On Friday, we, along with Robert's youngest sister, Manilyne, had a spa day; we all had manicures and pedicures and the kids also had haircuts. Danica was thrilled to have little white flowers painted on the bright red nail colour she picked out for herself. Duncan was perhaps even more ecstatic when he had Pikachu painted on his big toes. Mommy and Tita Manilyne opted out of the nail art but even Daddy had a Filipino flag painted on his big toes!
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| Tita Manilyne and Duncan enjoying their foot spa. |
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| Danica showing off her pretty manicure |
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| An Ifugao house |
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| Planting rice |
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| Losing my intestines |
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| It can't be all fun in the Philippines |
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| Filipino merienda - complete with a coconut shell bowl |
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| Danica enjoying her merienda |
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| Tita Beauty |
Today, we headed to Amana Waterpark Resort for a day of fun in the sun.
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| Rivera Family Reunion 2013 |
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| Danica and Duncan with a banana leaf |
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| Duncan |
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| Duncan, Danica, Sam, Ira and Chessie |
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| Robert & I in the wave pool |
This is what I've learned so far:
1) Danica does not like people staring at her. While at the Museo Pambata yesterday, there was a musical performance that we decided to attend. Numerous school groups were also present and after staring at me for a while, they began to stare at Danica. She, in return, buried her head in my lap and said "there are too many people looking". Later on at the theatre production, she went up to the front with her cousins to sit with other children where she would have a better view of the stage. She came back to me in tears, upset that people were looking at her. Luckily she didn't notice all the people staring at me at the Waterpark yesterday!
2) There are over 25,000 different types of insects found in the Philippines. So far, I've only encountered some ants and flies/mosquitoes; hopefully that's all I find...
3) Robert's brother-in-law, Vher, must have a GPS in his brain. It doesn't seem to matter where we want to go, he knows where it is and how to get there. It doesn't even seem to depend on whether or not it's in Manila or in one of the provinces - he knows where it is. And on the rare occasion he doesn't, he actually stops and asks for directions before getting hopelessly lost!
4) SPF50 on my white Canadian skin is no match for the strong Filipino sun. In spite of slathering it all over and reapplying as well as staying out of the sun in the afternoon when it's supposedly at it's strongest, I am a lobster. To add to my misfortune, I neglected to bring after sun lotion as I was convinced if I faithfully applied sunscreen and wore a hat when necessary, I would not burn this time! Luckily the kids escaped with only a hint of pink on their cheeks and nose.
5) Filipino drivers are actually really good. On previous trips, I thought they were insane. I'm not sure there are any traffic laws which are enforced here; they seem to be merely suggestions. All the drivers are aggressive but somehow, there are very few accidents. Having said that, we witnessed one this evening involving 2 motorcycles and a pedicab, which brings me to the next point...
6) Regardless of language, young children repeat absolutely everything they hear that they shouldn't. After witnessing the accident, a few of the adults in our vehicle uttered a few "S@*%"'s. Of course, once they left the vehicle to make sure everyone was okay, Chessie repeated the phrase a few times in exactly the same tone of voice. Tita Pam then explained that it wasn't a very nice word for little girls to use, that it is a word that adults sometimes use when something really bad happens. I'm not sure how much English she understands but she nodded, smiled, and refrained from using it again.
7) Worrying about your children's safety is a luxury that I know I take for granted all the time as I tell my kids to "be careful" when they are doing something as innocuous as playing tag or hide and seek. Driving through a very poor part of Manila yesterday and watching 2 young kids, probably no older than Danica, playing in a pile of rubble barefoot and throwing chunks of concrete while other young children played right next to a very busy street was certainly eye-opening for me. I wish my kids had been awake to see it as I think it may have enlightened them as to how lucky we are in Canada. These kids were bathing on the side of the road with a bucket, living in shacks that looked as though a stiff wind could knock them down. At home, I admit that I would have been questioning where the parents were that they were allowing their children to play in such risky ways; yesterday, I realized that when you are worried about keeping a roof over your head, how to feed your children, and where you will get water to bathe them, you don't worry about things that may or may not happen, such as a broken ankle from falling down in the rubble.
8) Family is everything to the Filipino culture. I mean, I love my family. I enjoy spending time with my parents and grandmother and my brother and my aunts, uncles and cousins on the rare occasions I get to see them too. I know I didn't always want to spend my time with my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins as a teenager though. Since we've arrived, though, all of Robert's nieces and nephews, with the exception of the little one who is sick, came with us wherever we went. Even Robert's nephews spent loads of time playing with the little kids and looking like they were enjoying it. That is a rare sight in Canada.
9) Tropical fruit is meant to be eaten in the tropics, not in Northern Ontario. A ripe juicy mango is so much sweeter and juicier when freshly picked off the tree. Pineapple is barely recognizable as the same fruit we eat at home. I can't even wait to eat fresh buko and hopefully some buko pie (coconut).
10) A hot shower with loads of water pressure is so much more enjoyable than a Filipino shower with a tabo. I'm not saying the Filipino shower isn't refreshing because it certainly is in this heat and humidity; a tabo shower also gets the job done. It certainly doesn't leave you feeling like you want to stand there for a good 20 minutes letting the water rain down on your head or shoulders though.
Our original plan of doing nothing today except pack for our little jaunt to Palawan without the children while Robert's parents and sisters headed to the polls to vote in new Mayors, Senators and Governors has now changed into a trip to Novaliches to visit the extended Rivera family and to an air-conditioned shopping mall. I should likely point out that "malling" is a verb here, meaning "to walk in the mall, window shop" and that Manila boasts more malls and bigger malls than almost anywhere else in Asia and perhaps even the world.
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