Portia’s Island

Its another Sunday in the house without Orrin. It feels very quiet now without the little guy running around and keeping me busy. We had to leave him in Silay with his Lola so that I can focus on conducting my fieldwork. Nanay was quite happy to have him there, because Orrin came with his yaya, a month’s supply of milk, diapers and cerelac. He really made the house come alive. Nanay’s original baby on four legs (a dog named Frodo) rarely gets attention now that Orrin is there. Orrin likes all the attention he gets from everybody, and he makes sure he gets it most of the time, the little entertainer.

As for me, since I got sick with the flu, I am taking it easy for today. But tomorrow, we are going to Apo Island, and staying there for until Thursday, diving and snorkelling and doing my thing, observing parrotfish behavior. Behavioral ecology is fun, I like it. (But a my husband would say, only a geek like me can say that). In the tradition of Jane Goddall and Diane Fossey, I am doing my best to learn something from the parrotfishes. hahaha! And of course, get closer to finally completing the degree that is taking me 7 years to complete…

I wish though that Orrin is here. I really miss having him around. If only he were big enough to go with us to Apo Island without having to lug around all the milk and diapers….. I am so looking forward to the time when he can be weaned from diapers and milk and a bit more independent, and we can finally take him with us in diving trips around Negros Island. And when he is big enough to wear the smallest snorkel and fins we can find, then he is ready to start exploring the reefs with me and his Papi. And the day he can go diving with us would be just as important as the day he took his first steps in the world…..

They say when it pours, it really pours. For almost two years, I have been out of work, and now that I can work, I am getting swamped.

I am working on two projects now, both of them part time. Two part-time jobs that constitute a full time job really. And not to mention THE thesis that is currently proceeding at snail’s pace. Then there is Orrin. Thank God for Ate Wilma, I do not have to worry so much about keeping the house spic and span.

Sometimes I wish there were 25 hours in a day, so that I can have the extra hour for sleep. Or maybe 8 days in a week,so that I can have the extra day just to do the things that I enjoy doing. My flower beds have become very wild, and the basil plants have recently acquired a jungle-look. And the oven has become a storage box for left-overs for over 2 months now. =( Arne is currently in vacation so he has all the time to take care of the bonsais…. but sometimes I worry what will happen when he will be buy with instructing, andI have to take care of our forest of littte trees and shrubs.

But even though time is kind of tight, I am not complaining. Because I am being productive, and I am getting paid for what I do. Time management is something everybody has to learn eventually. And what I have learned lately is that one has to have priorities. No matter how important your work is, that only comes next to family. And one has to have "me-time" once in a while, just to keep sane. Which reminds me, my ballroom dancing class starts next week…6-8pm MWF. I will dance my way to fitness. So that nobody will mistake me for being pregnant, and I will finally be able to wear the  pre-Orrin clothes in the back of the closet that have been waiting for me for over a year now.

I can do this. The thesis will turn out fine, the project deliverables will be delivered, the outputs will be out, and I will lose the bilbil. But for the moment, I have to prepare Orrin’s afternoon bath…

Last week, I made a long, wet trip from Selinog to Negros Island in the middle of the night on a small boat full of iced fish destined for the market in Dumaguete. Looking back, it seemed almost crazy to do it, but at that time, I was just desperate to go home.

I woke up at 1230 am, put on my wetsuit, and grabbed my bags and headed out of the door. It was too warm of course, so I took off the wetsuit down to the waist and tied the sleeves in the back of my waist. The fish comprador’s house was about 300 m away from the house where I stayed for the two weeks I was doing fieldwork in the island. I had to walk that distance lugging a backpack, a dry bag, a big plastic full of bulad (dried fish) and a flashlight.

I ended up walking in the dark after a few meters because the light was so bright (i used a dive light) and I didn’t want to be very visible. its kind of strange to see a figure lugging bags in a wetsuit in the middle of the night, and I knew some people were woken up by the barking dogs.

We fiinally left Selinog at around 2 am, after all the fish was loaded, and we have navigated out of the rocky, shallow parts. I had to wear my wetsuit because I knew the trip would be wet and very cold. I did a similar trip two years ago, and shivering was putting it mildly. Being chilled to the bone was more like it. And its no comfort at all not seeing the water, surrounded by a dark ocean and seeing distant thunder and lightning in the sky. I really felt small amidst the vastness of the open sea.

