Monday, March 23, 2009

Beautiful Bugnay

3 days in the most amazing place I've ever been. Can't really capture the setting of a place or the roots of the culture using just images and words. You really have to be there in person! But here are a few pictures and thoughts I had throughout the trip.
We drove with Georgia, her husband Achao (originally from Bugnay), and their son Emmaus

"Whoops...six hour trip just became 7 hours due to a massive land slide...

"Houses built over cliffs. I wonder if the three year old has ever come close to falling off the edge...


"Mar-o, town just outside of Bugnay (our destination). Great reception but I wonder what the guys with the guns are for...


"Awesome! Everyone wants to help carry our stuff to wherever Bugnay is. Had to hike down one cliff...can it get any more gorgeous than this???


"Yes...it can. Still hiking....


"Still hiking. Awesome rice terraces....I wonder how many generations have been carving them out of the mountains.


"Whoa! There's even a hanging bridge way out here...


"Whew! done hiking...beautiful Bugnay


Achao's dad and mom-- But-but people traditionally don't smile for pictures


Achao's grandpa snapping beans similar to soy beans. Such a sweet man, but he was convinced we spoke fluent But-but and would chatter away to us for hours about the importance of marrying a strong But-but man.


Wow..four generations


Learned more about the rice...


The sprouts are grown together in one huge clump until they are strong. They are then uprooted and carried in baskets on people's heads to the rest of the fields.


The women do all the planting while the men stay in the village to watch the kids and cook. Later, the men harvest all the rice while the women stay home to watch the kids and cook.


Learned about the intricate tattooing on the people. The tattooing is done by tapping thorns into the skin. The more beautiful a woman is considered to be, the more tattooing she is allowed to have. Although killing is not as common in this tribe anymore, the men still get a tattoo for each person they have killed. The But-but tribe don't have a word in their language for "handsome", only words like "brave" and "strong".

This woman's name is Takay, but she loves to pretend her name is Sandraya and falls over laughing when she calls herself that. She got married when she was 14 and is now over 80 years old. She tells incredible stories about their history and culture.


Yum! Dinner! They killed a "prize native chicken" for us...such sweet people. Anatomy 101: try to find the head, lungs, underdeveloped eggs, bladder, feet, etc. Nothing is wasted.


Around the village...


Everyone has pigs that live under the stilt houses. They feed the pigs leftover


Made some friends: Marsha and Julex. Called them the "as they say girls" because they constantly used "American phrases" such as: "As they say....home is where the heart is." "As they say...where you're happy, there you are." "As they say....I love music...but it doesn't love me!"

They were our official tour guides...

Sometimes I wish I could be a little naked kid playing in the river again


Hiked about two miles down the river, bumped into Achao and all his friends, fished for little tadpoles, fishes, and crabs with them using spears and goggles, then ate all that we had caught. Delish!

>
They even brought rice in a banana leaf

No matter how remote you get in the Philippines, there will always be a basketball court

Prenatals and baby checks

This grave was just outside the house we stayed in. The older sister of the woman who owned the house. Her sister was 23 years old and died due to pregnancy related complications....would the outcome have been different if there were midwives in the area?

Going home. Achao's dad escorted us. He has to wear a hoodie and carry a gun because he has been part of a clan conflict for over 20 years. There are always people watching and waiting to kill him if he leaves his village. Tribal wars, family feuds, and clan conflicts are still an issue in this area.

Sweet! We get to ride on top of a jeepney all the way back!

Bother flat tires in the heat of the day

Stopped at an outhouse halfway there....this HUGE (six inches) tarantula was sitting at eye level less than a foot from my face. HEART ATTACK!!

Ah Bugnay....As they say "a picture is worth a thousand words," but it would take a thousand pictures to even begin to describe this place.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Inn of Sixth Happiness

Still here in Tabuk at what we like to call the "Inn of 6th Happiness"

Got to deliver this CUTE little guy one of my first days here. Although he was his mom Martha's tenth baby, he was well loved!! His parents let me name him after my brother Jacob.

We visited Martha and Jacob twice at their home. Such a beautiful family!
Anyway...life is great here....even livin' with da crazies...

Friday, March 13, 2009

Blessings of Children

Traveled to a village for the day to do prenatals. Taught devotions on how women can bless their unborn babies.

Singing, joking, storytelling, laughing, snacking, talking, loving.

Healthy women. Healthy kids.

