"The Kid"
For how many years, every January, during Cebu's most celebrated festival, The Sinulog Festival, my brothers usually earn money through henna tattoo. They're really good at that. Both are talented and infact my oldest brother is a professional tattoo expert. But this year, my boring life got an unexpected twist. Because my "Kuya" (my oldest brother) didn't made it (he was busy with work in Boracay where he owns a tattoo/souvenir shop), I was tapped to help my two other brothers to do henna tattoo. My first reactions was "Hell! Are you all serious?" I can draw, but henna tattoo? Are you kidding me? I absolutely don't have any idea how that thing works! But my "Manong" (my second older brother) was persuasive. He kept encouraging me and telling me I can do it. If my younger brother can do it, who can't draw as much as I can, why can't I? I was older, but heck, he already has experience. He got the chance to go to Boracay and work in my brother's shop.
My "Manong" tolde me to practice. He said anything can be learned throught practice. We have three more weeks before the start of Sinulog. It was enough to learn the basics of henna tattoo according to my brother. After a week, nothing happened. Another week passed and still nothing happened. He was so busy with other things that he seemed to forget about me, which was alright for me (I was hoping they will change their minds on including me to their group). Three days before the event, my brother suddenly showed in our doorstep and told me to practice. I was left with no choice but to oblige. He gave me a "stencil" and henna powder, after getting the right consistency (not too watery nor too sticky) I practiced on him. After two hours of labor, it turned out to be okay. Not bad but not beautiful too. It made my spirit sink. How am I going to perform at my best when I only practiced for two days and only two hours on each day.
The next day was the sixth day of the Sinulog week, it was also my big day. My debut. We were to do our henna inside a four star hotel. Crap! Giant butterflies swarmed inside my stomach when we got there. The fact that hotel was just so damn beautiful and almost all the customers were foreigners didn't helped my cause. But that day started and ended lazily. Only few customers visited our booth. Almost all of them were busy circling around the city. I didn't get the chance to show my still mediocre henna tattoo talent. The following day, Sunday, which my brother called "happy day", customers swarmed our little booth, it made me ask myself, where the hell did these people come from. It would have been great if it weren't for the fact that I was all alone! My brothers left me there with my younger sister who absolutely don't have any idea what was going on and my little niece. They went to perform henna tattoo on another place. Damn it! I was so nervous that I was close to tears!
Our first customer was a middle aged man with a happy looking face, he chose a "basketball player" design. I was shaking while mixing the henna with water. The finished product was a lot better that I thought. But for me, it wasn't good enough. After the man paid, I was so ashamed of my work that I hid under the table and didn't come for a while. My little confidence was dwindling! I didn't know if I can make it through the day without making a fool out of myself. But after a long battle with my inner self (yeah I do that if I can't decide on something), I made up my mind, I'm not gonna give up and fight. I know for a fact that I can do better. The next henna tattoo I did turned out to be much better than the first. It was much more cleaner and detailed. I was so proud of myself and it made feel good! So the next customers got the best job I ever did in my life. I was oozing with confidence during that time. They were praising me and telling me that I did a good job. No longer was I scared, I now believe in myself. I was able to perform harder and complicated designs that I thought I can't do before. Not once did I backed down. I know I can do it if I trust the Lord, myself and the talent that He gave to me.
Right now, I'm excited for the coming Sinulog or any other event where I can do henna tattoo. Because, while earning money, I can make people happy even for a while with my simple henna tattoo's.
P.S. It was so tiring, my hand for a while refused to move and it was just so freaking painful.
On our way to Cebu, I'm so amazed with the array of flags from different nations after crossing New Mactan Bridge.
The beautiful Marcelo B. Fernan Bridge.
Inside of the hotel.
My sister made this, I actually felt this. :p
.... sorry but this lady was a bit bitchy.
... it's her again. :p
The hotel chef.
This was one tough design.
On bended knees.
Love this design.
Personalized, they printed a copy of this uber difficult picture.
The toughest design I ever did. I nearly gave up.
This was girl number 2 with the same design. They were the best of friends.