I had full faith in the seaworthiness of our small boat and the capability of the boat captain. He has made this trip a thousand times, and of course we would not capsize. But of course, it was a long trip in total darkness, and if we did capsize due to a rouge wave, I figured I will be ok because I had my wetsuit on anyway. For as long as I could see the lighthouse of Apo Island getting nearer, I felt reassured.

After 5 long hours of constant wind and the sea dumping pails of salty water on me every minute or so, we finally docked on the fisheries port in CAnday-ong, Dumaguete. I was a sight to see for all the people on the port, waiting for the fish. After all, its not everyday the boat from Selinog also delivers a soaking wet "diver".  My husband arrived soon after with Slave II (our pick-up). Boy, my ass felt like a queen as I sat on the front seat after 5 hours of sitting on hard plywood and bamboo rigging!

After a longed for bath(I had to learn to take a batch in two dipper fulls of water in the island) and a quick breakfast (bread and tea never tasted so good!) , we loaded the car again and headed for the other side of Negros Island–to Silay, where Orrin is. It was a very nice day for travelling up to San Carlos, and over the mountains in Don Salvador Benedicto. Slave II even had a new speed record on the road down to Murcia. After 5 hours, we arrived in Silay.

Everybody was surprised to see us, including my son, who cried immediately when he saw me, and clung even tighter to Lola.  Serves me right for leaving him for several weeks. But after a while, I finally got the hug and the kiss from my little guy. And that made the very very long trip home worth it.

The world is slowly getting fucked up becuase of Global Warming and still all that people can think about is how to make money. It makes me sooooo fucking angry!!!!!!!

I just watched “An Inconvenient Truth”, and I think its one of the best documentaries I’ve seen. I went to my room straight way to blog it, to encourage everybody to watch it, because it will really open up your mind to the reality of global warming. And what the fuck! I saw this article on Yahoo! entitled “Riches await as earth’s icy north melts” http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070324/ap_on_sc/arctic_bonanza

What the fuck?! I do not usually use swear words and I never like using swear words, but is that article for real? The world is slowly getting fucked and I can’t believe plenty of people are actually looking forward to it because they can make big bucks out of the whole situation! Nations are actually ready to send warships to guard a bit of rock in the middle of nowhere because when the arctic ice melts, then ships can pass from Europe to the Pacific side of Canada and the US and that means profit for some corporation somewhere. And then there is the oil in the Arctic Sea that everybody is speculating is there. Yes, the all important oil that will fuel the economy, the oil that will end up being burned and contribute to the climate crisis we are facing now.

I AM REALLY PISSED OFF. Don’t these people know that if the polar ice caps melt, then the whole world will get fucked? Millions of people will die from starvation, flooding, intense typhoons, and from too much heat or too much cold–and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Global warming is happening, and that is a fact. And we are not heedng it, our politicians are not doing something about it. And most of us do not even care! Oh, and the icing on top of the cake: Some people are actually looking forward for the ice caps to melt so that they can get rich!

Its enough to make anybody who even has the slightest concern about what will happen to the world rant our in anger. Have we become so materialistic that we do not even see the state of the world we live in beyond the money that we will make? Are people actually that callous to look forward to an impending disaster because of the money windfall it will give them?

I believe that the icecaps will actually melt in 15 years time—that everything the scientists have warned us as the consequences because of the high levels of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere will come true in my lifetime. Unless the politicians in the US and in every other nation in the world implement measures to curb it. Unless ordinary people everywhere,including the third world nations, change their ways and strive for to reduce their individual carbon consumption.

But what hope is there when the biggest nation in the world is controlled by a moron who’s terrorizing his own country and killing off people on the other side of the world? And when the whole world seems to be run by all these giant corporations that are only concerned about the profit they will make?

This is all too much for me to take in right now… Too much negative energy….I need to put on my jogging shoes and run.

RICHES AWAIT AS EARTH’S ICY NORTH MELTS

HAMMERFEST, Norway - Barren and uninhabited, Hans Island is very hard to find on a map. Yet these days the Frisbee-shaped rock in the Arctic is much in demand — so much so that Canada and Denmark have both staked their claim to it with flags and warships. ADVERTISEMENT

The reason: an international race for oil, fish, diamonds and shipping routes, accelerated by the impact of global warming on Earth’s frozen north.

The latest report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the ice cap is warming faster than the rest of the planet and ice is receding, partly due to greenhouse gases. It’s a catastrophic scenario for the Arctic ecosystem, for polar bears and other wildlife, and for Inuit populations whose ancient cultures depend on frozen waters.

