Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in mamarshall's LiveJournal:

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Tuesday, March 21st, 2006
2:18 pm	Mangyan Trip to Mindoro No apologies for not updating the blog for a while. If you haven't been in touch with me regularly, you can't use your knowledge of me via my blog as an excuse for not e-mailing or calling now. However, since I do have some new photos on the web, I thought I'd at least grace you with an explanation... http://michelle.marshallnyc.net/mangyan Davis and I went to the island of Mindoro this weekend (still in the Philippines) - a 40 minute flight from Manila. The premise of the trip was to view some of the projects that one of the local rotary clubs is doing with the Mangyan Tribes in Mindoro. My friend "B" hooked me up with this through her connection with the current president of the rotary club, Wilma. Several other friends and husbands and sons and daughters came along as well, so we had quite an entourage. We left very early Thursday morning, March 17 (conveniently missing my daughter's 9th birthday party with 6 crazy 8 and 9 year olds sleeping over - whew! You can't confuse me with a bad parent though because her dad WAS there and I WAS there for her actual birthday the day before), taking a small prop plane - South East Asian Airlines that seated approximately 30 people. We arrived and checked into the hotel, had breakfast on the beach and waited for another group from Iowa to arrive so we could take a tour of a school on a neighboring island, called Ambulong. We loaded up a banka boat (you'll see plenty of pictures) and set out for the island, visiting several school children and guided by the principal there. The houses, all made of bamboo, were all set in rows, with neat dirt streets in between. Sort of like the suburbs without the pavement and manicured lawns. Children were out happily playing jumprope and high jumping, etc. The cool breeze blew off the water. We were asked to give an inspirational speech to the high schoolers, who didn't speak much english, but enjoyed looking at us anyway as we told them to "follow their dreams" and "they could be anything if they stayed in school and worked hard", etc. Both the principal and his brother, who was possibly the high school administrator spoke very good english. After that, they took us behind the village, through the farming fields, stopping to purchase candles and up to a cave that was a hole in the rock about 20 feet up from the fields - a short walk. We lowered ourselves into the cave via a bamboo ladder and walked through the cave by candlelight (most of us wearing flip flops). It was beautiful, full of crystal and there was a pool of water at the end of the hikable cave - very refreshing as the cave was very small and stuffy inside. The principal then invited us to his house over the water for lunch, for which we had brought quite a bit of food, They cut fresh buko (young green coconut) for us and we drank the juice straight from the coconut. Refreshing! After standing on a bamboo raft to get us back to the banka boat, we headed back to San Jose (Mindoro) to shower and have dinner. You'll see pictures of the beautiful sunset with the banka boat silhouette. Bright and early the next morning we had American Breakfast on the beach, moved our stuff to the resort next door and got ready to meet the Mangyan tribe. An airconditioned bus was waiting for us. Feeling a little spoiled, we loaded up, bringing along the abandoned kittens that had been found on the beach the previous night. Dr. Donato, a Rotarian and veterinarian, and his 10 year old son, Cedric, joined us for this ride. We passed through fields of tobacco, corn, rice, onions, etc. on the dusty path that took us about an hour and a half before we reached a school where several locals met us with flowered necklaces and large signs greeting us - welcome Senator Madrigal and party. The mayor of this town was also here to greet us warmly. There were several armed guards nearby as well.  Apparently the Senator was to follow shortly.  We continued on shortly to the Mangyan village, where it seemed that the entire town was waiting for our party to arrive at the community center.  The project here was a water line from the mountains so the Mangyans could have running water during the dry season.  It looked like a dessert out there.  Many of the Mangyans had skin diseases and other various ailments related to lack of water and not being able to wash properly and regularly.  The Rotary club had already been helping with medical and dental needs, was funding a small school there and had helped to organize a livelihood project for the children - namely making jewelry from small beads.  You will see pictures of the children squatting in the small school room with their boxes full of beads, stringing the beads on the needle and thread.  As we perused the items for sale under a shaded porch, we felt like an exhibit with many villagers surrounding the porch and just staring at us.  Some were very camera shy or embarrassed to see their own pictures on the digital camera.  They would laugh and turn away. Soon after, the Senator arrived with her entourage.  Introductions, speeches and a dance by some beautiful young girls with pearls on their heads, commenced.  Unfortunately, the senator's speech was political and inflammatory, exemplifying everything that is wrong with Philippine politics today.  Her words were full of name-calling and mudslinging and had absolutely nothing to do with the Mangyans and their water supply and what they needed or cared about.  I walked out of the community center partway through her speech so I wouldn't start throwing tomatoes.  I was glad when it was over.  Davis fell asleep.  Then we were able to hand out the gifts of clothing and school supplies that we brought with us and then were wisked off abruptly for lunch and to see the endangered Tamaraw.  This animal looks like a small water buffalo with its horns going the wrong way.  Apparently, it is only found on Mindoro, so that was interesting.  On the way we stopped briefly to walk across a cable bridge (called the monkey bridge) and take lots of pictures.  I heard a couple of the locals calling us mulaglag (fat).  My self-confidence flew sky high. That evening we attended a preschool graduation sponsored by the United Nations Rotary Club.  This was the second year that they had existed in the schoolhouse built for them by the club.  The first year saw 22 graduates.  This year there were 43!  We were ushered up on the stage while the entire audience of preschoolers and parents waited for us.  They did introductions again, made speeches, then a five year old girl was given the microphone to do the welcoming address.  She was shy and needed her father to stay up there and prod her before she would come out with the speech, but that was pretty impressive to see a five year old make a speech.  There was also a special dance by another 5 year old girl - equally impressive.  Diplomas, backpacks and other awards were given out (most well groomed, most cooperative, best in math, most obedient, etc.).  Afterward we were treated to a huge fiesta dinner at Lito's house just across the road from the school.  We had shrimp, fish, ube paste, leche flan, lumpia, pansit, mangos, etc.  Again, we felt spoiled. The next day we were able to sleep a little later before having our usual "American Breakfast" of eggs, bacon, toast and tea or coffee.  Then we loaded cars again to attend the ground breaking for a rope bridge for another Mangyan tribe in the vicinity.  Apparently, during rainy season, the river between some of the Mangyan's and the school house is quite high and dangerous.  In order to cross it, the children were making a human bridge and many had been swept away and lost over the years.  So this bridge was proposed to rectify the longstanding problem.   We arrived to (once again) a waiting crowd.  There were the usual introductions, speeches and then the dropping of the time capsule into the predug hole in the dusty ground.  Merienda (snack) and soda was served  (in bottles with straws) and we went to view the treacherous river, which, at this time of the year, is bone dry.  Hard to imagine the tragedy that strikes when the water is so much higher, but the bed was deep enough. Then it was back to the hotel and aboard another banka boat for yet another island, where a fellow traveller, Joe, had his own project that involved reforesting the island, devastated by loggers years ago.  Once a beautiful rain forest, this island had been reduced to a dessert.  It was very sad to see.  However, he and his partner had imported Mahogany trees, which grow in adverse conditions, planted them to make shade in order to plant indiginous trees and eventually reforest the island.  They are also teaching the natives to use their resources wisely, like making charcoal from coconut products, which are plentiful on the island, or cutting bamboo at the right time so as to maximize it's usage.  They are also introducing a livelihood project for the people, who are fishermen by profession, to make hammocks out of nylon rope - a task similar to making fishing nets, at which they are very skilled.  On our way back to Joe's rest house, we crossed a long man made bamboo bridge that was nearly a kilometer long, wrapping around the side of the island, through the mangrove forest.  Amazing!  They also pay the children to gather the mangrove seeds that have not planted themselves yet, so they can help the progress of the mangrove forest as well.  A very long term project, all in all, but very visionary and it seems like it is the right solution for this island.  I can only imagine the kind of patience and dedication that this type of project requires! The way back we watched the sunset and then I sat in the front of the boat, feet dangling in the water, hair blowing in the wind as it grew dark.  Millions of stars twinkled above.  It was the window of the milky way.  I wondered how anything could be this good. We returned to another massive barbeque.  That was a close rival to the boat ride, but not quite.  I listened as the politicians and Rotarians bantered back and forth about a blood bank project.  Then we fell in our beds exhausted after washing the salt off our bodies.  Early am we rose and left for the airport.  The whirlwind weekend was over as we pulled into our gate in Urdaneta Village approximately 2 hours later... (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 1st, 2006
