Melodies and Dust

April 23^rd – tomorrow is Easter Sunday, and it is HOT.  We are in the tainit (ta-een-it) months – the dry season, which has been Anglicized to “Summer.”    The rains stopped mid March here, and became progressively hotter; today I am sitting in front of my electric fan, sweating.  My fan is on from the time I wake up until…well, the next day, when I wake up – if I am home, the fan is on…but I am usually still sweating.   Needless to say, showers and laundry have increased – I usually shower 2-3 times a day now.

I long anticipated the summer, which they tell me will recede by my birthday, and torrential rains will resume in late May, with the real rainy season hitting in June and July.  Theoretically, these taper off in December – but 2011 is a La Nina year, and the rains continued into March.  In the past, scientists thought that the El Nino/La Nina cycle occurred about every 10-20 years…now they are saying 2-4 years.  Another rainy season like the last one and I will be fungal.  And, while I grapple with the concept of a 2 month ‘summer,’ I will welcome a little rain to force the dust from the air.

Palawan is a paradise compared to Manila – the air is usually sweet and light here and breathing is wonderful – something most of us never notice….here on Palawan, I’ve noticed just breathing!  However, we do have traffic that uses leaded gasoline with no ‘smog check’ or filter at all on vehicles – being stuck in traffic here probably takes days off one’s life with fumes from the open-air vehicles visible and the black exhaust pungent.  Most everyone holds handkerchiefs to their noses and eyes.

Couple that with the heavy dust of the summer months, or the practice of raking up trash and leaves into a pile and burning it all…and it is easy to see why so many people here have rather severe asthma.  Pretty ironic that the Peace Corps touts the fact that the Philippines is one of few countries that will accommodate several medical issues – asthma being one….the reason seems to be that asthma is so prevalent here….so, actually, they are sending you to a place you really shouldn’t be subjected to if you are predisposed to asthma!!    Although I’m rather dreading the rains, it will be a respiratory relief (until too much mold grows and then asthma will resurface – crazy).

And, as you sit in front of your electric fan in the evening, as the light fades, you can hear melodies…the overbearing roosters (contrary to stories, they doodle at any hour of the day they choose), the higher scaled birdsong of the tuwit tuwit, the tuko chirping in the ceiling, and my newlywed neighbor humming a song I don’t recognize as she works quietly, sweeping the dust off her front porch…as I cough briefly, and smile.