In the Swing of Things

It feels like I'm starting to get into a little bit of a routine after being here for only a month. It feels like a lot longer. Everyday there are new things to take in. Last Saturday I was walking to the Saturday market with my Nanay (host mom), and there was a god awful screaming sound coming from a block away. What ever the creature was experience must have been horrible. I we got closer to the sound. It was a pig with a prison shank stuck in it's throat and 3 grown Filipinos holding it up while it bled to death. Nanay and I walked on and the pig kept screaming.

Once we were at the market Nanay led me around the market telling me what different things were. behind my back she would put her hand up by her mouth and whisper "Peace Corps" while pointing at me explaining to the people who were talking to her. If there has been one unforgettable experience in Palo so far it's been going to the market. There is everything from used clothing, hand-made machetes, fruits and vegetables (prutas ngan utan), weird chunks of meat that have been deep fried to hide their identity. They all taste the same. The several city blocks that the market consumes are covered in blue tarps to help keep people out of the sun. The best time of day to go to the market is around 5 in the morning. The meat is still fresh, and it's cooler out.

On the way home from the market, we walked by the pig scene, and in the 20 minutes that we spent walking around was long enough to clean the pig and shove a bamboo pole through it's body. They will then put this pig over a deep concrete pit with a fire in the bottom, and roll the pig back and forth for a few hours until the pig is done. When it's ordered at a street vendors or at a fiesta it's called lechon.

My week days are filled up with language training and technical training. The language training is fun but challenging. I bought some envelopes the other day using the native language, and felt pretty proud of myself. Technical training is what it is. and that's all I have to say about that. The last couple of weeks I've been teaching twice a week in a 6th grade class. There are about 42 students in the class on a full day. The students have great handwriting and there English is impressive. We have a great time together. I've really been enjoying my time with them. I look forward to being with children on a daily basis.

Back to the food scene. It's easy to find things to eat that aren't "normal" Last week I ate belut. Balut is a duck egg that has been boiled a couple of days before it's due to hatch. Inside the egg, is a little duckie. It tastes a lot better than it sounds. A little salt and Tobasco will make anything taste like salt and Tobasco! I also ate a century egg. This is an egg that has been covered in salt, then clay, then horse manure, then buried in the ground for a month. After a month it is finally rotten enough to eat. The whites are brown and the yolk is grey. It tastes like a yummy salted hard boiled egg. Just takes longer to get, and it's covered in horse poo.

Till next time. Thanks for checking my blog. I read your posts several times. It's nice to hear from you all. Siget, Paghinay (Take Care)