10:36 am	Philippine New Year Amazing! I have never seen so many fireworks at one time in my entire life. And I didn't even think to take a picture. We were at Betsy's apartment on the 15th floor facing the mall and kind of toward the Manila Bay. The entire skyline was alive with fireworks. And they don't start at a certain time and they don't end at a certain time. They just start (first ones at about 6pm) and they just keep going and going and going. It looked like several people were putting on their own private displays too. And after we got home, loud bangs continued through the night all the way up to about 6am or so... I visited my back yard before church today and there were several firecracker remnants in the back yard and pool. On the way to church there were litterings of firecrackers all along the streets, like every security guard of every building was having a heyday! So all I really have to say is WOW! I also heard rumors that there will be a television show or newspaper report on all the injuries sustained over the new year. I can only imagine... (Comment on this)
Saturday, December 31st, 2005
4:40 pm	long time no blog My mother has officially "motivated" me to do another blog entry, so here goes... Just sitting here waiting for Barry and Stevii to get back from the airport. They are picking up MaryBeth and Keith and Sarah who are coming for a week visit. Yay! Some friends! We will be flying to another Philippine island (Palawan) for some snorkeling and general adventuring. I'll try to have Barry put pictures on the website when we get back. Other news...The week before Christmas, Barry took some time off and we took a two hour drive to Batangas (the south end of our island, Luzon), took a banka boat for an hour to the island of Mindoro to hang out on the beach of Sabang. We let the kids open their snorkeling gear early so we could bring it along. The beach was very busy. Boats and "resorts" lined the beach and there wasn't much beach to speak of, but it was nice anyway. Food was surprisingly good at some places and I had myself the spiciest Pad Thai I've had since I've been here. Also, there was pizza with real mozarella cheese (are they closer to Italy?) and some yummy mango crepes, etc. We bumped into my friend, Diane and her family there and spent some time with them at dinners and a snorkeling trip too. It was nice. We stayed in a little place called Carmrob that was far from posh, but was very clean and had A/C and the prices were more reasonable. The highlight of the trip was definitely the snorkeling as the sun didn't come out much at all so we did not bring back a tan for Christmas. Also, my attitude was far from pleasant as I seem to be having some really nasty PMS lately. The older you get, the wierder the PMS, I guess. We did take a little hike while we were there too, over to Coco Beach Resort which had a fun pool for the kids and a killer tomato soup. Barry and I got two couples massages while we were there (that just means we were in the same room. However, the room we were in was up very steep ladder-like stairs in a tiny space made of plywood, I think, with two mattresses on the floor and a blue florescent light plugged into the wall. It reminded me of the places you see on TV cop shows where rooms are rented by the hour. So that was interesting, but the massages were good anyway. Then there was the big fiasco of paying for the room afterward. The form we filled out at the beginning of our stay indicated that they took credit cards, but when we went to check out, they didn't have a credit card machine available that early. Hmmm...well we did the western union thing when we got back to Makati, but I bet we had the lady breathing all hard, wondering whether she would ever see her money. That's the Philippines for you, though. We got back mid-morning on Christmas Eve and promptly went to our pastor and wife's house for a small brunch. Then there was last minute shopping to do before we had 19 people over for Christmas dinner. We went to the 10pm Christmas Eve service at church. Very nice - pretty candlelight. Kids and Barry had a hard time staying awake though. Christmas itself was nice. A present opened before church. The rest after church and then a frenzy of cooking. We had two families with kids over along with 4 of Barry's Indian colleages and 6 international students as well. Barry did the pepper turkey thing and we all ate too much. And I got a new digital camera since mine somehow disappeared in the move...so you my see more pictures in the near future...but no promises... Before all this, another fun highlight was the Messiah singalong at church. I guess it's a yearly tradition with members of several different church choirs and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra collaborating to put on the Messiah. Then anyone who wants to sing along can pick up a music score at the door. Everyone is seated according to singing range (i.e. bass, tenor, soprano, alto) and then you can sing along with the choir - not with the soloists, though. That was fun. We did the hallelujah chorus twice. I sang all the parts (cause I'm so gifted like that - haha). Played lots of tennis and did lots of working out in the last month. Unfortunately it's not affecting my weight in the least. Apparently I will have to eat like a bird for the rest of my life. That's depressing. Barry and I have been taking tennis lessons together and I can actually aim the ball now. I have my days of very bad backhanding or forehanding or both. But I can now serve in the box if I serve like a girl. If I give it all I've got, it goes to the moon - that's not bragging either. I'm just hoping for the control and precision factor to kick in soon. We also hosted Barry's company Christmas party which was an amazing transformation to the house. The caterers came, cleared out all the furniture, put in round tables and a buffet table in the lanai. They put standing bar tables in the backyard and white lights in the bushes. I put floating candles in the pool. It was a magical fairyland for one night. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and the food was good. Barry really seems to have the respect of his employees. That's nice to see. Now if he could only get the respect of his family...aw! He gets enough of that at work! The whole fam started tagalog lessons (that's the language spoken here in Manila besides "English") this past week. Kids seem to be enjoying it. I'm feeling my age in terms of language learning, though the language doesn't really lend itself to easy learning. It has no rules and makes absolutely no sense. I wonder how many people feel that way when they learn English. I have to say I didn't feel like this when I learned spanish, but that has rules and makes some sense with a couple exceptions. When Tagalog makes sense, that IS the exception! But I've been using a couple phrases that I can actually remember (particularly bargaining ones) and I recognize a word or two out on the street, which is encouraging, since most of the classtime I spend feeling completely overwhelmed. Well, Betsy has been gone to Florida all this time and just got back today. We are going to her house tonight for New Years celebration (she has front row seats to the fireworks!) and it will be nice to see her again. Very curious how she feels now that she's been back home and had to come back here. Today I went with friend, Cindy, to the home of a local artist. She may buy some things, but I didn't see anything that I couldn't live without. We also stopped by the side of the road to get some sparklers and other New Years' celebration things for tonight. That should be fun. Hope none of us pull a Michael Jackson and set our hair on fire... So until next year (no guarantees of when that will be)...Sige (that's tagalog for goodbye or okay or keep going or move on - do you see what I mean about this language?!) (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 17th, 2005
11:49 pm	For a while mam Yes, it's been a while. I haven't been in the mood to journal though I've been doing it in my head and feeling guilty for not putting it online... Susie and Jim got home safely. Life has gone into catch up mode as is always the case after guests. So I've gone through my e-mails though not totally caught up and gone through the pile of papers on my desk though not totally obliterated... Finally got to a new orthodontist for Stevii and Jaron and heard something a little more encouraging than "three more years of treatment". I wonder how I don't work (outside the home) yet still can't keep up with life. Yesterday was Barry's birthday and we celebrated at his work for an hour. We provided the cake and merienda (snack/dinner). He got another cake from his coworkers as well as a cake from the Penninsula Hotel. They actually know him there. They actually know ME there! Barry and I went to lunch there for his birthday and while I was waiting, I was greeted with "Good Afternoon, Mrs. Marshall". Weird! Today we went to Habitat for Humanity again. Betsy's maid came along to teach the ladies there how to crochet as a livelihood project. They really seemed to enjoy it and were eager to learn. Next time we go we talked about teaching them to proliferate plants and make compost, etc. Maybe our gardener would come along...we also talked about teaching hygiene - kids to brush teeth properly (I'm bringing my kids along for that!) and hair care - not sharing combs or hats and doing some fun hairstyles. I was so exhausted today. Came home and took a three hour nap and then worked on my India presentation for study group. Monday is my presentation on Indian politics. Barry and I are thinking about dropping the group because it just isn't what we were hoping for and there are a lot of other things we'd much rather do with our time. Prioritizing time here seems to be such a difficult task. There are so many things to do and you think you want to do all of them. You just learn to pick the ones that most interest you and forget the rest. I'm still in the process there. Anyway, I thought I should at least finish my presentation. Indian politics are quite fascinating and complicated! After that we had 6 people over from Barry's work - two from Tempe, AZ and four from India. We had a nice cookout of burgers and hotdogs. We were able to finish off another cake too! I was stuffed! And the most exciting thing of the day (possibly week) was that Betsy managed to find pumpkin pie filling! She texted me to ask how many I wanted. Yay! I think next week's thanksgiving meal is just about complete. Kids don't have the day off, but Barry may be able to take it off from work. I also found cornbread stuffing the other night. Need to get some sausage too...yummy! (Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 1st, 2005
