Beyond the Peace Corps and Through the Looking Glass: Sometimes you just have to throw in the Towel

Make no mistake - I put my all into it - as I usually do. And I stuck it out far longer than I should have...but sometimes, you have to give up on your dream and face the music. As is frequently the case, at some point you lose your objectivity and convince yourself that you are just having a bad day, or that you are just feeling sorry for yourself, or that you should be stronger, or if you just put on a better face of enthusiasm you can conquer the issues... So, my dream of living in a forest, in harmony with nature in my little nipa hut - began with visions of Snow White singing with the animals as she scrubbed the house of the dwarves; then morphed into Dr. Doolittle escapades; and then into nightmares of the scene in Indiana Jones where she has to put her hand through the hole alive with writhing insects to save Indy. Sigh...

I arrived on April 16th and began scrubbing and painting and repairing all the various things that would make my little nipa duplex at Rancho Almonte cozy and comfortable. I was strong and healthy and full of enthusiasm and excitement to be on my own. The second day, I was covered with flea bites - didn't know that they lay their eggs in the termite dust and then hatch when disturbed by things like my Snow White cleaning.

I couldn't sweep well, but this is about 2 weeks worth of dust - note all the dust in the wall itself

The termite dust was quite amazing - I now understand all the termite inspections in California. I witnessed their morning nibbles - similar to the mound a mole makes as it tunnels - the termite mounds appear on the surface as they eat and deposit. My landlord scraped off their trail (about 10" long) in the morning....and I saw her in the afternoon - another 6" of trail had been redeposited!

I was in and out of my new abode during April and May - to Manila a three times - and thought that I fellt crummy because I had not exercised much. Mid to late May, I caught a cold that wouldn't go away, and then morphed into what felt like pneumonia, which I've had in the past - and had no wish to experience here!

So, I finally trekked to the doctor - Peace Corps approves one or two in your locale, and I saw Dr. Varona, who tested me for all sorts of things, but found no bacterial infection, and told me to rest. So I did - I went home and rested....and got worse. After a week I returned and showed him pictures of the house and some of the bites, many of which are now scars, but others that just don't heal, along with the new ones. I swear his eyes got big and round (no small feat). He was appalled. At that point, I realized that I had lost my objectivity. I had told myself to not be such a wimp, but over the weeks my immunity waned and although I tried to 'enjoy' all of the critters, my health went downhill. Dr. Varona wrote a letter to the Peace Corps and said I needed to move - NOW. Wow, I got the message, but was really bummed because housing here is scarce - and when the Peace Corps limits you to 3,000 pesos/month ($60), even here it doesn't go far.

I distractedly walked to my favorite lunch restaurant, Divine Sweets (another, Heavenly Desserts is just a few blocks away)...not having internet either at work or at home is tough when you are supposed to be doing websites and grant proposals...I've stayed at Divine Sweets for 6 hours before and they have been wonderful in letting me use their wi fi - which is what I did after leaving the hospital. Both of these spots seem to court an international set of folks - I've met divers on their way to Tubbataha Reefs, the head of the French NGO Endangered Species International, a family of missionaries who is based in Mindanao and flies in supplies to indigenous people, Filipino organic farmers and Australian missionaries with their new baby, on their way back to the mountains where they live and work with the tribes. Fascinating to say the least.

On this day, I sat down and within 15 minutes, a young man walked in and asked if he could share my table as it was crowded. Siempre (of course). He was interesting - an OFW who had grown up on Palawan, but had lived in Malaysia for 12 years. He was home for a couple weeks...I told him my story and said that I needed to move. How strange is this - he had a house that he wanted to rent. I finished my lunch and he had a leche flan (I knew we would do well together - my favorite dessert!), and we headed for a multicab to take a look at his house.

It was malayo sa highway - far, far down a road (Ponce de Leon) and twisting through a couple of no-name streets to a subdivision in barangay San Pedro - a place called Bountiful Village. It needed work all right - the llast tenants were druggies who had not paid anything for their last couple months - rent, water, electricity. The yard was overgrown, trash was everywhere, and because the front door was unlocked, someone had had drinking parties in the front room. But, it was totally concrete and every floor was tiled! Hard to believe that it was perfect for my issues. I told him that I liked it, but had to get Peace Corps approval and wanted a friend to give me a 2nd opinion.

That night I told my landlord about the doctor's visit and felt bad telling them I had to leave - I really like them.They had made major efforts for me - buying me furniture and making the duplex more secure. I have spent close to 10,000 pesos repairing their place, and also lose my deposit, so I think they will be okay...but we are all disappointed.

The next morning, my friend, Rich White-Smith, here as a Peace Corps Response volunteer, biked over and met me. He walked through and finally said - "What's the downside? I don't see any if he makes it secure and paints." So it was that I met Mark Antonino Taha Ribo on Monday the 22nd, signed the lease on Monday the 29th and moved in on July 2nd!! A whirlwind of activity, and a beautiful new place - my palace!

My favorite (tailless) Tuko bid me goodbye

My family of Tuko - all 6 of them - appeared the last night, and my favorite - the tail-less male, came down and talked to me for a while. Later that night, I made my midnight way to the CR, kicking at the ipis (cockroaches) and flipping them into the kitchen area. Sitting on the inidoro, I watched one of the females run down from the ceiling, grab a huge cockroach in her mouth and undulate back up the wall to eat it. Ah, the memories I will store from this journey!!

My family here - Brenda, Mario and Jun - arrived at 6:15am on Saturday morning to move me ...I had awakened 15 minutes earlier - they go to Dawn Watch service at their Born Again Christian church, "A Touch of Grace," every morning from 4-6am and were wide awake. Thankfully, most things were packed, but I was too slow and they whisked everything into the multicab within a half hour (all the time muttering - "Maraming gamit Tita!" (so many things Auntie!), and other things in Tagalog that I couldn't catch - but they were certainly having a laugh on me. They asked if I was ready and told me to get in the back of the van - there was a little space specifically for me.

The 'ref' looms over me

I thought we were ready to go - but they just needed me to get in before they roped the refrigerator to the back of the van, effectively sealing me inside. Luckily my book was handy - Bill Clinton's My Life. Then, the guys put the heavy bamboo bed, and the three rattan shelving units on top of the multicab...and we rolled out at 7:00AM!

Mario turned 50 today - he had a workout!

I am packed inside while Jun and Mario loaded it all and Brenda photographs

It is a bumpy ride to Bountiful, but I was so wedged in that I barely moved. All my new kapit-bahay (neighbors) watched as we unloaded all my gamit - stuff. Embarrassing. We unpacked everything within an hour and left for an early lunch (9am!). We sang Happy Birthday to Mario - who shares the same birthday as Katie - the 4th of July! Jun and Mario headed off to Bahile, to finish building a nipa hut for their mother, and I took a multicab back to Bountiful and began unpacking. I've been so beat that I haven't put up my mosquito net - and haven't been bitten!!!

The welcoming spider ("It's just a house spider, Deb")

I was greeted by a great spider, but other than the tiny red ants that crave sweets as much as me, there haven't been bugs!! I was startled this morning when I fumbled in the bakery bag for another small bread, and a little gecko looked back at me....I wondered if he'd been in there all night...but finished my bread - that's what happens when you get used to living here.

Weird angle (it's my ribcage), the bites not only itch, they hurt

I was feeling guilty about leaving, and thinking again that maybe it hadn't been all that bad....but the night before I moved, something paid me a visit to remind me of how I had lived the last three months:

And now a glimpse at the new palace - (of course, never content, I am now feeling guilty that I live alone in this wonderful place....but not guilty enough to invite someone to live with me or to leave!)