But some see a lucrative silver lining of riches waiting to be snatched from the deep, and the prospect of timesaving sea lanes that could transform the shipping industry the way the Suez Canal did in the 19th century.

The
U.S. Geological Survey estimates the Arctic has as much as 25 percent of the world’s undiscovered oil and gas. Russia reportedly sees the potential of minerals in its slice of the Arctic sector approaching $2 trillion.

All this has pushed governments and businesses into a scramble for sovereignty over these suddenly priceless seas.

Regardless of climate change, oil and gas exploration in the Arctic is moving full speed ahead. State-controlled Norwegian oil company Statoil ASA plans to start tapping gas from its offshore Snoehvit field in December, the first in the Barents Sea. It uses advanced equipment on the ocean floor, remote-controlled from the Norwegian oil boom town of Hammerfest through a 90-mile undersea cable.

Alan Murray, an analyst with the consulting firm Wood Mackenzie, said most petroleum companies are now focusing research and exploration on the far north. Russia is developing the vast Shkotman natural gas field off its Arctic coast, and Norwegians hope their advanced technology will find a place there.

“Oil will bring a big geopolitical focus. It is a driving force in the Arctic,” said Arvid Jensen, a consultant in Hammerfest who advises companies that hope to hitch their economic wagons to the northern rush.

It could open the North Pole region to easy navigation for five months a year, according to the latest Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, an intergovernmental group. That could cut sailing time from Germany to Alaska by 60 percent, going through Russia’s Arctic instead of the Panama Canal.

Or the Northwest Passage could open through the channels of Canada’s Arctic islands and shorten the voyage from Europe to the Far East. And that’s where Hans Island, at the entrance to the Northwest Passage, starts to matter.

The half-square-mile rock, just one-seventh the size of New York’s Central Park, is wedged between Canada’s Ellesmere Island and Danish-ruled Greenland, and for more than 20 years has been a subject of unusually bitter exchanges between the two
NATO allies.

In 1984, Denmark’s minister for Greenland affairs, Tom Hoeyem, caused a stir when he flew in on a chartered helicopter, raised a Danish flag on the island, buried a bottle of brandy at the base of the flagpole and left a note saying: “Welcome to the Danish island.”

The dispute erupted again two years ago when Canadian Defense Minister Bill Graham set foot on the rock while Canadian troops hoisted the Maple Leaf flag.

Denmark sent a letter of protest to Ottawa, while Canadians and Danes took out competing Google ads, each proclaiming sovereignty over the rock 680 miles south of the North Pole.

Some Canadians even called for a boycott of Danish pastries.

Although both countries have repeatedly sent warships to the island to make their presence felt, there’s no risk of a shooting war — both sides are resolved to settle the problem peacefully. But the prospect of a warmer planet opening up the icy waters has helped push the issue up the agenda.

“We all realize that because of global warming it will suddenly be an area that will become more accessible,” said Peter Taksoe-Jensen, head of the Danish Foreign Ministry’s legal department.

Shortcuts through Arctic waters are no longer the stuff of science fiction.

In August 2005, the Akademik Fyodorov of Russia was the first ship to reach the North Pole without icebreaker help. The Norwegian shipyard Aker Yards is building innovative vessels that sail forward in clear waters, and then turn around to plow with their sterns through heavier ice.

Global warming is also bringing an unexpected bonus to American transportation company OmniTrax Inc., which a decade ago bought the small underutilized Northwest Passage port of Churchill, Manitoba, for a token fee of 10 Canadian dollars (about $8).

The company, which is private, won’t say how much money it is making in Churchill, but it was estimated to have moved more than 500,000 tons of grain through the port in 2007.

Managing director Michael Ogborn said climate change was not something the company thought about in 1997.

“But over the last 10 years we saw a lengthening of the season, which appears to be related to global warming,” Ogborn said. “We see the trend continuing.”

Just a few years ago, reports said it would take 100 years for the ice to melt, but recent studies say it could happen in 10-15 years, and the United States, Canada, Russia, Denmark and Norway have been rushing to stake their claims in the Arctic.

Norway and Russia have issues in the Barents Sea; the U.S. and Russia in Beaufort Sea; the U.S. and Canada over rights to the Northwest Passage; and even Alaska and Canada’s Yukon province over their offshore boundary.

