bangkok!!

I’m not really sure how to sum up the last two days in Bangkok… we had a whirlwind tour courtesy of Koranin’s amazing dad, and now we’re packing to leave early in the morning for Southern Thailand - beaches!! Immediately after landing yesterday we went to the grand temple, then to see the gold Buddha, then to the mall, and finally on a dinner cruise on the river at night. We were exhausted after all the excitement (and so little sleep the night before our flight), but we managed to get up early today and headed to the floating market in time to claim a boat. The floating market is a must-do Thailand adventure without question :) You climb into a long, simple boat – that seems very unstable, and I was slightly worried we might overturn into the green-brown water! The boat sits really low (allowing for easy viewing of the merchandise, which is also usually in boats), and you’re in the boat with your knees crammed up to your chest, one person to each of the five benches. The guide rows you along a canal that is lined with stands and boats packed with souvenirs. As you pass each merchant, if you so much as look at their souvenirs for more than a second, they take their long pole and hook it on your boat and drag you over to their stand/boat of knickknacks, framed spiders, Buddha’s, elephants, purses, hats, vases, hammocks, statues, carvings, shoes, spices, and pretty much anything else you could want to remember your time in Thailand. Boats also float by with such a variety of food that I could hardly identify half of what I was seeing. Just when the food in the Philippines was starting to become familiar, we travel on to this new country where everything is freshly foreign!! And don’t even get me started about the language… Cebu was a great way to ease into a new language because everything there is written in English, and the pronunciation of their language is phonetical – almost perfectly phonetical. Here I don’t recognize the letters, and I can no longer say “thank you”, “you’re welcome”, “please”, “my name is”, “how are you?”, et cetera et cetera. We had just mastered all of the critical words to help us get around politely and with ease, and now we’re starting from scratch! So far, I’ve figured out “thank you” in Thai… always the most important :)

A few more striking differences between the Philippines and Thailand: In contrast to the strictly white taxi’s of Cebu, the taxi’s of Thailand are every bright and obnoxious color imaginable, and often multicolored (pink, orange, blue, green and yellow… all of the almost-neon variety). While driving, I have also noticed how alarmingly quiet it seems as few people, if any, use their horns – thank goodness! However, the driving is just as chaotic, and motorbikes are still everywhere… but jeepney’s are now absent, and you see many nicer cars such as bmw, Lexus, and Mercedes. In fact, so much about Thailand seems notably developed and modern compared to what I have been experiencing for the last month in the Philippines. Because of the great number of tourists here, it is hardly remarkable to see two white girls wandering the streets, and I could not be more relieved that there are no staring locals here!! Along with that, though, is my observation that, thus far, the people are less friendly than Filipinos (I expected this, I do not think I can stress enough how sweet and kind and friendly Cebuanos are, I am convinced they are the nicest people in the world, so obviously the Thai can’t live up to that :) As for the slums, they are few and far between in Bangkok (but I feel this will change when we head out of the city), and they seem like upscale retirement communities compared to the shanty towns that lined nearly every street in Cebu. Finally, the Thai Buddha has replaced Santo Nino of the Philippines as the decorated relic you see in every store, sitting on each car dashboard, decorating all the intricate buildings we pass… the architecture here is extremely detailed and it seems like every other building must be some important temple of sorts, though only a few actually are.

Today, after the floating market, we left in search of the ancient city (I think that’s what it was called, I’m still in the “confused” stage of travel, it being only day two in this new country)… It is basically a park, in the shape of Thailand, with models and imitations of actual monuments, in their relatively correct places within the "country", if that makes sense. I guess the idea is that you can see all the important things in the country in just one stop! It was really cool to wander around and see so many temples and monuments all in one place. Thoroughly exhausted from sightseeing the entire country in a few hours ;) we left and headed for the highlight of our time in Bangkok (I’m pretty certain Lo would disagree, but for Kor and myself, tonight was unquestionably the highlight of the trip so far :). We got front row seats at a Muay Thai boxing match!! What an experience! I cannot believe it took me 23 years to realize and appreciate what an entertaining sport boxing can be, particularly Thai style boxing! Here we go!!....

The boxing ring is in the center of a circular building called the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. The building itself has the typical roof made from a mosaic of scrap metal and corrugated tin, with long fluorescent bulbs lighting the ring, and a few fans high on the ceiling, doing little to circulate the stuffy air (though I thought it impossible, I’m pretty sure it is hotter here than it was in the Philippines). Above the ring there are glowing signs advertizing Coca Cola and Chang, a beer with a very “Thai” elephant logo. We take our seats and wait for the first fighters. Match 1 and 2 are to get the crowd warmed up, and to entertain those who arrive on time while the stands fill for the later, more intense matches (a match consists of 5 rounds). The competitors start off in the lower weight classes (100 lbs!!) and then move up to the heavy-weight fighters (136lbs), which is the featured fight of the night.

Two opponents climb into the ring, one blue, one red… they wear gloves, boxing shorts, and ankle protectors to match their color (though the red boxers tended to favor wearing hot pink boxing shorts). Kor and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to buy ourselves boxing shorts at the store nearby the ring, and now we both have a pair of Muay Thai shorts we plan to wear for the annual Bay to Breakers 12K in San Francisco (for the costumed race we’re dress up as, you guessed it! Thai boxers!). We took some serious notes on the boxers' attire, so that our costumes will be as authentic as possible. They fight barefoot and shirtless, and usually have braided rope tied around their head and each of their biceps. When they first enter the ring they wear a robe and are decorated with flowers, but both of those accessories come off before the fight begins. Prior to the first bell, music plays while the fighters warm up… well, more than warm up they move around the ring doing what looks like mixed martial arts in slow motion, though sometimes they lunge in these odd positions and wiggle their feet and hands and I can’t help but think they look like exotic birds doing a mating dance. The warmup routine is designed to honor their coaches and it is part of the tradition of the sport.

I don’t have time to say more about the fight now (inopportune moment to stop this entry, I know, sorry!). We’re catching a flight really early tomorrow morning and it’s already 1:30am here so I need to pack/sleep, but I promise as soon as I can find a more reliable internet connection I will describe the match, because it was awesome!! Get excited!!! I've got you hooked now :)

also, i dont know why the font of this post is so big (not sure if it will be that way for everyone), and the websites on this computer are in Thai so I'd like you to appreciate that I even figured out how to post this!

