So, we live pretty close to China and therefore we can get really cheap things that say "Made In China." And since Michelle likes to make watches and such our friends, Jappie and Joy offered to take us to Carbon. Carbon is downtown Cebu. The only way to describe it is that if Tijuana and China Town fell in love and procreated, the result would be Carbon.
The married ladies, so everyone but me, removed their wedding rings and all other jewelry. We all zipped up our purses and held them in front of our bodies. Our pockets were double checked to make sure they were empty. The taxi dropped us up on the street and our adventure began.
The streets are a nondescript gray, as are most of the streets here. It was raining, as it does most days, and so there were puddles all over. I was wearing flipflops and so when I was told to walk fast, as you do when in Carbon, my feet slipped all over. You see, the faster you walk the less likely you are to be hounded by kids or pick-pocketed. They were black when I got home. The streets are lined with anything you can possible think of, and it's all for sale. There are movies, cell phones, CD's. There are power tools, and hedge trimmers. There are shoes of every variety, and foods...some of which looked ok. There are vegetables, fruits, and fresh caught fish. And then there's s0mething I was totally not expecting to see...pets. You can purchase aquarium fish, birds, turtles, lizards, and a few guniea pigs. RANDOM!!!
We had no problems with the locals, they seemed to notice we weren't alone. There was this one boy arond 15 who followed me for a bit saying "Hey! Hey! Hungry!" But he was at work, and even if I'd had money, he wasn't that attractive.
We spent some time in the bead store, one of many, and as it started to get dark we tried to catch a taxi...yeah right. Remember how I said it was raining? When it rains all of the taxis fill up instantly and you're out of luck. So we walked all around Carbon to try and get to a good spot for the off chance there was a taxi. Joy and Jappie were sweethearts, and we walked as a human double stuffed oreo. Since the rain was still coming down we jumped on a jeepney. We rode it to a small shopping center, hoping for more taxis. We got off in the middle of the street and stood in the rain until a friend came with her taxi to pick us up. Oh! And when Michelle had to text, we all guarded her so that her phone wouldn't attract attention.
We ended our adventure as Americans, eating Greek food, in the Philippines. Man I'm all multi-cultural these days.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
The Island Lost It's Mind!!!!
So, if you read my previous post you'll see that we spent our New Year's Eve safe inside our cement wall community. But, we still had some fun!
Once again, we went swimming! The pool was cleaned 2 days before, insuring the lack of dead slug and live frog slime. So we took advantage of it.
Side note, can you imagine being a slug or a frog? Just going about your life, hopping or sliming your way along and all of the sudden you find yourself falling into a giant pool?! How much do you want to bet you would have peed your little frog/slug undies?! I know I would have. The slug was dead, and his slimy little body stayed in the pool for a few days. The frog on the other hand, was so not dead! Even though when Michelle checked on it it appeared to be. When we went to show the kids it was very much alive! It was trying it's hardest to evade the boys poking it with sticks! Apparently chlorine isn't as deadly to frogs. Well, I felt bad for the poor little guy, he just kept swimming laps, trying to get out. And so I rescued him...Filipino frogs are much more slimey than bumpy, in case you ever asked yourself that question. But stupid, stupid me, I didn't kiss him. Now I'll never know what could have been.
Back to our celebration. After we swam and ate we decided to implement a few of the Filipino traditions. But by 8:00 the kids were lagging. So, we had our celebration around 9:00. We turned on all of the lights, and drank pineapple soda out of goblets. We put coins in our pockets and banged on pans, to insure wealth in the coming year. The kids jumped up and down to insure they'd grow taller in the next year, we ate round fruits (mentos) also to increase wealth. It was super fun! And, so as not to forget American traditions, we kissed Brycen. (Todd was asleep).
We were all exhausted and decided to just go to bed around 10:00. But, the fireworks and guns made it hard to want to go to sleep, who wants to sleep when the whole island's freaking out?! So, I was just sitting on my bed, watching Star Trek and eating nerds...slighlty sad that I couldn't see past the cement wall behind my room. Then Michelle came in and told me to come to their room. We went out on the balcony at 11:59 and watched the whole island lose it's mind, literally lose it's mind. I've never seen so many fireworks in my life! It was like the 4th of July on crack! The sky was a huge cloud of haze and smoke and you could see fireworks everywhere! On the ground, on the hills, in the jungle covered mountains! Just when you thought it was over they'd set more off. We were out there for quite some time and they were still going strong! It was amazing! The machine gun going off outside my bedroom was a bit unsettling, but awesome! If the year comes in with such a bang, how can it not be amazing! This will forever be one of the most memorable New Year's in my life!
