everything is gold, with lots of food, and where they have snow.6 6Wow,. ) want to go with you, lnay.6 6!ot yet ana5, ) have to go there first, and then you$ll follow o576 9e no dded, and then fell asleep' While he lay there, ) loo5ed at my son$s face, his eyes, his chee5s' ) 5new t hat tomorrow, if he saw me crying when ) left, he would cry too, and ) wouldn$t be able to leave' =o the ne?t day, before he wo5 e up, ) 5issed him on the forehead' 8nd then ) too5 my bags''') too5 my bags and left' ) was crying all the way to the ai rport, ) was crying on the plane'''=ometimes, ) feel, ) haven$t stopped crying since'
+iguel =ometimes ) feel this is when ) started remembering things so clearly' That morning lnay left' ) remember wa5ing up, with the white beams of the ceiling loo5ing down on me' ) remembe red my dream-) was in this beautiful place with biN golden houses, and snow' 6That must be Canada. That$s where lnay said she was g oing'6 ) was so e?cited. ) ran to the 5itchen to tell her' 6) saw it, lnay. O saw Canada.6 But she wasn$t in the 5itchen, and ins tead, ) found my grandmother' 6Where is lnay, ola7 ) want to go with her to Canadal6 ola bent down and held my hand, 6+iguel, yo ur lnay has left'6 6eft w-here7 8ren$t we going with her76 6!o, Canada, is very far away' This morning, your ltay too5 her to the airport'6 6To the airport7 Why didn$t they ta5e me76 6