when it rains it pours

Our last day in the Philippines and the rain clouds showed up to say farewell. we were driving when the rain started... one second, dry car, dry pavement, the next we had accelerated into a sheet of rain, and the tablespoon-sized rain drops didn't let up all afternoon. minutes into the storm and the gutters were already overflowing. people respond quickly to heavy rains here, and children and adults alike were taking advantage of the free showers offered by the streams of water pouring off roofs. seeing the rain storm by car while driving through cebu was surprisingly different than experiencing a downpour from inside the clinic (which I have described in a previous post). i realized today that when it rains almost every male Filipino removes his shirt, from scrawny little boys shivering in the cool shower - who knew it was possible to be cold here?! -, to bare-chested old men flaunting their guts unashamed. im convinced that the tricycettes (tricycles with the bikes attached instead of the motorbike) squeak louder when it rains (if that's even possible), than the normal ear-splitting sound of the breaks on a dry day (well, they're not breaks exactly. to slow the bike the driver uses his foot to press a piece of rubber, that has been attached above the back tire, using the friction to slow the back wheel)... there are very few women in the streets, but I do see a couple utilizing the abundant water to do the dishes (literally standing in the pouring rain with buckets that quickly accumulate enough water to wash and rinse the daily dishes). little boys run the street as if they are at a waterpark... when a sewer bubbles up, unable to hold the volume of water falling from the sky, and begins overflowing into the streets, the boys try to surf the river that forms, the river that is black with dirt and who-knows what else. they are standing and sitting in the swift moving water that rushes away from the gushing sewer system and carries garbage and random debris with it. one group of boys has found an old tire, bigger than any of them, and are floating it down the current, rolling it through the rapid created by a curb at the end of the street. i dont think they could be having any more fun. a family sits on another curb, feet submerged in a huge puddle, a few of the young children lie bellies down in the brown water, splashing and laughing. many people take cover under awnings... the best shelters have Filipinos packed shoulder to shoulder waiting out the storm. rain dumps in waterfalls off roofs and splashes brown along the sides of homes, huts, and food stands. the water accumulates quickly and I see two young children with brooms frantically trying to sweep the water toward the drain down the street. the water is almost level with the curb and threatens to flood their home/store, but the "water sweeping" is hardly effective. there are even locals who try to ignore the rain, continuing on their way on bicycles or motorbikes or on foot, saturated within minutes, even seconds of being in the storm.

If you can't tell from this or my previous post about the rain, I really like it when we get rain storms here. Lauren and I ended up back at Hilary and David's and went for a walk with Penny in the downpour until the lightening got so close, and the thunder so loud, that it scared us back to the house. We leave for Thailand in the morning to meet up with our friend Koranin (he's Thai though he has been living in the states for many years now)... we have a great adventure planned over the next two weeks, and though I'm not expecting to have as reliable internet access I have here, I will do my best to keep the blog updated!! I'm sad to leave Cebu, I will most of all miss the amazing people here, but I am very excited to start this next part of my travels! Wishing everyone the best!! miss you family and friends!!

love,
~Lindsay

turtles and tattoos!!

Mango pancakes for breakfast (duh!) and then off on another adventure. This time we were going snorkeling at Pescador Island, a small island visible from Moalboal, and a famous diving spot. We left early, just Lauren, myself, and a couple from France who turned out to be very friendly and sweet, along with a few dive guides. Almost immediately we spotted dolphins in the distance! What luck! we had been warned that our chance of seeing dolphins was slim, so it was a great treat to see the spouts of water and fins in the distance. We took off after the pod and before long they were swimming at the bow - amazing!! We chased them around for a while, then finally abandoned our pursuit to continue to the island.

Lauren and I headed out with one of the locals to snorkel around the island (no need to worry mom, we're not going scuba diving without being certified - I know you were worrying :) We started off in full wetsuits because of the stinging jellyfish, but soon decided it was worth a few stings to ditch the black wetsuits and enjoy the comfortable temperature of the ocean on our skin... plus, when you swim above the divers all the little bubbles wiggling to the surface tickle! Saw huge schools of fish and laughed through our snorkels as our guide torpedoed through a school of sardines forcing the fish to split ways. There were odd target fish with their fins that rippled in a waving motion above and below their bodies; deep purple and blue parrot fish with the distinctive, beak-like mouths; long fish with funny noses that made them look like Pinocchio; bright yellow fish that looked so much like bananas i can't imagine they're called anything other than banana fish; and finally, at our second diving spot, we saw sea turtles!! they move so slowly, gracefully making their way to deeper water, only their front fins propelling them forward... again, so lucky!!

I think I could snorkel all day if I could figure some way around the burning feeling on my lips after too long in the salt water. thirst finally brought us back to the boat and we relaxed for a while waiting for the divers to return. on the way back to the resort we saw the dolphins again! incredible!!

The rest of the day at the resort was very restful. A storm blew in and made for a bizarre but gorgeous sunset. after dinner a friend of Jessy's showed up to give us henna tattoos. I can't remember his name but he was pierced and tattooed himself, and his head was shaved except for a starfish shape at the crown of his head where his hair was long and braided with beads at the end. Turns out he is one of the most talented tattoo artists I have ever met (and I did research on my share of tattoo artists this summer so...) he pulled out his laptop and showed us endless photos of his work. truly extraordinary. I was tempted to have him make my henna permanent when he finished, I fell in love with the design so much (don't worry mom, it will wash off in
a week). A delicate pattern of swirls and dots down the right side of my rib cage, I'm tempted to stroll around Cebu in a swimsuit top I love it so much (as if being white isn't enough to turn heads here :)

Now for a few Philippine side-notes... I'm always hearing/learning/seeing things here that surprise me and I like to share, so here's a couple:

Single and available are mutually exclusive here. This means that you
can be single and not available (which is reasonable), or you can be
taken and available (explains the polygamy that sometimes happens
here), or any other combination of those... it is interesting because
when you ask if someone is dating or married or whatever they will
always answer with two specifications rather than just single or
taken, or available or not.

One day a few weeks after arriving Lauren and I showed up at Hilary
and David's house with plastic bags to carry our stuff. Apparently
carrying your things in plastic bags (like reusing the bags from the
supermarket), is a sign of extremely poverty and she promptly lent us
bags so that we might avoid the cultural humiliation of appearing so
poor... or maybe it was just to be nice ;)

Most of the women's hair salons here have pictures of Avril Lavigne in
the window (seriously, like every one of them!), I'm guessing, seeing as you
cannot correlate her current popularity in the US with her
overwhelming popularity here, that they simply admire her slick,
straight hair.

In the car ride on the way to club serena we asked the driver and his
friend to guess where we are from... they guessed we're European. We
were flattered :)

you routinely see groups of people, like 10 people! riding in the back
of trucks here... in fact, today there was even a plastic bench in the
back of the little toyota I saw. The number 10 is not an exaggeration,
it is an average. Also, once, on our way to david's house, we passed a
wedding party who's car had broken down on the steep hill in the gated
community where hilary and david live and we stuck the gowned women in
the back of the truck and gave them a ride. they were all smiles and
grateful for our kindness, not the least bit upset at the misfortune
of their broken down car - ahh Filipinos, so upbeat and refreshing!!
americans could take a lesson from them!!

you often see signs while driving that say "warning, accident-prone
area ahead". these signs are frequent. that's comforting.

here's a morbid one, ummm censor this for yourself if you don't want
your stomach to turn (seriously, here is your opportunity to just skip
to the next point)... Hilary was telling us that every so often you
see news stories on tv or in the news paper about a baby that got
decapitated during delivery. apparently, in a recent incident of
infant decapitation (usually it happens when the body of the baby gets
stuck - as we saw in the clinic the other day - and they pull on the
head rather than on the arms... good thing the women working in the
clinic are so amazing at what they do!!), the report said that the
doctor actually had his leg up on the delivery table as leverage when
he was pulling the baby's head to dislodge the body, and the
decapitation occurred. I warned you.

today when we arrived back at the clinic there was a small party with
a surprise guest, one of the midwives who used to work at the clinic!!
there was pizza and cake and scrabble! all that makes a party great :)
a while later I was just coming down from the apt toward the clinic
and there was a taxi outside and utter chaos! I couldn't tell if the
passenger was coming or going or what was happening. I got closer and
realized that a seemingly unconscious woman was being dragged into the
back of the taxi by about 5 of the clinic midwives/nurses. three of
them crammed in the back holding on the woman's oxygen mask with the
huge oxygen tank shoved in there too as they zoomed off the CCMC (not
sure how much good that'll do). apparently she was dilated to 10cm and
pushing, but she suffers from bronchitis and she was having a lot of
trouble breathing. they starting to give her oxygen and she passed
out... then it was a matter of trying to get her limp body down the
narrow staircase and out to cab to get her to the hospital hopefully
in time to save her and the baby. not sure on the update, Ill see what
i can find out tomo... the excitement never ends here!

