tales of a MIDwife..

last.wkd.was.nUTs!
MayFlor, Rose and I took a van two hours south, past Digos and out of the city to the oh-so-missed country side (a much needed change!). We arrived, met Arex - May's husband, ate delicious chicken wrapped in a banana leaf and rice and then bascially went to bed around nine. Rose and I stayed at the 'big house', May's in-laws, who were already sleeping when we arrived. The guest bedroom was complete with a double bed and a bright pink mosquito net. May woke us up around five (she had been up since THREE preparing Arex's breakfast and pack lunch for work and now she was ready to make OUR breakfast!) It seems like all filipinos DO is cook, eat and work, probably because it takes so stinkin' long to prepare anything. Poptarts and instant oatmeal are few and far between. May was so incredibly accomodating, for example, she even suggested we go for a run before breakfast (i must of said sOMEthing about running in the past)..and i was like 'you run?' and she said 'no, but you do!' So for breakfast that first morning we made french toast, the most canadian thing she could come up with:)! (this first picture is Rose and May preparing it) nEXT we went to the rIVEr for a bath!...i was a little apprehensive about this, although i was also looking forward to the experience as well. It turns out 'bathing' in the river basically means plAYing in the water, it was super cold, I'll post a video. Then Rose hung out, and sang karoke (ya, EVERYone has a karoke machine!) while I tried to read - I ended up practicing my vocal skills aswell, while May did things she needed to do around the house. After lunch May inSISted that Rose and I rest. so, we had a little siesta! Rose and I then got to take Arex's motorcycle out for a little excursion, where I took pictures of all the rice fields that surround the area. We fried up a fish (whole)[this consisted of lighting coconut pieces of charcoal on fire, and suspending a wire rack between two cement blocks..the fish was amazing! i GUESS if you leave the head, tail and skin on it's more flavourful!], and had rice and other side dishes for dinner.
Dinner finished around eight, and it was time for bed again :S...i couldn't go to sleep that early, so I stayed up, read and wrote a bit. Sunday morning we had meat, rice, and so on for breakfast (stuff I would normally eat for dinner..). Then we prepared a picnic lunch and hulled all of our stuff to this resort called Le Reve.[The man in the forefront of this pic is May's 'lolo' (grandfather-in-law), he was adorable, always smiling, probably cuz he thought i was a NUT for trying to communicate with him!] Fed by mount Apo, the pools in this resort were free flowing (no need for chlorine, and still clean, and cold!). There were 5 pools, 4 waterslides, and 2 diving boards, handrails and little huts - all made out of cement! The waterslides had something painted on the surface, to make sliding possible. It was such a beautiful day. I got burnt. And then Rose and I went back in the afternoon on a big bus. SUCH a great weekend! The whole vibe of the filipinos there was very evident - everyone just kind of mills around, maybe it was because it was the weekend but, no one really has anything PRESSing on their minds. They're all about relationships with others. They don't just MAKE time for others, it just sEEMs to always be the forefront of life. It's cool.