Reminiscing my childhood!

You probably already read Bob’s column that my kids and I went to the farm of my parents to visit my mom. She’s not in good health now. I don’t know if she will even be staying for that long. Anyway, it was the first time that my 2 kids visit there. I was interested to see the reaction of my 2 boys since they are not used to going places they are not familiar with. I asked them if they are up to it in going there without computers, PSP and cable TV. They said that they wanted to go and see what their big brother is doing out there. See our oldest son, Chris stayed in the farm for over a month. They missed him. JeanJean likes to go there because the farm was her home before. Anyway, off we went.

We rode the bus from Davao to GenSan. It’s a 4 hour ride. When we got to GenSan my 2 sisters met us at the mall there. We got some stuff that we need in the farm. We also bought some stuff to bring Chris and my mom. Before we left GenSan for the farm I called up my nephew to pick us up at the jeepney stop so that he can get all our luggage. To make it fun I told him to bring the Kariton (carriage pulled by a Carabao). When the boys saw the Kariton they really were amazed by it. They wanted to ride right away, but I told them just later since our luggage was inside the Kariton anyway. On the way to the farm instead of walking we rode a tricycle so that it would be faster and its getting hot too, its a little bit past in the middle of the day already by the time we get to the farm. I think in just like 2 minutes of riding the tricycle we passed by the side of the river, not too big of a river. The kids already wanted to dip in the water. I can already see some twinkle in their eyes. When we got to my sister’s house, about 10 minutes of sitting at the terrace the Kariton arrived with our stuff. Man, the kids were just so happy seeing our stuff taken out of the Kartion.

They want to go somewhere and ride right away. My nephew just told them that he has to bring the Carabao to take a bath in the water with mud to cool off. So they waited for a few minutes and off they went and ride the Kariton. They also went to a small river thats not that far away from my sister’s house. They really swam there and stayed for a long time.

While they were out, I saw my brother-in-law working in the copra. I went there to help a little bit. Gosh, I remember when I was a kid, me and my sister would arrange the copra inside a drying place. First, you arrange it nicely, then down at the bottom you light a fire slowly to dry the copra so that it would be easily taken out from the shell. With my dad before we have to arrange the copra thoroughly, nowadays they will just throw all the copra with shell inside and its not really dried properly. I guess my dad just wants it nicely done. It’s really something seeing some old neighbors working with the copra. Thats how they put food on the table by just working like getting the copra out from the shell and they get paid by the piece. It’s like 100 pesos to 1000 pieces.

I visited our old house. Its not that far from my sister’s house. I had lots of memories in that place while growing up. During the time when my dad was the Barangay Captain, just next to our house was a big place for a basketball court. That court will also turn sometimes into a volleyball court or disco area. Most of you know that in every fiesta the cockfighting is present. My dad, he is not a gambler but lots of the people in the Barangay would really want to have that. They even get the permit for it. During fiesta time I can really remember that my parents would butcher like 4 pigs. Most of the people from the further town of Patag some that lives there are the natives, the B’laan (tribal people) they will come to eat. Of course they are invited by my parents. Most of our tenants they will come to help prepare the food. At that time the fiesta will last like 3 days. So much activity for everyone. Hmmm, that made me think. Maybe on the next fiesta I will bring the kids there to see what fiesta really is. They’ve never been to one yet. At least some of my siblings still carry the tradition that my parents started, feeding lots of people. I’m sure the kids will have a blast. I know I will.

When time for us to head home I asked the kids if they would want to come back again? They all said yes and they told me that next time they want that they would stay for a few weeks and wanted to help working in the copra and the corn. I told them that next time too they will help take care of the pigs and goats. They are now counting the days for the next day that they are off from school. I enjoyed seeing them get excited just over simple things there in the farm.

I went also to my school during grade school. Its not as good as it used to be. Hopefully the government and the principal and the people in Patag will work together to make that school better.

Well, I hope you guys now have an idea of what place I grew up in.

Nothing fancy, it’s just simple life!

Medical help?

Many times over the last year I get asked what do I do for medical insurance or medical help. To be honest, and I know its not an excuse, I have good health so I rarely have to go to a doctor for help, but as the years roll by , I know this will have to change.

Recently I had suffered for many weeks with a parasite infection that I had felt had spread to my lungs, and naturally I began to panic and cough!! and cough!! Lucky it was not serious and seems now to be under control.