So i didnt exactly end this post on a happy note (that seems to be a
trend around here), but Lauren and I are in the middle of making
cookies for the girls since tomorrow is our last day here!!! Thailand
is all planned out and we've got many great adventure ahead, ill try
to keep you posted!! much love from cebu!

cliff jumping in paradise

here it is, the blog you all get to be jealous of... our trip to club serena resort, which was incredible as expected :)

It was almost a three hour drive to moalboal, and I got well into The Kite Runner on the way to the resort (I just finished it today, great book!)... when the bumps and curves of the road became so frequent they interfered with my reading, I spent the remainder of the drive taking in the view out the window: gorgeous ocean vistas fit for calendar pages, interspersed with the poverty of the small communities we passed through. the scenery of the Philippines could be mistaken by some as repetitive, same ole same ole, but that is most certainly a misconception. when i stare out the window it is like watching a captivating movie: I can't peel my eyes away. everything is new and unique; sometimes surprising, often sad, from time to time funny, occasionally unbelievable, and I laugh to myself in shock at whatever absurd thing I have just seen.

we were greeted at the resort with glasses of sweet lemon grass water and plenty of "hello m'om"s.... (when Filipinos say ma'am is sounds like mom, and on one of our first days here in Cebu I actually asked Gina why everyone called her Mom... they're saying Ma'am she explained :) seated in a comfy cabana, with plenty of fans to keep us cool, we waited for our room (cottage 1) to be ready. it was a small one bed, one bath cottage with high ceilings, a beautiful sun room at the front, and air conditioning!! (as Lo would put it "give me AC, or give me death!!")

It didn't take long for us to find our way to the beach. the resort is very small (maximum guest occupancy is only 30 people I believe), so basically everything is beach-front, including the restaurant and the amazing beach beds we would daily fight tooth and nail to claim in time to watch the sunset. We enjoyed the pool, walked the cement path out into the ocean (used by the scuba divers when they dive just off the beach), and collected sea shells. About the time we were ordering lunch the wind started to pick up, an afternoon storm not so unusual on that part of the island... I really like the tropical storms because it usually doesn't rain, just brings lots of great clouds that add to the beauty of the breathtaking sunsets. and the lightening was almost as reliable at night as the dark, with flashes illuminating our nightly scrabble games.

we made fast friends with the majority of the staff, most of whom are about our age: Joffel, Richard, Jessy, John Ray, B -one of the few young girls (who told me on the last night that I'm so beautiful she would turn lesbian for me... Lauren and I couldn't stop laughing. B later introduced us to her husband), Dennis, Mark, and Irene were a few of our favorites (I basically just listed the entire staff :) and I can't forget Cherry, the 9 year old daughter of one of the cooks who ran around the resort with us - she was so adorable, and her English impressive, I'm gonna miss that girl. By the first night we had convinced Joffel and John Ray to let us teach them how to play hearts. Though they caught on to the card game relatively quickly, we beat them all three nights we were there.

I'm going to talk a little about the desserts, because they were amazing... the food was good, the desserts were great!! we basically started off each day with desserts, mango pancakes!! I've decided that Jack Johnson was a little off when he wrote the song "banana pancakes" because seriously, mango pancakes are wayyy more worthy of singing about! We'd have Ube ice cream at some point during each day (well, Lauren had bubble gum, I had Ube). On our second day there we convinced Joffel to invent a super chocolaty milkshake for us, coaxing him as he blended it to add more chocolate syrup :) when there was leftovers from a guest's watermelon shake, we asked John ray if we could try it - Cherry, Lo and I raced to suck down the sweet drink through straws. And at night, during our hearts game, we would order the native hot cocoa, so thick and chocolaty it was almost better to eat it with a spoon than drink it. yeah, we enjoyed the food :)

Our first night at the resort, just as we were finishing dinner, we overheard some of the other guests talking at a table behind us. We had noted earlier that day that they were American (we'd always guess by language and accent where the other guests were from), but we knew nothing more than that. "did they just say Santa Clara?!" Lo asked me... I confirmed that I thought I had heard it earlier also, so we interrupted their dinner and introduced ourselves. Turns out they're Jesuits and used to teach at Santa Clara University!! talk about a small world! John something and Jerry something (I did a nice job of remembering their last names). We chatted for a while, took turns explaining what brought us to club serena, exchanged some names and feigned surprise at those in common - once you get past the "wow" factor it can be a little awkward. Then it was off to bed, because we had an adventure planned for the morning and we were eager to sleep in an air conditioned room :)

Kawasan Falls was our destination as we left the resort early Thursday morning. 40 minutes away was the trail head, where we were greeted by at least a dozen "travel guides" for the 2km walk to the falls, ha! we started the trek with our driver, his wingman, and two young Filipinos who had declared themselves our guides (I guess everyone waits at the trail head for foreigners to arrive, then they take turns leading the visitors for tips). On the hike in, our guides proved to be useful, not only did they point out a HUGE (I'm talking bigger than my hand) black spider camouflaged in some leaves of the forest, but they also found us a monkey high in one of the trees above the trail. a real wild monkey! they told us that judging from the cracked and eaten coconuts scattered along the trail, there had been many monkeys there earlier that morning feasting. We passed pigs tied to trees (lechon for the next occasion that warrants a party), women doing laundry in the stream, and people selling ice cream and snacks to those in pursuit of the falls. After paying the Php10 fee to see the waterfall we crossed a bridge with a nice view of Kawasan falls (along with the eyesore they built nearby - an Inn you can actually stay the night at, right next to the falls), then made our way to the water for swimming!!

