Villa Escudero

Today we went a couple of hours south to a coconut plantation named Villa Escudero. It was nice to be a little bit out of the city and see some green- mainly rice paddies.  We even saw a couple of mountains.  Once out of Manila, we traveled through several little towns.  The towns are exactly what you would imagine they would be in a developing tropical country- lots of crazy little markets and stores, random types of transportation, and general chaos.

There are several things in this photo that are typical of the Philippines.  The first is the old jeep on the left.  They are everywhere.  The second is the "tricycle."  People hook additions onto their motorcycles and either haul cargo (like this one) or people.  The last is the name of the store- There aren't creative store names here- just the first name of the proprietor then the kind of store it is.  Hence, "Mary Rose Store."  It was the same for funeral homes, restaurants- "Sheena's Buko Pie Restaurant," and my favorite, "Alice Fiberglass Repair."

This is a tricycle for people.  The building in the background is pretty typical of what we saw today.  It's almost impossible to describe what these towns are like: A McDonald's or a Jollibee (the Pinoy equivalent) and a 7-11, followed by a bunch of randomly built stores and houses, followed by a brand new Goodyear Tire Center, followed by a rice paddy and a bunch of fighting roosters for sale.  And just people, people, people.  Just like Manila, drivers follow no rules.  It is every man for himself. I don't know why they even bother with road signs here, because in my opinion they should all say, "Good Luck, Sucker!"

Villa Escudero seemed so quiet after the 2 hour car ride there. 

Kiki and Kate waited patiently while Bruce paid our way.  We were offered drinks when we got there-it looked like apple juice with ice, but that's not what it was.  It WAS some kind of juice, but what we though was ice was actually chunks of unflavored gelatin.  Filipinos love gelatin- this is not the first time we've had an inexplicable gelatin run-in. 

I love these next couple of pictures of Kiki- she looks like her natural self with no weird camera smile.

This was a church and is now a museum.  No pictures were allowed, but believe you me, I was wishing they were.  There was a lot of religious paraphernalia, which including some amazing work in silver and gold.  That was most of the first floor, but then things got random.  It was like this: And here is a mannequin Jesus carrying His cross made out of silver!  Look! It's the butterflies of the world!  Let's go around the corner and see a leopard that killed a carnival dancer in 1925!  Here is money from all over the globe!  Now we see a bunch of saints in fancy outfits with precious stones!  Let's enjoy half a floor of pottery and miniature trinkets!  Here is the sterling silver flatware Queen Elizabeth gave us!  It's Mrs. Escudero's wedding dress!

It was totally awesome.

The gardens in front of the church/museum.

Front view of the church/museum.

After the museum, this nice water buffalo hauled a cart (with us in it) over to a lagoon for rafting, lunch, and swimming.

When you are an American, you can walk right by a sign that says, "Must be 7 years or older to ride the rafts," and just say, "She's a good swimmer.  Which life jacket should she wear?" and then your 4 year old can paddle a raft.  Also, Melvin, our driver, continually proves himself handy- driving, hauling bags, and now taking family pictures.  We've never had so many photos together.

I kept Kiki's blanket in a very safe place.

Bruce and Kiki head out to the lagoon.

Kate and I.

You can stay in the huts on the water if you want.  We are the little specks.

She's glad I bent the rules for her.

The other thing Villa Escudero specializes in is statues.  These were nice folks.  ET was around the corner, as was a herd of baby pigs and some illegal Disney characters.

Then it was time for lunch.  Lunch is served in picnic tables in the water.  There is a waterfall and you wade out to your table to eat.

My Filipino lunch.
It was delicious.

Kate was dying to order a coconut drink.
She is still smiling because she hasn't yet realized that the coconut water inside a coconut tastes like crap.

There were tons of little fish inside the water.  We could feel them around our feet as we ate- we dropped grains of rice in the water and watched the fish eat.  Kiki begged and begged for me to catch her one, but to no avail.  But then, I saw a crab!  I gathered up my courage and a plastic cup and I caught that crab for her! 

...and look how happy she was!
Only then, one second later, she said, "Now catch me a fish."

He was happy to be free.

By the waterfall.  This was right in the same place where the picnic tables were.

These are Filipino Christmas lanterns.

After lunch, we went swimming in the pool and watched some traditional Filipino dances.  It was a very full day.  I don't think the girls missed trick or treating at all.

Life As of Late

We are filling up the days somehow! Here's what's been happening lately... Bruce happened to meet an Australian couple through work. They are ultra-marathoners and Bruce arranged for me to meet them on Saturday for a long run.  Chad sent me an e-mail with particulars on where to meet and the following instructions:  "We will be the white people."  I was a little nervous about the run, but I hung in there for 12 miles.  They go slow because you have to stop and drink every mile or two because of the heat.  I drank 64 ounces of water, plus a gatorade, and was home for almost an hour before I had to pee.  I just sweat it all out, I guess. 

