We've been getting emails from you saying how lucky we are to have escaped the cold weather. Actually, We're writing these emails from the mountainous area of the Philippines on the outskirts of Baguio City. It's cold up here! Especially at night! I feel like we're camping out. And there's no heat in the houses. There is no running hot water and the water from the tap is cold. We wash ourselves in cold water. Once in a while, we heat a bucket of water so we can wash thoroughly. There are no bathtubs, and the toilets universally don't work. We flush them by pouring water into the bowl. We are lucky to have a toilet seat. Some places don't. We also brought toilet paper from the States. Paper towels, napkins and toilet paper are in short supply here. There are never any paper towels in public restrooms (called "Comfort Rooms" here). Some people carry around their own washcloths. I shake my hands a lot and wipe them in my pants. People conserve on electricity here because it's a bigger part of their budget than in the States. There are cool adventures here, but this is no Garden of Eden. I wouldn't mind sitting in my toasty living room in Rochester watching the snow fall outside. Nevertheless, we appreciate the sunny days in Baguio when we can actually strip down to a t-shirt in the middle of the afternoon. We dislike the cold days but we don't miss the snow. In some ways it's a lot like San Francisco. It gets colder when the fog rolls in.
Now, sitting on a couch in Baguio, I return to recalling our adventures in Dumaguete, where it was warm. Dumaguete looks more like the United States-- nice beaches-- more cosmopolitan. Lot of foreigners move here. We didn't get a chance to go to the beach because it rained on our allocated "beach day". There are no beaches in Baguio. In Dumaguete, we went to a cool nightclub with Andy where we sat in a bamboo tree house and listened to guitar music below. Even in this place, having the need to go to their "comfort room", I had to unroll a wad of toilet paper from a mounted dispenser to take into the room with me. When I was done, I flushed the toilet with a small water bucket.
By the way, I'm editing this blog during an electrical brown-out. I'm hoping my computer battery will last.
In Dumaguete, we could have gone swimming at this public swimming pool that gets its water from a natural stream. It would have cost us ten pesos apiece, which is roughly equivalent to twenty cents.After our wonderful stay with Andy, we flew to Manila, where the driver of Roger and Nieva picked us up and drove us to Quezon City.
Here we have a delicious dinner at Rene and Lourdes Berdan's house. From left to right: back row: Virginia, Roger, Duane and a helper. front row: Nieva, Rene, Lourdes and Heide. Roger is Andy's brother and Lourdes is Andy's sister. Nieva is Roger's wife and Rene is Lourdes' husband. These are Heide's cousins on her mother's side.
After dinner, we were driven to Roger and Nieva's house, where we stayed for four days. They are in a lovely subdivision in Quezon City.
It's a huge house. Here's a view of Roger and Nieva's living room.Duane and Heide.
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