Amigo, Amiga, Ug Mga Amigas

Amigo, amiga, ug mga amigas.  Until about a month ago I would have said they are all friends.  Dili na lang! Not any more! Friend, friend, and enemy. Okay, so not exactly.

Just like Espanol, amigo or amiga express the singular form of friend depending on the person's gender.  Mga amigas on the other hand does not mean multiple female friends. It means multiple ants. Normally ants wouldn't be a big deal, except it turns out I'm allergic to the red ant bites and there are daghan kaayo mga amigas (a lot of ants!).  Thankfully it is not anaphylactic shock bad, but puffy for hours and "I want to scratch my skin off" for days bad. I thankfully have access to antihistamines so the itch doesn't last so long but most days I still end up with at least 2 new bites.

I've been here enough times and long enough this time that I can say I have daghan kaayo mga amigo, pero I hope mga amigas go away!  I just don't think that is happening any time soon.

Six weeks and two Visayan lessons complete.  I'm feeling more confident, but there is still a long way to go yet.  Here's to living the life!

Photo Bomb Part Two!

Take two!

Here are some photos of where I am staying.  And in no particular order...

This is the pump area.  I wash my laundry here.  In the mornings the kids take their baths here.  The building is the pump house that has the electric pump that fills the two tanks which supplies four (hopefully soon to be 5) buildings with their running water.  At least it is a shaded area on the side of the house so it is sort of private and blocked by from the sun. 

This is the Cajigas' kitchen.  The sink has running water, but no hot available.  The stove/oven is propane gas run.  It is difficult to really get it low, but high works great!

This is the rice container.  I asked Ate Jess and we determined they use 50 kilos about every 6 weeks.  No wonder it's such a bit bin!  That also helps feed the dogs too though.

These two are lovers... for real.  On the right is Lexi and she has had puppies a couple of times.  Here most recent batch was fathered by Big Jake on the left.  Pretty sure he is full German Shepard that they acquired from some Americans in a neighboring area.

This is Ollie.  He is one of Lexi's babies from a previous brood of pups.  He is a year old now.  Both he and mommy love this chair on the front porch.

This should look familiar.  It is the orphanage as see from the Cajigas's balcony.  Mommy Jean is growing vegetables out front to help supplement the food budget.  If you look closely on the top-ish left is the end of the basketball court.

This is the back of the church as seen from the Cajigas's balcony.  The big shoe shape in the middle is a slide on the playground.  Here you can also see more of the basketball court from this vantage point.

In case you can't tell this balcony is a good place to see a lot of the area.  On the far left is Papa Oman and Ate Amy's house.  They are just outside the gate.  The black truck is the Cajigas family vehicle.  The white truck is the water delivery truck.  The little bit of building on the far right is the church.

Photo Bomb!

It is a balmy Monday afternoon here.  I have no idea what the weather is because I can't understand the news stations so I don't watch and there isn't a thermometer sitting out for me to just check real quick.  I might try to find on sometime...  However, it feels like it is only about 80ish degree, but lots of moisture in the air so it is quite sticky feeling.  It hasn't rained yet today so my laundry from this morning is actually almost dry!

Because it isn't raining we seem to be having some really good internet connections so I am going to try to upload some pictures I have been snapping....

Faith Joy and I have had some fun playing with Wiki Sticks I brought with me.

The mechanics make house calls here.  It seems like they are needed about every other week.

Marah, Mickella, and Jeanne sporting their pillowcase dresses sent from a group back in the states :)

Drew and Jeanne hanging out at the front door of the shelter.  This is a regular occurrence when it rains. 

We took a morning trip out to Bohol Dairy to have some ChocoBao.  It is chocolate milk and ice cream made from Carabao (water buffalo) instead of regular cow's milk.

Sorry I didn't get the whole carabao n the picture, but here are the kids taking a photo op on the patio.
(Mark, Drew, Mickella, and Faith)

I will post this now, just in hopes of it uploading today!  I will also prep another one just incase it is successful!