Bruce plays basketball with some men from the office and in the industry.  Look how tall he is compared to the guy next to him. 

We aren't going hungry!  I've actually been cooking a little more, but we enjoyed lunch at Italianni's on Saturday.  Kiki was thrilled with her giant meatball.

Italianni's had a fancy toilet.  If you ever come to visit me, pack your own toilet paper- most public restrooms don't have it, even at church.  So this was an EXTRA fancy toilet.

Look at all the things you can have done to your bum after your business is done.  You can even choose if the water goes back to front or front to back.  Bruce and I agreed that back to front sounds like a good way to get a face full of fecal matter.

These are some sculptures in the neighborhood:

"Specific Gravity"

"Tinstaej #85" or "Wee Beastie"
It was originally blue which was supposed to suggest a pollution free sky.
Ironically, the pollution has turned it an odd gray color.

"Concerto"
These are big chimes.

"Hearsay"
The pipes are connected below ground so you can talk through them.

"Bearable Lightness"
It's under repair.  But, it's about being weightless. 

Kate bought a fan.  She brings it everywhere.  She's like Scarlett O'Hara.
I expect swooning at all times.

It was Halloween today.  We pretty much skipped it entirely, except for wearing the Halloween goodies that Grandma Ellie sent with the girls.

Bruce and I spoke at church yesterday.  It's no guarantee that we won't be speaking again before we go, but it was nice to get it out of the way.  We go to church with a General Authority, so I was nervous the whole time that he was going to stand up and correct me, but he didn't.  Bruce also was called to teach Sunday School, and I've been called to play piano in Sacrament meeting and Primary.  I was a little disappointed.  I couldn't even hide it.  I know that I have definitely been cushioned by being a Mormon in Utah County, where many are willing and available to serve.  I was hoping to have some adult company and be able to meet some of the sisters and have a break from my kids, but it isn't to be.  I'm not mad and going inactive; it just feels a little like a "Round peg, meet round hole" situation.  But, I'll come around.  I know that life in a branch is different and sometimes you just have got to do what you've got to do.  I'll probably even like it by the time we leave.

My Sterility Is an Exercise In Futility

I've heard about people who have insect problems in their houses.  I always figured it was safely in the realm of people who would appear on "Hoarders" or someone who lived in a hovel.  Urban living is educating me otherwise.  You all have met me.  You know I keep a clean (some would say obsessively clean) house.  It's even more so here since I've retained my OCD only now I apply it to less than a third of the square footage.  I don't have food laying about, I sweep crumbs up immediately, and there aren't piles of clothing strewn around.  And yet, the parade of insect life is non-stop.  I know that there are roaches in here somewhere, I just rarely see one.  It's always dead.  The ants come out of the drain of my kitchen sink- the logistics are really mystifying on that one.  I'm not really sure how they accomplish that at all.  There are always flies buzzing about.  I'm stymied- it's the 33rd floor of a high rise, for Pete's sake!  How are all of these things staying alive in my clean house?  On a side note- this pollution is something else.  I dust 2 or 3 times a week (we're talking a full wipe down of the kitchen cabinets and everything) and my rags are always gray.  My floors are almost always dirty.  On another side note- after my run yesterday when I blew my nose my snot came out black. (I think I should get bonus miles for breathing in secondhand smoke the whole time I run.)

So don't worry...I have plenty to keep me busy. I'm probably going to have emphysema or lung cancer from all the cleaning supplies and air pollution when I come home, but at least I'm filling the hours in the day.

Thoughts and Feelings One Month In

This might not be the best place to teach my children about diversity...

I really thought that by moving here my children would see that the world was made up of all kinds of different people, but here is what actually went down: I moved them from a place where everyone was the same including them to a place where everyone is the same except for them.  There are probably around a half of a million ex-pats in the Philippines, but there are 24 million people in Manila alone, so the reality is that we can go all day and not see another white person.  We are a freak show.  Everywhere we go, people stare at us.  I feel like a huge, white, sweating giant.  Everyone is always very nice, but they are also very curious.  We get asked constantly where we come from, how old the girls are, what are their names, and so on.  We were playing at the playground and I sent Kate to gather up Kiki, and she took forever.  When she finally showed with her sister I said, "What took you so long?" and she replied, "People kept wanting to take my picture."

So much for the simple life...

