Cooking for One

As sad as the title sounds, I've actually been rather enjoying the challenge of preparing my own meals! In college I had my own tactic which involved cooking mass amounts of food at a time, freezing it or throwing it in the refrigerator, and living for the next week, popping the leftovers into the microwave.


Here however, I lack the luxuries of modern appliances, such as a refrigerator, freezer and microwave. In fact the only appliance I have in my apartment is a gas range that is fueled by a portable tank.


Next challenge: Let's see, will I go to Safeway, Walmart, Fry's, or Albertsons to get my food? How about none of the above! The nearest supermarket is three hours a way, and the nearest village market is a 30 minute drive. Since I'm too lazy to even go to the open market, I've taken the hand I've been dealt, and stick to my site.


My host aunt owns a small sari store and sells basic necessities like individually wrapped one-time-use shampoo, sugar, salt, canned corned beef, AAAAANNNNND a freezer filled with chicken, pork and hotdogs! So, once a week I stop by on my way home from school, buy some meat, take out a portion, put the rest back (I've persuaded her to let me use her personal freezer), have her update my tab, and head home.


As far as veggies go, living in the middle of cabbage country, you think it would be easier to get fresh vegetables. However, since everyone here manages there own garden, there isn't a lot for sale. So I'll make an announcement in class and hope that a student will bring a sack of potatoes or carrots the next day, and I'll pay him the trading post equivalent. Thankfully, during school days there is another little sari store that sells lowland vegetables like beans, garlic, ginger, and sometimes if I get lucky, pineapples!


When it comes time to cooking a meal, I usually just throw together whatever I have around. First the rice goes on the stove, and then I look around my kitchen for the rest. This morning I threw some chicken in the frying pan with some garlic and fresh ginger. I splashed on some soy sauce and, just for the heck of it, added a heaping spoonful of sugar. To my amazement, I created a perfect Teriyaki Chicken!


Breakfasts used to be oatmeal and eggs until, let's face it, it seemed pretty wimpy without rice. And so I gave it up. I still manage a pot (french press) of coffee every morning, but I usually fry the leftover rice from the night before with some green beans and potatoes and it gives me the energy I need until merienda time three hours later!


I did a little quick math, and decided that if I were to eliminate meat from my diet, I could eat for less than 30 pesos a day. That's less than $0.70! For example, rice costs 30 pesos per kilo (two lbs) which will last me at least a week. I bought a kilo of green beans the other day for 20 pesos and they have lasted nearly two weeks! Eggs are 7 pesos each, and salt costs 15 pesos per kilo. Two pounds of salt for 35cents! The rest of it pretty much goes towards coffee, which is still absurdly cheap compared to what we pay in the States (Around $5 for two lbs).


As for the rice, I'm still working on that perfect pot. But it should be soon. I've been getting lots of practice. It's a little bit tricky when you don't have any measuring utensils, but I'll reveal that little secret when the time comes.


P.S. Anyone watch the Pacquiao v Bradley fight? It was practically a holiday off here to watch it, although the mood died down pretty quick after the results...

First Day of School

School started this week! After working long hours for over a week prepping the grounds and helping tile the computer room floor, we were finally ready for Monday morning. Let me just say, that being a teacher doesn't make the first day of school any less exciting. Watching the students getting nervous, excited to use their brand new school supplies - it started to get me excited also!

The staff!

This year, the Philippines began a K-12 program, adding 2 more years to the previous 10 year education system. "First Years" became "Grade 7" and with an all new curriculum, we are all curious to see how things will go this first year.

This year I am co-teaching two sections of Grade 7, two sections of "Second Year" and the one and only section of Seniors. I'm also co-facilitating the English Club, the school newspaper, and the all-new Achiever's League. The AL is our attempt at an Honor's Club to encourage students to maintain high grades, render service to the community, and develop their leadership skills.



Principal weloming the students at the flag ceremony.

Students on the first day.

In other news, the rainy season has started! For a while, I thought it never left. But the recent downpours have reminded me the difference in dry, drizzly season, and typhoon drenching wet season. Weather has gone from comfortably cool to damp and cold. The upside is we can let up a little on our careful preservation of water fom the summer. Coming from Arizona, I thought I knew how to preseve water. You know,  turn off the faucet when brushing your teeth and all that. But when you have a few gallons a day to get through washing dishes, clothes, cooking and bathing, you'll realize how to make a bucket water last longer than ever before.

Family Tour

Earlier this month I was blessed with the opportunity to see my family when they came to visit the Philippines! Their two week stay didn't seem anywhere near long enough, but we made the most of their short time here. They got to meet my friends and see my community, try the local cuisine, and experience a culture completely different from our own. Since it was my vacation also, I got to see some new places also that I've been wanting to visit since I arrived last July.