Seconds after arriving we were in our swimsuits and jumping into the cool, turquoise water. Our guides claimed a bamboo raft and instructed us to climb on. using ropes tied across the huge pool at the base of the falls, they pulled the raft over to the rocks on the left side of the crashing water. As we neared the rock cave behind the thundering waterfall we were told to lay flat on the raft. obediently we dropped to our bellies as our guides proceeded to maneuver the raft under the huge rock that separated us from the waterfall. there was hardly 2 feet of space between the water and the rock! there was screaming and uncontrollable laughter, but despite the tight squeeze we made it though unscathed. we were now behind the waterfall! what next? obviously, stand, lay under, and run through the pounding water of the falls, cascading from 50 feet above. the force was incredible, and a lot more uncontrollable laughter ensued. Our guides would hold our hands to stabilize us and then lead us under the heaviest part of the falls - your knees practically buckle under the force of the water. They had us lay down and held our feet, soles up, an amazing foot massage that made me laugh even harder. Then, laying down, we were dragged through the pounding water, practically enough to knock the wind out of you!

Obviously the next part of the adventure was to find something to jump off of (sorry mom, I know we were advised not to jump because people occasionally die there, but really, I've been cliff/rock jumping into water for a long time, and we made the guides go first!! - plus, if you're gonna do a drug it might as well be adrenaline, right? :) We were helped up a rock beside the waterfall and took turns jumping off, so fun!! after "again!!"-ing about 5 times we decided it was time to find a new waterfall to explore. We knew there were more upstream so we set off with our guides to the next set of falls.

The second waterfall wasn't as impressive as the first, but the fall was bigger and you jumped from the middle of the falls, which was cool!! After our second jump there our guide managed to sneak up on me under the water and grab my ankle, I let out a genuine scream of terror then couldn't stop laughing because he really got me. we high fived (they do love to high five here), and then laughed some more as he made this odd noise by hitting the water with his cupped hands. I think our tour guides were getting just as much a kick out of us as we were getting out of the paradise we had found deep in the jungle. After exhausting the fun of the second falls we continued upstream to the next and final waterfall of our adventure.

More places to rent for the night, believe it or not, built so far into the jungle! More rafts at this pool too, and several incredible waterfalls cascading from dense forest. We floated around in the pools (nowhere to jump at these falls) and enjoyed being cool and relaxed after so much excitement. We finally decided to head back down, but couldn't resist stopping at the first falls (Kawasan) to experience the waterfall one more time. Out on the raft, jumping another half dozen times (all the tourists that had gathered by the late afternoon looked on in shock at the crazy American girls :), back under the rock and behind the falls, and then playing in the pounding water some more. what a blast!!

Back at the resort we recovered with some ice cream then walked the 10 whole feet to the ocean and relaxed in the afternoon sun. When we got hungry we asked John Ray to drive us into town on his motorbike. He obliged and the three of us made our way to Julie's Bakeshop in the most Filipino fashion, all crammed on one tiny bike :) the motorbikes here are no Kawasaki Ninja, but they're fun just the same and a good way to cool down. Reluctant to get back to work, John Ray stalled in town, taking us around to buy mangoes and out on a jetty to see where all the young kids hang out at night. presently there were only fishermen there, getting drunk on coconut wine (which turns to vinegar in just about a week of fermentation). All the people speckling the shore of the ocean collecting crabs and shells and clams made for some great pictures, and then it was time to return to the resort to beat the boys at hearts yet again :)

Great first part of our trip, in fact, we couldn't have asked for better! A much deserved break, but I do miss the moms and babies at the clinic!!

gone for a few days...

hi friends,

wanted to let you know im about to leave for club serena resort on moalboal (fun/difficult to say!)

http://www.clubserenaresort.com/home.html

check it out, I havent even had a chance to look at the website but Hilary and David have high reviews of the place and Lauren and I are very excited for a getaway!!

I'll be gone until Saturday afternoon (coming back in time for the clinic party with all the girls!), and I'll have no internet access, which means no new blogs for a while, but catch up on what you've missed. I just added three new blogs yesterday! hope you enjoy!!

all the best!

blue baby!!

apparently I don't know how to put a website link in my blog... so for the post below you can just copy and paste those links into your URL in a new window and that will pull up the pictures... sorry for the trouble.

slept in the clinic again last night because we had a woman dilated to 6cm and we were waiting for her to progress. it was her first baby so we were expecting it to be pretty slow. the small room we sleep in at the clinic has three tiny beds... last night 7 of us slept in that room. two women on the one separate bed, then four of us across the other two that are pushed together, and one laying at our feet. talk about a snuggle fest! Filipinas are very touchy, affectionate people, so it is very natural to be that close... in fact, even if it's just the two of them sleeping in that room, they often share a bed. it's also a way to stay warm because the AC in that room is always freezing when it's on. I seriously had perma-goosebumps last night, which is rare here. i hate being cold.

around 1am we got the update that the mom-to-be was dilated and ready to start pushing. no need to rush this time, the first-timers are always slow. I'm not sure how much time had passed, but the woman had been having contractions for quite a while, and with each contraction the baby's heart is monitored to ensure that the BPMs are normal and that the baby isn't under too much stress. the first count we took for FHT was normal, rapid, as is expected with babies, probably around 140. At the next contraction I noticed that the heart had slowed some, usually it accelerates with a contraction, sometimes it will slow slightly later on in the labor... but this trend of deceleration went on, contraction after contraction, the heart rate getting slower and slower. the BPM was about 80 or 90 when it should be 120 at the low end of normal. then, during one contraction, the baby's heart was beating less than one beat per second for the 15 second count, less than 60 beat per minute - not good! in fact, really bad. jumbled in with the cebuano we kept hearing "heartbeat sa baby" and "transport"... but this mother was too far along in the labor to transport. stressful... very stressful situation. there was such tension in the room as everyone fought to remain calm though the baby was in severe stress...

After one of her final contractions I looked at Lo and told her I was betting two more contractions and the baby would be out. Sure enough, one contraction, "sige sige!!" they all say at once, more enthusiastically as the baby gets closer, another contraction and the head was out!! the very blue, compressed head, and then... no body. I mean, there was a body, it was just stuck. and this made the already compromised delivery even more complicated. the baby somehow had it's hands wedged up next to it's ears, and it was making it nearly impossible for the body to slide out. total panic!! the head compression had been what was causing the deceleration, from the pressure on the cranial nerves. one of the midwives was pressing with all her strength to hyperflex the mom's legs, while two of the others were pulling the baby by its head, reaching in to grab at the arms in hopes of pulling them out. it seemed to last forever, the frantic efforts to dislodge the body.... and finally, success! then it was electric fan off (that's how you know it's serious), suction the mouth, oxygen mask, full body rub... the baby didn't look very good at first, no muscle tension and not crying, but finally, there was a little whimper, that evolved into a cry, and the baby was in the clear.

