Rain!

It’s been raining off and on for a few days now here in Butuan. I was thankful for this because it brought some relief from the heat and replenished my water supply. You see, out here in my room there’s no running water. Instead there’s a huge plastic barrel that collects rain water that drips off the roof. This is my water supply for bathing, laundry, flushing the toilet, and washing my hands. (There’s running water in the house, but part of my training is in roughing it a bit.) I get to transport it to the bathroom myself using a bucket and scooper. Showering in fresh rain water might sound cool and exciting, but it’s not all that glamorous. It’s nice on a hot afternoon, but on a cooler rainy night like this, it’s a bit chilly. I cheat a little bit and add boiling water from the kitchen into my bucket to warm it up. I also have a large container of purified water all to myself for drinking and brushing my teeth. As different as it all is, I’m developing a system for everything.
Today I organized my room a bit more, and it’s shaping up to be a nice little home away from home. The kinds in the family are also warming up to me, which is fun. There are two sisters who are about my age and two younger brothers who are fourteen and seven. The girls aren’t particularly outgoing, but once I impose myself on them, they’re great company. They both have excellent English, it’s hard for me to understand why they don’t talk to me more. I’m hoping they’ll help me learn to cook more since they prepare a lot of the family meals. They boys are becoming great adopted little brothers. The youngest was very shy and withdrawn at first, but now we play and joke all the time. In fact, I had to shoo him off my lap to type this. He only knows a little English, and I only know a little Cebuano, but we fill the gaps with funny faces and dramatic acting.
Learning Cebuano is a fun challenge. I must say, I’d rather be an English speaker learning Cebuano than vice versa. There are a lot of rules to memorize, but at least they’re consistent. I’ve already learned a lot of the basic words and phrases to use in public, like asking how much something is at the market. And I never thought I’d be so proud of myself for counting to ten. I had to learn it in two languages because they use a variation on the Spanish numbers when referring to money and Cebuano for everything else. They biggest challenge has been the “ng” sound, as in “sing”. However it’s an entirely different matter when it comes at the beginning of a word, as in “ngalan” (meaning name). Yeah, try that one out! I got so frustrated working on it yesterday. But it’s still pretty cool to be learning another language. Every lesson I learn more grammar and more vocabulary. I think having so many years of singing experience has been really helpful because singers always have to do weird exercises producing different sounds. Well, being totally immersed in the language, I’m bound to pick it up soon enough.
Anyway, back to my main topic for today, the rain. I am quickly learning that rain equals mud and whatever you wear will probably get dirty from the waist down. When we set out to go into town on a wet afternoon, we’ll walk the long muddy road to get to the main road, just picking our way through carefully. However, if we are returning home and it’s dark already, to avoid the mud we’ll ride in what they call a tricycle. It’s pretty much a motorcycle with a small car shell on it and an extra wheel in the back. The ride feels a lot like the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, but without the seatbelts and predictable outcome.
Filipinos have some funny beliefs, one of which I encountered recently. I ran an errand with Ate Mimi’s sister today. Although we were outside and it was drizzling, I got very hot from walking around, so I decided to take my umbrella down. Ate Gigi became very concerned for me because Filipinos believe that if you head gets rained on, you’ll get sick. They’d hold anything they had on them to keep their heads from getting wet. I countered Ate Gigi with, “Well, I pour rain water on my head every time I bathe, how is that any different?” She thought about it, laughed, and said, “I don’t know!” Today she went outside in the rain without an umbrella for the first time in her life. They also believe that sweat on your back will soak into your lungs and make you sick, so they go to great lengths to dry off children’s backs when they get sweaty from playing.
Yep, definitely not in Kansas anymore. You should’ve seen the gecko in the shower today! I wish I could’ve caught it. I also enjoyed a smoothie consisting of ice, sweetened condensed milk, and avocado. Anyway, I hope I’ve entertained and informed you! I think it’s safe to say that if you care about me enough to read this, I love you back! ~Becca