Canada, Russia and Denmark are seeking to claim waters all the way up to the North Pole, saying the seabed is part of their continental shelf under the 1982
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Norway wants to extend its claims on the same basis, although not all the way to the pole.

Canada says the Northwest Passage is its territory, a claim the United States hotly disputes, insisting the waters are neutral. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has pledged to put military icebreakers in the frigid waters “to assert our sovereignty and take action to protect our territorial integrity.”

Politics aside, there are environmental concerns. Apart from the risk of oil spills, more vessels could carry alien organisms into the Northwest Passage, posing a risk to indigenous life forms.

The Arctic melt has also been intensifying competition over dwindling fishing stocks.

Fish stocks essential to some regions appear to be moving to colder waters, and thus into another country’s fishing grounds. Russian and Norwegian fishermen already report catching salmon much farther north than is normal.

“It is potentially very dramatic for fish stocks. They could move toward the North Pole, which would make sovereignty very unclear,” said Dag Vongraven, an environmental expert at the Norwegian Polar Institute.

Russia contests Norway’s claims to fish-rich waters around the Arctic Svalbard Islands, and has even sent warships there to underscore its discontent with the Norwegian Coast Guard boarding Russian trawlers there.

“Even though they say it is about fish, it is really about oil,” said Jensen, the consultant in Hammerfest.

In 2004, Russian President
Vladimir Putin called the sovereignty issue “a serious, competitive battle” that “will unfold more and more fiercely.”

With all the squabbling over ownership, Tristan Pearce, a research associate at the University of Guelph’s Global Environmental Change Group in Canada, reminded Arctic nations of who got there first: indigenous peoples like the Inuits and the Sami.

“Everybody is talking about the potential for minerals, diamonds, oil and gas, but we mustn’t forget that people live there, all the way across the Arctic,” he said. “They’ve always been there and they have a major role to play.”

___

Associated Press reporters Beth Duff-Brown in Toronto, Phil Couvrette in Montreal, Mike Eckel in Moscow, Dan Joling in Anchorage, Alaska, and Karl Ritter in Stockholm, Sweden, contributed to this report.

There are houses and there are homes. A home doesn’t have to be huge,and it can be nice even though its small. Running a small household will entail a bit of effort, plenty of common sense, and a wise budgeting scheme. Here are some things I have learned through experience.

1. Potty train your kids early so that you stop being diaper dependent early. And use washable cloth diapers as much as possible. Your wallet will thank you, and there would be less trash in the dumpsites.
2. Vegetables are way better than baby food. No matter what the ads say, freshly cooked veggies are still better nutritionally than cerelac or baby food that comes in jars. Orrin thankfully likes tinola (fish, chicken or beef), so we just cook that everyday for lunch. We cook the sayote, carrots and potatoes a bit longer than usual till they tender enough to mash. Its also very convenient as we do not have to cook his food separately.
3. A mostly vegetarian diet is budget-friendly and also the best in the nutrition department. Fish is the best “meat” you can get, even though the good kind is more expensive than chicken. But even the less-than-P100-per-kilo fish can be really great, if you know how to cook it.
4. Buying in bulk saves you time and money when it comes to getting diapers (essential for a baby’s good night’s sleep) and toilet paper. This also applies to shampoos and conditioner. A big bottle will last you for months, and it can be reused when its empty. Best of all, no sachets to throw away everyday to add to the non-bioderadable garbage bin.

5. Who says good food has to be expensive? I make pizza with alugbati and/or kangkong (in leiu of the spinach which I can’t find locally) and my husband loves it very much. I make the dough myself, and use quickmelt cheese instead of mozarella. Two huge pizzas, and two bottles of softdrink cost us around P250–and that’s enough to fill the stomachs of 5 people. So much more cheaper than eating outside. I also learned to make sushi and sashimi at home. A half- kilo of “sushi-grade” fish will cost P130, and its more than enough for two people. In a restaurant, this would translate to almost P1000 (maybe more) in bills.