From what we can tell today, after running a few tests, the baby is doing well. The midwives and nurses were incredible last night and it was good to have a happy ending to a very scary delivery.

alright, I think I'm all caught up with blogging. A few days of being busy and I get so far behind. Hope all is well back in the states or where ever you're reading from and I'll try to update more soon!!

bohol: tricycle tour

yesterday lauren and i set out at 6am on an adventure to bohol. at the dock you go through security to check your bags, then purchase your ticket, then go through more security and get patted down, then let drug dogs sniff your bags, then pose while they take a mug shot (not joking), then finally you are safe to go to the waiting area once two other people have checked your ticket at separate gates. i have never felt more safe (or unsafe? wondering why exactly they need so much security). It is a one hour and 45 minute ferry ride to bohol, on a boat called "supercat". we sat in first class - apparently all they had available - which basically means you're on the upper level and you get crackers and peanuts (woohoo). the ride starts out with a prayer for a safe journey, which I found pretty hilarious because it is broadcast on the tv with wave sounds as the background noise. they played a terrible movie while we were in route, which the passengers really enjoyed. i was entertained by the flying fish that would leap from the water, startled by the boat, and glide impressively far distances away from the supercat. during parts of the trip i watched fishermen, far out to sea, in little wooden boats... at other times we would pass through areas where the current had brought tons of garbage together, and i would stare shocked at the plastic trash swirling in our wake - terrible... we passed plenty of islands on our way to bohol, many of which appeared uninhabited, and one that was distinctly similar a shot of the island from LOST - Lo and I both took a moment to appreciate that :)

when you deboard (is that proper boat lingo?) the supercat and walk along the dock, there are kids and adults and babies in little wooden boats on either side of the dock begging for money. almost all of them are completely naked, and they look sickly and sad (usually light hair is a telltale sign of malnutrition, or the distended stomachs that can be so deceiving to those uneducated about the effects of starvation). just another day in a developing country.

we quickly found a tricycle we could hire for our day of tourism on bohol.

http://img1.photographersdirect.com/img/8719/wm/pd1574057.jpg

that is a link to a picture of a tricycle. it is a motorcycle attached to a covered side car... that picture is literally almost exactly what ours looked like. pretty funny. All of them have religious words painted on the back, such as "Jesus is Lord", I mean all of them. Ours only broke down once (our driver gassed it and the engine reved rather than accelerating and I said "our chain came off" and Lo said "is that common?!" and sure enough, he made us get out while he put the chain back on the bike, we were on the road again within minutes). they are very loud and pretty stinky, but such an authentic Philippine experience we couldn't pass it up. I'm not going to say he was a safe driver... in fact, he was often texting while driving/passing cars and motorcycles. But Lo and I only covered our faces and braced in anticipation of a crash a handful of times, so I'd say it was pretty successful considering we rode that tricycle for at least 4 hours. one other thing about our driver, besides being a nice guy, was that he was constantly sneezing/coughing/hacking up loogies... haha, umm, over share? maybe. Lo and I are just hoping it was allergies, but something tells us our tour guide had TB. We even tried to inquire about his "cold" asking him, I think his name was Glen, if he gets sick often - which he said he does. great. good thing we have immune systems! Tuberculosis is so common here, I'm sure we've encountered out fair share of it already.

ok, back to the tour. our final destination was the chocolate hills. we started off in the downtown area (aka the shakes are more tightly packed together), and as the kilometers ticked by the towns became less frequent and the road began to meander along a river. without warning our driver stopped, several other cars were parked in the same area, and instructed us to get out. at this little roadside tourist attraction on the bank of the river they have captive Tarsiers - one of the smallest primates on earth. They look like bug eyed little balls of fluff, with long, rat-like tails. they cling to branches in open cages and visitors can get very close and take pictures (no flash) and feed them bugs for a donation - we video taped that as true tourists would.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1081/1232072359_6ec67b9537_m.jpg
there's a picture to give you an idea until i have the opportunity to post my pics :)

there was another enclosure that held what looked like lemurs at first, but then when they stretched out they had webbed skin between their limbs and looked more like big flying squirrels... turns out there is such thing as a flying lemur found on some of the islands in the philippines:

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/126883/flying-lemur

i hope these links work. anyway, there were three of them in a little cage, so sad. I couldn't really handle this part of the tour. there were also two small monkeys in a really tiny cage, they were adorable, and some lady was feeding them grapes and they were going wild to get a grape. It was really sad...

So, after making a donation that I hope goes to the animals (though I doubt it), we climbed back in the tricycle and continued on our way to the chocolate hills. We eventually entered a forest of really tall trees and virtually no undergrowth. compared to the jungle-like forest where many of the villages are built, this seemed so open, and similar, Lo and I agreed, to some of the forests in the santa cruz mountains... once we made it up through that forest the landscape opened up into big fields of rice patties, dotted with the occasional water buffalo (which was always accompanied by one or two while cranes). We even saw men out farming, with one of the water buffaloes tied to a plow... looked like they're from a different time period. talk about slow going! It was really beautiful though, even when it started raining... they don't call it a rain forest for nothin'!!

finally reached the chocolate hills, at which point you have to hike up hundreds of stairs to get to where you have a 360 degree view of the chocolate hills. They are difficult to describe so I'll pull up a picture:
http://x75.xanga.com/6ccc2be727030179021154/z136647627.jpg

basically, they are all a similar, round shape, treeless and close together. there are over a thousand of them according to our tour guy (I think he was more of a tour guy than a tour guide... to me, there is a difference). They were formed from coral/shell deposits and erosion. Lo and I are still trying to work out the details of this formation since the information board was very poorly written and the english didn't make much sense. it's my next research project. It was funny because there are tons of "professional" photographers who sit up there and take your picture with the chocolate hills, but they don't use the real chocolate hills, they have a backdrop set up - we found this odd. but they do really funny photos of people jumping with a broom between their legs so it looks like they're flying on a broomstick over the chocolate hills. Lo and I did our own version where we are the licking the chocolate hills (we used the real ones, since they are right there and all), so silly... i was a little disappointed there wasn't chocolate available at the chocolate hills, but we did get ice cream bars (little round chunk of mystery sweet flavored ice cream on stick), always delicious :)

Having reached our destination it was now time for our tour guy to bring us to the bohol beach club, the best resort in bohol apparently. unfortunately we ran into a complication along the way... it started off with a random guy on the side of the road flagging down our driver, who stopped and proceeded to yell over his should in Bisaya to the man for several minutes. when he finally started up the bike and continued driving, Lo and I noticed that he was creeping along at a painfully slow speed, especially in contrast to haste he had made during the rest of our trip. I think we were particularly annoyed by this because we both had to pee, but also because we didn't know what was going on. Lo attempted to ask, and we eventually deciphered that there were police up ahead and his car was the wrong size (i think he was saying something else, but we kept hearing wrong size), and there is a penalty. During the whole trip, our driver honked whenever we went around a corner - i think for safety, since most of the roads had signs warning about the high risk driving - and also, whenever we passed oncoming traffic - i think this was just to be annoying. Now that he had the warning about police ahead, every once in a while he would honk extra and the oncoming car would slow... our driver would yell something at them, and they'd yell back, then he'd keep coasting along. finally, he pulled over, justifying the stop with "i have to pee" - ah, to be a dude and be able to pee so easily on the side of the road. Lo and I got out to stretch our legs and explore a muddy dirt road leading into the jungle. then, just as we were heading back to the tricycle, our driver yelled something at a passing car, listened to the short response, and then broke into a sprint for his bike yelling for us to follow. we were both smushed haphazardly in the side car (it wasn't exactly spacious) and zooming down the road before we had figured out that the police must be gone and we were racing to get past the check point without a "penalty" (a fee). interesting adventure. We made it without a run in with the cops and were finally dropped at the bohol beach club.

