Places, words, animals, and laundry

We had language/culture training for the past two weeks, which I probably don't need because I was born and raised here until I was 7, right? Nope, it turns out all I remember is how to count from 1-10. Which is helpful sometimes, but most of the time people just use English numbers because Tagalog numbers are too long. Yep.

We went on a pretty awesome field trip to become cultured, or learn about culture, or something. First stop, Quiapo Church, which dates back when Spain was the boss in the 1500s. Interestingly, just around the corner, people sell all sorts of charms, amulets, fetishes, and talismans, and they burn magic/curse/spell candles.

Next stop, Light and Sound Museum in Intramuros, which a) taught us some of the historic background of the Philippines, and b) slightly scared the little children. No flash photography was allowed in the inside exhibits, but we managed to take a photo with José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. He's seen better days, but feet and fingers are sometimes overrated anyways. Here's a photo of Jenny, Danielle, Sarah, Pepe, and me having a nice chat.

Lastly: Fort Santiago, where the aforementioned José was imprisoned before his execution. Apparently, Dr. José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda's nickname was - you guessed it!- Pepe. That was blatantly obvious. As is my ineptitude in balancing. Sarah and Danielle are pretty great at it.

I also learned some crucial words, like:

CR = comfort room = washroom. Yep, it's a washroom, y'all.
mainit: hot
mangga: mango
saklolo: help!
itaas ang bubong: raise the roof

I got to use my broken and heavily accent laden Tagalog with the women we met the other night on outreach, which made a huge difference in connecting with them. Even though I seem like a Filipina who's just a little slow on the uptake, it means a lot to them that we're at least trying to communicate in their native language. Also, we sang and danced at a makeshift "bar" (aka. market stall by day) with a few women from the street, including a pregnant lady. She wants to name her child Polkadot. 

The other day while I was out and about, someone slashed my bag, but good thing it has two layers, so the wannabe thief only got through the outer layer. Thwarted! I got it fixed today at the seamster (or whatever the proper male version of seamstress is), for free. And now it looks brand spankin' new. Double thwarted.

Last week we were visited by a rat, which left the following collateral damages: 4 cute, innocent, bug-eating, little geckos got stuck in the sticky trap. It was a sad moment.

In other news, we have decided to forgo the semi-automatic washing machine that takes a day to finish, and instead paid someone to wash it. Two days with clothes scraps was definitely worth the 10 buck.

Warm, ironed, folded, clean clothes