I don’t how long it has been fashionable for Filipino guys to roll up their shirts and expose their bellies, or in some cases, san mig guts, because I have only been dwelling in the Philippines since this past July. The bare belly look is something that is popular on our island of Guimaras and nearby Iloilo City. Sometimes it goes in conjunction with the “towel over the head” look, another popular fashion statement here. To be honest, it doesn’t bother me; I come from a small central Illinois town where it was common for the males to run around without any shirts on at all, especially at BBQ’s back home, and basketball games in our … [Read more...]
Top Five Shocks, Live in the Philippines
December 13, 2009 By 68 Comments
Almost five months in the Philippines now, living in a subdivision in San Miguel, Jordan, Guimaras in the Philippines, a rural province renown for their sweet mangoes. To say living here is a radical departure from my past 57 years living in small town central Illinois in the United States, would be a colossal understatement. A faithful reader of my blog suggested a topic for a future entry: “ top ten shocks to the system you experienced upon relocating.” Good topic idea, I thought, but I decided to share my thoughts in my Live in the Philippines article since I was racking my Bonehead trying to think of a topic anyway. But I decided … [Read more...]
The Call
December 6, 2009 By 22 Comments
I hear The Sainted Patient wife’s cell phone ringing. I answer. “Good afternoon. Is this Sir David?” Well, that is what I think the Filipina voice on the other end is saying in English. And why do all Filipinos call me “Sir David” on the telephone? I would be happy with just a plain old ordinary “sir”. Had to talk to a Smart Bro rep the other day about problems with the internet connection, and she kept referring to me as “Sir David.“ I finally told her to just call me “Dave”. “OK, Sir David, she replied. Somebody take a gun and shoot me! Well, I do manage to understand the words “Smart Bro” and “installer with … [Read more...]
Taking the Pontoon to Iloilo
November 29, 2009 By 13 Comments
Chickens. Pigs. Goats. Motorcycles. People. Just a few things one might encounter on the 15 minute pontoon boat ride from the Jordan Wharf in Guimaras to Iloilo City. The pontoon boat carries a lot of different cargo. Always something different every day. Just 13 pesos one way for a scenic journey to the big city. Shopping options are limited in San Miguel where The Sainted Patient Wife and I live so the boats are a great option for us to load up on groceries and haul them back to our little town. The wife and I hop off our 12 peso each 25 minute jeepney ride from San Miguel to the Jordan Wharf, and she gets our boat tickets that are reused phone … [Read more...]
Filipino Time: First Encounter
November 15, 2009 By 32 Comments
I clearly remember my first encounter with a phenomena in the Philippines called “Filipino Time”. I can see all you guys out there married to your wonderful, beautiful Filipinas shaking your heads as you recall your first experience with this rift in the time/space continuum. I doubt it was a pleasant experience for any of you. I know it wasn’t for me. Keeping it as a repressed memory is probably not a good thing, so Mindanao Bob and “Live in the Philippines Web Magazine” affords me another opportunity to vent, for which I am grateful. January 20, 2000, on a Thursday at approximately 12:05 pm is when I first experienced my initial … [Read more...]
Live Like a King in the Philippines!
November 1, 2009 By 50 Comments
OK, you look at the title of this article, and you think “What is this guy selling?” or “What is he smoking?” Truth is, at age 57, I never expected to live like a king. No offense to my peeps back home (and I have no idea what a peep is, except that is the sound these little chicks following their mother hen make around here) back in the States, there is no way I would be living like a king back in America unless I was Bill Gates or one of the Wal-Mart heirs. It just would not be happening. I would still be at my mind-numbing job at the phone company bored to death and watching the clock. But here I am in the Philippines just over a scant … [Read more...]
Don't Blame the Duwende!
October 25, 2009 By 8 Comments
The following is an account told to me by my wife Melinda, who was a witness to the events that unfold in this story. She swears that the following narrative is true, and I believe it is always beneficial to my continued well being to believe my asawa. Tatay Emeliamo entered the hut, saw the great pain wive was in, and then it finally occurred to him why this happening to his asawa: he had not made any preparations to appease the duwende living in the balete tree when he felled the gigantic tree. Tatay ran through the jungle to Buluangan Jordan where his friend the healer, Juan resided. Tatay and Juan swiftly returned to the home place; Juan … [Read more...]
Don't Step on the Duwende!
October 18, 2009 By 23 Comments
About a 30 minute jeepney ride from our home in Guimaras, a rural province near Iloilo in the Western Visayas here in the Philippines, is the jungle where my Sainted Patient Wife Melinda grew up and lived in a big nipa hut with no running water and no electricity, however, they did have a massive balete tree right outside their home. Balete trees are known to harbor various spirits here in the Philippines; this story relates an account that involves my wife Melinda’s younger sister Ellen and a certain duwende that lived in the family balete tree. For the uninitiated, a duwende or nuna (as my wife’s local Hiligaynon language refers to them … [Read more...]
The Sandal Shuffle
October 11, 2009 By 10 Comments
If you live in the Philippines, you've got to have sandals. You have your outside pair, and your inside pair. When you reach your door entrance, you leave the outside pair, well, you guessed it, outside, and put on your inside pair that is waiting for you right inside the door. Pretty simple, right? And let me tell you, you DO want to use sandals and no socks because it is way too warm and humid not to wear them. I only wear my shoes and no socks when Sainted Patient Wife and I make a trek to Iloilo. Most of the time our mud-laden subdivision road has some cow manure that you have to be careful not to step in, so I feel safer with the shoes. My … [Read more...]
Pig Gets Nervous! Feista Days Away!
October 4, 2009 By 26 Comments
My mother-in-law’s pig in the backyard is getting nervous. Really nervous. No, it doesn't have a name. I just call it "the pig". My wife Melinda feeds him all the time, and our little two year old niece Amiel likes to go in the back to visit him. And I know the pig is caged in a concrete bunker. If the pig is not locked up, the pig WILL be stolen. That’s how it is here. Fiesta time is fast approaching, and the pig‘s sole purpose is to be the main meal for the Fiesta. Everyone has been anticipating the Annual San Miguel Jordan Guimaras Fiesta like I waited for Christmas as a young kid, counting off the days one by one, so anxious, … [Read more...]
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