whatup america!!!

dang, i just wanna comment on the comments i got from people...like julianne, who hates "rates", and "squirels" especially:), or joyce who held baby chicks while she was in the PI. haha, yeah? well i ATE baby chicks for lunch. seriously dude, theyre called "Day Old" because that's how old they are when you marinade em fry em and eat em! Aw, sorry Joyce...i only had a tiny bite. I gave up meat for lent:).

thank you for the comments buddies! it makes me miss you guys and miss home. but check it out! i love the Philippines...

by the way...im drinkin a green mango shake:)

Week number 2 here in the Philippines—it’s getting hotter!

Today I visited the palengke (market) with my Manang Susan (the caretaker of our house) and my Auntie Precy for the first time in 18 years…when I was here in 1993, I was 11 years old! So I had another new experience. There’s something gratifying about picking out a fish for dinner that’s still flipping around on the counter. Can’t beat the freshness, right? I bought…bangus! Surprise surprise, my favorite. They got everything! Squid, tilapia, octopus, maya maya (mahi mahi!), and lotsa fishies I don’t know the names for. I really wanted to take pictures of it all, but since I’ll be here for 2 more months I thought I’d just enjoy the experience instead of capturing it on my camera. Haha, I also didn’t take pictures because I didn’t want to draw MORE attention to myself! Everyone was asking Manang Susan, “Who is that, who is that?” or asking “anak e Deo?” (Is that the daughter of Deo? That’s my dad.) I’m telling you, everyone knows everything about each other, so the whole neighborhood knows I’m here.

And it’s interesting how everyone’s hands are all over everything…like after scaling and gutting my fish, the seller gave me my change with essence of bangus all over it. I’m not going to pretend I loved it because it made me feel like a real Filipino or something, but I guess I appreciated the earthiness about it all…just not the sliminess. And buying vegetables was even better, not slimy at all! I picked out cucumbers from some vendor’s display on the ground, and guess how much they cost! 20 pesos for a kilo, 5 good sized cucumbers. That’s about 40 US cents. Talaga?! (For real?!) I bought patatas (potatoes…duh!), bat (mm, banana Aires! Haha!), peppers, sibuya (onion)…plus a few more things, 2 kilos of bangus and something else, add it all up and it cost about 400 pesos, 8 bucks for enough food to last at least to next week.

So we had merienda at my Auntie Precy’s house after we shopped and dang...empanada here? A thousand times better than at home. I scarfed it up, as my dad would say, and she said “Oh, you like it? Yeah, it’s simple, just put carrots, potatoes, CORNED BEEF, etc...” Hahaha so ALL you people who know my aversion for canned meats, I stand corrected. It’s my rule: never canned meat, never. I never thought it possible. But I still don’t like Spam, no matter what happens. Corned beef empanada is the limit.

So the last few days have been great! Well, I did have to say goodbye to my dad yesterday, which was a little sad…but I’m excited to be on my own and do things for myself so I learn how to live here. I’m really trying hard to speak the Tagalog and Gaddang I learn every day. Haha, you’d be proud of me GF! I sound bad sometimes, but everyone just laughs and helps me out. So anyway, hi dad! You’re in Puyallup now, glad you made it safely…time for me to party!!!

Manila was cool, I guess. Cool to see the city, but I was glad to come back to Nueva Vizcaya last night. The chaos got to me, like from my uncle’s condo close to Greenhills Mall it took 2 hours to drive to the airport; it was rush hour. Then we had a chance to meet up with Mary Jean before she left for Seattle (the one who punched a cockroach), and I ate pasta! Pasta carbonera, without the carbonera. So white sauce with spaghetti noodles and mushrooms, hit the spot. I miss pasta! And did I mention this already? Probably. Mex-i-can food! Man, chips and salsa, a chicken chimmi from Azteca? Someone send me a Fiesta Platter from Azteca or a kids’ meal from Taco Time.

Well no, not really, since I’m all stocked up here now. Everyone’s always throwing food at me too. I’m probably even more docal than I was before! I really can’t complain about anything. I have good food, family all around, and friends (in the form of cool aunts, uncles and neighbors). I share a nice house with Manang Susan (and just a couple of rats), take warm showers every day, sleep with the air-conditioning going all night, and eat 4 or 5 meals daily.

Wow, like yesterday!

In Manila we ate tupig for breakfast, had lunch at MJ’s hotel, merienda at Chow King, a CARAMEL FRAP at Starbucks (YES!), and pizza and SMB for dinner. Not to mention the holy homemade polveron in the car (my great aunt, Sister Isidore, made it).

Enough about food. I promise my next blog will be more meaningful and very, very deep. But one more cool new experience? I drove! Haha, I drove in the Philippines! My uncles were both exhausted after driving all day and night to get to Manila and back within 24 hours, so Father Vic pulled over about an hour away from Bayombong and said “Aleah, please drive. I have to sleep!”. So I did it! For people who haven’t been to the Philippines, imagine constantly playing chicken with oncoming cars, and people bicycling, walking, standing, tricycling, and caribou-pulled wagoning right there on the road, since there are no sidewalks. I was scared so I didn’t go too fast, but I overtook all the cars in my path, honked my horn (but only once!), flashed my high beams at everyone. We got home safely, I guess that’s the important thing!

How’s everyone at home? Praying for CLP and Youth Leaders SHOUT and everything! Ingatz!

Aleah