Sun Spots

Paolo and his classmates got together (with their adviser) for their last outing as a class. They collected themselves at school and went to Monte Rosa's ( a subdivision) Club House pool -- I suppose their teacher lives there so they were able to use the facilities, all to themselves -- to bond one last time, and kick off the official start of summer. They spent nearly the whole day in the pool, stopping only for food and some other games out of the water. It was a nothing but fun day for the kids.

When Paolo arrived home we were surprised by how much his skin darkened. Paolo's skin was so fair and soft even when he was still a baby. He and his siblings were bathed by Minda using cotton balls soaked in milk (her own milk), giving them really smooth, soft, and fair skin. As they grew into toddlers, the softest soaps and shampoos were used on them, and when they learned to bathe themselves, we kept to simple soaps that don't have very strong chemicals or scents. The Paolo who came back home was dark. As if he's under a shadow cast or something. Upon inspecting him, he was totally roasted, complete with shine and reddening of his skin. Suddenly I wasn't the darkest skinned person in the house!

We had our fun teasing him, but he's always game and played along. He has this indescribable affinity to swimming and nothing we say will dampen the fun he had the whole day. Even when I told him his skin will start to itch in a day or two as his sunburned skin starts to peel off. He just shrugged it off, saying "Okay lang 'yan" ("It's okay") and fell asleep even before dinner. He was really exhausted. A day later, it happened. The skin on his back began feeling so sensitive he could not even wear a light shirt because it was painful. He spent the day without a shirt on and just loads of lotion on the burned skin to ease the pain and itch. Summer is really upon us, as Paolo's back will profess.