I was lucky as a fellow expat had found an excellent doctor here in Davao, who although young was switched on and thorough and above all courteous too. I asked so many questions waiting for her to show here ignorance, but she came back every-time and proved her knowledge and ability to deal with demanding ex pats.

Now this being the Philippines my 10am appointment was moved to 11am as the doctor was not present, but she did a thorough investigation it cost me p200 and I will recommend her to anyone who needs assistance here in Davao City.

Now that compares bad with an experience last year when i picked up a rash that would not go and many visits to a hospital specialise I finally figured out from the Internet the medication and treatment I was getting made no sense, she was prescribing medication to make money and had no interest in my welfare. In short I was an ATM to her,and that is their of having treatment here.

I am lucky as Davao has many good hospitals and other private medical institutions, so my choice is good, however when you are in more remote areas you really are forced to be treated by people who may not know what they are doing and who want cash.

I came across this website that seems to have a comprehensive list that have been sanctioned by TRICARE.

KEEP IT SAFE YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN YOU MAY NEED IT.

http://tpaoweb.oki.med.navy.mil/TGRO/providers/Provider_Directory.htm

Should I check in at the embassy?

One question that I get from time to time on my e-mail is from people planning to travel here or to move here is this - “Should I go to the embassy and check in with them when I get there?” It’s true that there is indeed a “check in” system where you can go to the embassy of your country in Manila and register with them so that they know where you are visiting or where you are living, if that is the case.

Personally, I have never “checked in” with the US Embassy. It is my feeling that it is really not their business where I live, or where I visit. On other posts I’ve made, people leaving comments have talked about “big brother” and such, and I really feel that any kind of Government “tracking” of where I live or visit is indeed big brother keeping tabs on me. I have no need for that, and don’t want to participate in such tracking.

What do you think?

Don’t worry…

… during the last weeks I really got a very hectic schedule. Then - since two days I tried to do my Internet work… BUT, PLDTmyDSL got double trouble shootings regarding its Visayas and Mindanao links. Even NDD’s (National direct calls) have been impossible.

This morning everything seems to be  fine again, BUT: I am off to a place in Northern Mindanao and some other tasks will be waiting for me after returning back.

Don’t worry: Some more write ups will be posted here soon. Bear with me. And, believe me: it’s wonderful to live in the Philippines for good….

Living out

I am considering doing something a little bit different. I am thinking about “living out.” What’s that? Well, I’ll explain it in this column.

As anybody who reads this column regularly knows, I have been studying Bisaya (the local langauge where I live) for some time now. I started studying in August 2007. I am getting pretty good now at using the language, and I enjoy it. Being able to communicate in Bisaya has made my recent trips around Mindanao much more enjoyable and interesting.

So, what exactly is “living out” and what does it have to do with language studies? Living out means that you go somewhere out in the Province - up in the mountains, away from the City, or whatever - and you live there for a while. The minimum that you need to stay “out” is one week. You can stay longer, but if you stay for less than a week, it really doesn’t offer much benefit. You don’t want to live in the City, because people in the Cities hear too much English, and they can get by on English. You want to be around people who can’t speak English at all, if possible, so that you must use your language skills to communicate with them.

Living out is something that is encouraged by my Bisaya teacher. She mostly teaches Missionaries, not just lay people like me. The Missionaries that she teaches are required to live out as part of their training, although I am not required to do so.

In addition to language use, you culturally try to live in the Filipino way. You eat the foods that they eat. You live your life just as they live theirs. I believe it is something that would be difficult, but also very rewarding.

Living out offers you a few benefits. Firstly, it is meant to help you gain a better grip on the language, since you are dealing with native speakers of the language, and you are not allowed to speak in English. The area where you would go is so remote that there probably isn’t much English spoken or understood there anyway. The second big benefit of living out is the cultural understanding that you could gain. Because you are totally immersed in the culture, and you are going to live your life in an identical way to what they do, you can’t help but learn a lot about their way of living.

This is something that I have had an interest in for some time. I didn’t relate it to my language learning, but a while back, Bebe (my teacher) brought this up to me, and said that it was at this time in my learning that I would do this if I were a Missionary. I have told her that I think I’ll do it anyway, just for the things that I’d learn in the process.

I think that going on such a “retreat” would also make for some very interesting things to write about on my various websites. Can you imagine some of the stories that could be told about the process?