Once again, we went swimming! The pool was cleaned 2 days before, insuring the lack of dead slug and live frog slime. So we took advantage of it.
Side note, can you imagine being a slug or a frog? Just going about your life, hopping or sliming your way along and all of the sudden you find yourself falling into a giant pool?! How much do you want to bet you would have peed your little frog/slug undies?! I know I would have. The slug was dead, and his slimy little body stayed in the pool for a few days. The frog on the other hand, was so not dead! Even though when Michelle checked on it it appeared to be. When we went to show the kids it was very much alive! It was trying it's hardest to evade the boys poking it with sticks! Apparently chlorine isn't as deadly to frogs. Well, I felt bad for the poor little guy, he just kept swimming laps, trying to get out. And so I rescued him...Filipino frogs are much more slimey than bumpy, in case you ever asked yourself that question. But stupid, stupid me, I didn't kiss him. Now I'll never know what could have been.
Back to our celebration. After we swam and ate we decided to implement a few of the Filipino traditions. But by 8:00 the kids were lagging. So, we had our celebration around 9:00. We turned on all of the lights, and drank pineapple soda out of goblets. We put coins in our pockets and banged on pans, to insure wealth in the coming year. The kids jumped up and down to insure they'd grow taller in the next year, we ate round fruits (mentos) also to increase wealth. It was super fun! And, so as not to forget American traditions, we kissed Brycen. (Todd was asleep).
We were all exhausted and decided to just go to bed around 10:00. But, the fireworks and guns made it hard to want to go to sleep, who wants to sleep when the whole island's freaking out?! So, I was just sitting on my bed, watching Star Trek and eating nerds...slighlty sad that I couldn't see past the cement wall behind my room. Then Michelle came in and told me to come to their room. We went out on the balcony at 11:59 and watched the whole island lose it's mind, literally lose it's mind. I've never seen so many fireworks in my life! It was like the 4th of July on crack! The sky was a huge cloud of haze and smoke and you could see fireworks everywhere! On the ground, on the hills, in the jungle covered mountains! Just when you thought it was over they'd set more off. We were out there for quite some time and they were still going strong! It was amazing! The machine gun going off outside my bedroom was a bit unsettling, but awesome! If the year comes in with such a bang, how can it not be amazing! This will forever be one of the most memorable New Year's in my life!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Christmas Over Seas
First of all, I need to vent. I'm not really sure how, perhaps a little problem with the wattage difference, perhaps water from the maid mopping the floor, either way, my laptop charger is fried and I can no longer charge or use my laptop. So, tie to home #1=Dead! Heaven bless the inventors of the iPhone. If it weren't for you and your lack of a social life and nerd-like tendencies, I may have lost my mind by now. But that should explain the lack of posts lately, and the lack of pictures in the future. But I'm still cool, so read anyway.
Well, we had quite the entertaining Christmas. How weird is it too say Christmas over seas and actually mean it? Pretty freaking weird I'll tell you what! Margie, our awesome cook, insisted on making us a fancy dinner on Christmas Eve. So, that pretty much rocked my world! But first of all, I should explain that we were instructed not to leave our house on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, or New Year's Day. You see, these days are a big party here, and parties mean a huge population of drunk people. Add the fact that the majority of the island own guns and you can see why it's not safe. The Filipinos also really like fireworks, and it takes a trained ear to hear the difference between fireworks, and gun shots.
Michelle and I were determined to make it a little like home, and so we tried. Christmas Eve, my personal favorite day of the year, dawned hot and humid. So, while we sweated, Michelle made Getman pancakes. We were able to find powdered sugar and crazy expensive imported lemons...man they were good! New tradtion #1 added to my heart. We needed to make treats for Santa, and so we made some no-bakes cookies, it seemed like a nice alternative to having the oven on for hours! But, having lived in a desert our whole lives we soon found out that no-bakes don't like to set up in hot and humid conditions, even if you put a fan on them. But they do taste pretty awesome when frozen. Then we went swimming, because when else can we go swimming outside on Christmas Eve and not run the risk of hypothermia?