12:17 pm	Trip to Banaue We returned last night from our trip to Banaue and Sagada with Susie and Jim (Barry's mom and stepdad). What an excellent place to visit (in the words of Bill and Ted). We left the house at 4:30am on Friday and travelled 9 hours up there. Our car is pretty comfortable, but it really pushes the envelope with 8 people traveling for 9 hours. Dramamine worked well and the traffic was no problem. We got there on a rainy day so just checked into the Banaue View Inn (owned by the family of Dr. Otley Byer (?), an archaeologist from the early 1900s studying the mountain people of the Philippines. The Inn is up on the hill with a wonderful view of the town and surrounding rice terraces. It is modest, but adequate. Since it is rainy, we got settled and looked in the small museum with some of Dr. Byer's collection. Gave some good insight into the culture of the mountain (Ifugao) people and culture. Then we walked down into town and did a little souvenir shopping, checked out tourist information and had dinner at "Las Vegas". The service was pretty standard for the Philippines - drinks and main courses served one at a time, at least half the menu out of stock and an inevitable screw up on at least one thing on the order. By the end of the trip we had taken to asking to see the order and confirming that they had written down everything. The next morning we headed for Sagada - about 3 hours north on windy, sometimes paved/sometimes not, mountain road. The view was incredible and again, Dramamine was the saving grace. We didn't fall off the mountain, though we were certain we would at least once or twice when trying to manuever around a large tour bus or a jeepney on a road wide enough for one and with no guard rails to prevent tumbling over a steep drop off. We checked in at the tourism office there, paid our 10 pesos per person to be a tourist and then hired a guide, Julius, who would take us where we wanted to go. First, though, we placed our lunch order at Alfredos (because the recommended Log Cabin restaurant was not open until 7pm) and sneakily ordered a chocolate cake to be made for Susie's 59th birthday. Then we were on our way, trekking through the town to find the stacked coffins, hanging coffins, caves and underground rivers. The hikes were pretty mild, but many of the stairways to the caves were steep and coming back up reminded you how much you were out of shape. We would have loved to go deep inside the caves, but since it is rainy season, the water in the cave rivers was chest high and we weren't prepared clothing-wise to do that. So, we will remember that for next time. One note I should make is that there is a distinct smell at the entrance of the cave. I thought it smelled like an odd blend of coffee (connisseur that I am - haha). However, we were informed that it was "bat shit" in the words of our trusty guide. We took a couple other treks off the beaten path to see coffins carved from tree trunks, wedged in crevices on the rock formations, which I wouldn't really describe as mountains, but jagged rocks poking out of the ground, reaching to the height of tall hills. There was also a cave that contained stacks of these coffin, which had to be protected from tourists because they were taking the skulls as souvenirs. Julius told us that most of the skeletons were now headless because of this. After the quick hikes we stopped at the Sagada Weaving shop, saw the weavers working the looms (amazing, but they would not allow pictures) and picked up a few woven items as souvenirs. Lunch came then, and as we had not yet caught on to double checking the orders, a couple things were missing from our lunch table. The cake DID arrive on time however and we enjoyed half of it before giving the rest to the table next to us. We were hoping to make it home before dark as the treacherous mountain roads are not lit, but ALAS!, it was not to be. We did not die on the way home either - you can tell because I'm writing this - thanks to Emiliano's skillful driving. I'm just glad it wasn't me driving! I think I crashed in bed at 7 or 8pm! I thought I would be sore the next morning, but apparently I'm in slightly better shape than I thought. We ordered breakfast at 6:30am and then were off to the Banaue tourism department to arrange for a hike up through the Bocos village, rice terraces, waterfall and down through another small village with a bronzesmith, wood carvers, weavers, etc. Susie and Jim accompanied us as far as the Bocos Village (about halfway up the mountain) where we saw kids playing a game using carved wood blocks that resembled bowling pins cut off about half way down. One of these had a string wrapped around the neck and they used this like a spinning top to try and knock over the other wood block. We continued up after that through the rice terraces, balancing on the edge (but knowing that if we fell it would be on a soft, wet and muddy terrace just below) of the terraces and other narrow mountain paths, up to the waterfall. Multiple incredible views around every curve! We came back down through another village ans watched weavers, bought little rice god carvings and lizard bowls, saw the bronzesmith who directed us to his store in town to buy some silver Ifugao "good luck" earrings and necklaces. We saw a couple of handicraft stores on the way back, where Davis bought a drum. We were wiped out, but thoroughly enjoyed the entire thing. Late lunch at Sanafe Lodge (much better service - lots of out of stock food, but brought everything to the table at once). We spent the afternoon at the viewpoint taking pictures and then to the Native Village Inn where there were replicas of the evolution of native huts. The guy there was very talkative and informative and they demonstrated a native warrior dance. Susie and Barry joined in while Davis enjoyed stoking the fire with an Ifugao version of the thing we use to fan fires. He about smoked us out, but he had fun anyway. Dinner was at the "Halfway House" (yes that was really the name), which was owned by the family that also owned Native Village Inn. Food - okay, Karaoke - annoying, service - okay. Jaron got a crying headache (I figure she's starting her round of migraines early, but probably from exhaustion more than anything) so I took her and the kids back to the Inn in a pedicab. She felt mostly better in the morning, but she's feeling the headache again today. So we had two very beautiful days, surrounded by a couple rainy drizzly ones. We ended up going back a day early because the weather was too bad to hike and we could avoid All Saint's Day traffic as well. We did try a quick jaunt to Guihob pool - a natural pool by a waterfall - which didn't require a hike. Just a Jeepney ride for 4km. I was happy cause I finally got to ride on top of the Jeepney (with Davis and Jaron and only for part of the way cause it started to pour). But I thought that was pretty fun, dodging electrical wires and waving to all the people staring at the white people on top of the Jeepney. All that to say that we're home and had a great time and would recommend the trip to everyone! We would have liked to do more hiking, but weather and our packing did not allow for that. Places we'd like to still see there are the caves in Sagada and a hiking trip to Bat-ad. So now we're home to another rainy day and not much is open cause it's All Saint's Day. So Davis and I can't get our hair cut and Susie and the girls can't get manicures and pedicures. But we're all hanging around. Barry is posting Banaue pictures on the web for your viewing pleasure. Jim is reading, Susie on the phone, Davis on the game boy, Jaron on the bathroom floor sleeping, Stevii - I'm not sure.... So check out the pictures and call or write soon! www.marshallnyc.net/banaue (Comment on this)
Thursday, October 20th, 2005
11:07 pm	This week in a nutshell Friday, Betsy, Laurie and I went to get capiz shell lights at a little shop near Divisoria. You will see these everywhere in people's trees. They are really beautiful transluscent shells, cut into squares and fused together with metal to form a ball, then strung together on electrical wire with bulbs and hung in trees. So much Christmas decor is made out of capiz shells and it comes in all colors. I prefer the white. We also stopped in Quiapo to look for a Malong (like a sarong, but it is sewn together to make a tube) and anything else we might find under the bridge. Betsy found cowboy hats 3 for 100 pesos. I got the Malong and some fruit. Laurie got a souvenir or two. Overall a very successful trip. 1:30 was Jaron's Parent teacher conference. Her teacher, Mr. Gascon says she's doing really well and a very enthusiastic learner. He also said she was very helpful, especially with the ESL kids and that she is extremely gifted in this area - could be a good teacher someday. She's very compassionate. Then came the part about her needing to improve her organization (no news flash there - just look at her room!). He said she loves to perform too. She really loves school this year. Saturday was the American Women's Club annual hoedown. After a day of soccer, errands and barbequeing on/in our new grill (actually old grill, new grills on the grill) and hanging out in the pool, we headed to the Westin Hotel. One of the young adults from our church, Kate (an australian working for World Vision), came over to watch the kids. Had a nice time. Helped out with selling raffle tickets and judging the "best dressed" contest. Enjoyed a beautiful sunset on Manila Bay. Food was good (doesn't happen too often here) and we indirectly won a set of tires from Goodyear. Actually someone at our table won and didn't have a car, so we just happened to be in the right place at the right time, I guess. Sunday was your average day - church, home, barbequeing and swimming. Monday, I don't remember much of except scheduling kids doctor appointments for Tuesday, which I promptly forgot causing me stress that I just didn't really need. I also made banana bread and coffee cake for the bible study I was hosting on Tuesday morning. All went pretty smoothly in that respect. We had Davis' parent teacher conference also. His teacher said he is doing well and really enjoys science (no surprises). She did happen to mention as well that some kids were complaining about him making noises in class. I inquired to Davis about this later and apparently he usually plays alone now. The boys that he seemed to get along well with at the beginning of the year have told him he is annoying and not funny. He says (very unemotionally and very matter-of-factly) that he wants to go back to New York. My heart breaks for him. I hope this is not indicative of what the rest of his school years will be like. Any advice on a balance of intervening