Where would I go on this retreat? Well, that is kind of up to me to choose. I am thinking that I would like to go live with somebody up in the mountains of Bukidnon. Why there? Because it is quite cool up there, and I know that I won’t be allowed to have any air conditioning, and probably not even an electric fan, so Bukidnon would be comfortable for me. Also, it is a place that I love a lot. Another thing that I have been thinking about is that I would like to live with a Muslim family for a week, because I believe that the cultural experience and the learning would be fantastic. There aren’t many Muslims in Bukidnon, though, so that might rule out going there. It’s hard to decide where to go.

Of course, the process right now is that I need to make a final decision on whether I want to go there and do the “live out” thing. I am already about 80% sure that I want to do it, though, so I am well along the way to making that decision. Next decision is to decide where I want to go for the week. Third decision is to do some searching and find a family that would be willing to take me in for a week, make sure that it is a safe place, and a family that can be trusted, etc.

This is something that I want to do, though… and I’m kind of excited about it.

Touring Mindanao

As you surely read in my column a couple of weeks ago, I recently went on a Mindanao tour with John Grant and Migs Bassig.

We traveled from Davao to Cotabato City, then to Parang, through Lanao del Sur, and to the Zamboanga Peninsula.  After visiting all three Zamboanga Provinces, we also visited Misamis Occidental, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Bukidnon and back to Davao.

It was really an enjoyable trip!  I hope that John and Migs enjoyed it as much as I did too!

Take a few minutes to watch the video of the highlights of the trip!

What an interesting trip!

I took another trip recently, and I really enjoyed it. I didn’t go anywhere fancy, nothing that I could write a travelogue about. But, I went somewhere that had a lot of meaning for me.

I visited a little barrio called Patag, which is in Malapatan, Sarangani Province. I have been to Malapatan before, but Patag is a remote barrio in the hills, which is actually pretty far from the Poblacion (town center). Why does it hold meaning for me? Well, Patag is the place where Feyma grew up when she was a kid. She was actually born right there in Patag, at her parent’s house and lived there until she finished elementary school, at which time the family moved to General Santos City.

These days, with the good roads that abound, General Santos City is only about 20 to 30 minutes drive from Patag, but back then I suspect that it was at least a half-day journey. As I said, there is a good highway from General Santos City to Lun Padido, which is the Barangay along the highway that is closest to Patag. From there, it is dirt roads the rest of the way. Unfortunately, along the quickest route to Patag from the highway, there is a bridge which is damaged, and cannot be passed by a car. Since I was driving, this meant that I had to take an alternate route, with a bit of a rough road (we actually got stuck in the mud three times!).

It all started out on a Saturday morning very early, when Feyma and the kids took off to go visit her family in Patag. The kids were wanting to spend some time on the farm anyway for a sort of mini-vacation, so this was a good opportunity. My oldest son, Chris, had already been at the farm in Patag for over a month, and he was ready to come home, so this trip served the purpose of letting the other kids visit the farm, for Feyma to visit her family, and for them to bring Chris home. I was supposed to spend the weekend by myself in Davao. On Sunday morning, though, I was feeling kind of lonesome in the empty house, so I decided to take a trip myself. I called and invited my friend, John Grant, and he accompanied me for the journey.

I had never been to Patag before. In the past, Feyma and her family had always cautioned me that Patag was way too dangerous for me to go there. The area is 50% Muslim after all. Well, I always wanted to go, but I honored their wishes. Since that time, I have been virtually everywhere else in Mindanao, though, and some of the places I visited really were dangerous, so I felt like I could handle a visit to Patag without too much problem.

When I arrived in Patag, I was really welcomed by the people there. I felt like I was the returning hero from the area or something! It was kind of a strange feeling, but I liked it too. I got to look around Feyma’s place there, and even see the house that Feyma lived in when she was a baby. Now, that was quite interesting! I toured around town, just walking around talking to the local people. It was a lot of fun! Seeing the places that Feyma had talked about for so many years was really educational for me, and I enjoyed it a lot.

While I was in Patag, the family there was busy, working on the harvesting of the coconuts, processing of copra from the coconuts and such. I even helped a little bit in processing the coconuts, just to get the experience. It was fun and educational for me. I enjoyed watching my kids ride in a cart pulled by a Carabao too, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

What a great trip we had to Patag. I intend to go back again too! Feyma has some land there, which she inherited, and we are even thinking of building a little rest house there!

