San Ramon Church

San Ramon Church is a lovely open air building with terraces all around and a high ceiling above the wooden pews. On Sunday, the parishioners attend one of two services. The mass is in Tagalog but the sermon is a mixture of both English and Tagalog.  The priest included the "visitors from California" in his sermon.  As the procession made its way down the aisle, Father spotted me in the fifth row and stopped for a chat.  He wanted to know where I was from and why I was in Dinaluphan.  The conversation lasted five minutes and as you can imagine, I felt every eye on me.  I would have told him anything he asked.  As it turned out, he was interested in the contribution that all of the Peace Corps volunteers were making in the community and acknowledged our presence.  I look forward to my next visit.

The Taho Man

Every morning the taho man comes down the street with his tin pails hanging from a pole that is balanced on his shoulders. Inside the pails are the makings of a delicious drink called taho. The ingredients are: soya beans, sago (tapioca), asykal mixed with tubing (sugar and water).  The proportions vary.  He makes taho a little sweeter for the children and adds a bit more soy for the adults. It is refreshing and a great boost for the day.

Palengka or Flea Market

Welcome to the Filipino Palengka. There is one in every town and this is where most of the shopping is done.  The people of the town will go to the market to purchase fruits and vegetable, eggs and meats.  They will also go there to find household items and clothing.  It is a fascinating place with a plethera of merchants and hangers on.  I like to bargain with the barda.  These individuals are flamboyant and have a flare and a presence that make bargaining with them fun.  Everyone asks for and even expects a discount. Pwede pong tumawad? So far, I have purchased my very stylish blue boots, a big green umbrella and some bandanas.  I plan on returning for some cotton shoes that are Tom knock offs.  This does not mean that I would not purchase the authentic Tom shoes if given an opportunty, but frankly I do not have access to the real deal. There is one other item that I purchased and that is a bag of rambutam.  This is a lovely fruit that comes from the leeche family.  The palengka is a great place to wander in and see the merchandise.

Toilet Etiquette

I am going to try to explain a very important and basic function of daily life in the Philippines, using the banyo or comfort room (CR). Nasaan po ang banyo?  First, you have to find a CR.  This is not easy because not all homes and businesses have indoor plumbing.  When you do find a CR, then you have to know some basics: have your own toilet paper or use the water method of rinsing.  You squat over the toilet which does not have a seat and when you are done, you use the dipper to scoop water out of the bucket.  This water is fresh and the container is located under a faucet that helps to refill it periodically.  You would have to have a towel with you to finish the procedure but air drying is acceptable.  When you are done with the toilet, you must scoop water into the toilet until the bowl has  clear clean water in the bottom. After this method of flushing the toilet, you are done in the room since there are no sinks or hand washing facilities.  Some rest areas provide sinks in the corridor but the cost for using the toilet and sink is 10 pesos. 

Sari Sari Stores

In every neighborhood in the Philippines there are Sari Sari stores.  These little gems make life easier for the local people.  If you need a sundry, a box of cereal or a banana, the Sari Sari store is the place.  Everyone in the Philippines has a cell phone and no one uses them to call, they text.  Texting costs one peso a text and making a call costs 30, so people text.  They text at lightening speed and they text while they are talking to you.  After you get a phone, you go to the local Sari Sari store and get a load.  This means that you put money on an account tied to your phone and you can use the phone until your deposit runs out.  The Sari Sari store also sells load for the broadband Tattoo which plugs into your computer and allows you to find a wifi signal from anywhere that you are as long as a tower is near. I have not tried the third option and that is an international load card but I know that it works as I have seen it done.  The location of the Sari Sari store may be next to your home or it may be down the street a few feet.  People convert a part of their home or add a store front at the street.  There are also Sari Sari stores on the highway. All in all, a great place to shop for incidentals.

The Y.C. James Yen Center

The Y.C. James Yen Center is an international traiing and conference facility.  The Yen Center is home  to the Inernational Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR). The facilities sits on 50 hectares in the middle of Silan, Cavite, Philippines. Surrounding this serene piece of land is a busy city with traffic, markets and noisy neighborhoods. There are nature trails, a swimming pool and the Yen Museum on the grounds. The accommodations are cottage-style rooms laid out along outdoor hallways that face expanses of green.  Large frogs greet you as you walk along the corridors at night and the reception hall is home to a ten inch long geiko that trumpets out its name in the early evening before scurrying behind the pictures on the wall.  WIFI is available and the staff goes out of its way to provide adequate space to work.  Then we have the food.  Delicious and plentiful, we are served three buffet style meals a day plus two merianda.  I cannot stay much longer or I will have to take up jogging and my knees are not up to that task.

Schools in the Philippines

I had an opportunity to visit an elementary school in Cavite and a high school in Tagatay on Tuesday.  The principal and teacher were gracious and open to having American Peace Corps volunteers tramping over their spotless floors and interrupting the instruction. I watched several lessons being taught and was impressed with several things: children expertly used choral response to greet visitors and to respond to the teacher's questions, they also had a class response in the second grade pictured above (one, two, three, boom and arm and hand extended). The weather is hot and humid, yet the children are scrubbed clean and dressed in white shirts and navy skirts or shorts.  The teachers wear uniforms and it is my understanding that the government gives the schools a budget to help pay for the clothing of the teachers.  You will not find books in the classrooms.  It is DEPED's policy to send a book home with each student and they may or may not bring it back to school for instructional time.  There are @55 to 70 kids in a classroom so there is not a lot of space for books.  The children put their backpacks behind them in their seats because there is no room to put them in the room.  On their feet are "booties" to help keep the floor clean.  The children are responsible for cleaning the classroom so they are very focused on being tidy.  You will notice a few notebooks and pencils.  Parents must provide these and most do.  Penmanship and cursive are stressed at all grade levels so the student work is neat and legible.  These are beautiful people who have no books but still love learning.

Basketball

The Philippines love their basketball.  The mayor of this barangay has provided a court for the local people to play on.  While the older members of the community work in the rice fields, the boys are taking advantage of a Sunday break from school (eskwelahan) to play.  They do not have tennis shoes but rather play in their barefeet or in flip flops.  One boy has only one flip flop but he made two baskets while we watched.

Weather in the Philippines

The weather in the Philippines is warm and humid.  I am begining to see that the people here are quite adept at reading the signs  because the umbrellas magically appear just before a downpour occurs.  And  when I say downpour, I mean that the sky opens up and buckets of water are dumped out. This amount of water at one time causes drains to clog and small rivers to form everywhere.  If you happen to be on the road walking, you will be wet to the knees. Plastic flip flops are the standard footwear when you are out and about.

The amhan or dry season is from November to early May and the habagat or prevailing winds is from May to October. Every year there are bagyo/typhoons that cause millions of dollars in damage.  Schools lose all of their supplies and furniture and structures are ruined. It is July now and the rains are daily but last for only thirty minutes or so and then a lovely perfume fills the air as the flora and fauna respond to the moisture. The hottest month is May but the temperatures are relative when you look at the places in the world that are experiencing days over 100 degrees Farhenheit.