Best cure for Jet Lag? Don't stop moving and don't go to sleep! They may have hated me for it at first, but from the moment they stepped off the plane I had them on the move. After an eight our night trip to Baguio, we ate some breakfast and packed the car we had hired for our first week in the Cordillera Region.

The first official destination was my site in Mt. Province. After a delicious dinner provided by my host mother, my parents settled down at the Mt. Data Lodge and my brother and our friend/driver JL came and slept with me in my apartment. The next morning, I gave them the tour of the school and took them to the shaky 800ft hanging bridge.

The haunted Hanging Bridge.

 After lunch we headed to Sagada. The following day we went caving and hiked to Echo Valley to see the hanging coffins.

In the cave in Sagada.

I forgot to mention the bit of technical rope maneuvering.

The hanging coffins in Echo Valley.

Keeping on the road, we made the drove to Banaue in the afternoon, stopping over in Bontoc to see the museum. Banaue truly is an engineering wonder; terraces on top of terraces are crafted into the mountains by hand and without the use of stones. An amazing irrigation system taps the water coming down from the mountain and channels it through the rice patties. We took a 3 hour hike which turned out to be pretty intense due to balancing on long stretches of 4 inch wide irrigation walls. However, the views were outstanding and beautiful.

World's longest balance beam.

Figures like these are carved from the trunks
of fern trees.

Traditional Nipa Huts in Banaue

From Banaue it was straight back to Mt. Data for two nights. On the way to Baguio, my brother John stopped and picked out his bolo (machete) knife that he had been searching for.

 We explored Baguio for one day. It was rainy, but my family got to experience the enormous Baguio Public Market- a maze of stalls containing produce, meat counters, souvenirs, tobacco, coffee, wine and thousands of other products. The next day we took the 5am bus to begin part two of our tour: The Lowlands!

Actually, we had one destination in mind: The white sand beaches of Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. I had heard rumors about the beauty of this place and, having never been there, was willing to risk the 10 hour trip to see for myself. My family had requested we see the beach at least once while they were here, so this seemed like a good time!

The rumors were true! Pagudpud is a small town near the tip of Luzon. Although there are what seem like hundreds of resorts and homestays, the town still manages a local, small-town atmosphere. Clean sand, clear water, lined with palm trees. This picture-perfect place is somewhere I definitely want to come back to...

Local fishermen hauling in the nets.

I hope you enjoyed your vacation. I miss you guys!

NOT as good as MacDonalds but
that is up for debate.

Home

 I moved into my own place last week. It's actually attached to my host family's house, and so I got a really great deal because my host mom even offered to furnish it! It's a two room apartment on the second story of the house. There is a kitchen area and an enormous bedroom, with a veranda outside leading to the CR (bathroom). As you will see, it is much more than I expected to be living in as a Peace Corps Volunteer. Although, it still doesn't feel "lived-in" because I haven't been cooking.  I still go back to the house for meals, but starting next month I will be all on my own as far as food goes. So, let me give you the tour!

 Please take your shoes off. This is barefoot and flip-flops only territory.

The bright blue steel door. Sometimes I have trouble
getting in even when it's not locked.

 As you can see, my host mom provided me with a table and chairs, a bench and cabinet for my dining room! I have my thermos of hot water and mugs ready to serve coffee to any visitors who might stop by!

Looking in from the doorway.

 If you look to the right you will see my kitchen! Complete with hot pink water barrel for storing water, a stove and oven ( a rare commodity even if it doesn't work), and of course Shelly, the shellane gas tank. The door on right leads to the bedroom, and the other door heads outside to the veranda.

View from my bedroom door. Notice those lovely curtains, tied back in the Pinoy way. It took me HOURS to get the knot into the "flower" but don't tell my host mom that...

On my counter we have my basil, homemade fly traps,
and a sanity-saving radio.

And once again from the corner of the room...

Let's go into my room. As you can see, it's a little bare. I had so much extra space, I tied up a hammock in between the windows.

Looking to the right you will see my desk, and bunk bed.

From the far corner looking back. 

Let's go outside. The bathroom is this way...

Welcome to the Bathroom of Seven Luxuries!

1. Light enough to do your business 2. Toilet paper holder with toilet paper!
3. Shower head (even though it doesn't work)
4. Frog bathmat 5. Clog-free drainage
6. Extra water barrel with scum-free dipper
7.Toilet Seat

Well that's all. Thanks for visiting, come again!

The stairs leading down outside my front door.

Soaring

The group!