Who knows, maybe I’ll just become a farmer!

What happened to my Internet?

Last Friday at 11 am I lost my connection on my DSL Internet. Well, that happens from time to time, so no biggie, I was sure that it would be back in a few minutes.

By 1 pm, I was starting to wonder what was going on, so I had one of my staff call PLDT to ask about it. “System Upgrade is in Progress” they said. OK. Well, we waited for a few more hours, still nothing. Finally, by 4:30 pm I was starting to get upset. Friday at 4:30 - if it didn’t get fixed by 5 pm, that meant that there probably would be no internet for the entire weekend. So, we started calling again. We were told “There is nothing wrong with the system, everything is working fine.” Well, it wasn’t working fine here. So, we called another number - nothing wrong! We kept calling different offices until we were finally told that they were upgrading “our” connection. “What do you mean?” we asked. They said that since we had placed an order for upgrade, they were working on that for us.

Hmm. We placed no order.

Finallly, I got the supervisor on the phone and he said that we were being upgraded to a new “platform” whatever that is. OK, I said, how much longer would it take? “Maybe it will be done in 3 days” he said. 3 Days? They decided to upgrade us, and didn’t even tell us, and now we will be offline for 3 days? There is something about that which is not quite right.

In the past month, this is the third time that PLDT has cut off my DSL unexpectedly. The first time I was offline for 4 days. The second time just one day. Hopefully this time it will be 3 days, not more. I have been a customer for 6+ years now, and I never had this kind of problem in the past, it makes me wonder what is going on.

So, anyway, if you are trying to get ahold of me, don’t worry if I don’t respond. Just be patient, because right now, if I want Internet I have to take my laptop and go to a coffee shop to connect. Hopefully things will be back on Monday or Tuesday.

In the meantime, I applied for a new DSL line from another company already, and they said that it will be installed Monday or Tuesday. I will keep two DSL lines, becuase I need connectivity, and I have decided that I need redundant connections to assure a backup!

Notes from Mindanao, Day Two

Day Two

7:28 a.m.: The day starts at a more reasonable time, seven, just after sun-up. But a longer day might be in store. Bob and John are surveying the map, while I stare at a Nokia mobile phone –charging– on a stool beside our table. It was left behind by a man in a United Nations shirt who had been the fourth customer that morning in the lobby of Metro Ipil Mandarin Hotel in Zamboanga Sibugay, and who drove off in a red pickup with United Nations stickers on its doors. Bob’s eyes catch the mobile phone. “See,” he says, “if either John or I steals that phone the wronged owner would still point at Migs. I’m American, John is British, and Migs is Filipino.” Bob is right. The owner does come back moments later; he looks quite relieved at the sight of his phone, still charging and still on a stool.

10:01 a.m.: This is what I’ll remember from Dipolog City: its foreshore boulevard. Having driven from Ipil to Zamboanga del Norte, we stop here to take some video footage. From the al fresco seats of nearby food kiosks one could hear the sound of Sulu Sea’s waves crashing against an evenly-paved esplanade. Surfer’s waves, maybe stronger, crashing, then ebbing, then crashing again. The locals are casting their fishing poles into the water to sustain the city’s reputation as the Bottled Sardines Capital of the Philippines. Their shirts are dancing with the sea breeze. It’s a commercially humbler scene than when I go to, say, the bay walk at the periphery of ostentatious SM Mall of Asia in Manila – but it’s much more tranquil here. Makes me wonder what else I’ve been missing.

1:19 p.m.: Bob ate rice, as did John. It was such a surprise. On Chowking’s menu there was this extremely spicy Beef Chao Fan meal, which we had ordered at the fast food restaurant’s branch here in gritty Osamis City, Misamis Occidental – a place where tricycle drivers have had their rest schedules painted on the back of their vehicles (“Days Off: Tuesdays”). Now, our spice-craving stomachs fully satisfied, we wait at the RoRo facility for the ferry that will take us to Lanao del Norte. “Can we bring our cameras and computers with us?” I ask Bob, thinking that the Nissan Adventure would have to be parked here as we’re transported by the ship to our destination. How frightfully stupid of me: RoRo stands for “roll-on/roll-off”, an arrangement in which the ferry is designed to carry wheeled cargo. Such as trucks. Such as trailers. Such as cars with two white men in it, and an ignorant man from the city.