Women tell us, "We don't like to use family planning here....just family planting."

Pastor and his wife. He wished for a dozen children. He has six....and grandchildren.Shocked face when found out I'm from a dozen children. :)

Children ARE a blessing

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Where I Am...

Michelle (one of my classmates) and I are spending the next 3 weeks here in Tabuk, Kalinga. We traveled up here from Davao a few days ago by plane, taxi, and bus. We LOVE it! Wonderful people, mountains, cool weather....doesn't get much better than that. :)

We're living with Georgia, a Canadian midwife who is married to Achao, a member of the But-but tribe. She runs a clinic in her home downstairs and lives with about 9 other people (her son, other midwives, us, etc.) upstairs. It's an awesome set up...super relaxed and interactive with the patients. This weekend, we'll be traveling to the But-but tribe here.




We've been adding words in But-but, Ilokano, and Tagalog words to our repertoire of Filipino languages. I'm constantly amazed at how many dialects are in this country and how many languages each Filipino speaks. Most of the Filipinos I know speak at least 5 languages! We Americans are happy if we know just one! lol

Monday, March 9, 2009

Carlston's Lobby @1am and then....

On our way to Tabuk (where we'll be working with the midwife Georgia...more on that later...), we spent the night in Manila. The following is taken from Ancient Paths

PM 9:30 : The lobby has free wifi!


PM 10:00 : No worries about anything; 4 security guards present.

PM 10:15 : Concerned about little fish’s poor health.


PM 10:30 : Facebook-ing ..

PM 11:00 : New guests arrive… with matching sweatsuits.

PM 11:45 : THUD. Opening yellow elevator doors reveal collapsed white foreign man.

PM 11:46 : Heroic security guards help him. Jordan & I gather courage for our CPR skills.

PM 11:47 : CPR not indicated (thankfully)

PM 11:48 : Foreign man (pale and disoriented) on couch after second collapse.

PM 11:49 : Foreign man comes to; drinking a coke. More foreign guests arriving.

PM 11:52 : Collapsing man back into elevator without mishap; followed by guard.

PM 11:59 : New foreign men guests arrive. One goes to room.

AM 12:00 : Strange car arrives. Another newly arrived guest slips guard large wad of cash. Then leaves.

AM 12:00 : Guards suddenly are carrying automatic weapons. Still no worries though..

AM 12:02 : Happy guard fumbling with automatic weapon. He gets scolded. Hmmm..

AM 12:05 : Receives lesson on using automatic weapon from the more experienced guard.

AM 12:30 : Facebook is addicting. So is reading the news.

AM 12:45 : Guards more relaxed since the guests from earlier are gone..

AM 1:00 : Jordan & I go to bed. Next door phone rings every 135 seconds for a while.

AM 1:10 : Our room 418 is the arctic. No control on AC.

AM 4:30 : Saying goodbye to Jordan's dad.

AM 6:00 : Consider switching off breaker going to aircon. Unsure what else that breaker controls. Decide risk is too high.

AM 9:00 : Good breakfast of rice, fish, sweet sausage and coffee.

AM 10:00 : Checking out.

AM 10:15 : Taxi driver promises a working meter. Get in taxi.

AM 10:16 : Meter not on. Driver fumbling with it. Mutters something about lucky day.

AM 10:17 : Lucky for us because if meter is broken… by law we get a free ride…

AM 10:17 : And… CRASH! Someone’s blue car door is now quite crunched.

AM 10:19 : Blue car driver touches his side window with one finger. All the glass falls out.

AM 10:22 : Standing on the street. Our taxi driver quite distraught. Many spectators.

AM 10:30 : We find another taxi after 2 tries.

AM 11:25 : Get ripped off AGAIN by ANOTHER taxi driver.

AM 11:30 : At bus station to purchase tickets to Tabuk.

PM 12:17 : Arrive at Mall of Asia to find internet and ice skating rink.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Daddy -Daughter Days

Awesome times!! Dad came to visit for a week!


We did so many great things.....
Found a SWEET bat cave I'd never seen before


Kayaked to another island (yes, the Filipinos thought we were crazy :) Met a whole bunch of nice fishermen.


Met a lot of interesting people actually....

Talked late at night, explored the city and another island to our hearts' content, ate lots of seafood, got lost more than once, tried new foods in the market, toured the clinic and did baby checkups together, played Settlers of Catan, etc.

Basically: best of times!