Saturday, January 15, 2011

So last time I was trying to upload photos, the internet cut out on me and didn't have a chance until now to post them. Sorry!
some people have also been asking for a mailing address, and that is:
Kelly Taylor
c/o Lina Surio
Hacbeng St. Brgy 2
Pambujan, N. Samar
Philippines

This will change in about a month, but I will still get the mail after I move!

You guys missed a crazy week over here. Lots of flooding, land slides, evacuated towns, days without power, and nice cool weather and cool nights. Hope you enjoy the photos!

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Happy Holiday!

I had a pretty interesting holiday season. The family I’m staying with didn’t do much. We didn’t have a dinner on Christmas eve, and there wasn’t any family around. Even though brothers, sisters and cousins live everywhere in this town. I think the reason I stick out so much in this town isn’t because I’m white, but because I don’t have any relatives in this town.

On Christmas day, I slept in until 10, then drank as many cups of coffee as I could (Thanks for the Beans mom and dad!), read for a little while, and then a Christmas lunch was prepared for me. The parts that I remember the most were the roasted chicken (It’s a native chicken, which they say tastes better. Smaller, so more taste packed into a smaller chicken unit), rice (naturally found at every meal and street corner), a cheese ball (don’t cringe, it’s the only cheese I’ve had in 5 months, I don’t know what cheese tastes like anymore. Everybody on three, ready: One, Two, Three “Awww”), and then I drank a liter of wine ( I don’t need to say anything about that).

I ate the meal alone, as I do every meal. But being Christmas I was blessed with the presence of a little company. A 4 year old in all his curiosity and bravery decided to sit down with the big nosed white stranger at the table. I don’t recall him saying anything to me. A few hand gestures, but that’s all that came from him. Given the state that I was in (about a liter), I had the best conversation with this young man. It was nice to have company.

That just about sums up Christmas in the Philippines. Oh yeah, everybody goes to midnight mass at 11 on Christmas eve, and they ring the church bell for the entire 4 hour service. And I didn’t see any presence or Christmas trees. People do decorate their houses though. And children go house to house caroling for money so they can buy fire-crackers. Those funny kids.

For New years, I went to Donsol, Bicol in Southen Luzon (bottom of the middle part in the Philippines) and I got to swim with whale sharks. I was expecting it to be amazing and intimidating and beautiful, and it was. We showed up on a perfect day. It had been raining for the past week and a half and only saw one Butanding (whale shark) and that was the day before, and they had to wait 4 hours to see it one time. So we were just looking forward to a nice boat ride at the very least.

We were on the boat for 20 minutes and the guide started up in some jibberish, and told us to get ready. We jumped off the boat 30 yards away from the Butanding, and then we started swimming in it’s direction. They swim very slowly. The water is a little murky, so it’s hard to see. It’s actually just like any child’s nightmare of swimming in a large body of water and not knowing what’s beneath them as they slowly anticipate a monster.

Had I been swimming any faster, I would have swam right into the side of this impressive animal. And just like that, I was face to face with a 60-foot long fish (shark at that). I thought I would have been frightened, or might have been taking quick shallow breathes or scared. But this animal was so large and peaceful. I can’t begin to describe how I felt next to this creature. Swimming around the Butanding’s mouth were a countless number of different fish. Some were as large as a foot, and some were 4 inches long. And they were all just hanging out around it’s mouth. Butanding eat plankton, and have small teeth, but filter their food through a sieve like material that filters out the plankton. Just like some whales.

After a while the Shark descended and we were not able to follow it any further. We get back on the boat and talk about the experience for just a moment before we spot another one not far off. So we race to the next Butanding. They are pretty easy to see. There is a large dorsal fin sticking out of the water, and a huge dark spot in the water (I’m telling you it’s like a nightmare I’ve had a hundred times). We ended up swimming with 6 different sharks that day in the course of 3 hours. It was an amazing experience, and something that I will never forget. And do again, because I live in the Philippines! Sorry I don’t have too many pictures of the event. My camera isn’t water-proof anymore.

I’ve been getting lots of email from folks! Thank you soooo much. I look forward to every chance I get to go into town and hear from my friends back home. I hope everybody is off to a great 2011 and had an awesome holiday season.

