Festivals, Feasting and Fraternity

Today is the festival day of the patron saint of our barangay, Old Cabalan - St. Vincent, the hope of the poor. We have had several days of beauty pageants: Friday night was young beauties who a couple of our guys paid money to dance with (I didn't attend since my family took me to Subic to walk on the boardwalk, listen to live music and buy 'ube' -sweet potato- ice cream). Last night, however, after the gay parade, complete with fire breathers, I did attend the barangay's Ms. Gay Fiesta which was something to behold.











There were 14 contestants, who first showed in costume, then talent, then swimsuits and answered questions - just like the Ms. Universe contest...and how they tied their 'talong' was beyond me - the front of their very skimpy bikinis were absolutely flat...and we had front row seats and really checked it out.

The 'she-man'- as they say here - who won the contest (we stayed until 11:30pm) was gorgeous and man could she dance - other contestants moved like men trying to be girls, but this girl danced fluidly like a woman - the guys in our group were hard pressed to see any masculine qualities. It was entertaining in one respect but heartbreaking in another: the community seemed to come to laugh at these souls, who had the courage to show themselves as they felt on the inside. Although the Filipino culture is very accepting on one hand, these people really don't fit into society. My family says that the only way that they have partners is if they have money, because survival is such an issue here that poor men can be bought.



Today, each Catholic home (mine is Mormon and doesn't participate) cooked a feast and opened to anyone who visited. We all attended the lunch of Bas Palo - the barangay captain - wow, what a home he has - they say it cost more than 5M pesos and is considered a mansion by my family. We then visited two more families and ate at each one. And, as I write, I hear the xylophones and drums from yet another marching band. At 3:30pm we watched as students we had tutored marched up the street in their red and white uniforms. And earlier, another high school marching band serenaded us - I have no idea who is marching now!


Last weekend we did make it to the beach - we caught a bus at 5:30am in order to get the surfers in our crowd to the waves early....after a 1/5 hour ride on a standing room only bus (I was on the last step of the back door with the door wide open as we drove!)we arrived at the Crystal Beach Resort in San Narciso - to utterly flat waves - actually, there were no swells.
Even at 7am, it was HOT in the sun...but I was sooo jazzed to finally find a clean-ish ocean that I raced into the water (here, one is fully clothed in a t-shirt and shorts when one swims. I have never swum in water that was so hot - my body overheated if I swam a few strokes!! And, it seems typical that resorts dynamite out the beach so that the sand is smooth to the feet...which meant that there was no life - animal, plant, or even rocks. But - we all had a blast - played volleyball at 7:30am, sweating so profusely that Matt served the ball and his wedding ring flew off...we sifted through the sand, finding several buried pesos, but no wedding ring. Lots of great camaraderie though...perhaps a little too much as we discovered the following day that Christian had contracted "pink eye" from one of the children we worked with on Saturday - by Monday 5 of the 10 of us had severe cases of conjunctivitis. Now, over a week later, two still have blood in their eyes - scary (I escaped).

Ah - I'm over an hour on the internet and need to retrieve my clothes and hang them with hopes that they dry in a couple days!!

My First Parasol and Hike

For someone who almost never sweats - except when sunning outside for hours, or hiking Pulgas Ridge at midday - this is quite an experience. Today I returned home literally dripping from head to toe after tutoring 20 high school students in English (in a small room without a fan and only one small window). I actually used my umbrella as a parasol for the first time in my life - it's that hot (and summer doesn't begin until March!!) I'm hoping that it works like a sauna and that I lose 20 pounds in 2 weeks...I've definitely dropped weight, but am still working on "sexy" which my host family thinks I'll get to soon.

I've been sick the last week or so with a bad 'ubo' (cough) that apparently has turned into bronchitis. The medical officer was here yesterday and handed me Cipro and another medication, so I'm hoping that I'm on the mend. Must admit, I probably aggravated things on Sunday - but I couldn't pass up the chance to go hiking to waterfalls...just didn't understand what 'hiking' here meant.

13 of us (trainees and our teachers) piled into a flatbed truck with the barangay captain, Bas Palo, and his rescue team. We drove far outside the paved roads of Old Cabalan and forded the local river several times until we came to the end of the road at Purok 14...finding this slightly skinnier version of our village dog.The Purok manager met us and led us on our trek....I was rather dizzy from my two days of being sick and really pooped out fast. The 24 year olds didn't tire out quite so quickly and for the first time I felt old, sigh...I've deluded myself so long!!

