THE NITTY, GRITTY STUFF OF LIFE HERE IN THE PHILIPPINES

I am going to write about the everyday stuff where we are right now. I might not cover everything but hopefully this should give you an insight of what it's like to live here. I grew up in this little town, my beloved Hinunangan, went to school here until I moved to Manila in 1977 to pursue my college education. I've been gone since then, seldom coming home for a visit, I moved to the US after Michael and I got married in 1987. I came home for my parents' 50^th Wedding Anniversary in 1999 with our two sons in tow, and in 2005 when my dad passed on. During those brief visits my longing to stay home keeps gnawing at me. And who wouldn't want to? I keep asking myself, “What would I give up to enjoy all these breathtaking scenery and beauty that God has blessed the Philippines with?” 

I decided I'd give up anything...I'd give up covenience, a big house, lots of “stuff”, I'd leave behind the rat race and the constant stress and worries that haunts day in and day out. And yes, I'd give up the washer and dryer, . Here we are doing our laundry at the back of the beach house one day. The constant breeze from the Pacific is our dryer.

“I WANT MY MAYTAG”

This is our clothes washing “station” at the back of the house we are staying. Our dryer is the line you see in the background. Michael and I do the laundry together everyday so it isn't too overwhelming. We spend about P7.50 in detergent every week. We figured we will be busy once we settled in our new place so Michael thinks we will buy a washer then. I believe he just want his Maytag back :)

There is a nipa and bamboo hut behind the property we are staying complete with a kitchen and a loft. There's a wood stove in the kitchen that Michael decided we will use to cook our food. Two weeks of doing that he decided he is tired of trying to start a fire. His scouting and camping expertise didn't pan out here :) so we end up cooking our food in the big house with the gas stove. “It was worth the try,” I told him.

My cousin's house has a big yard. In the front are two mango trees, several lanzones tress, chico trees and to the back are santol trees, more lanzones and a sunkist tree. Every morning I sweep the leaves into piles and burn them. While I'm at it I also burn our trash. There are no trash collectors here in the smaller villages or barangays, you take care of your trash. And, no street sweepers either, you take care of the street in front of your house or property.

Most of the people here buy and cook just enough for each meal everyday as most do not have refrigerators. We still go to the market and groceries once a week for a week's worth of groceries. The reason why I stated “groceries” and not “grocery” is because you have to go to at least three different ones to get everything on your list which is so frustrating. But I keep telling myself I'm not in America anymore.

There are chicken to be fed every morning and evening and that became JJ's responsibility. We need to get used to eating home-grown, free range native chicken. Michael thinks they are a little tough (because they are so lean) but they are excellent for chicken soup. We tried cooking oven fried chicken in the dutch oven that we brought with us and it tasted good. Here's JJ feeding the chicken.

The three 5-gal. jugs you see in the back of the house are filled with water every morning and Michael sets them out in the sun all day.  At the end of the day we have our warm baths.  We found out 5 gallons of water per person is all we need for our baths.

We now have established a “suki” for our morning pan de sal which is a roll that most Filipinos have for breakfast with their coffee. A vendor riding a bicycle with a box full of pan de sal at the back sells them early morning, as early as 4am (which at that time, the rolls are still hot, just off the oven). They are P10 for a dozen. They are small rolls, though. We love them paired with sliced processed cheese.

I promise I will be updating this article as there are lots to write about the nitty gritty and everyday stuff. Until then, thanks for following and God bless.

PORK CHOP and LECHON -------- HMMM

We never thought we'll do this, but we are raising two piglets. My cousin Elizabeth and her husband Joven, who so graciously let us live in their empty house for free, has a pigpen next to the nipa hut behind their house. Our next door neighbor just happened to have piglets for sale so we bought two which proved to be a wise decision. The piglets keep us busy from morning to night. Michael enjoys getting up in the morning and checking on them. These creatures CAN be playful and interacts with him with their antics. He talks to them and they recognize his voice. They even act like our former dog, Abby, who had a constant need to be petted. I never thought pigs can be like that.....and they are so cute.

JJ was so excited when we first got them but soon lost interest in them. So much for having pigs for pets. He insisted they are going to be his pets and that he will be taking care of them. That didn't last. We will be adding two more in a month as there is an extra pen for two or three more.

Here they are.

One of them is named Porkchop and the other one is Lechon. We bought them for P2000.00 each and hopefully at the end of November we shall be able to sell them around P9000 – P9500 per. We will be adding two more in the middle of this month. We already have a name for them too: Bacon and Shortrib.

We will be raising organic pigs at the property we are getting and possibly have a sow.  That should keep us busy along with organic gardening.