the rest of the day was good food, swimming in the ocean and the pool, then finally, back to the tricycle (yes, he waited for us) to drive to the dock just as it was getting dark out, and head back to Cebu. It was an exhausting day, but a wonderful adventure!!

volunteers <--> tourists

we slept in the clinic saturday night with the hope that one of the moms we sent home earlier that day would be back and dilated past 5cm... they love to come back late at night. In fact, the majority of the births here happen in the early hours of the morning. and lately, we have had some serious, streets-turned-to-rivers rain, so I was pretty confident we'd have a mom in labor, and a new baby before morning... i was right. just after midnight Lauren and I woke to one of the midwives alerting us that the mom was in the delivery room and dilated to 10cm! we had fallen asleep while watching xmen origins (one of our pirated movie purchases - the edits in the movie are not complete and some of the scenes are pretty funny because of it), in the only air conditioned room in the clinic (what a luxury!!). we threw on scrub tops, crossed the hall to the quiet, poorly-lit delivery room, and just as we rounded the knee of the laboring woman we realized the baby's head was already out!! I mean, we're talking a push-and-a-half delivery if that... and the mom hardly broke a sweat (that's saying a lot because sitting usually elicits profuse sweating here). we later found out this mother was G6. by the 6th pregnancy that is usually what you expect... it is a good thing we slept at the clinic. we stayed up for a few hours taking vitals and giving the baby a ballard score. she was really healthy and responsive, with a tight grip and a really long tongue she kept sticking out as she looked for anything to suck on. love seeing the healthy babies, especially because our birth last night was probably the scariest yet - more on that later.

after only a couple hours of sleep we were up and on our way to Shangri-la with Hilary, David and Gina. Shangri-la is one of the nicest hotel in this area of the Philippines (it means "heaven" after all). while driving to Mactan Island we learned that the mother who delivered last night is a little off her rocker... you do have to give her credit for having such a healthy baby, since so many of the mothers are plagued by malnutrition, STIs, hypertension, or other health issues that can harm a fetus. unfortunately, we learned that once the baby is born, her competence as a mother leaves a lot to be desired. apparently one of her earlier babies had been constipated, and to remedy this the mother had taken a mixture of herbs and shoved it up the baby's anus. well you can only imagine this did not help, and in fact, it eventually led to an infection, at which point the mother was at least smart enough to bring the baby to the clinic, rectum filled with herbs and bleeding with the irritation and infection (the baby was taken to the hospital and was ultimately fine). A remedy like that is usually suggested by the Hilot - a sort of witch doctor used here - often present during home deliveries, and frequently responsible for the spontaneous abortion (miscarriage) of a healthy child. The Hilot seems to do a lot more harm that good judging by the stories I've heard... Hopefully, this new baby stays very healthy and pooping regularly. or even better, maybe after the mother's experience with her other child, she will stay away from the Hilot. Just another shocking tale that I hope I am not becoming desensitized to from hearing so many similarly alarming stories.

We made it to Shangri-la and proceeded to finally be real tourists! Snorkeling, sunbathing, amazing food, gorgeous infinity pool looking out on the ocean... the resort is huge, so despite always being booked to capacity, it never feels crowded. Lauren and I spent hours in the ocean pointing out fish: bring purple sea stars, huge schools of silvery fish, a huge white eel, humuhumunukunukuapuaa, colorful parrot fish, clams that were feet across, and even Nemo fish!! (you know, clown fish, no joke, there was even a baby - no hurt fin though :) we were in paradise. our bodies thoroughly desiccated from so much time in the salt water, we went to one of the main restaurants for lunch. A buffet with literally hundreds of different options from extravagant salads to every type of sea food and sushi imaginable, the best Indian food I've ever had, and so much more... and the desserts were definitely shangri-la... fresh mango + chocolate fountain? yes please! It was so nice to finally have a relaxing day at the resort!!

you'd prob fit in here if...

You would fit in here in the Philippines if....

-you like food that is fried, really salty, covered in sugar... or some combination of all three.

-you drive with one hand on the steering wheel and the other resting ready at the horn.

-you feel comfortable assisting with the delivery of a baby white squatting on the end of the bed barefoot.

-you believe that recovery after labor consists solely of drinking Milo (basically chocolate milk with caffeine made from a powder mixture... it is usually used as a coffee substitute).

-you know how to make a latex glove double as a hair tie.

-you expect when you order popcorn at the movies to be asked "cheese or barbecue?" at which point you choose cheese, even though that means they cover your popcorn in a toxic-looking orange powder, it tastes good :)

-you comment on how cool the weather is when the temperature drops to the low 90's (keep in mind that still feels like 100+ with the humidity).

-you are willing to run across 6 lane roads on a daily basis without crosswalks/signals (and you know to use the center divide as a rest stop before proceeding to cross the other side of the street - this is a critical step in successfully crossing the street here).

-you will answer "I don't know" when you're 8 months pregnant and someone asks you where you're going to deliver your baby.

-you get used to seeing old, grey-haired men holding hands with Philippino girls who usually look younger than 20... and you are pretty good at resisting the urge to tell them what creeps they are.

-you use oil when cooking every meal and frequently save the used oil for the next meal (recycle, reduce, reuse?)

-you don't know what toothpaste is but, no matter the brand, you will identify the paste used for brushing teeth as colgate.

-you know that "ladies choice" is the flavored mayonnaise put on burgers from jollibee (the equivalent and competitor to mcdonalds here), and you are also aware that ladies choice comes in several flavors including the local favorite, sardine.

-you believe that a clothes washer/dryer is not an effective means of cleaning clothes and thus you insist upon hand washing (have you ever hand washed your clothes? outcome = not-so-clean clothes... I don't know what I'm missing here).

-you do not refrigerate eggs or milk, and buy raw meat and fish off the street (where its been sitting in the heat all day!!), without a second thought...

-your favorite flavor is "purple", which is not grape, but in fact ube (sweet potato flavor that they always dye a vibrant color of purple)... not gonna lie, it's delish!

-you understand that a horn honk can mean: "move!", "stay there!", "I'm available to take passengers!", "I already have passengers!", "sorry!", "look out!", "thanks!" and "fuck you!"... there's also a random horn honk reserved for times when there is nothing in particular that should elicit honking of the horn, but the driver feels like honking anyway... i call this the "yeah!" honk, and it comes in various inflections of the voice.

-you can decipher the above honks and know the appropriate response to each.

-you are ok with the idea of cock fights, dog fights and horse fights (yes, horse fights), and chances are some portion of your income comes from these terrible events.

-you can turn pretty much anything into a place to hang laundry for drying.

-you believe there are 6 meals in a day: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, midnight snack!! these 6 are not up for dispute.

-you know that when it says "appealing personality" in the description of requirements for a job ad, what they mean is good looking.

-you are not bothered by the fact that people get fired because they're ugly or not tall.

-you think wedding rings are unnecessary and don't wear one... particularly if you're a guy (this sometimes results in awkward situations, such as when a man brings his "wife" to our clinic to deliver her baby, then a few months later brings his "wife" to the clinic to delivery her baby except that it's a different wife... not that a wedding ring could clear up the situation, but it might help prevent it? or not).

