Dirt is Only Skin Deep!
Just watching the short video compilation at the conclusion of the post brings the evening back to me. I won't quickly forget it, I promise.
✒️I had returned to Oslob the month before, and late one afternoon, I was impatiently sitting in one of the highway repair traffic jams on the way to town.
As always, my window was open because I am not a fan of air-conditioning.
As we sat in the traffic jam a slender and shapely young woman with a young child caught my attention, and ❓ I felt that I recognised her, or did I?
She was certainly pretty, but she was grubby and had mud and dirt on her hands and legs and a couple of smudges on her face, and so did the child. She immediately 🙂smiled at me, but that's quite usual here in the Philippines.
People here are exceptionally friendly and don't require a reason for being sociable and sharing their happiness.
"I know you!" I said, returning a puzzled smile.
"Oo (yes)", was her reply, "you know me." and ❓mischievously, she walked off, leaving me to search my memory.
I'm unsure if it's age and a dodgy 🧠memory or if she was out of place to where I usually would see her. However, for the life of me, I couldn't think who she was, and it niggled me for a couple of days.
Her name annoyingly invaded me completely.
Then on Friday evening, and at the start of the Oslob fiesta, my agow (family) aunties asked me if I was going with them to watch the Miss Oslob beauty pageant contest tonight.
I'm not usually into such things in the UK, but here I took seconds to✔️decide I would because Filipinos are SO GOOD at putting a loud and 🎆 over the top show on.
I knew this would be a spectacle that should not be missed.
I had already been invited to a Frankesta. This was the start of a fiesta party hosted by a German friend named Frank, and the name seemed fitting.
I went here first to be polite and wished everyone a Mayoong (Happy) Fiesta, but it was loud and, within half an hour of arriving, full of 🥴 hardened drinkers of which I am not one.
Spending another four hours there sounded painful and not my idea of fun.
Tiger woman, (my sister-in-law), knew this and saw to it that I got home in time to go with my agow, and I was ❤️ grateful to her for her consideration.
It was then the identity of the muddy mystery woman was revealed.
How could I have been so stupid?
She was Carmela Ortiz, the daughter of a fisherman who lived on the hill and kept his boat close to our house, and incidentally, my second degree niece.
She, as I suspected, was out of place that afternoon when I saw her. Usually, she was clean and well groomed and immaculately dressed when I saw her. But I hadn't seen her since I returned to my winter home.
Then, and for the first time, I discovered she was one of the ten selected finalists in the Miss Oslob competition that evening. 👍I wasn't surprised as she is one of Oslobs’ true beauties.
This revelation heightened my excitement because now I had someone to cheer for at the competition. In fact, I was about to discover that I had two beautiful girls to shout for.
Carmela lives in Lo-ok, the neighbouring Barangay (area) she was representing next to Lagunde, where I now live. But Lagunde had another pretty representative of its own who I was unfamiliar with.
We left early for the contest to get a good seat and we’re glad we did so.
As we arrived, the area was a heaving mass of happy brown humanity. Fireworks were set off to mark the start of the festivities and the smell of spicy exotic foods filled the air.
It was a long evening, even for the audience, because Filipinos totally over do such events here.
From the introduction, the ten girls highlighted the level of effort demanded of them as contestants. They appeared and reappeared on the stage many times, both live, and in prerecorded video promotions of the Oslob area.
The work which went into the contest must have taken weeks of the girl's time and was probably why I hadn't seen Carmela until now. She seemed a natural on 📹 video, which was part of what they were being marked on.
They appeared in the dance routines, of which there were many. They first wore matching swimwear, and then skimpy evening downs.
There also seemed to be regular 🏆 minor awards as the evening progressed, of which Miss Lagunde seemed to win about two-thirds, while poor Carmelo won none!
Perhaps someone told the judges she had been seen in public with a mud smudge on her face?
Silently I felt genuinely sorry for her being left out and mentally I was shouting, "come on, Carmela!"
All the girls with big hair were beautiful; there was no doubt about that. However, apparently, the most important attributes of beauty queens as role models went way beyond appearance.
This was what the second half of the evening was dedicated to discovering.
After the first exhausting ninety minutes, the girls were divided into the top five, which would go forward, and the remaining five, who came close.
It was easy to guess who would be selected as a few girls stood out more than others, and I guessed accurately who the first four would be, Miss Lagunde being one of them.
There was one place remaining now!
I was mentally willing it be given to Carmela, and so did my agow. Everyone was momentarily frozen like statues in anticipation for the final selection, which was still waiting to be revealed.
For what seemed an eternity, time stood still before we 💥exploded, as her name was called.
Suddenly I was in the middle of a human eruption, and a loud herd of screeching women jumping around in happiness and support of the young lady they knew so well.
This was becoming a great event.
Now Carmela was in her element, as I was fully aware that she was really intelligent and a great speaker.
Her natural confidence followed, as did many of the remaining five. However, where some spoke in circles, and utter rubbish, looking for a fitting reply to the questions they were asked.
✔️ Carmela's replies were both entertaining, concise, and on the money.
This girl should consider a career as a speaker or presenter because she's a natural. She is someone who you’d enjoy listening to.
They were all asked the same final question, but wore headphones with loud music playing until their turn arrived. This was so they couldn't copy or be influenced by each other's replies. Carmela was contestant number five and smiled calmly as she awaited her turn.
The question concerned covid 19 and what they had learned that they would share with others.
As a writer, I am fairly sure that even with many rewrites, and the time to think it through, I couldn't have composed the quality of her on-the-fly reply. It was not only the best response by far, but she didn't JUST address the master of ceremonies as the other girls did.
Carmela confidently addressed the audience like a seasoned speaker, revealing more of her hidden talents. To say she was impressive was an understatement.
These remaining five ladies were all winners, just getting there, and in my humble opinion, every one of them was a champion.
The excellent interviewer made the most of the winning ceremony, drawing it out to the very last moment.
Tears of joy came to my eyes as Miss Lagunde and Miss Lo-ok, (Carmela) became the remaining two.
It had been a huge evening for me and cheering for these two. The giant covered basketball court, the venue where it was being held, now went so silent you could have heard a pin drop awaiting the final decision.
The runner-up was announced as Miss Lagunde, making ✔️✔️✔️Carmela the new Miss Oslob, making this a very memorable evening.
So, the next time you see a pretty girl with a smudge of mud on her face, think there could be a beauty queen below it.
If it wasn’t already a wonderful year for this pretty girl, she also graduated from university the following spring time.
In case you’re interested here is the Miss Oslob facebook page.
If you would like to see a highlight video of the event and area I live, then click here…
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Great read and lovely photo.