Buying a fresh green coconut in the public market is a Philippine delight.
I carry my little glass jug with green top through a maze of bamboo stalls and muddy footprints to a pile of coconuts on a rickety table. Recognising me, the older women selling fried corn and small rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves (from another table) wave me their greeting.
Last week someone from a vegetable stand over the other side of the market was having a birthday, and karaoke songs blasted into 8am as I waited for my green coconut to be punctured, drained and shredded.
After paying 25 pesos, I clutch the now-full jug to my heart and climb into a rusty old tricycle. It takes a short-cut through mud puddles, dirt, and potholes before reaching the main road. We pull up at the gate a few moments later.
Rounding the alley I duck between wet washing and a pile of boxes, making it up the stairs without a spill. Into the fridge goes the ‘buko juice’ until my 10 year-old son arrives home from school for lunch, and then we’ll share out the delicious liquid and soft white flesh into big green plastic cups.
There’s never any leftovers.
© 2018 Melinda J. Irvine
- Daily Post: Profuse
- I’m part of Post A Day 2018
- Location: Estancia, Iloilo (Philipppines)