-you eat plain rice with every meal and never complain that it gets old.

-you don't believe in wearing sunglasses even though you live at the equator where the sun's intensity is enough to fry many a retina.

-you prefer pads to tampons (sorry guys... this might be an over share), and in fact, you have most likely never used a tampon.

-you walk in a painfully slow, indirect path whenever going from point A to B... the word "hurry" does not exist in the language here.

-you know that the best part of lechon (the huge pig they roast on a stick here) is the crispy skin. sick!

-you wear shirts that say things like "different island, same shit", especially when you're pregnant.

-you are tolerant of doing everything with a fan blowing in your face. this poses the greatest challenge when: reading/writing (the pages are always blowing away), watching tv (it is is hard to hear), and making pancakes (you must time the pour of the pancake powder mix between oscillations of the fan to prevent it from blowing all over the kitchen... does it sound like I'm speaking from experience? I am.)


ok, that's all for now... I'll think of more to add later. I just decided I'd start up a list so everyone back home can begin figuring out how well they'd fit in here :) you know... in case my blogs are making you want to move to the philippines.

the cemetery

went to visit Rhonda (a friend of Hilary and David's) today at her workshop. she started a business here that makes bags from discarded juice boxes - they're actually very cool. their tag line is "one person's trash (basura) is anothers' treasure (bahandi)". the business is called Bahandi Gifts and she hires people both to collect and clean the juice boxes, and to sew them into many different types of bags - using ancient sewing machines! I am now the proud owner of a "lunch bag" made of mango nectar juice boxes (it only seemed appropriate since I basically live off of the mangoes here :) very cool to make something out of the abundant trash strewn around the streets and in the rivers (if you can call them that, they hardly flow in the city... they are stagnant, grey water with piles of semi-decomposed garbage creating islands and lining the bank... the smell is putrid and i would associate them more with exposed sewers than streams).
not to mention the resource that the dump site offers for someone scavaging for juice boxes...

unfortunately, according to today's paper, the Barangay Inayawan landfill (where we went with Father Heinz to treat the sick children), is currently on fire, so I'm not sure if it's such a great time to be collecting discarded juice boxes for making bags. not that random fires are usual here - it's hard to go a day without seeing trash burning unattended on the side of the road. apparently the city has declared a "state of calamity" due to the continuous burning fueled by the methane gas emissions, which are released from the decomposing trash. the city's plan is to install ventilation pipes to release the gas properly and prevent future fires (that will never happen), and for now they're just trying to deal with relocating the people suffering from severe respiratory ailments from the smoke (as if the dumpsite is normally such a clean place... the debris and dirt and toxins in the air made all of my pictures look speckled when we were there!)... the newspaper also pointed out that the landfill violates the Clean Air Act and the Solid Waste Management Act (thank you captain obvious)... there was no mention of the hundreds, even thousands of people who make their permanent home on the compacted - and presently burning - trash...

A landfill seemed like an awful place to build a home (to specify, home = shack built of discarded wood, tin and torn linens), but today we visited a community located in a place that made me think I wouldn't really mind living at the dump afterall... we went to the cemetary. I was very excited for this visit... I really like cemetaries (that may seem odd, but I think they're beautiful and make for great photos... also, working with cadavers has made me feel very comfortable around the deceased). anyway, we're in a poor neighborhood just like any other in Cebu - laundry hung from everywhere, stray dogs and cats wandering the streets, roosters tied up randomly, people staring, food stands stinking of meat... the usual. and we start our walk as we do in most of the poor areas we visit, heading down a narrow alley between houses, trying to keep up with whoever is leading us while watching where we step (puddles of unidentified liquids are plentiful and must always be avoided!). the communities are a mosaic of shanty houses, many surrounded by large walls - for security, not privacy, none have yards. they build up if they add on to their tiny lots, and I feel I would be uncomfortable visiting the upper story, or lower level for that matter, of most of the houses we pass.

soon we have gathered a parade of followers. most of them are children in typical drab rags - holes and stains and wrong sizes - though some of the children aren't wearing clothes at all (maybe due to the heat? or perhaps it is laundry day? more likely due to the cost). Hilary and Rhonda know some of the women there, and we say hi to twins (Brandon and Brendan - really? that mom was just setting herself up for confusion), that were delivered at the clinic four years ago. No graves yet but we have found a basketball court (that and volleyball seem to be the favored sports here... and flying kites, is that considered a sport?). we wander deeper into the maze of houses and eventually come to a small opening... we've found the graves. They are large cement tombs that sit haphazardly on the ground. they are not in even rows, none are level with the others, and most have garbage piled up around them. I see a cement coffin covered in goat poop (whatever happened to respecting the dead?). there are only a few coffins at first, many of which are partially obscured by the laundry hanging over them... a little further and we reach a big opening, graves everywhere, houses interspersed. there are no trends in how the cements tombs are placed... some are stacked, others surrounded by gates, all are in a state of disarray. there are a few cement sculptures, but most of the coffins are plain with a simple engraving at the end. the only similarity between the mismatched and chaotically placed tombs is that they're labeled. each coffin has a black number/letter combo painted sloppily on it... their way of monitoring how long the body has been occupying the coffin I would assume. 5 years after burial (though that isn't exactly the right term because everything is above ground), you must either pay to rent for another 5 years, or figure out if you want the bones cleaned to take home or discarded - fun decisions to make a mere 5 years after the loss of a loved one.

on our drive back to the clinic i was staring out the window (there is always so much to see, it never gets old), and I noticed with the sun so low in the sky it was lighting up the kites flying over the city. it was incredible! there must've been 50 kites (a kite can be anything from an intricate bird sold by street vendors, to a plastic bag tied to a string)... the ocean breeze makes for an ideal kite flying environment at any time of day and thus, you see kids flying kites at every time of day. this was particularly cool because i was looking inland and had a view of the flats - where most people live - with the mountains behind, and there were kites speckling the horizon. by the looks of it, we're going to have another 5 alarm sunset as well tonight... the clouds here, in combination with the pollution, make for incredible sunsets almost every night!

we learned about the sea gypsy population briefly on the ride home. they are the people who live on the water (or near the edge) in stilt houses... apparently they don't own the land, and are forced to be continually moving. Hilary says they have their own language and culture and everything... and on occasion, when one comes to the clinic for a pregnancy, she is always very difficult to deal with because they have their own way of doing everything.

today we also learned a little about the whitening creams you so commonly find here in the Philippines. I have mentioned everyone's obsession with having pale skin (similar and yet opposite to America's obsession with maintaining that perfect bronze), and the abundance of whitening creams at the store. Hilary learned the hard way that you have to carefully read the label of the soaps and lotions you purchase. years ago she bought a whitening lotion by accident... went to the doctor because she was getting these white spot on her skin and the doctor explained in was from whitening cream. sure enough she had accidentally been using a whitening product. you might be wondering... how does it work? answer: fungus! eats away at your pigment! sick!! but really, is a tanning bed any better? fungus... skin cancer... fungus... skin cancer. no comment.

