A Slight Change In Plans.

According to the shipping company's website, we have balikbayan boxes in Manila waiting to be shipped here to us in Sibulan. No word, as yet, on the shipment coming from the second company. When we were in the U.S., my wife and I used two different companies to ship the balikbayan boxes, and the old adage about getting what you pay for is certainly holding up in this particular case.

One company, LBC Express, is a bit higher priced. $105 per box verses $75 per box with Continental, however, I'm convinced now that the difference in price is worth it.

Even though the LBC shipment was sent after the Continental, the LBC shipments are arriving ahead of the other. We cannot even track the Continental shipment. A friend in the States, who shipped her boxes via Continental the same time we did,says her boxes are in Manila. We're assuming ours are as well, though I can't understand why they haven't been delivered.

Inside one of the LBC boxes, placed inside a steel-toed boot, are garden seeds. We've been anxiously awaiting their arrival. But now, as it turns out, we might not have a location to plant the seeds. I dug up a little area beside the house where I can plant a few bell pepper and tomato plants, but we no longer have access to the larger plot where we had hoped to plant the cantaloupe, watermelons and the assorted varieties of squash.

My wife's father has been a caretaker of sorts on a piece of property belonging to a Filipino who had immigrated to the United States years ago. Unfortunately, the property has finally been sold and it will only be a matter of time before he and my wife's mother will have to vacate.

Not only will we not have the larger plot for our vegetable garden, but we'll have to find a new home for the pigs. Most of the piglets will be sold off before they have to leave the property, but the sow and the piglet my wife and I wanted to slaughter when it was big enough, will have to be relocated.

There is a small piece of land behind our house which belongs to my wife's cousin. This particular parcel is vacant and we're hoping the cousin will allow us to put a garden there. Unfortunately, it isn't a suitable location for raising pigs.

So, it appears that the LBC shipped boxes will arrive relatively soon. Once I begin in earnest on the gardening, I'll take photos. I'm sure everyone is excited about that.

Let Them Eat....Huh......Pork.

Philippines is overwhelmingly a Christian country, with more than 85% of the population being Christian. The vast majority of Filipinos are Catholic - the breakdown being 80% Catholic with a little more than 5% of the population being non-Catholic Christians. The number of non-Catholics in the country is almost equal to the number of Muslims in Philippines.

In spite of the fact that Muslims make up a tiny minority, tomorrow is a holiday here because it is Eid al Fitr - the ending of Ramadan fasting.

There will be no school tomorrow, in the secular or Catholic schools.

Far be it from me to tell Filipinos what days they can celebrate as holidays, but I, for one, intend to celebrate the day by eating pork during at least one meal tomorrow.

Oh yeah, and probably drink a beer as well.

It's just my own little contribution.

Mass Confusion

Catholics and Protestants, and the nature of their particular church services, are very different. I know it's no longer politically correct to state that once obvious fact and I also know such a statement will not go over well with that group Michael Voris calls the "church of nice". But, never the less.........

The Catholic Mass can be divided into the Liturgy of the Word and the Liturgy of the Eucharist. It is the Liturgy of the Eucharist which most separates us from Protestants and I consider the latter to be the most important part of the Mass.

Protestant services do not celebrate the Eucharist. Their services, for that reason, wouldn't be either Liturgy of the Eucharist or even Liturgy of the Word, but simply put, only words - sometimes profound, though often not.

Even though the Liturgy of the Eucharist is the more important of the two - what could possibly be more important than receiving the body and blood of Jesus Christ?- I would not go as far as to say the Liturgy of the Word is unimportant.

It is difficult finding a Mass in English here. Often I go to Mass strictly for the Eucharist. As I've mentioned before, the readings for any particular day can be found on the USCCB website in both textual and audio formats. Knowing I'll probably not be able to follow along at a Mass in Sibulan, I'll read the texts for the day before going to the church.

When this slow Internet allows be to do so, I'll go to the word on fire website to listen to Father Robert Barron's homily. Unfortunately, the slow connection all too frequently prevents me from doing this.

It took longer than 30 minutes last evening, but I was finally able to download Fr. Barron's 14 minute homily.

This morning, we went to Mass at 8:30 when, we were told, we'd hear the Mass in English. That wasn't completely true. The readings were given in English, but between the accents and the less than adequate PA system, I was glad that I had read today's readings last night.

When the priest was speaking, he was able to overcome the poor PA. But, sadly, his homily wasn't totally in English. He switched back and forth from Visayan to English and back again, making it very difficult getting anything worthwhile out of the homily.

Next week, some time before Sunday Mass, I will go to an Internet cafe and print copies of next Sunday's reading to help JP and me follow along properly. I think my son is being deprived more, spiritually, than I am from this situation regarding the language used in the Mass; I can always take advantage of the web, but unless we do it for him, he'll not have the same exposure to the Church's teachings.

Before arriving here, I believed that I'd be attending Mass every day. So far, my having to take JP to school has prevented me from going to St. Anthony of Padua for the daily Mass. Tomorrow, I'll try to head to Dumaguete, after taking him to school, for the Mass at the Cathedral.

Will it be in English? I'll find out the answer to that tomorrow.

The Pudding

There was a heavy rain falling yesterday; it rained for nearly the entire day, in fact. There was no way I'd be getting out in it, so I was was stuck in the house all day. Most of my day was spent, playing solitaire and watching Bob Hope movies on Youtube.

When today arrived without the heavy rains, I knew I had to get out and go somewhere. After getting cleaned up, I headed out towards Dumaguete. My only plan was to eventually make my way to Super Lee's to buy a few items from their grocery department. The easy ride would not go by Lee's so, I'd get as close as I could and walk around the city, getting a bit more familiar with the streets.