and letting him work it out himself? The phone lines are open... Wednesday, Betsy and I went on a tour with the Museum Volunteers of the Philippines to see the Pinto Art Gallery in Antipolo - a little ways out of town. The grounds were incredible - beautiful gardens and fountians - such a serene place to be. The art was average - okay, but nothing that grabbed me - mostly modern. We followed that with lunch at the Crescent Moon Cafe and handbuilding some pottery. There was a general lack of instruction here, but it was fun anyway. Afterward, we had a surprise stop at a home and garden with a collection of santas and more beautiful grounds that could be rented out for parties. Today, at Thursdays for Others, we went to YWAM (Youth with a Mission) which had outreach to children and people with TB in the "Smokey Mountain" areas of Manila. "Smokey Mountain" is the name of the piles of garbage at the city dump. People live there and get their livelihood from picking garbage. A few years ago, one of the squatter's villages was razed and they were given some other housing - community type housing. So YWAM works with education sponsorship for some of the children there, daycare for malnourished babies and toddlers, education for mothers on nutrition and hygiene and parenting, and free medication and support groups for people with TB (tuberculosis). Stats here are that over 100 Filipinos die each day from TB. It's a big deal here. We saw a casket right in the hallway of the apartment complex. We were told that they leave the casket there with a box for donations and when the get enough money for burial, they will bury their dead. Until then, the casket stays in the hallway, with a curtain as a backdrop and flanked by lit candles. Kids were running around all over - some barefoot, some half clothed and some completely naked. But they were playing happily and were very friendly. They asked our names and ages and gave us flowers. Sweet innocence. In the afternoon, Betsy, Michelle (new pastor's wife) and Brittney (another girl from church), went to Market! Market! to explore it thoroughly. We all found what we were looking for (except for split peas). This in itself is a minor miracle here. Betsy got crochet hooks, Michelle R. found cowboy gear for her boys, Brittney found brown shoes and I found outdoor food covers and a strong possibility of fabric for living room curtains! Yay. Oboe lessons again today. Stevii's teacher annoys me a bit. He's a bit of a complainer. There's always something that is not quite right. Last week he was over an hour late and didn't notify me ahead of time. This week he was 1/2 hour early without proper notice. Wierd. I'm thinking I may just have to get used to this... Susie and Jim are on their way to Manila as we speak. Looking forward to some traveling and exploring with them... (Comment on this)
Thursday, October 13th, 2005
10:55 pm	english lessons, etc. I taught english lessons today. I forgot to mention that I taught them last thursday as well. Kind of a fluke. One of the girls from our small group was substituting for a woman who was out of the country. This girl was going out of the country herself and so asked me if I was willing to take the class. I was pretty hesitant. I'm not a teacher - just don't have it in me. But I agreed. So last week I had two in the class - a japanese woman and a korean woman. This week it was two Korean women. It is a more advanced conversation class where they just read through an article on a given topic and go over discussion questions at the end. I'm just there to correct pronunciation and explain various words and phrases for understanding. I am realizing all the idiosyncrasies of the english language. How much we move our lips and tongue, how inconsistent the rules are, how odd some of the phrases must sound if translated literally and how different are the basic sounds from the asian languages. Anyway, it was a good experience and I'm glad I did it. Right now, I'm listening to the momma cat meowing and looking for her babies. We had heard scratching in the attic and wondered what was going on up there. The pool guy went up to look and came down with a bag full of 5 kittens. So Emiliano took the kittens to a shelter in Quezon City. Other animals in the area...as Barry was trying to figure out why my wireless is being stupid and only picking up signals randomly, he looked out the window and saw a ratlike thing up in the palm tree. Jasmin informed us that there are squirrels here and they like coconuts. So, that explains that. Today we went to a children's shelter called "Erma" (short for Ermita and Malate - the red light/tourist district in Manila). They "specialize" in physically and sexually abused street children. It's very similar to Romy's place that Betsy and I visited before with a drop-in center as step 1 and then children's homes for more permanent placement, and educational support. The difference here was the amount of psychotherapy and social worker intervention in the lives of these children. Some of them were very open about their stories. I met Jo Marie, who was there with her younger sister. Both had been sexually abused by their father. One was 15 and one was 9. I also met Russel, age 6, who was tiny for his age. He carried around a green dinosaur everywhere. He wore a pink baseball cap that said "love, joy, peace" on it and covered up a huge scab on his head. He said that he had been pushed. I was told their lives are rough. That seems to be the understatement of the year. All the children were so needy - wanting affection and attention. It evoked a mixture of emotions from sadness that these children had to go through such a terrible thing to hapiness that they had a safe haven and there was hope for them now. From them we bought cards of homemade paper and friendship bracelets and cross stitched hand towels. They did a dance for us (hip hop) and taught us the dance afterward. They clung to us until we got in the van to leave. Jasmin's trial period is over and she's signed a contract with us now. Wow! That momma cat sounds like she's in the house! (Comment on this)
Monday, October 10th, 2005
7:27 am	Women's correctional Facility This was my first time to visit the Women's Correctional Facility with the women of "Thursday's for Others". Honestly, I was dreading it. It didn't really appeal to me and someone else who had gone before had told me it wasn't their favorite venue. But I forced myself to go and make up my own mind. Maybe this was my "thing" - the place I was supposed to be... We were debriefed shortly at the church so we would know what to expect. Don't give things to them unless you can give to all because it might cause jealousy. They like magazines or small treats that can be shared. By no means should you give them money, though they might ask, or mail anything for them. They have a system through which mail should pass. No cell phones allowed and no cameras. Just talk to them. Tell them something about the outside world. They like to know what is going on out there. Listen to them. We heard stories of murders, some in self defense, though that is not considered a defense here. Some were in for minor infractions and given what we might consider unjust sentences. Some women were framed for crimes they didn't commit. Others had gotten what they deserved. All were separated from families, many of whom could not afford to visit. This was their family now. First we went to the library - suprisingly clean and well stocked with books. We met the ladies of the sewing club. They showed us their cross stitching and sat and talked with us. Many recognized familiar faces who had visited before. They seemed thrilled to see someone they knew from the outside. The cross stitching amazed me! Some beautiful works of art! And they were making cross stitched Christmas cards to order! Then they announced that they would be teaching us a Filipino dance. We all took partners and learned these simple but graceful candle dances. I danced with Ethel. We laughed at our own clumsiness and had an oddly marvelous time. Then it was on to the craft shops where we watched the women sewing various wares, making candles and saw the process of making baskets and other woven craft from old phone books! Can I say "amazing" one more time? And so I wondered, with such a nice place to stay compared with many of the shacks outside, and with the network of other women and the new skills they were developing, how could they still be sad or lonely? When I inquired of another woman who had been there many times before, she told me it looks nice at first glance, but talk to them more and get a little deeper and I would see what lies below the surface. I think I will. I want to know more. I want to help. I want others to see what I saw at the place that I dreaded going. (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 9th, 2005
5:18 pm	tagalog lessons Today we had our first tagalog lesson. What a disaster! First the teacher had called a few days back and asked for directions to our house. When she told me what train stop she was planning to get off, I suggested a closer one. Then she had the nerve to tell me that I probably wasn't so familiar with the train stops because I usually rode around in a car. How does she know I ride around in a car? And even if I do, that has nothing to do with whether or not I notice where the closest train stop is! When I handed the phone to Jasmin so she could give her the "correct" directions, Jasmin told her exactly what I told her. So that was the foot we started on. She shows up on Friday, a crazy day to start with, and begins with grammar lessons. Ugh! Do I really want to know what a predicate is in tagalog? I just want to learn some basic conversation skills! My mistake for checking the grammar box. I was thinking more along the lines of conversation with a little grammar to back it up. Anyway, she had no material that was suited for children and was all over the place with her lesson. I couldn't even concentrate enough to memorize what "I" was in tagalog. I think we will be looking for another teacher or see if the company will pay for a Berlitz course. I found those much more productive. Stevii had her first middle school party and really enjoyed it. Shamis, a boy that likes her, was chasing her around all evening until Stevii started talking to a boy who annoyed her even more. She says she was a little disappointed then, because it was more fun to be chased. Hmmm...could this be a sign of things to come? Davis' soccer game was all day (almost) on Saturday. They played 7 "mini" games - probably about a quarter of a regular game. Couldn't tell you how many they lost or won - a couple of