i find the whitening creams very odd... i also have trouble with the cheese flavored ice cream that i keep mistaking for mango flavor. good thing Lo has so far reminded me that no, those are not squares of mango in the picture on the wrapper, but in fact cubes of cheese. then again, maybe ill try it just to see what it's like.... I've found that you can get accustomed to pretty much anything here. Adjusting to the constant random crowing of the roosters, however, did take a while. especially since they are often the loudest late at night and early in the morning (or maybe that's just when they drive you the most crazy)... the other sound that I'm not sure I'm used to yet is the squeaking of the tricycle breaks as the drivers ease their way down the slight incline of the street in front of the clinic. it is often ear piercing enough to stop clinic meetings and force everyone to physically plug their ears while making pained faces and huffing in exasperation at the annoyance. oddly enough i think it is one of those sounds I'll grow to miss by the end of the trip... just part of the experience here.... then again, maybe not :)

an honest pirated movie saleswoman...?

the continuity of this blog is... terrible. try to keep up. sorry if it's confusing :)

not sure i should be blogging about this so publicly but Lo and I bought our first ever pirated movies today... John, our driver/body guard (seriously, we've tried to ditch him before and he won't have it, he has stern instruction to supervise us when we're away from the clinic), took us to the city center where a bunch of stands are set up with cases and cases of movies. the covers are faded with distorted images that resemble the originals, and I'm not sure yet about the quality of the movies. there is a tv on site and the woman would play the movies you showed interest in to prove they work - how thoughtful! she even advised me against getting PUSH, a newer movie she said was not yet being produced in the higher quality - can you believe that? an honest pirated movie saleswoman! i was impressed. they even have an exchange policy where you can bring back movies that don't work well and get a replacement. who knew you could get such customer service when buying illegally copied movies for P50 ($1 US). i normally wouldn't support such an industry, however, since we are usually restricted to the apt after dark we're getting a little desperate for entertainment...

the guards take such good care of us here, and Nefa, our cook, pampers us also. she made pancakes for our 3 o'clock snack today (Filipinos always have a 3pm snack... usually cheese rolls from Julie's bakeshop, though i don't really know why they're called that, you probably only have a 1 in 5 chance of picking a roll that actually has a tiny, almost invisible, sliver of cheese in it :) Nefa's pancakes are delicious! as is almost everything she cooks for us - except this one weird egg plant thing with the most bitter taste... i ate it anyway to be respectful - baaddd aftertaste! We have made great friends with the guards who are constantly teaching us new Cebuano words and making us practice. they like to know where we're going when we wander off to get ice cream down the street at Dodings or to hunt down a few mangoes at one of the nearby stands. Jojo is constantly reminding me to keep my purse in front of me rather than hanging over my shoulder behind me.

i was sitting on the street reading today (I'm done with Mountains Beyond Mountains - great book - and I've moved on to Dreams from my Father by Obama!! also a very good read so far)... and these two young girls wandered past me down the street. the smaller of the two was carrying a huge cardboard box bigger than she was. it had a picture on it of a white girl, about her age, sitting by a playhouse, and across the box it read "my happy family". It seemed ironic. i wondered what she was going to use that box for... cardboard is a precious commodity here and Lo and I save our cereal and granola bar boxes for the girls in the clinic (I think they can sell it). I always see interesting things on our street... just the other day a very old couple was walking down the street begging. they were being led by a child who couldn't have been older than 3 years... the grandpa and grandma were both blind and bent over, totally reliant on the child to lead them from door to door.

I've come to realize that there is a lot of irony in the Philippines... or at least many things that just don't make sense. Went to the post office to mail postcards today. this is the trial run, more will be mailed soon! once i know how long it takes for them to get to the states - 45 days was the last estimate, hopefully it'll take closer to two weeks. although we picked up a package from the post office today that had just arrived for the clinic, the contents were wrapped in christmas paper, not reassuring - talk about snail mail!! on our drive there I saw an old man, his skin leathery from years in the sun and sagging from his bony, hunched body... he was wearing a shirt that said "dough boy". ironic? how about this one... a man just as aged, and crippled by the look of it, wearing a shirt with bold letters that read VARSITY ATHLETE. that one got me too...

a few other things worth noting while I'm on this random tangent... men can urinate in public here (seriously, we see it allllll the time), but a woman doing the same thing would be put in jail. here's another "fun" fact: it is common practice to get your son circumsized here at age 8. have i already mentioned this? they usually have a party for the occasion. I'm sure that's just what the 8 year old boys feel like doing after being circumsized, going to hang out with a bunch of people at a party.

Lo and I battled a cockroach the other night. For the most part the bugs around here aren't that bad (knock on wood)... we've got really tiny brown ants that don't really bother me except when they destroy our food, but then there are these slightly bigger psycho black ants that move really fast and they creep me out. and the cockroaches are the worst because they're soooo big! late the night before last i was sitting at the kitchen table with my ipod in sketching, when something on the floor caught my eye - huge cockroach!! so obviously i grabbed a cup and trapped the cockroach under it (i don't think i could smush something that big)... Lauren has no qualms about killing cockroaches so after getting our cameras to take video of the slaughter, we lifted the cup and lauren swiftly smashed it with her shoe (pretty impressive considering how fast they move!)... get excited for the video to be posted later :)

We've had some odd names come through the clinic. Filipinos in general have some of the most unusual names... we had a Bitchy, a Cherry and a Friday.... Cherry came for a checkup yesterday to the clinic. she is one of the girls from Kamagayan - her last name is Love, and the reason I can tell you that is because it is not her legal name, so no violation of confidentiality. her delivery had been in the early morning that night we were up for the two simultaneous labors. She had been the difficult one not listening to instruction from the midwives. Her Bantay (an escort... the brothel "mother" in charge of all of the girls came as her Bantay), took the baby from her the moment it was born. the babies are pretty much confiscated from the girls (not that Cherry was showing any interest in the baby girl anyway, she actually asked if she could be laid on the floor because she didn't want the baby in the bed with her). Because this baby is female it will be raised by the brothel owner (not sure what they do with the baby boys, don't think i want to know)... another perfect little innocent life with a corrupt and terrible future she has no way of escaping. It is probably too early to tell if this baby has brain damage (Cherry is usually on drugs when she comes to the clinic, and her elevated blood pressure is always alarming!)... I held that little girl for almost an hour last night, she is so beautiful. she was named by the clinic staff because Cherry refused to name her... she is remarkably small compared to most of the babies we've seen in the clinic. this could be because Cherry refuses to breast feed her... or because of the drugs - though the baby doesn't seem to be going through withdrawals (then again, I'm no expert). It makes your heart break. she slept quietly in my arms, so content to walk around the clinic with me, hang out on the street talking to the guards, sleep on my lap while i played with her tiny hands. a perfect little baby with an imperfect future and no one to step in and save her.

somehow my blogs always end up heading in a depressing direction... it is hard to overlook because it is so prevalent in our experience here. bottom line is, despite all the sad things we see and experience we're having a really great time here (mostly thanks to the incredible people we spend time with), and gaining insight into a world I would have otherwise not known. It makes you appreciate what you have, feel compelled to do more, consume less, thank more, complain less, give more...I am so fortunate.