3:47 p.m.: Happiness is a thirty-minute ferry ride from one unfamiliar Mindanao province to another. The wind is blowing furiously. Storm clouds have gathered above to provide the backdrop of this beautiful landscape painting. They look like thick dirty cotton buds curled round the half-visible, half-green, halfway-towards-licking-the-sky mountains of Lanao del Norte. To cut off this terribly romantic Titanic moment, a sharp, chilly splash of water slaps my face wet.

7:33 p.m.: After a long drive from the seaport to Lanao del Norte’s former capital, Iligan City, Bob, John and I find ourselves here inside cosy Gilee’s Cafe on San Miguel Street. A sumptuous dinner after an exhausting day – though I did catch some winks while at the backseat (much to Bob and John’s chagrin). We were welcomed and are now accompanied by Bob’s gracious friends: freelance photojournalist and coffee connoisseur Bobby Timonera, French-American Marc de Piloenc and his wife Sharon, and the restaurant’s owner, who is a Swiss expat named – well, Gilee. I listen quietly to the conversations being made in this formidably interracial gathering. They are all sharing their views on American Idol, homosexuality, driver’s license pictures, Iligan’s famous waterfalls, the city’s thriving steel and cement industries, and the nuances of living as an expat in as misunderstood an area as Mindanao. “I might come back here very soon to stay a few days – not just a few hours,” proclaims John. “The city is clean and beautiful, and –contrary to the warnings of my friends– Iligan doesn’t seem dangerous at all.” Outside, happy groups of young Iliganons walk the lamp-lit asphalt streets and take advantage of the numbered summer nights. And then my Persian kebab on pasta arrives.

11:26 p.m.: The lovely bittersweet taste of coffee still lingers in my mouth as I write this in our room at P450-a-night, Wi-Fi-ready Famous Pension House. You see, after dinner, Bobby had taken our group to his exquisitely furnished Iligan City home for cups of brewed and a dose of Filipino hospitality. There were plenty of choices: Monk’s Blend from Bukidnon? Acclaimed beans from Sagada? Yemeni? Not that we needed perking up; though exhausted and heavy-eyed from such a long journey, I am wide awake now – to the beauty that lies outside of Manila. Dangerous as this may sound to others, I think I’m falling in love with Mindanao.

A trip into danger two

Bob and Migs have articles in depth on this journey so I show just an overview here.

Last week I told you about day one of our trip around Mindanao and now the story continues.

Day two we left Ipil and travelled on to Dipolog a very friendly place on the coast it looked like Southern England holiday town and although we did not stay too long we ALL agreed it looked so good we are going to come back and spend a day or two to learn more and enjoy more.

SEE THE MAP BELOW

With only minutes to spare we sped on to Ozamiz where we had an excellent Chow King meal and managed to buy a new charger for my phone and I so wish we could buy a battery for my video camera that refused to charge, hence my video diary is very small and is enclosed at the bottom of the article.

We then entered the ferry port which was very frustrating as for over an hour we never moved where everybody else seemed too. As our tempers increased and our boredom became total we finally understood the system. Our tyres were secretly marked with a number and trucks and other big vehicles took priority then wherever your car was in the four lanes you were put on the ferry when your number came up. Thank goodness it was not rush hour if there is such a thing in Ozamiz.

Again this City was very friendly and again I will be back.

At the other side we had a 45 min travel to a place that I have been repeatedly warned NEVER to go to Illagan. This place was a very nice clean and well presented City that I so wish I had visited before when I was in that area. It was dark when we arrived and we stayed at a budget accommodation that also had wifi in each room, small but excellent vale at less than p500 a night for the room. In the evening we met Bobs friends for dinner at a small Italian restaurant which I will give details on at another time, but its well worth a visit if you are in the area.

DAY THREE

A two hour journey to get pass the beautiful city of Cayagan De Oro before we had an amazing breakfast of the BIGGEST and TASIEST steak I have ever had in my life. See Bob Martin blog on this subject.

Then with very very full stomachs we passed through many cities on a five hour journey heading back to Davao City and along the way you will see countryside you will never see anywhere else in the world. You will see a people who are probably the best in the world and it totally makes me assured that this beautiful country is where I want to live and die in, yes its that good and that beautiful and that exciting. Yes of course there are areas to be careful in and we’re, but look at some of our cities in the west are far worse and far more dangerous. Come visit and look for yourself just take precautions and most of all take advice from the people that know!!!