each, I think. The field was pretty muddy, but apparently not as bad as the last game. Hilarious though: there was a big truck on the field loaded with paper and cardboard that was apparently stuck in the mud. When we arrived at the game around 9:30am, they were digging it out and throughout the day they got a little farther and a little farther, but as soon as they moved a couple feet, got stuck again. The entire day, we watched them rearrange the paper on top and dig out under the wheels. It was hilarious! We finished that just in time to escape the torrential downpour that ensued. They still weren't out when the rain hit.I wonder if they ever made it out or just gave up. On our way home, some parts of the streets looked like New Orleans. Wild. Jaron had choir practice in the afternoon and sang with the children's choir in church this morning. It was really nice. Church's 91st anniversary celebration is this month. Sunday morning in church the associate pastor announced his resignation (because of his son's health issues) and then preached a sermon on heros. He talked about his wife and kids being his heros, and other church members who inspired him through the years. Afterward the entire congregation gave him a standing ovation. I don't even know the guy and I was just about moved to tears. THAT is how a church should be - supportive. It was nice. Thursday, I met the new pastor's wife. She is the same age as me, though a little more accomplished, it seems. I wonder if we'll be friends somewhere down the road...we'll see... Back to Saturday, though, the young adults came over again for their small group and Barry led music. He seems to be enjoying that. Funny thing is that some of the young adults that come have never seen such a beautiful house. They make comments everytime. I am flattered, but at the same time troubled. I feel wierd having such nice stuff (that I know doesn't even compare to what some people in the US have) while others have never seen anything like it. I feel like it separates me from them in their mind. But I feel that we are the same. Last time one person said our house looked like a resort. This time a kid from India said he had never even imagined in his mind that a house could look like this. I hope I never feel that it is all for me. I always want to share it. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 5th, 2005
10:50 pm	day in divisoria Yesterday I went and got sclerotherapy at Belo Medical Clinic. For those of you who don't know what that is, it is the attempted removal of spider veins by a dermatologist or plastic surgeon using a small needle to inject saline and something else to collapse the nasty little things. So, if you've read my blog indicating how I feel about facials, this was better than that, but pretty similar. I call it a leg facial. Anyhoo, I had some of the common side effects of temporary bruising and fever and chills last night. Not to mention, difficulty line dancing and itchiness because of having to wear support hose for 3 days afterward...Benefits: hopefully no more nasty spider veins after so many years of walking around with them and at about a 10th of the cost of the same procedure in NYC. How could I not do this? Today was Divisoria for more exploration and looking for fabric with Betsy and Laurie (Barry's work colleage). Found lots of good stuff. Curtain material for Davis' room ($1.00/yard!!!!!) a really cute broomstick skirt and some funky beaded belts. Brought Anecita with us for bargaining power and help finding our way around as there are many different buildings as well as outdoor shopping. I'm sure we covered at least 1/4 of the actual shopping area. I'm going to need another day or two there... Our pool lounge chairs arrived today and look great outside on the pool deck! Can't wait to use them! Saturday our table, chairs and umbrella come. Barbequeing, here we come!! Watched Amazing Race tonight - taped it for the kids since it doesn't come on till 9pm, tho it repeats itself 4 more times before the next episode shows. That is the benefit of a lack of programming - if you miss it once, it will most likely come on again. Figured out when Veronica Mars is on too. Maybe I'll catch that next week and hopefully it isn't an old season. Sometimes they are a season or two behind here. Other shows are just a day or week behind. Not too bad. Well, I'm going to bed since Barry's 12+ hour workday is really tiring me out...I'm exhausted! (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 2nd, 2005
5:30 pm	roaches and rats Thursday we visited a Habitat for Humanity site. That was really an eye opener because it was squatters village (basically tin shacks surrounded by laundry and garbage) that had burned down. They were building new houses with clean bathrooms there - row houses, you could say, with little pathways and small 2x4 gardens in the front of each. Habitat for Humanity has these people put in community service hours, then gives them a loan for the remaining cost of the home. Really gives them a sense of pride and working toward a goal. We got to see a couple of families who were just in the process of acquiring a home that day. Exciting. We spoke with the women there to find out what they needed most. They said pipes in the sewage. First of all, there is no running water. So the toilet is just the toilet bowl with now plumbing hooked up to it. To flush, you dump a bucket of water down the bowl. That runs down below the houses and out the back where a ditch is dug in the "alley" behind the rows of houses. Then it meets at little ditch perpendicular to it at the end of the rows which dumps it into the Manila Bay. Very sanitary. I guess the government has not made good on promises to take care of this. To make matters worse, there still exists a squatters village (that didn't burn down) right next to it and there is a billiard hall sitting right out there where the young and old men "hang out" all day. They don't work, they don't clean up the area, they just play pool. Mind you, this is not all the men. Many were away working or at their food stands, etc. So we were there to help the women out to be able to find a livelihood, so they could improve their lives and take care of their families. There were a couple women there that came with pen and paper to take notes and were particularly talkative and willing to discuss the situation with us. They suggested things like getting them sewing machines or peanut grinders. The leader of our group who works with HFH steered them away from food because of the hygiene issues there. We talked about crafts and garbage pickups. I suggested hair braiding because it wouldn't cost anything and would be relatively easy to learn. They said it wasn't that popular in the Philippines, but I said maybe they could start with all the kids in their neighborhood, start a trend and have that be where people came if they wanted to get hair braided - make a name for their town. I don't know how well that went over, but that was my contribution anyway. We also discussed leadership training, particularly for the two women who were very outspoken and seemed motivated to improve their new neighborhood. We talked about teaching them to make sod from the nasty dirt, sewage and food scraps. So I guess we will come up with more ideas and go from there. I'm not really sure. Friday, Betsy and I took, Laurie (barry's coworker in town from Illinois) to Granny's Gallery, a place for Chinese antiques, and to Marikina to see the Noritake showroom and the shoe museum that houses Imelda's shoes (500+ of them, there are over 3000, I believe). That was fun. Neat little clean town with a "strict" mayor who gave everyone a job and ordered that it be kept clean. It worked. I wish all the towns would follow suit. Emiliano said that this man was trying to get other towns to use the same method for this, but they were resistant because other mayors wanted the credit for themselves. Too bad that the need for recognition overshadows the need for bettering the lives of those who you are serving... Saturday - nice family day - no volleyball or soccer games. Slept in then went to Glorietta Mall to get some calling cards made for me, look for some clothes for spirit week for stevii, etc. Dropped Jaron at choir practice while we went to get our new patio furniture (finally! - to be delivered next weekend). That all went smoothly. Picked up Jaron, more shopping, early early dinner at Mickey D's and took a walk to greenbelt mall to people watch. Stopped at a great toy store there (way better than Toys R Us, but much smaller). They had interesting games and toys, a place to paint ceramics, sundaes, spagehetti and lasagne, and more different types of monopoly games than I've ever seen in one place at one time. That was cool. Kids had a nice time and we walked home. Today - church. It is the 91st anniversary month so we had a guest speaker, very energetic music today, a flag parade and the new pastor and family arrived and were introduced. He won't be preaching until three weeks from today, but that's nice that they are giving him some time to get used to the place and settle in. They do a lot of things right in this church - by that I mean that they are just considerate of others. For instance, communion today is served in the traditional "protestant" way by passing the silver or gold plates with all the little cups and everyone takes one. Well, in recognition of many different traditions and backgrounds among the congregants, they fill the outer circle cups with grape juice and the inner circle with wine. So you take what you are used to taking at your normal place of worship. I thought that was really considerate. Did I tell you the associate pastor looks and acts just like Robin Williams. It's kind of freaky. Another girl I met from California thought exactly the same thing. I probably won't mention that to him anytime soon. He probably gets that a lot and I don't know him anyway. After church, lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant in greenbelt and then home for a relaxing afternoon of swimming. We scrubbed off the back porch a little. The rain really dirtys it up quickly. Speaking of rain, last night we left the ac off and opened the windows. It poured rain and really cooled off the room. I'm also finding the sound of pouring rain very soothing. Bond is officially a water dog now. He's starting to get in the pool of his own volition and swim around. We're still working on teaching him where the steps are so he can get out by himself. He's getting there, I think. Tomorrow, barry and I start our India study group. I've had second thoughts about doing it, but I'm pretty sure that after I start, I'll be glad I did it. So, here goes another week... Oh! And you're probably wondering why I titled this roaches and rats...well, Saturday Jaron, Davis and I walked out into the lanai to see a small animal in the window (outside, thank God!) grooming itself. Get a little closer and it's not a cute or even slightly annoying little squirrel. It's a big nasty rat! Ewww! Then there's the roach factor here. Haven't seen any in my house, but when we were hanging around the fountain last night at Greenbelt Mall, a roach literally charged Stevii and Davis and they had to get out of it's way. It was huge as can be expected here, but I am rather shocked at their lack of fear of humans. Stevii also wanted me to mention that we think we have a kitten up in our attic, but we have no idea how to get into the attic. So...there you have it folks...roaches and rats (and kittens in the attic). Current Mood: refreshed (Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 28th, 2005