Mt. Pulag is said to be the second (or third depending on who you talk to) highest mountain in the Philippines. I had been trying to plan a hike to the summit for a couple of months, and this past weekend it became a spectacular reality.

Stop-over on the way to Kabayan with Ison and
my host brother Rajiv.

Some volunteers and I met with some other friends in La Trinidad. We collected a group that involved five volunteers, two of my host siblings, one of my students, three pastors,  and three others to form our hiking team. I've decided that connections mean EVERYTHING here, and through friends of friends of friends, we were able to get a private ride and a free guide to the top.

Skulls in the Kabayan

We left Baguio en route to Kabayan. Once we arrived in Kabayan, we settled down, and went to see a burial cave. We were invited into a house for dinner and coffee and even got some pure honey from my host family's relatives. At 7:30 we piled into a jeep and headed for the ranger station. We arrived at the mountain at around 10:30 pm and made the quiet hike all the way through the night. We stopped once to heat some coffee and catch a quick nap before continuing the last 1.5 km to the summit.

Sunrise at the summit.

I can't come close to adequately describing the experience through words or pictures. It was truly amazing possibly the most beautiful sight I had ever witnessed. As the sun crept up, the horizon ignited and revealed an ocean of clouds that stretched out before us. As the sun came closer to breaking the horizon, the clouds reflected the colors and glowed all around us. When the sun finally rose, the cold seemed to evaporate and we welcomed the warm rays on our faces.


As we hiked down, the sun exposed the beautiful scenery we had missed the night before hiking through the dark with only our headlamps. Bamboo grassland transitioned into beautiful mossy forests of ferns and flowers. We found a stretch of wild blueberries and enjoyed picking them during our last kilometer back to the station. We made it back down the mountain in time to hop on the first bus back to Baguio, and by that time the hike and lack of sleep had turned us into a group of mindless zombies whose only thoughts were of water and a soft bed.

Isa. 40:31

Disclaimer: I would like to acknowledge Cobra Energy Drink, without which this trip would have been an utter failure.

Let's compare:
Red Bull-50mg of caffeine.
Cobra - 135mg.
WHOOOOO!
(no joke)

Happy Easter!

Easter at home is always a special occasion. I have memories waking up early on Easter morning to hunt for eggs and see what goodies were in my Easter Basket. Usually my family drove down to Phoenix to meet family for brunch. 

Here an entire week builds up to Easter. Holy Week starts on Palm Sunday and lasts until Easter. In the Philippines, it is a special time of year, and I've heard so many different experiences from different volunteers. It is here where the reenact the crucifiction with men getting nailed to the cross. Others received beautiful woven palm fronds on Palm Sunday.

My site was pretty quiet during Holy Week. I was invited to a baptism in Itogon Hot Springs near La Trinidad and so I decided to go support my friend JL. It was beautiful and I got a proper sunburn for the first time in the Philippines. I stayed a few nights with his family and introduced the Easter-egg hunt to the boys their before attending church.

Cleaning fish with Erika (PCV) during the baptism in Itogon.

School is out but teachers are still busy reporting to finish filling out forms and paperwork. I'm working on a massive excel spreadsheet to make it easier for them. We are also planning to initiate an Achievers League, which will be like an Honors Club to encourage good character and reward academic excellence. When not in school, I'm finishing up things for my apartment. The room has a lot of empty space so next chance I get I'm going to look for some hammocks to string up. I'll keep you updated!

Quick Update!

Maybe you remember my list of resolutions back in January? Well, I've decided to add to the list! I'm also keeping track of my progress. I've realized that some of these objectives are going to be a lot more difficult than I thought, while at the same time I'm constantly creating a mental list of new goals I want to accomplish. So, if you want to follow along, check out the list to the right! I'll update it and add to it whenever I get the chance.


Also, I know some of you get tired of checking in only to find that I still haven't posted anything new. So, to make your lives a little bit easier, I've added the "Subscribe by Email" option on the right side. If you enter your email, it will send you a message every time I update. Hope it helps!
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Now, I realized that I've been putting up lots of pictures of the things I go and see, but not a whole lot of the everyday life at my site. So here is a glimpse:


When you walk out of my apartment (which I'll show you next time!) you walk down some stairs, then up some stairs, and you come to National Highway. If you turn left, this is what you see:

The nearest brown building is the post office, and in the distance you can barely make out the Barangay fountain, which is our landmark. The sidewalks are a blessing and a curse. They protect us from insane drivers, but it is also where all of the dogs prefer to do their business. People here refer to them as "submarines."

Looking to the right, you will see:

A simple row of houses built along the highway. The mountain rises to the left and drops to the right. That doesn't keep people from building though! Just around the bend is the path going down to the high school, and the greed roof you see in the distance is the elementary school.