After our excursion in the pool we got all dressed up, and had a wonderful dinner. We ate on a beautifully set table, complete with folded napkins and goblets. We had all sorts of awesome food, including ham ball, and a yummy pork dish I can't pronounce. Tradition #2, fancy Christmas Eve dinner. Then we read the scriptures, opened pajamas (mine were from my closet, stuff doesn't fit my luscious shape out here) and watched Home Alone. So fun! The kids were as exited as ever, and had no doubts that Santa knew where we were.
Noche Buena is a tradtion out here. Everyone wakes up at midnight and has a huge feast! The fireworks and gun shots began to shake our house at about 11, and lasted until long after we were asleep. We did our best to take part in this new tradition, minus the kids of course (some traditions like Santa just can't be sacrificed), and we ate queso and cookies and were asleep by 2. Hey, don't judge! It's hard to be awake out here.
At lunch on Christmas Eve Kaitlyn asked Heavenly Father to let her wake up when everyone was still asleep so she could see Santa and tell him Merry Christmas! So we slept with a mattress in front of the stairs. We openend presents with our families! That was the most amazing little miracle! We had 2 laptops running, the Bailey family on one and the Beck family on the other. So fun, even if we are still waiting for most of the packages they were assured would be here by Christmas!
We spent the day in our pajamas...with the air on! Our Christmas present to ourselves. We all got some sweet presents, including Tangled (who loves Asia? Oh that's right, me). But he most amazing part of the holiday of miracles was to talk to and see our family! There may be an ocean between us, but the miracles of technology made it feel like a small puddle!
Well, we had quite the entertaining Christmas. How weird is it too say Christmas over seas and actually mean it? Pretty freaking weird I'll tell you what! Margie, our awesome cook, insisted on making us a fancy dinner on Christmas Eve. So, that pretty much rocked my world! But first of all, I should explain that we were instructed not to leave our house on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, or New Year's Day. You see, these days are a big party here, and parties mean a huge population of drunk people. Add the fact that the majority of the island own guns and you can see why it's not safe. The Filipinos also really like fireworks, and it takes a trained ear to hear the difference between fireworks, and gun shots.
Michelle and I were determined to make it a little like home, and so we tried. Christmas Eve, my personal favorite day of the year, dawned hot and humid. So, while we sweated, Michelle made Getman pancakes. We were able to find powdered sugar and crazy expensive imported lemons...man they were good! New tradtion #1 added to my heart. We needed to make treats for Santa, and so we made some no-bakes cookies, it seemed like a nice alternative to having the oven on for hours! But, having lived in a desert our whole lives we soon found out that no-bakes don't like to set up in hot and humid conditions, even if you put a fan on them. But they do taste pretty awesome when frozen. Then we went swimming, because when else can we go swimming outside on Christmas Eve and not run the risk of hypothermia?
After our excursion in the pool we got all dressed up, and had a wonderful dinner. We ate on a beautifully set table, complete with folded napkins and goblets. We had all sorts of awesome food, including ham ball, and a yummy pork dish I can't pronounce. Tradition #2, fancy Christmas Eve dinner. Then we read the scriptures, opened pajamas (mine were from my closet, stuff doesn't fit my luscious shape out here) and watched Home Alone. So fun! The kids were as exited as ever, and had no doubts that Santa knew where we were.
Noche Buena is a tradtion out here. Everyone wakes up at midnight and has a huge feast! The fireworks and gun shots began to shake our house at about 11, and lasted until long after we were asleep. We did our best to take part in this new tradition, minus the kids of course (some traditions like Santa just can't be sacrificed), and we ate queso and cookies and were asleep by 2. Hey, don't judge! It's hard to be awake out here.
At lunch on Christmas Eve Kaitlyn asked Heavenly Father to let her wake up when everyone was still asleep so she could see Santa and tell him Merry Christmas! So we slept with a mattress in front of the stairs. We openend presents with our families! That was the most amazing little miracle! We had 2 laptops running, the Bailey family on one and the Beck family on the other. So fun, even if we are still waiting for most of the packages they were assured would be here by Christmas!
We spent the day in our pajamas...with the air on! Our Christmas present to ourselves. We all got some sweet presents, including Tangled (who loves Asia? Oh that's right, me). But he most amazing part of the holiday of miracles was to talk to and see our family! There may be an ocean between us, but the miracles of technology made it feel like a small puddle!
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