ROOSTERS, CONCRETE, SHAMPOO, & SUNSHINE

 

I was always raised with the idea that Roosters only crowed just before dawn.  Well in the Philippines, another old wives tale has been put to rest.  Since this country excels at cock fighting, there is an overabundance of Roosters, and thus for twenty-five hours each

Rooster farm

day, there is always a Rooster somewhere crowing its head off.  OK, let me add a little more to this.  Sometimes, and I mean on a very rare occasion, it will actually be quiet here.  Then one Rooster will get it in his head that it’s time to start the daily routine (at 1:00 a.m.) and a cock-a-doodle do is the result, which will be followed by a crescendo of other small minded  Roosters following in chorus.  Which leads me to the question: if Roosters “Crow”, then why do Crows “Caw”.   And to sate ones curiosity, there are Crows in the Philippines.

When they built the first few houses within this compound, they would hand mix the cement just inside the entryway.  Of course, over time, as each day ended, a small layer of cement would dry

Remains of the concrete slab

atop the dried concrete of days and weeks past.  In the modern World, you would use a mixer or even a box to combine the cement, sand, and water, but in the Philippines, you just mixed it with a shovel upon the ground.  In the end, a large slab of dried concrete was left about half the width of the drive with a long hollow depression in the middle.  For years everyone in the compound complained about the impediment, but no one would take the initiative to remove it.  Even I tolerated this lump of manmade rock until this week. With sledgehammer, pickax, and shovel in hand, I resolved to remove the manmade hump.  Many of the neighbors watched as the heavily laden foreigner slammed the sledge into the seemingly unyielding slab.  However, it wasn’t long before the obstruction began to break down, unlike an onion, a thin layer at a time.  Since I walked in the mornings and the intolerable heat and humidity ruled the rest of the day, I had less than an hour before sunset to dispose of this encumbrance.  The amazing thing is that my entire Philippine family followed me and took turns with the sledgehammer and shoveling (even fifteen year old Clarisse demanded her fair share of the sledgehammering).   I did not ask for their assistance, but they were by my side to clear away the debris as each layer crumbled under the repeated pummeling.  In less than two hours (about one hour each night), the slab had been reduced to a pile of rubble and only hard earth remained beneath.  In the end, I realized it wasn’t the breaking down and removal of the concrete that impressed me as much as it was my family coming together to help in its demise.  Oh yes, and we did celebrate with Pepsi those evenings.

I receive something called Balikbayan Boxes from the states of which Donarae fills with used clothing, non-perishable food, toothpaste, sweets, soap and shampoo, along with assorted stuffed animals….among other things.  I am so thankful for her kindness and generosity in sending those boxes here.  Some of the food items we receive, Filipinos have never seen or imagined they existed.

Their first taste of canned frosting - Feb. 2015

Donarae, in all of her goodness, will send treats unknown here and the kids are instantly hooked on them.  One item of note is canned frosting.  It is amazing how quickly a container of cake frosting can be emptied by just using fingers and yet, the smiles, laughter, along with fighting for finger position, or should I say possession make it all worthwhile.  However, I digress from the focus of this topic.  I put a container of Dial body wash in the shower last evening before the kids took their bathes.  It seems that eight year old Charissa Mae thought it was shampoo and immediately slathered her hair in the blue gel.  Dial body wash does not wash off easily, especially on a hairy surface and since Mae Mae has long hair and little patience, she came out of the bathroom with sticky as well as soapy hair.  Of course she was unceremoniously returned to the shower and thus a lesson was learned from that experience….I hope.

 A final tidbit of information to fill your day.   The hours of sunshine in this part of the World is pretty consistent.  Whereas the daylight hours may be very long in the summer as well as very short in the winter the further north you live, they do not vary much here.  In June, the hours of daylight total about thirteen hours while the length of sunshine in December drops to a mere eleven hours.  Yet, the heat and humidity stay the same year around.  

 

Toy, Charissa Mae, Clarisse, & Santiago at the beach

Bounder

 

November 21, 2015