6.Knowing how to make your own bread and cakes, and cookies will save you plenty of money in the long run. Oh, and home-made ice cream costs 50% less than the ones you can get in store, and so much better (those interested in my easy cookies-and-cream recipe, just email me =) )

7. Eating out means eating in the garden. A P500 budget is more than enough for the whole family and will even last till the next meal. No fuel used, no more dressing up, and what’s better than dining al fresco under the chico tree? If everybody pitches in, its not too much work really. And best part of all is that we do not have to listen to crappy restaurant lounge music and listen to our favorite playlists instead
8. A bit of skill with a hammer, a saw, a drill, brush and paint, and common sense will get you a long way. The only thing I will not touch is a leaking faucet or pipe; everything else is fair game. We have made and installed our own lamps, did the frames for our pictures, fixed lights, made our own fountain, repaired an old cabinet,and many more in the house. Cordless power tools and the dremmel are also great to have around.I recently did two huge frames (17″x23″ and 26″ x32″) and spent only P300, most of if on the glass for one frame.

9. Sarongs make great curtains. They are much cheaper than ready-made curtains, and are a great fashion statement for your room’s windows. You can jazz things up a bit with paper bead strings that will cost you next to nothing (I make the paper beads when I’m watching the news on TV)

10. Ukay-ukays are great places to find treasures. We have obtained books and stuff toys for Orrin, a car seat, a cooler, kitchen stuff, as well as wooden beads and some wall decorations from the ukay-ukay–all in great condition and for a fraction of what they would originally cost. All my houseclothes are also from the ukay-ukay, and they have lasted me for a long time.

If there’s one all important tip I can give to future housemakers, its this: Pay attention to Home Economics class. Cooking, sewing, decorating, basketry, carpentry, etc and whatever stuff they teach you will prove to be useful later on. Seriously. Pay more attention to it than algebra or history. A good knowledge of calculus is not really that useful, but a good hand at making things from scratch will carry you a long way in the journey of life. And do not underestimate the value of knowing how to cook. My husband says he loves me because I’m smart, but I don’t think its mostly book-smarts he means. A woman adept at using a food processor as well as power tools will forever be adored as the ultimate home goddess =)

There are houses and there are homes. A home doesn’t have to be huge,and it can be nice even though its small. Running a small household will entail a bit of effort, plenty of common sense, and a wise budgeting scheme. Here are some things I have learned through experience.

1. Potty train your kids early so that you stop being diaper dependent early. And use washable cloth diapers as much as possible. Your wallet will thank you, and there would be less trash in the dumpsites.
2. Vegetables are way better than baby food. No matter what the ads say, freshly cooked veggies are still better nutritionally than cerelac or baby food that comes in jars. Orrin thankfully likes tinola (fish, chicken or beef), so we just cook that everyday for lunch. We cook the sayote, carrots and potatoes a bit longer than usual till they tender enough to mash. Its also very convenient as we do not have to cook his food separately.
3. A mostly vegetarian diet is budget-friendly and also the best in the nutrition department. Fish is the best “meat” you can get, even though the good kind is more expensive than chicken. But even the less-than-P100-per-kilo fish can be really great, if you know how to cook it.
4. Buying in bulk saves you time and money when it comes to getting diapers (essential for a baby’s good night’s sleep) and toilet paper. This also applies to shampoos and conditioner. A big bottle will last you for months, and it can be reused when its empty. Best of all, no sachets to throw away everyday to add to the non-bioderadable garbage bin.

5. Who says good food has to be expensive? I make pizza with alugbati and/or kangkong (in leiu of the spinach which I can’t find locally) and my husband loves it very much. I make the dough myself, and use quickmelt cheese instead of mozarella. Two huge pizzas, and two bottles of softdrink cost us around P250–and that’s enough to fill the stomachs of 5 people. So much more cheaper than eating outside. I also learned to make sushi and sashimi at home. A half- kilo of “sushi-grade” fish will cost P130, and its more than enough for two people. In a restaurant, this would translate to almost P1000 (maybe more) in bills.

6.Knowing how to make your own bread and cakes, and cookies will save you plenty of money in the long run. Oh, and home-made ice cream costs 50% less than the ones you can get in store, and so much better (those interested in my easy cookies-and-cream recipe, just email me =) )

7. Eating out means eating in the garden. A P500 budget is more than enough for the whole family and will even last till the next meal. No fuel used, no more dressing up, and what’s better than dining al fresco under the chico tree? If everybody pitches in, its not too much work really. And best part of all is that we do not have to listen to crappy restaurant lounge music and listen to our favorite playlists instead
8. A bit of skill with a hammer, a saw, a drill, brush and paint, and common sense will get you a long way. The only thing I will not touch is a leaking faucet or pipe; everything else is fair game. We have made and installed our own lamps, did the frames for our pictures, fixed lights, made our own fountain, repaired an old cabinet,and many more in the house. Cordless power tools and the dremmel are also great to have around.I recently did two huge frames (17″x23″ and 26″ x32″) and spent only P300, most of if on the glass for one frame.

