Oh What I Didn't Know!

This past week I have learned many new things. How to butcher a chicken Filipino style. That this southern gal can pluck a chicken faster then three Filipino men! How to get your visa extended. That if you put a plate (that has cookies and ants all over it) in the freezer you can salvage the cookies! That geckos can urinate and lay eggs while upside down on the ceiling over your head. Cockroaches bite. And that sifting flour isn't just for separating the wheat and the germ....its for separating the flour from the weavels. All in all it was an enlightening week.

White Water Rafting

Yesterday we went white water rafting on the Chico river! I've been rafting a couple times before on the Ocoee in Tennessee, but this was an entirely different experience. We started the day at the local hotel meeting our guides and piling into a jeepney (think of an elongated hummer that is skinny). We had the deflated raft, paddles, snacks, flotation devices, and helmets along for the ride as well. We took a hour drive up through the Kalinga mountains which was one of the most beautiful drives ever! On the trip up we were on narrow roads and had mountains on one side with mudslides (which put nice size rocks all over the road) and a drop off on the other; plus the roads were excruciatingly windey. And just to add a little more excitement some of us road on top of the jeepney! Once we reached our destination we all gathered while our guides filled our raft with air and got everything ready. It was an eight person raft and there were six of us from the maternity clinic. So two experienced rafters came with us plus our guide. It was so nice that their were no other rafts around, just us. The river was very wide and had a lot of calm parts where we could enjoy the beautiful scenery and was it ever beautiful! While in some of these calm parts we past a few natives fishing and bathing. At one point we stopped at a beautiful waterfall and ate some snacks. The Chico river has some class four rapids and boy were they fun! I couldn't really get pictures when we were in the rapids and so here are some from the company that took us on the river: http://www.chicoriverquest.com/gallery.php ! Once we got back on the jeepney we went to their headquarters where they fed us a delicious filipino meal! All of us got a bit sunburt. So now I have a bunch of guinea pigs who want to try my after sun essential oil mix that I made. Its an assortment of carrier oils with lavender, geranium, and chamomile, and so far it seems to be doing wonders!

The Market and Food

Today I went to the local market with three of the ladies here. We took a tricye (which is a motorcycle with a side car, two girls on the back of the motorcycle and two girls in the car on the side) there and back. Its a five minute drive into town and it costs 10 pesos (22 cents) to go just about anywhere. Apparently four white girls going anywhere draws a lot of attention and with us all crammed on a tricye we were quite a sight to be seen! We walked through the busy streets going in and out of shops and stands getting some familiar and some not so familiar food items. They have green oranges here (which are the same shape and size of an orange but green like a lime) which they have the nerve to call oranges, which I think kind of defeats the purpose of an orange being called an orange. I found out where you can get a ton of squash blooms which I will be getting soon and will prepare a wonderful southern dish! Wonderful note: Filipinos eat potatoes! YEA! We then visited the Buko Brothers (my favorite place in the market so far) and got fresh buko juice (young coconut juice)! YUM!

One of the best parts about the Philippines is how and what they eat. They don't use any form of utensils, just there hands! A typical breakfast, lunch, and dinner looks like this: For breakfast we have had dried fish, rice and bananas. At lunch we have had mongo (mung) beans with tomatoes, chilies, watercress, and rice. At dinner we have had whole chicken broken in pieces in a pot of water with cabbage, tomatoes, ginger, and garlic, with kangkong (a wonderful leafy green) and rice. And possibly later or in between we might have rice pudding. And I can't emphasize enough how much fun it is to eat with your hands!

A Normal Day

The schedule for Abundant Grace of God Maternity Center is as follows. We are open for prenatals Monday-Thursday 8-5(which made today my first day of a normal clinic day.) On Friday we go on an outreach to a local tribal village, giving them prenatal care. Saturday is cleaning and chores day. Sunday we go to church and rest [unless of course we need to do laundry(which is done by hand) or if their is a birth! Which is very likely since the range of births per month is between 20 and 30!) Since we offer all our services for free it seems that everyone in Tabuk is pregnant and needing a prenatal, or a postpartum, or is giving birth! Today we saw twenty or so patients. Most of which came for prenatals, a few for postpartum, and one who is in labor! It was very busy around 10:00. There were three midwives on duty, a teacher from the local school and her three students, and me, and we couldn't seem to keep up for a little while. I prepared the patients files, took their bp-blood pressure, pulse, weight, temperature, and basic info. I sat in on many of the visits, helped the midwives, cleaned the clinic, studied the language, studied about breast feeding, held multiple babies, and enjoyed every minute of it!

The Pure Christian Heart

Today I went to church in Pakak, the local tribal village we were in last Friday on our outreach. It was such an amazing experience. The people there have such a pure heart and want to please God and love Him whole heartily. The worship was so full, so very sincere. There was a time of singing, a time of sharing (at this point all visitors (me!) are expected to sing a song in front of the entire congregation! I said a few words and then sang "Here I am to Worship"), a time of teaching from the pastor, and another time of sharing and singing. It seemed as though most everyone got up at some point in the service and said or sang something; whatever they felt led to do. Everyone sang what they wanted to, and praised how they wished to, and said what they felt needed said, whatever they needed to do they did wholeheartedly! After the service we ate with the pastor and his family. We were expected to bring food and did so for them to cook with there own. We had a good time of fellowship, in which I learned a lot about there culture and customs before there tribe was Christian and what changed after they became so. The conversation was choppy and took a lot of listening intently to understand for it consisted of English, Butbut there tribal tongue, and Ilanacano; the language of the people in the Kalinga region. There was translating and trying to figure out what words to use that made sense in each language, etc. It was quite a trick!

Once back in town we went to the local market and got some needed supplies and buko. Oh, wonderful buko! We go into the market weaving like a labyrinth to find our hidden prize, and once found they use a machete to brake it, pierce it, and open it up like a chest of gold and then proceeds to pour out the water of nourishment that quenches thirst and keeps you hydrated; fresh young coconut juice! Yum!