7:47 am	facials Forgot to mention that I got my first facial ever yesterday. Luckily I was expecting it to hurt, but that didn't stop my eyes from tearing up! Then the whole rubbing the face with goo and massaging my adams apple just didn't sit well. I think I'll stick to backrubs. Line dancing was fun. Electric slide, boot scoot and cowboy hustle... Stevii's friend Holly was over to swim. Her dad works for the US Embassy. Their previous posting (before the Philippines was Pakistan and they were there for 9/11. Wow. Her mom, Kristin, said the first two years in Pakistan were great, but after 9/11, they were evacuated twice. I guess that wasn't quite so fun. We looked at some oriental rugs yesterday. The guy brought them to the house and let us borrow one to look at for a little bit. Now I have to find out all about rugs from the middle east and figure out what a fair price is. There is also a rug auction coming up next week, so I'll go to that. I hear they give a little seminar so you know what to look for. We did musical rugs yesterday, switching rugs from one room to the next. Can make up our minds where we want them. Apartment living was much less complicated. Well, gotta get the kids off to school. You're welcome to give us a call here too. You all have the Colorado number. Nights are kind of lonely so anytime between 9-11pm our time is great and I'm usually home then. In NY that's 9-11am your time same day. In Colorado that's 7-9am your time. The rest of you will have to figure it out... (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 27th, 2005
10:24 pm	bleach blah Kind of feeling sorry for myself today. I'm sure I'll feel better in a day or two. I'm tired. Haven't been sleeping well the last couple of days. This big house kind of freaks me out at night. Every little noise is creepy cause I was used to so much noise around. Last night I probably lay awake for an hour sure that someone was in my house walking down the hall. Real productive use of my time. Had to talk to the maids about the bleach issue - so far 5 towels (new towels) have fallen victim, 2 pants, 1 shirt and one bathing suit. Jasmin immediately pointed the finger at Anecita (which really didn't impress me). Anecita was very apologetic, which I told her not to worry, just to be careful just to use it only on white clothes - totally white clothes. Then, the protocol is that you have to quickly change the subject and act like the conversation never happened or compliment something else that they do. What a pain. Hopefully I won't see anymore bleached clothes and towels. Funny things: 1. A sign at a high rise construction site that says "We are here today, because we were safe yesterday". A little morbid way to think of it, but I guess it drives the point home. 2. At red stoplights, all the motorcycles, weave their way to the front of the line, so when the light turns green, this massive pack of motorcycles buzzes out down the street like some motorcycle gang that couldn't afford harley davidsons. Then the cars follow. It's just kind of amusing. (Comment on this)
Monday, September 26th, 2005
7:56 am	the weekend I guess I'm starting to get a little lax about writing in my blog now. Well, with me, that is to be expected. So the update.... Thursday at "Thursdays for Others" we visited Concordia orphanage. That was neat since there was some kind of a mixup and they thought we were coming in the afternoon instead of morning, so the director was no there. Sometimes on these visits we get information overload and not so much hands on. This time we got to hold babies and play with the preschoolers. It was very clean there and the babies always had someone in thier little play area holding them or playing with them. What a great environment for an abandoned child to come to. Preschoolers were watching TV and having snacks. Cartoons were okay, but somehow it got switched to soap operas somewhere down the line...kids were all having Merienda (snacktime). They were all very sweet. There was also a streetkids ministry outside for those who didn't live at the home. They were having a lesson - all sitting in little chairs, looking at the blackboard. Just beyond them was a building that had just been torn down so a lot with a pile of rubble. When we got out of our van they all greeted us in unison "Welcome visitors!" I wish I could replicate their cute little Filipino accent - something like Welcomb beeseetors...there was one baby there with cerebral palsy, not expected to live past age 5, but they were caring for this baby all the same. Another had a clef palate and they did not have the appropriate nipple to feed the child because it was too difficult to get. The ladies from the church said they would see if they could have one shipped from the US. 4 of the kids were going to the US to be adopted within the next couple of weeks. That was neat to hear since there were only about 19 of them there that day. Not a bad ratio. Friday was a lazy day. Betsy and I met Leslie Ann Murray for coffee at Starbucks. This woman is American, married to a British man and has lived here for over 40 years. Her son works for Chase in New York (I found this out when I went to her house to look at some rugs she was selling). Anyway, she had the inside scoop on visiting the rice terraces and some other very interesting places to go. She told us stories about a friend of hers who was so fed up with the lack of any organized tourism, that she went out by herself to explore the Philippines and wrote a book about her explorations. Apparently Leslie was able to accompany her on some of these trips. THAT sounded like fun! After meeting with Leslie, we came back to my house. It was Urdaneta Village Fogging day so you could see puffs of fogging all around the neighborhood. Betsy and I are trying to get calling cards (business cards) so we had arranged for a printer to come over and show us what she had. Well, she showed up without any samples or anything and, even though I had told her on the phone these were personal calling cards - not business - she quoted us on a minimum of 10 boxes. I don't think I would use that many cards in a million years. She even asked me if I had a card. Isn't that why I asked her over - to make me some cards? Anyway, we had to really cover up our irritation that the marketing person would show up at our house without any samples. We asked her to come back Monday (today), but I think I will cancel the appointment. Seems kind of worthless. I will look for another place that will do fewer cards and use their brains...there is just so much networking here and you meet so many new people, it seems almost a necessity to have cards to hand out to someone you meet. Saturday, Stevii had a volleyball game away and Davis had a soccer game away. No sleeping in for us. 6:30am we were at the school to get them loaded on the busses. I first went to Salcedo Market - a vegetable market a few blocks away - to get some fresh veges. I had heard good things about it and that they had broccoli at a reasonable price. Found lots of good fruit and veges - yay! Can't say the prices were the best, but it was good and fresh. Jaron and I came back to the house for a bit and then went out to Metro Market (department store with grocery store in the basement). I had heard good things about the grocery store - lots of american products, so I went to investigate. I was also looking for pool floaties, and so took my time browsing the store. I may do that again today at Robinsons Department store, just to get an idea of what I can find there at a later time. I got the usual "out of stock" on the pool floaties, but went to look myself and found exactly what I was looking for. I tried not to look at the guy to show how irritated I was that he was so clueless. I guess it's all about saving face here. You don't openly show irritation or yell at someone. I have to control myself a lot in that respect. I hope I don't get some disease from keeping all this irritation inside...haha. Barry had an open house for potential employees at work from 9 to 3 on Saturday, so he was out for most of the morning, but by the time I picked up the kids from their games (Davis covered head to toe in mud cause of the muddy field) Barry was finished. We were invited to a dinner party at my friend, "B"'s house. Us and three couples for tex mex. It was nice. All of them were older than us, of course. None had kids still at home, except B and Randy whose youngest is 16. However, conversation was good - 2 american couples and one british man and Filipino woman. We talke about call center stuff cause one of the guys does a hotel customer service call center. Talked about househelp - big topic around here. Interesting thing was talking about the heirarchy of the househelp - driver on top of the food chain, then gardener, then cook, then housegirl, then lavendera (clothes washer). Talked about interesting places everyone had visited and things they had done. A couple of the ladies had taken diving lessons (on my list of things to do) so we got the scoop on that. Got home around 1am, so we must have had an okay time... Sunday was church, work people over for lunch, short nap and more food prep and small group over for dinner. All in all, a pretty full weekend. I think I need to pace myself a little more on the guests over for meals thing, but it really isn't so terribly stressful since there is someone to clean up after and I've learned to really prep ahead of time so the work is minimal. Martha Stewart, step aside! (big haha to that one!) After all the guests had left, Barry and I sat out by the pool and chatted by the citronella candle (fogging doesn't seem to be so effective this time around). A couple of bats flew around and barry went for a quick swim. Nice wrap up to a busy day. Barry and I are hanging out this morning since we didn't get much face time this weekend. He's typing away at his blog right now too... (Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 21st, 2005
