9. Pigs, Rats and Frogs in Dumaguete, a Funeral Procession

Hi Everyone,

Our adventures traveling in the Philippines-- a continuation of our visit with Andy and his bamboo house in Dumaguete:



At night we had trouble getting to sleep because of all the partying going on outside. Come to find out that there was no one outside but these pigs and a loud-speaker. The "party" we heard was actually a radio playing all night to keep poachers away from Andy's pigs.

We were also awakened before sunrise every day by a cacophony of roosters crowing. There was always one close-by echoed by a full orchestra.





Andy has coconut trees in his front yard. The metal bands are to keep rats from climbing the tree and getting the coconuts before he does. Unfortunately, the rats are winning. As you walk the trail, you can hear coconuts falling-- probably warning shots made by rats.




Here's a composite picture of our niece Virginia and Virginia hunting for tadpoles in Andy's pond. Andy's pond no longer serves humans, just frogs. Back at Mere Monique (the Sister's place at St. Paul's), Virginia used to catch frogs at night and bring them into our room for everyone to see. To our relief, she releases the frogs before we hit the sack. By the way, in the photo you can see Andy's house in the background on the right.




Here we are caught in a funeral procession of tricycles, cars and trucks.




Weaving our way through the procession, we reach a truck loaded with kids. It's too bad we couldn't hang around to see what the funeral itself looked like.


Duane and Heide.