Palawan Bay

This particular drawing has an interesting story because I thought it might be my last piece of artwork. I have been to the Philippines several times and stayed there for an extensive period. I traveled to the island of Palawan which is one of the most beautiful of all the islands of the Philippines. At the time it was largely undeveloped and was known as the land of the wild frontier. During my first trip there, I flew to the main island of Luzon where the city of Manila is located. While I was there I went to a very huge mall which had a food court and ordered some lechon soup. This soup is made up of chunks of pork or lechon in a broth. It is a popular dish in the Philippines. It was delicious, but I did notice it was lukewarm and not steaming hot like soup should be, nonetheless I ate it anyway. Unbeknownst to me was that amoebas are prevalent there and undercooked foods that are made mainly of liquid are a great medium for them to flourish. Within a few hours of eating the soup I started to feel sick and running a fever. I had contracted amoebic dysentery and the amoebas began to ravage my intestines. I lost 30 pounds during the month I was there and ran up to 105° F fever everyday. Two different doctors were treating me as my condition deteriorated. Where I was staying was a three story house overlooking the Palawan Bay which was very scenic. The top floor like many houses there in the city had flat roofs surrounded by railings. Some chores were done upon the roof such as washing clothes in tubs and hanging them to dry on lines. I began to go up to the roof to view the scenery in spite of the fact that I was very weak and faint. I decided to draw the scene of the bay. As I worked on the drawing, barely able to stand, the thought hit me that I might die from the disease and this drawing might just be the last artwork I would ever do. I drew the fishing boats in the bay and the shacks that lined the shore. Poor people lived in those shacks which had dirt floors and I could see pigs running up and down the narrow and filthy areas between the shanty buildings. It was quite a contrast to the lovely bay and to the houses like the one I was staying at which were inhabited by the middle to upper class folks. I finished the drawing of the scene and shortly thereafter I took a flight back to the United States. When I arrived in the states, I went to an emergency room as soon as I could and was prescribed medication that helped kill the parasites. It took awhile before I recovered, but at least I did not die. I am glad it was not the last drawing of my life. I did return to the Philippines later and learned my lesson on how to avoid being infected again.