9. Sarongs make great curtains. They are much cheaper than ready-made curtains, and are a great fashion statement for your room’s windows. You can jazz things up a bit with paper bead strings that will cost you next to nothing (I make the paper beads when I’m watching the news on TV)

10. Ukay-ukays are great places to find treasures. We have obtained books and stuff toys for Orrin, a car seat, a cooler, kitchen stuff, as well as wooden beads and some wall decorations from the ukay-ukay–all in great condition and for a fraction of what they would originally cost. All my houseclothes are also from the ukay-ukay, and they have lasted me for a long time.

If there’s one all important tip I can give to future housemakers, its this: Pay attention to Home Economics class. Cooking, sewing, decorating, basketry, carpentry, etc and whatever stuff they teach you will prove to be useful later on. Seriously. Pay more attention to it than algebra or history. A good knowledge of calculus is not really that useful, but a good hand at making things from scratch will carry you a long way in the journey of life. And do not underestimate the value of knowing how to cook. My husband says he loves me because I’m smart, but I don’t think its mostly book-smarts he means. A woman adept at using a food processor as well as power tools will forever be adored as the ultimate home goddess =)

I can’t sleep.
And its all because I absentmindedly drank cafe latte at 5pm, forgetting that I have a very low tolerance to caffiene and will probably be up till 1 am at least. My two boys are already in dreamland, and I am stuck in front of the computer, hoping that sleepiness will come…
Times like these are just perfect for writing. The neighborhood is so quite,I only hear the dogs. I have read all the books in the bookshelf except for the Norwegian ones that I can’t understand. Don’t even wanna consider playing warcraft because I know I will be playing until dawn if I start now. And that would be very irresponsible of me. Have a big day of baking tomorrow, and it would really suck if I wasn’t able to get some rest. Have at least 8 dozen cookies to bake for Orrin’s coming birthday. And I don’t wanna mess it up.
I have nobody but myself to blame for drinking that coffee. But damn! It was just so good, how can i resist?

Anybody out there have a remedy for going to sleep at will short of taking alcohol or sleeping pills?

We all have lists. Recently, I rediscovered an old “things I have to do” list tucked inside one of my old journal. I have actually forgotten about it, because I wrote it almost 9 years ago. Some of the things I have listed there I have actually done (like finding Mr. Right One For Me, having a family, conquering several mountain peaks, knowing how to bake, travelling around the Philippines, among others); some I am still in the process of completing, my Master’s Degree being on top of the list; and still some that will have to wait (like owning my own beach house). Wonder if I will ever get the urge to go bungee jumping or para gliding again?

Your perspective changes when you are 27, compared to when you are 18. When one is young, the feeling of “I can do this, I will make my dreams come true” is very strong, you can almost taste it. Looking back, I think it was just hormones. It happens to everybody. As we get old, we mellow down, we get more settled emotionally. Physically also (meaning, the urge to travel and explore is not that strong, with the exception of those who got a serious case of the travel itch).

In my old list, it was about 100 items, and I have about 30 accomplishment checks. Not bad for 10 years. But I am modifying my list, because I am more realistic now. So instead of owning a sailing yacht, I will go for a smaller sailing trimaran instead. Imagine the usual pumpboat, only bigger, and with big outriggers where you can store provisions and other stuff. It will be big enough to take us around our usual dive spots in the Visayas. Oh, and there is an auxillary engine of course, in case the wind dies down.

I don’t wanna go around the world anymore also, too expensive. A trip around Southeast Asia will be just fine. My husband wants to go to Japan to immerse himself in the bonsai nurseries someday, so maybe I will go with him also. Don’t wanna go cruising around the Carribean anymore also, and never mind the Broadway shows. Don’t wanna own a car (the usual SUV type) anymore, will be waiting until hydrogen powered vehicles are out in about 10-15 years. Instead of learning 5 other languages, I will settle with two: Norwegian and Spanish (the first one out of necessity, the second one just because its the easiest to learn among all foreign languages).

I still wanna see the Great Barrier Reef, travel around Europe, sip coffee in the sidewalk of Paris, have a gastronomic tour of Thailand, explore India, and maybe go on safari to Kenya before all the lions, giraffes, hyenas, and cheetahs go extinct. Still want to ride an elephant, have a wall in our house covered with pictures I took myself,go diving in Tubbataha (from a 2003 list) and win the SuperMom award.