I honestly felt that moving here would be a great opportunity for us to learn to live with less: less toys, less clutter, less of everything.  In some ways, that has happened.  We are happy with so much less stuff than we have in the states- the girls' toys fill one little cupboard, we have just a few clothes, my kitchen has the bare minimum, we have no car.  The irony is that even with what I would consider a very minimal lifestyle, compared to most Filipino people, we are rich.  Make that filthy rich.  And it is obvious to my kids, especially when we go out and see the deplorable conditions that many people live in- incredible expanses of shanties made from cinder blocks and corrugated metal and piled basically on top of each other.  I really want to take a picture but I'm a little self-conscious because I have the sneaking suspicion that our driver lives in such a place.  Which kind of leads me to my next thought.

Don't believe the hype...

Everywhere we go it's "Ma'am" and "Sir" and for those who know us now by name we are "Ma'am Becca" and "Sir Bruce."  (He kind of digs that.)  We heard from several that Filipinos love Americans and they love to serve us.  Lately though, I've thought, "These people just know where their bread is buttered."  Maybe they do love Americans and maybe they do love to serve, but maybe they just know that making "rich" Americans happy is a great way to make a buck.  The thing that kills me is that very few Americans here are actually wealthy at all.  They are subsidized by the government or their places of employment (we sure as heck are) and if they weren't, most couldn't afford the lifestyle that they live here.  It is a big game of Pretend. I know for sure I couldn't afford full-time domestic help or a driver at home. If we aren't careful, it is so easy to start to buy in, to start to feel like we deserve special treatment (we haven't waited for a table in a restaurant yet, even when there's a huge line of people out front), and that leads to the worst kind of entitlement- feeling like you deserve something when you've done very little to earn it.  Bruce and I were talking last night and we agreed that if you buy into the hype before you know it you are acting like a Kardashian.  To be sure, though, I have met a lot of nice people here who aren't Kardashians at all, but we also have all discussed the dangers of this artificial lifestyle.

My leisure has never come at a higher price...

19 Books.  That's what I've read in the last 4 weeks.  It's hard not to sound like a total ass saying, "I'm so sick of reading by the pool..." but that's kind of how I feel.  School for the girls takes a couple of hours max, and then we still have 12 hours to fill.  My kids are in heaven...it's swimming, cartoons, little field trips, and non-stop attention from me.  Every night when we do "Rose and Thorn," they say, "My whole day was a rose."  Well, of course it was because they are in kid heaven.  I don't have a personality that is well suited to this kind of leisure, especially because my leisure is afforded by Bruce's completely insane work schedule.  We knew that it would be this way, but it doesn't make the hours any easier.  He is still managing a team in the States, so it isn't unusual for him to work a regular work day, come home for dinner, then head back into the office and work from 8 p.m. until 1 or 2 a.m.  I think he had 30 hours in by Tuesday night this week.  It's a completely unbalanced load and I'd be a fool not to see it.  I hate it, though, and would give anything to lighten his load and/or fill up my days with something that seems a little more worthwhile.  I totally get why the Real Housewives get so obsessed with their appearances and their little fights and their stupid charity balls: Because they are Bored. Out. Of. Their. Minds.

2 Hours later...

I wrote the above and then went out with Bruce and the girls and am now re-reading, and I think maybe it sounds a little negative.  I'm leaving it though, because these are really the things that I have felt and thought lately.  I do want to balance it out by saying that we are really glad for the opportunity to be here.  Every society has its ups and downs, and we are experiencing both.  I've talked about the negatives today, but overall we are having a great experience here.  This is a beautiful place and we continually meet and associate with the nicest people.  I don't think I've had a negative interaction with anyone here.  I am trying to be more relaxed and realize how lucky I am to have these months to focus solely on being with my family with very few distractions.  The girls love it here, and Bruce, while working hard, has the benefit of feeling like what he has been asked to do is possible and achievable.  We are making some great friends and are truly fascinated every day by our experiences.  So hopefully no one reads this post and thinks I'm down on the Philippines, because nothing could be further from the truth.

Fun With Friends

On Tuesday we met my friend Jill and her 4 kids for a play date.  Jill lives about 20 or 30 minutes from here in a place called Alabang (Al-uh-bong).  She has girls about the same age as Kate and Kiki and they had a great time swimming and bowling. 

The girls getting prettied up after swimming.
Emily, Elise, and Kate.

Rachel and Kate

With form like this, it will probably shock you to know that I bowled maybe a 70.

Elise and Kate.  They are exactly one month apart.

Rachel and Kiki

The night before last we walked to dinner and did a little shopping.  The nights here are usually pleasant, so it was fun to get out with Bruce and spend some time together.  His work schedule is pretty unforgiving.

The girls were screaming with excitement when they saw this rainbow this morning.  It was quite exciting- it rains frequently here right now but this was our first rainbow since we arrived.