10:25 pm	cigars and serenity Not much serenity, but it sounded fun with cigars... Cigar factory tour today was really neat. It looked like the pictures you see in movies of sweatshops - just a big warehouse with tables and laborers all throughout. Neat stacks of tobacco leaves or whatever they use to roll the cigars in (you can tell I was paying really close attention to the details). It really was fascinating to see them made. Fun things that I noticed were the line up of rollers (people rolling the cigars) with cell phones at each station. Most people here - at least the lower class - do not have home phones, but most have cell phones. They were all working extremely hard and all were dressed in uniforms - they love uniforms here. The electricity went out just a couple minutes after we walked in (brown out), but there was no panicking and no stopping the work. They lit candles and continued as if the lights were still on. They did come back on shortly. Lunch was at a french restaurant in Paranaque, close to the french and german international schools (which I didn't know existed before today). It took 1 1/2 hours to get our main course even though we had put in our orders a couple days ahead of time. Learning patience (I really didn't sign up for this course, but this is where the serenity comes it - I have to talk myself into being serene). But the conversation was good. This tour and lunch was with a group of ladies and Barry from the Museum Volunteers Association. It is a very international group of people. I was sitting by a couple of women from Japan and a South African Woman. I also spoke with a Korean woman and one from Belgium. So interesting how they all have the same concerns in life. I also love that they love to talk about politics and they have so many interesting stories and insights from their experiences all over the world. The big topics today were parents from schools who didn't like what was going on, but wouldn't stand up and voice their concerns in order to make necessary changes. Those few who do raise concerns are looked on as the lone complainer and brushed off. I think we've all been there - a very lonely and frustrating place to be. The other topic (which I personally find fascinating) is how different cultures view women and how that corresponds with women's positions in politics. What is most interesting about this is how it varies from country to country. Take the US, for example, having been a democracy for 200 years or so, but never having a woman as a president. Yet, our gender roles are not so defined anymore. Then look at the Philippines - a relatively new democracy, which has already had two women presidents, yet the gender roles are very defined here to the point of gender discrimination in many jobs. We talked about Japan, Europe and the US as very male dominated countries, though very developed. Margaret Thatcher was the only woman we could pull out off all three as having run one of the countries. All have general respect for women's rights, etc. South Africa and India, are also new democracies, like the Philippines and have had women leaders (of the entire country). The best we could come up with was that being democracies before women's rights (right to vote, women in the workforce, etc.) lent itself to slower change or acceptance of women in high positions in politics. Whereas, new democracies came into their new government with women's rights already in place and, therefore, have less baggage when it comes to placing women in important political roles. This is not to say that some women don't break the mold, but as a general rule the older democracies seem to be more male dominated societies. One woman brought up the possibility that African women have a stronger role in society in general, while men play a more passive role, so it was a natural progression for women to rise to the top in politics. We compared this to the philippines, where it is said that women really rule the families, though men are the figurehead (kind of like the queen of England, I suppose). Well, I'll have to give this one a little more thought and discussion. I find it a very fascinating topic! Stevii's down with a fever - just a small one and and cough. We'll see how she feels in the morning. Tomorrow is Elementary School Coffee (general pta meeting), Thursdays for Others, going to our India Study group leader's home to pick out books to study, oboe lessons and who knows what else will come up. Crookshanks (kitty) is starting on solid food mixed with milk now. That's a relief from feeding her with a bottle every 3 hours. At least the milk stage is not 9 months like humans! The Barry work report: Just so he doesn't get offended by this, I want to clear up why I am documenting his hours. I'm doing it so others will get an idea of what our lives are like and the adjustments we have to go through, not to make him look like a workaholic. That said, last night he got home around 2am and up at 7:30am. Work again at 2:30pm and he's still there.(10:24pm)..update tomorrow or whenever I get around to it. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 20th, 2005
10:48 pm	bazaar cops Today was the monthly American Womens Club Bazaar. Got myself some cute shirts (very good price) and placemats and coasters with philippine art on them. Very pleased with my purchases and didn't spend too much today. I brought along one of the Chase people who is here from Arizona doing some work at the call center for the next couple of weeks. This is my first experience entertaining Barry's work colleages by myself. I actually brought it up too. Sometimes I surprise myself. Maybe I'll make a good little corporate wifey after all! Funny thing about buying clothes here (maybe I mentioned this already) is that Americans and Asians are very different sizes. Where I could wear a medium shirt in the US, I would be an XL or larger here. One of the shirts I purchased today (all cute and bohemian) is categorized as "one size fits all". I renamed it "one size fits all asians". However, contrary to my past experience with "one size fits all asian" shirts, the shirt I got today fit! That made for a nice day. Not much is more frustrating that feeling like the jolly american giant. On the way back from the bazaar today, Emiliano got pulled over for making a u turn the wrong way. The u-turn was for the traffic going the opposite way and was shaped as such. He did an "M" turn, going over both humps of the "u" in order to flip around. He managed to talk himself out of it, presenting the officer with an army ID, which he told me later was because he was in the reserves and so the policeman "considered" it. He also told the cop he didn't see the sign (which he did). Now, I've played the blond card, but I've not seen (in action) someone playing the clueless man card. Okay, maybe I have, but this was still funny. Angelique (Barry's colleage) and I were in the back of the car taking pictures the whole time. Got home and was talking to Bing in the living room (the lady who is having parts made for our outdoor grill). As I'm standing there, I see Stevii's bike riding around our carport. Kids are still in school. Who is riding her bike? Turns out to be Jasmin trying it out. Apparently she's never ridden a bike before or just doesn't know how to. I gave her a hard time about it. I laughed and told her that she should have Anecita hold onto the seat so she didn't fall over. I wondered if I was letting her get by with something she shouldn't have been doing, but honestly, I don't care if she tries out Stevii's bike. And Barry's theory is that if they are getting done what you are paying them to do, let them relax and enjoy themselves too. I'm good with that. Sometimes you just wonder where to draw the line. I guess you just go by your gut feelings on these things and see how it works out. Tonight was line dancing at Handlebars - a bar and grill decorated with motorcycles and real handlebars off of various bicycles. We learned the electric slide, boot scoot and the tush push. The first two, I could get, but it will definitely take a couple more practices for the tush push. Way too much turning in there. We have more instruction the next two Tuesday nights before the American Women's Club Hoedown. Last night Barry worked till 4am. Slept in till 10:15. He picked up the kids from school and was home by 4:30pm. Back to work at 7:30pm. Tomorrow is a tour of the Cigar Factory. I'm also beginning to make reservations for our November school break trip to Banaue when Barry's mom and stepdad are here to visit. I'm getting the inside scoop from a woman who has lived here for over 40 years now. Coffee with her on Friday. After Christmas we are thinking of booking a trip to Palawan for a tour of the northwestern end of the island. Could involve some camping, lots of boating, snorkeling, shopping and sightseeing - that should be a blast. Stevii's best friend from New York and her family are coming to visit for a week at that time. (Comment on this)
Friday, September 16th, 2005
9:20 pm	rain rain go away Birthday party today at the mall for Jaron. I'm learning a little bit about Filipino time vs. American time. We were notified of this party two days ago and told to be there before 10:30am. Well, the birthday girl didn't show up until 11am. But all worked out. Pick up time was a little hairier with Jaron and her friend Alexandra disappearing into the masses of people in the mall without clearly communicating where they were going. Jaron has a habit of not looking back to make sure family is with her. She did that twice today. Many harsh lectures ensued, helping me to work on my form and pronunciation, thus perfecting my lecturing skills. We had been invited to hang at the Polo Club, but the rain prevented that, so we went bowling instead, which we were soooo late for because of the aforementioned incident as well as an accident where two cars that didn't look damaged at all and were apparently abandoned, were blocking traffic and so every change of the light, one or two cars got through the intersection. This was bad and it took us around 45 minutes to get less than a mile away. Fun. I've also noticed that the timing of the stoplights here isn't really very condusive to efficient traffic flow. Oh well. No sports games tomorrow, so we have the day to sleep in and prepare for our guests tomorrow night. Most of the vegetables are chopped and carrot cake is made. I have a couple of last minute items to get at the store and maybe I'll get my hair cut tomorrow and an oil treatment to deal with my very chemically damaged hair. We'll see. I also hope the rain goes away so guests can swim... (Comment on this)