We traipsed through a jungle of rainforest, but didn't see any snakes or lethal bugs. A few of us slipped and fell a few times, but no major mishaps. After 2 hours, we arrived at the lower falls and I watched, utterly chagrined, as our guides set ropes up the cliff, preparing us for the climb to the upper falls. I said forlornly to my teacher - "I can't do it." So, they had a teenager from the village be my yaya and babysit me while everyone pulled themselves up the hill using the rope.










I was so exhausted and hot that I enjoyed the couple hours rest and swam in the falls - blessedly cool in the 90F heat. I thought I was refreshed, but as we began the 2 hour return, I found I was beat and felt badly that I was bringing up the rear with my yaya, who really looked out for me. We met some members of the indigenous Aetes tribe on the way back who were very friendly - the height of their leader reached my elbow. Onward, back to the village and a lovely meal of crayfish, native chicken and rice - family style, eaten with fingers. The best part of the trip for me was the swim in the river at the village - complete with an 8' deep pool, into which boys were diving from a rock 20' above...crazy. The water was lukewarm and wonderful...and although the excursion probably exacerbated my sickness - it was well worth it!!

With any luck, our supervisor will approve our going to the beach this Sunday - all this time in the Philippines and we really haven't been to a swimmable beach (eg without trash). We are incredibly busy M-S and only have Sunday off - language classes M-F from 8-12 and technical training from 1-5, and special events on Saturdays. Just living is time consuming - washing clothes by hand and hoping they dry within two days and helping with dinner, playing games with the kids and doing my homework - I fall into bed around 10pm to the hum of my ever-needed fan.

Family Ties

Based on the host families of our group of 10 trainees, family life in the Philippines is full of variety.

One girl lives in a family whose daughter is in Saudi Arabia, but whose granddaughter is living with them going to college here. They are very serious, and don't interact much with the volunteer, although their upper middle class standard of living is wonderful.

Another girl lives with a doctor and his family - he has a wealth of rules that she must follow and she also says that she is in a serious household.

One of the boys lives with a woman who performs witch doctor services for the locals for 20 pesos a visit. She suffers from arthritis and gets drunk on wine every evening to still the pain. Another volunteer lives next door in her daughter's house - the daughter of the witch doctor is a college trained nurse.

Our only married couple lives with a member of the NBI - the Philippine equivalent of the FBI. The mother is British and is working in Canada while the family is here awaiting visa approval. The father has a girlfriend here and says that both the girlfriend and the wife are aware of each other. The eldest son is 24 and has a very pregnant girlfriend who is to deliver in October. In preparation of their move to Canada, none of the younger children go to school - the family did not want to pay for a semester of private school with their imminent departure.

Another girl lives with a family who has a blatantly gay son...on her 2nd day here, the son asked her if he could wear her clothes - and they had a fashion show.

My family is Mormon and doesn't drink or smoke (lucky for me!) and all live in a family sort of compound with 4 houses. It seems matriarchal, with Tess (61 years old) as its head. Her son Joseph, lives with his wife and son in the back house (we can pass dishes between the houses), while another son, Oliver, lives in a front house with his wife, three daughters and his wife's sister's son.






Family ties seem strong, although overpopulation is terrible here, and Catholics do not believe in birth control - in fact, while there is "sex-ed" in the high school, they never discuss how condoms are to be used...thus, even if one wished to cross the Pope, he/she wouldn't know how to use a contraceptive. Today we visited several social welfare agencies - one was started by a woman who had been approached by a man with 5 children - one an infant. He asked if she would purchase his infant for 1000 pesos so that he could feed the rest of his children. Such is the condition here.

On Friday, Tess purchased her first refrigerator - probably with the money the Peace Corps gives her for housing me. It was a great day for all of us...especially me. I didn't really notice the refrigerator because I saw the box. The refrigerator is 7 cubic feet and the box stood about 5 feet high. My eyes lighted up as I grabbed the box and stashed it in my bedroom - a closet!!! Think I've said that I have a lovely bed in my room, which is large...but nothing else. I went to a Peace Corps party that night contemplating how I was going to paint it and where I would find a dowel to put in it. To show you what a wonderful family I have: I arrived home a little early from the party and opened the door...my squeal of delight scared Tess and Joie away from their task. They had taken the opportunity of my absence to drive to the palengke (market) and buy wrapping paper (in my favorite color), and I surprised them trying to surprise me with my new closet of pink and purple roses. I will post a picture of it as soon as I can. A more loving family I couldn't imagine.

Tomorrow is Joseph's 40th birthday and I'm taking the jeepney tonight to the bakery to order a chocolate cake to surprise him.

What a wonderful human experience I'm having in this amazing place!