Take care,

Kelly

Friday, January 7, 2011

Man, It’s raining something fierce over here. It’s awesome. My best piece of advice is don’t get anything wet, because it won’t dry out until March. It’s only been raining for two days straight, which doesn’t sound like much if you live in the Willamette Valley, but it’s hard rain, and we’re at sea level, so there aren’t too many places for the water to go. The sand bar outside my house looks like a river, and then the confluence between my street and the next main street is pretty impressive as well. The house on the corner has a steady stream of water going in to their yard, under their house (it’s on stilts for a reason), and they could float a boat no problem.

For fun the kids go outside and take each other shoes, and float them down the stream (street). It was raining enough on Thursday this week that school was let out early, just after 1st period. Last time school was let out early on account of hard rain, teachers got together in their classrooms with a little food and some vodka and spent the afternoon drinking and eating. When they ran out of food, they told one of the kids to go get more food. They’ve got a pretty good system going on over here.

On my way into town today to post this blog I went through 4 towns. 2 of them were flooded, and all the rivers we drove past were flooding. 3 barangays (districts) have been evacuated in my town. The road was flooded over in several places on my way into town. The first van I was in turned around because there was too much water in the road. Fortunately, there was a jeepnee going where we wanted to go. So, eventually, I made it to town, and now I’m enjoying a raspberry shake and a wonderful cup of coffee in an orange polk-a-dotted cup.

Pambujan, N. Samar - The Down and Dirty

I don’t think I’ve done a very good job of really describing where I live. Sorry about that. I don’t think my parents have even seen a picture of the place where I’m living. Here’s a quick down and dirty without getting into politics or water quality.

First a few notes about the photos:

  • The white house is where I’m currently living.
  • The dogs name is Bogart. Yes, Bogart and he’s mean. He only wants me for food.
  • The big field is my running route and the beach is the other part of the route.
  • The lady in the kitchen is Lina Surio. Lina is my host mother. A great cook and very hospitable. I’m very thankful to be living in this house. The girl is my host sister Mae.
  • The little boy is who listened to me talk at Christmas dinner.
  • The rest are shots from around town and of my bathroom.

As far as Pambujan goes:

  • As of 2007, the population of Pambujan is 27,800 people
  • There are 2,800 students at my elementary school (there are 19 other elementary school, but mine is the big one)
  • I don’t know how many kids are at the high school.
  • Most classrooms don’t have lights, fans, or electricity.
  • Kids pee on the side of the school because there is no restroom.
  • Water is free in Pambujan, but you have to pay for the pump.
  • There are scheduled brown-outs every week and often unannounced brown-outs!
  • There is a small market that sells a few vegetables, some fish and chicken (not sure how good it is though, it’s always sitting out on a table for who knows how long).
  • There are maybe 5-7 paved streets in town and the rest are sand.
  • The main way people get around town is either walk or take a pedi-cab (bicycle with a side car)
  • Some people bury their garbage at the beach, and also squat on the beach. (I usually walk quite a ways away from town before I think about taking my shoes off, or swimming.
  • Once I get a ways away from town, the beach is beautiful.
  • Biggest means of employment are pedi-cab drivers, construction workers, teachers (65 at my school), government workers (I’m not allowed to comment on political views pertaining to anything, due to the fact that this is a public blog. That’s all I have to say about that.), and sari-sari stores (place to buy candy, detergent, minutes for your phone, beer, oil and other odds and ends).
  • To get to the nearest town with internet, milk, an ATM and JolliBee’s (horrible, horrible fast food) I have to walk about a mile to the highway and take a 45 minute van or jeepnee ride (assuming the bridge isn’t washed out).
  • The nearest town with these amenities is called Catarman. There is a meat market (not like Shenanigans) that sells carabao all parts (they even peel the skin and fat off it’s head and sell its face. It actually tasted pretty good with a little soy sauce and hot peppers), other meat products as well. Nothing goes to waste. There are also place to buy clothes, fruit, a basketball, electronics, and cinnamon. But no burritos, dang it!

Hopefully the pictures can tell a little more of the story and the setting. Let me know if you have any questions, or if there are pictures of something that you want to see. xoxo