Dreams are for free anyway…and tax-free. =)

Recently, the issue of immigrating has come up in discussions in our house. Kesyo its better to have kids in Norway because the government will give you the financial support you need. Kesyo its better to live there because the red tape and bureaucracy and corruption here in the Philippines is terrible. Kesyo its better there in general because the environment is cleaner, its easier to find a job, and you are better compensated for what you do. For example, even mere waiters and bus drivers there can afford a 5 week holiday (with pay) to the Philippines.

Here’s what I have to say to all of this: 1. Yes, in many ways, its easier to have kids there because the government will give you generous subsidies to have kids. The government has to do that because the birth rate there is declining,and its not good for a country to have negative birth rate. Which makes me wonder… if the country is rich, and there is government support, why is the birth rate still declining? So many factors, but I guess one of the reasons is, in the long run, even with all the government subsidies, kids are still expensive to raise. And logically, it will cost more to raise children in a first world country rather a third world country. So why is it better to have kids there again? I don’t get the logic of this. And besides, never mind the finances. We all know that it takes more than money to raise kids. I still believe its better to raise children here in the Philippines, with out tradition of extended families and thus a better social support system. And who says that they will get a better education in a first world country? I beg to differ, big time. I was a product of the Philippine educational system, and I can say with certainty I am smarter than some of the westeners I know. Excuse me.

2. On red tape and bureaucracy, its true that its terrible here in the Philippines. Our government system has to be overhauled. But all countries have their problems. And red tape and bureaucracy will always be there. The thing is, everybody thinks ths Philippines is so hopeless that they would rather leave the country, and work their assess off wiping off white people’s asses. I mean no offense to anybody, its just that I get angry sometimes when I learn that our doctors would rather be nurses abroad–what happened to job dignity and serving humanity? But well, its their decision. If they think they will be happier working outside the country, fine with me. And please, do not come home and bitch about the Philippines after spending more than half of your life living abroad. If you don’t like it here, then leave. Its that simple.

3. There are so many things that are not right in our society. But no society is ever perfect, even in the West. Its true that most professionals here in the country are underpaid, and that’s why they seek better pastures abroad. If I stayed here and worked my ass off, it will take me a lifetime to build my own house. But I will not go abroad and work low quality jobs in a western country simply because I will get paid more there compared to my job here. I believe in the dignity of my work, no matter how small the pay. My work here might not have much in the way of benefits—but who needs a 5 week paid vacation when you feel like you have a working vacation all the time? I get paid to do the things I love to do, and the meager salary is not an issue for me. Financially, I know I will never get rich. But at least, my soul is.

Bottom line is, whatever other people say, I still want to stay in the Philippines. I want to work here, raise my kids here, grow old here, and die here. If the time comes that we really need to go for some reason, then I will just have to learn to deal with it because its not just my decision, its a conjugal decision. But I am very sure though of one thing: I will never give up my Filipino citizenship. Ever. I value it for all it stands for, good and bad. Even if it becomes inconvinient for me to be a Filipino citizen living in a western country. It is my identity, and I will carry it with me till the day I die.

Last weekend, I went ballroom dancing with my mother-in-law in Quezon Park.  The senior citizens of Dumaguete have a ballroom dancing association ans they hold their dancing sessions in the park every weekend. 

Looking at all the old women there move, you would not think they are at least 60 years old.  Some of them dance really well.  Everybody on the dance floor look so well put together in their dresses and shoes—and we’re talking about high heels, the kind with only a one inch diameter pointy thingie that can miraculously support all your body weight.

Even I could see that they really enjoy being on the dance floor. The shoes they are wearing probably hurt after  an hour (unless they are dancing shoes), but you wouldn’t see it in their faces.  And they would all be made-up with bright red lipsticks and shiny dresses with sequins, tassels and all. 

The other day, as I was walking in downtown Dumaguete, I saw one of the dancing ladies. She was in a stall selling doormats and rags–the 3-for-P50 kind that you can use to wipe kitchen surfaces or as a potholder. I am very sure she was the same woman, only without make-up and the pointy shoes and the shiny dress.  She looked tired, and seemed to be waiting for something. Maybe she was counting the days till its Saturday again, so she can put on her dancing shoes. I can really understand now why she was glowing on the dance floor as she tangoed and jived the whole night…