Bed Stories

    Klaus

August 31, 2008 by Klaus  
Filed under Klaus

Well, I remember my first Philippino “bed” in 1982, while being in Mindanao. They called it “banig”: you just lay on a bamboo mat right on the floor. Every inch of my body ached when I awoke next morning. It has been one of the most unforgettable memories of experiences and the heartily hospitality of Philippinos, living in a very poor cottage, but sharing with me some handfuls of rice and a family coke… .It happened on my way back to Davao coming from Monkayo…

Well, I also remember how many times I started to whine, when I had to go to bed as a little boy. Still being as happy as a a sand boy I only had one thing in mind. Stay up, stay up!!! My eyes became already quadrangular because of terrible tiredness, but I didn’t care. Adult’s life at night must be really mysterious - and, we kids shouldn’t be with them any more. Tears, screaming, up tp six times getting up, running to the living room, where they were still gathering together and enjoy drinking wine… .

Every night - yes, but the worst was the so-called ’siesta’, another interruption of games and funs. During these times, at the second half of my life I am really happy and enjoy ’siestas’, especially during weekends.

While being still young, we actually don’t need a bed. The bed is only useful to cry out our lovesickness and later, to share (again with a loved one).

And then? Time came, where we shared our bed with someone - whole days and nights under one blanket - ay, better don’t get up any more?

Everything “important” happened in bed: love nights, endless telephone calls, full of life and weary of life books, intimate breakfasts… The beds really changed: the child bed could become a simple floor mattress while getting a massage because of back pain. I also remember an extendible couch and all those crazy ceremonious constructions such as a waterbed!!

And then? Here we are in our special health bed with body friendly mattress and adjustable bed construction. Hey, if I only could lay down earlier…??? And then? We are staying in our luxurious unit, called bed, and we can’t fall asleep because all the thoughts of the day harass, bother and haunt us. We roll from one side to another, count stupid sheep (…898,899,900, sleep nalang!) - or go on sleeping. We listen the dogs in the neighbourhood barking and the cats flirting… .

Sometimes I envy Leonardo da Vinci (Italian painter, scholar and technician, 1452-1519(, who only needed 15 minutes sleep (but every four hours). On the other hand Albert Einstein (German physicist, 1879-1955) needed to sleep 12 full hours daily to think and probably change the world.

Yes, if we become sick and had to stay in bed, we might start hating it - no wonder! And our deathbed might become one of the wonderful white clouds in the sky - as my late Grandmother always said… .

Our attitude regarding our bed change from time to time, but a bed remains, what it is: a bed - a bed in every apartment, in every house, in every hotel room or even in the guest room or maids quarter in our houses here in the Philippines. Everything - the whole world might change, but there is always a bed, which lures and tempts, waits and threatens. Our bed, a flight and escape castle, a safe and secure place.

Even, it’s just a ‘banig’ in a very little cottage here in the Philippines. Or a ‘kama’, ‘higaan’ or ‘higdaan’…

About the Author:  Klaus is from Germany, but has been living in the Philippines since the late 1990’s. Klaus is a journalist by trade, having written for a number of newspapers, studied also Publishing House Management and Marketing and has also been a Radio Host here in the Philippines.