Twenty Nine

Twenty-Nine

By: Yoko Ramos-Vingno

Life has always been full of surprises if not unpredictable. At some point in your life you could be jolted by an event that could turn your life upside down. One day you are happy and serene, feeling and enjoying what life has to offer – a blessed family life, wonderful children, a loving husband a house you could call your own until in this string of welcome bliss something just snaps and suddenly your life takes a different course towards uncertainty.

Take the story of this gutsy and spirited widow, whom I met here in Athens, Greece during a party at the Philippine Embassy in 2007. For Charita Ballalo Bataan, life seemed smooth and easy, for she felt she had it all having been blessed with 7 nice children from a loving husband who took very good care of her and the children. Sadly, this all would change when a sudden and severe attack of stroke would snap the life out of her husband at the age of 53.

Charita’s husband Leonardo was an officer of the Philippine Constabulary. They met at a town fiesta in her native hometown Sta. Maria, Ilocos Sur. Smitten by Charita’s comeliness, this young officer befriended and pursued her until she succumbed to the military bearings of her determined suitor. Despite earlier usual problems of in-laws not favoring the relationship, the couple eventually married and established their own family – away from their relatives. The marriage produced 7 children – two boys and five girls. Raising 7 children was not much of a problem as Leonardo was a good provider who had hired a helper for Charita to assist in her daily household routine.

So it was then until Leonardo’s fateful demise that Charita ceased to live in her comfort zone. Reality and the feeling of helplessness stared her in the face: no husband, left without a work and seven growing kids who needed to go to school were too much for Charita to bear. She composed herself and took matters into her own hands. Having the future of her children in mind, Charita set aside her pride and accepted the invitation of a cousin working abroad who found her a job as a domestic help in Greece, a work she had not even imagined when her husband was alive.

Chari arrived in Athens in 1980 and found employ with a Greek diplomat couple. She learned her way around from this kind and generous couple who taught her the basics of household routines in a diplomatic household.

Chari took her day off on Sundays – where she went to church and was able to meet other Filipinos. Kind and approachable by nature, Chari went out of her way to extend assistance to fellow Filipinos who had asked her for help concerning various kinds of problems. She recalls bringing food and other necessities to Filipinos who were imprisoned due to overstaying in Greece. Her group of Filipino acquaintances grew – and her newfound friends started to call her Chari.

For nine years Chari stood by her diplomat employer and when the latter was deployed in France Chari opted to stay in Greece. She fell in love with the country that had welcomed her and had given her the means to provide for her children. Also, Chari found it difficult to leave behind the friendships she had developed over the years with the other Filipinos.

Again on her own Chari, was fortunate to find work and a decent place to stay that she would call home – the same place where she currently lives. Work was aplenty – and she took advantage of this. She put in long hours – accepting a lot of part time work that netted her easily Two Thousand Three Hundred Dollars a month. This is a tall order for a single mother who had to immerse herself in work to overcome her homesickness and lingering thoughts of her children.

Chari’s solace was the Filipino community. She joined Filipino organizations and became very active in community undertakings. Many Filipino friends joined her when she formed the “Integrated Barangay of the Philippines” and was voted its president. Shortly after she left the group and in 1998 during the Philippine Centennial Year, with the encouragement of former Ambassador Norberto Basilio, Chari founded and was voted president of the “Philippine Overseas Society.” This organization of 11 years has received several citations and recognition for its efforts in promoting Philippine culture in Greece and, helping less fortunate students in the Philippines through the organization’s “Tuloy Aral Program”. For her tireless and selfless efforts, Chari was twice nominated for “Ang Bagong Bayani Award”.

“Tita Chari”, as she is now fondly addressed in the Filipino community, has been staying in Greece for the last twenty nine years. Not to deny the good blessings that came her way to other Filipinos, Chari was able to help about seventy Filipinos to find work in Greece. She helped her two sisters-in-law, her four children and a grandchild plus friends and other relatives to stay and work legally in the country that had been so kind to her and welcomed her with open arms.

Chari already has two houses in Antipolo and proudly – at 64 – she plans to travel a lot and, enjoy life with family, grandchildren and friends – and still live here in Athens!

Filipino Chef at Ledra Marriott Hotel-Athens

A Filipino Chef at Ledra Marriott Hotel-Athens

By: Yoko Ramos-Vingno

Famous and celebrated chefs have started from scratch – from just a mere name to become a renowned cuisine guru; rising from nothing to something big – like Mario Batali and Bobby Flay. Chef Mario Batali started as a dishwasher at “Stuff Yer Face Restaurant” in New Jersey, and Chef Bobby Flay started as a cook in an eatery. The Naked Chef Jamie Oliver at age 8 was a vegetable peeler at his dad’s restaurant, the Cricketers. At 16, he decided to study at Westminster Catering College and went to France to get more experience before going back to London and becoming the famous chef he is now. Others started as sous chef for chefs with names in high end hotel establishments.