Thursday, September 15th, 2005
10:42 pm	Oboes and birth control Today was a rainy day - all day. Not much exciting to speak of, but Betsy and I went to "Thursdays for Others" where we visited another ministry to street children and their families. This one also functions as a soup kitchen and a preschool, moreso than the other one we visited on Tuesday. We were able to see preschool in action and help with one of the crafts - very simple. Kids sang the watermelon song or fruit salad song and we sang along. One of the buildings they are operating out of is condemned, but they are still there. Afterward we went to a ceramics place. Found some stuff I might want to go back and get, but wasn't really in the mood or prepared today. Went back the garage fabric place in Dasmarinas Village. Betsy went with and found some fun material. I got a sample of something I might like for kitchen curtains. P100/yard (less than $2). Then we went to a home on McKinley Road (HUGE houses) on the way to Fort Bonafacio (where the kids go to school). This woman uses the house as a showroom for chinese antiques. It was incredible! The furniture was amazing (in aesthetics as well as expense)! So that was fun. Picked up kids from school. All piled in the Camry since the Trooper is coded today. Alexandra and Hannah came along as well as Barry. It was like a clown car. There is no seatbelt law for back seats here. Seatbelts are only required for front seat riders/drivers. Later on Holly (Stevii's friend) came over so we had a houseful today. It was nice. Made us feel settled. Also, Stevii had her first Oboe lesson today (slightly unexpected since I thought he was going to confirm before showing up, but I guess I was wrong on that one). It was kind of cool. He plays in the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra as First Chair Oboe. I heard him play a bit and he's amazing. He also makes his own reeds and Stevii was very pleased when he gave her one and her Oboe actually played better because of it. He says store bought ones are too expensive and don't work very well. Good thing someone around here knows abou Oboes because I don't have a clue what to do with them. Now we have to go out and get a music stand too. I guess the guest list is up to almost 20 for Saturday night at our house. This should be interesting. I hope I have enough food. Emiliano referred his brother, Mario, to drive for Betsy for the weekend since Tony's wife is in the hospital or bedrest or something. Betsy is kind of relieved, I think, to not have Tony around for a bit and this could be her big chance to get a new driver, but she's feeling quite guilty at the same time cause his wife is having a baby. We did have a discussion at "Thursdays for Others" about the birth control issue here. Since it is a very catholic country, I wondered if that affected the birth rate and/or mentality of the people who were unable to afford to keep all the children they were producing. The comment was made that there is a misconception here that the more children you have, the greater it increases your chances for prosperity. Quite the contrary, however, these chilren are all ending up on the streets and a huge population growth is the result for the country with no way to provide for everyone. We talked about simple education to the girls and moms in the street. I guess part of the issue is a lack of trained medical personnel available to distribute the necessary items and education. Something to think about... It was also mentioned that a teacher at ISM took all her Christmas gifts last year in cash and donated it to a particular charity. I think that sounds like a good idea. Anything I need or want, I can get for myself or just wait for. Living here really makes you feel the need to give things away (Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 14th, 2005
9:15 am	giraffes and suspicion Things I forgot to mention (and now I have a clever subject line): Short mirrors. You know how giraffes have to spread their legs to bend down for a drink cause they are so tall. I imagine that Barry can sympathize with them at this moment. He actually spreads his legs like a giraffe in front of the bathroom mirror in order to see himself so he can do his hair. Point being, mirror are placed at Asian heights here. Funny. So is the picture of Barry doing his hair in front of the mirror. Suspicion. Kind of a wierd thing here. When we were hiring househelp, there were so many stories about maids stealing and all kinds of horrible experiences other employers had with their househelp. In one sense, it made me very cautious when hiring and aware of possible issues. On the other hand, I catch myself a lot of times being (in my mind) unnecessarily suspicious. For instance, when Jasmin got the emergency call about her mother's accident, my mind immediately jumped to "conspiracy" to get out of work and borrow money which she never intends to repay. With the whole bleaching of my towels, etc., I found myself wondering if they were purposely bleaching them so I would get rid of them and they could take them home. I caught myself thinking this and realized that I don't want to think like that. There are good people in the world too and I can't just automatically assume bad about someone without just cause. At this point, I have absolutely no cause to think that either Anecita or Jasmin would do anything like this. I want to keep that mindset, until proven wrong. I will keep warnings of other employers in the back of my head so I am not naive, but will act on proof, not suspicion. That is my lecture to myself. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 13th, 2005
10:08 pm	nothing clever I don't have any catchy phrases to put in the subject line today. Bible study this morning. It was aaaaight (Randy Jackson voice). I just don't seem to really be on the same page with anyone there. They are very nice. They are just not where I am at and I need someone that I see eye to eye with right now. Friday is no school and I was invited by one of the ladies to join her and her family at the Manila Polo Club for the day. I think I'd rather go sightseeing with my family. Barry has blocked off 8-5 that day. At noon, I picked up Betsy and we went to a C&MA sponsored home for street children. The director was the nephew of a woman (Lydia) from our church in New York. What a great guy and what a comprehensive program they have for those kids. He gave us 2-3 hours of his time this afternoon and did a whole power point presentation about the vision, strategy and programs of the place. Betsy was really impressed. This is exactly the type of thing she's been looking to do. They have a street ministry where they actually go out and meet street kids (kids who have been put out on the street because there is no room in their one room homes) and invite them to their drop-in center which operates from 8-5. There they learn basic hygiene, basic education and life skills. After 3-6 months, they can transfer to the home where they will live for 1-2 years. Here they are taught more in depth, spiritual, physical, educational, cultural and social issues. There are psycologists and social workers on staff as well as house mothers and fathers. They do chores, etc. Today when we visited the boy's home, the electricity was off because a transformer had blown. The kids were so sweet. We also visited the drop in center where the kids there were obviously more needy and craved attention. At the boys' home, they had really settled down and seemed happier and healthier. Their medical needs are also addressed here. And there is a program for sponsoring a child's education. Efforts are also made to counsel parents and families and the end goal is always to reunite the family and have it become more functional - or transformed as they put it. There is skills aquisition for children and families as well as small groups for families. Kids go home on the weekends so there remains a connection with their true home as well as keeping the parents in the loop about what the kids are learning and how they are changing. I think this is something Betsy and I would like to become involved in on a regular basis. Romy (the director) will let us know when the next training session is. Hopefully we can also visit the girl's home soon. Guests tonight - Venit, Abi and Donna, Charlie and "Pixie" (patricia). Venit is Barry's co-worker from India. Abi is the HR guy who will be moving here soon (October or November) with his wife Anu. Donna and Charlie are Barry's new admins and "Pixie" (patricia) is Barry's new Communications Director. They are all very nice and we enjoyed a nice dinner together. Donna and Charlie are quiet. Pixie is very well spoken and friendly. You've already heard about Abi and Venit... I still marvel at how easy it is to have guests now. Lots of delegation, little preparation for me and cleanup is a breeze. Jasmin and Anecita have really learned how to anticipate my needs/wants. Anecita bought banana leaves at the public market so we could put them under the rice cakes they made (which turned out lovely, by the way) and on the dessert plates. I guess the guard at the gate gave her a hard time saying she could have picked them in the empty lot beside our house, so why did she buy them. She thought that was funny. She's already making plans to visit the lot before the next guests. I have decided though, that I need to make more of a food schedule. Otherwise, we get the exact same thing every day. I'm going to have to do a little coaching in variety. Well, the kids don't mind pancakes every day for breakfast, but I'll make a suggestion or two here and there. Bleach spots are becoming an issue. I put on one of my favorite pair of pants today and found a couple bleach spots on the side which now looks like I rubbed up against some white paint. I now have three brand new towels and one bathroom rug with bleach spots on it. I may wait a day or two. In the grand scheme of things, this is pretty minor, but it still needs to be mentioned. Jasmin is still having a hard time with her mom's accident. I guess she will need an operation, but it doesn't seem like her mother's injuries were life threatening. Something about breaking her leg and toes, which I'm sure is not pleasant, but at least she's okay. Jasmin was back today. I asked who was taking care of her daughter and I guess she also has a sister who lives with them. That' a lot of women under one roof! (Comment on this)