There was a tricycle making its way into the city and I was able to get a ride without paying more than 10 pesos. I was not the only passenger; I told the driver where I wanted to go, but he let me know that he'd be going only as far as Cang's. That would be close enough, I figured.

When we arrived at Cang's, I was expecting the driver to stop, but when he didn't, I thought I'd just see how close we'd get. I had planned on walking part of the way, so this was all OK with me.

When the tricycle got to the High School, I told the driver I'd get out. I knew I wasn't near Super Lee's, but my plan was to become more familiar with the city and so, off I went.

I wasn't 100% sure how to get where I wanted to go. I walked in the general direction until I recognized the name of a business to the left. Turning there, I arrived at Silliman University; I wasn't lost.

I was going to kill time in Lee's. No need to be in a hurry. After window shopping a bit, I thought I'd go to the top floor to the food court. None of the food looked at all appetizing. No, I'd just go back downstairs, then across the street to McDonald's.

I don't know why, but there are two McDonald's on Perdices St., just a very short walk between the two. There are a few items on the Mickey D's menu that you won't find in an American franchise. But, there's always the Big Mac, fries and Coke. The combo is surprisingly cheap and tastes exactly like the #1 combo meal found anywhere else. I don't know why I thought that it might taste differently.

After eating lunch, I strolled around the block, going in a circle and arriving at Scooby's Internet cafe. You can always depend on the AC in a good Internet cafe.

It was check my email, my Facebook, then out the door, back to the grocery.

There are two dishes I've been craving since our arrival in Philippines - French toast, and home made, Southern style, nanner puddin' (Yankee translation: banana pudding).

I have always loved good, old fashioned banana pudding, but sadly, after I left home as a young man, I was unable to find a woman of my generation who would cook it. Cooking banana pudding, or biscuits or nearly anything else was considered traditional "women's work" and the women of my generation were Liberated and wouldn't stoop to doing such lowly work.

 I learned at a young age, that if I wanted certain foods, I'd better learn to fix them myself, and banana pudding was one of those dishes. My banana pudding is about as traditional as you can get; no instant Jello pudding - it has to be home made custard. No Kool Whip - it has to be topped with meringue.

I knew cooking the pudding my way would not be easy in Dumaguete. I could not find Vanilla wafers, and I had to find a substitute cookie. Not having an oven, I wouldn't be able to cook the meringue. I was going to grit my teeth and look for Kool Whip.

No luck.

I was, however, able to find regular whipping cream at Super Lee's. A small container would be enough for my recipe.

I purchased the milk I needed for the pudding along with extra milk and bread for tomorrow's French toast.

Having to substitute the whipped cream for the meringue turned out to be a blessing. It turned out to be the best  banana pudding - it was almost like having a soft ice cream topping.

I suppose, if I were an honest to goodness, professional blogger, I'd include a recipe, along with some nice photos. I think I'll pass.

You'll just have to use your imagination.

The Easy Ride

In was in April, 2007 that I first wrote about the ubiquitous tricycle in Dumaguete. Other than an increase in fare, very little has changed in that regard during these past seven years.

As I wrote in that earlier post, it would be an exaggeration to say that no one drives a car in Dumaguete, but Henry Ford's dream of the Everyman owning his own automobile, has not come to fruition in Philippines.

For those who own their own personal vehicle, the motorcycle is the vehicle of choice. With gasoline priced at nearly 5 USD a gallon, that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

Not everyone owns a motorcycle, however, and for these folks there are two main forms of transportation when one wishes to get out and about, either within the city or to and from the surrounding communities.

When going from point A to point B within the city of Dumaguete, generally, the preferred method is via the tricycle - a motorcycle with sidecar attached. Looking at the seats of the sidecar, one would suppose that it was designed to carry 3 or 4 passengers; I have seen as many as 7 passengers aboard, with 2 or 3 seating on the motorcycle seat behind the driver.

The standard fare for the tricycle is 10 pesos per passenger (about 26 cents American) - provided, of course, you stay within the city limits. Traveling from Dumaguete to Sibulan, for instance, increases the fare substantially; upwards of 100 pesos (not per person but per trip).

The more economical way of going from Sibulan to Dumaguete and back would be by way of a van ironically referred to as an "easy ride". The easy ride has a fixed route and catching a ride between Terminal A and Terminal B is just 10 pesos.

The easy ride isn't very large; it's smaller than the old VW van popular in the 60's and 70's. Still, you'd be surprised just how many folks can squeeze in, sitting on one of the two benches that run along the inside.

Unlike the bus driver in the U.S., should the easy ride driver see you and believes you might be a customer, he will wait until you catch up. He wants as many passengers as possible. When you're having to pay 55 pesos per liter of gasoline, every 10 peso coin helps.

If you wish to exit before coming to the terminal, you tap your coin on the hand rail of the easy ride. It works much better than trying to explain to a tricycle driver where you want to go. More than one tricycle driver has had a problem understanding such simple directions from me as "Lee Plaza" or "St. Pauls"; My accent is too slang, they say.

In 2007 I wrote:

Because I don't live here year round, I can look on all of this as a romantic,exotic adventure. I don't know if I'd have the same high regard for this sort of transportation if Dumaguete was my permanent address.

Well, now Dumaguete- or rather it's "suburb" Sibulan- is my permanent address. I can say that today I still have a high regard for this form of transportation. Mainly, I'd say, because I certainly wouldn't want to drive in this city.