This Filipino Chef, only 20 years old, is a young man which exudes the appearance of a person who seemed to have lived a pampered and blissful life. He lives alone in his flat in Glyfada, located 45 minutes away by car in the southern part of Athens. This young fellow carries a healthy physique, about 5’5 in height, with a bright and cheery attitude, always ready to flash that instant smile; a guy that struck me as a young Mario Batali: jolly, charming, sensible and confident.

Chef John Levi Reano, a fortunate and lucky man indeed, John was given the opportunity to study and finished at the prestigious Alpine Center: the Swiss Business School for Hotel and Tourism Education in Greece with a Swiss Diploma in Culinary Arts. He graduated with distinction and was given the Academic and Professional Excellence in Culinary Arts in 2007. A consistent top student of his batch, John is the first and only Filipino to graduate in this exclusive Culinary Arts School in Athens. John’s first industry training was at Porto Elounda De Luxe Resort, a luxury golf-and-spa-resort in Crete Island, under the tutelage of chefs Jean Charles Metayer and Michalis Kontes. His second training was at 5-star Ledra Marriott Hotel where he gained the admiration of the Executive Chef that soon after finishing his training, he was offered a full time employment.

Now, John is the only Filipino Chef employed by the Ledra Marriott Hotel. He is the sushi chef at the Kona Kai Restaurant that serves Polynesian and Japanese cuisine and caters to well-heeled Greeks and expatriates. The hotel pays him a good starting salary with satisfactory perks. He is admired and well liked by his fellow chefs and gets along well with the others – from the restaurant Manager to sous chefs because of his talent and pleasant and sunny disposition.

John tells me about his childhood in Batangas and how he grew up to realize how fortunate he was to have lived a life that had very strong supportive structures centered in the family. The Reano household is a typical Filipino family where the father works abroad to provide for the family and the children’s education. John is the youngest child of Domingo and Natividad Reano. Domingo is a former overseas contract worker in Saudi Arabia while Natividad stayed at home to take care of the children. Domingo, then in his mid 50’s and having saved a little, decided to retire in their house in Tanauan, Batangas. Soon thereafter, Chef John was conceived when his mother was in her late 40s. Thus, little John Reano was born on October 8, 1988.

Early on, John attended elementary and finished at the Bernardo Lirio Elementary School. He spent his high school at the La Consolacion College in Tanauan, Batangas. Thanks to the kindness and support of John’s elder sister, then a nurse in Switzerland, who paid for his high school education. John also attributes the blessings that came his way to the generosity of his Greek born brother-in-law who had encouraged and inspired him to pursue his passion and ambition and supported him all the way as if he were his own son. His brother-in-law who is in shipping business met and married his sister when she was working in Switzerland as a nurse.

Chef John is delighted to have his friends (of different nationalities) around, pleased with his independence and thankful for his family and work at Ledra Marriott. When asked for his plans for the future: “I want to pursue another Diploma for my career in the business. I want to travel around the world to have a better understanding of the world and to experience and explore the different cultures and cuisines.” And for all the good blessings that came his way, John says, “I would like to be able to own and operate my own restaurant to open up opportunities and give jobs to my fellow Filipinos. I think this is the best gesture and way that I could think of to give back what I had received and to thank those people dear to me who molded me into the person I turned out to be.”

That’s Chef John – our Pinoy Chef.

March 8

My Day – March 8

By: Yoko Ramos

Women all around the world will celebrate an important occasion, that is, HER day – Women’s Day – which is on March 8.

History tells us that women before were treated differently in the early times – generations of women suffered but a lot fought back. A Greek Lysistrata was the first woman to stand up for her belief to end a war. She started a sexual strike against the men to pressure them to end the war. The French women in the 1800s rallied to have the right to vote. Women stayed in the house and were not allowed to have an education -- were not even allowed to wear pants.

Fast forward to present, and here we are today, the generation of iPods and iphone, facebook and twitter, enjoying the freedom, the choices around, and the rights equal to that of men. But there are still women trapped in their culture – and this is changing.

This is the world now. Yearly, we commemorate the struggle of women to have this equal right with men. We are lucky. I am lucky – for I am a wife, mother, and friend. I am a WOMAN.

Cheers to all women!