My first mistake occurred before I even got to my hotel room. Jen's family met me at the airport and Jen and her cousin Annielyn, 27, stayed in the hotel room with me. They constantly worry about my safety. I have had never had any concerns when I traveled but they are beginning to convince me. When we got out of the cab I asked if I should tip. They said if I want. So I said is 200 pesos, $5, OK? The fare from the airport was about $25. They said yes if I want. So I him 200. mmmm I thought I gave him 200. I gave a 100 and a 1000. $30 tip! The girls thought I was paying for the taxi but I had prepaid at the airport! I assume the driver did not notice or I am certain he would have mentioned it to me
The room was poor. No seat for the toilet. No hot water in the shower. It needed some TLC for sure. But I will be staying there again for 3 nights when I get back from Subic Bay because I need to slow down the cash drain for a few days. It is about $26 a night there.
On the first day we went shopping. I bought a cell phone and some t-shirts for her father and groceries to take to Jen's parent home so I could cook dinner. The cell phone was $25 and a SIM card was $1 more. It allows me 35 text messages and incoming calls only. I spent about $100 on food but half of it was for infant formula for Jen's two sister's boys and Annielyn's baby girl. They have little money. They use a powdered milk formula here and a box is about $15 and it lasts about 2 weeks. It is a big expense for the girls.
I usually pride myself on my sense of direction and rarely every get lost or even unsure of where I am at all times. But I swear if I was kidnapped and they took me to Jen's family home from my hotel they would not need to blindfold me. I have no idea other than a general area of this sprawling city of 10 million where I was. Once you leave the main streets it is literally a catacomb of small streets that 2 cars can pass at a slow speed. Including the kids running around and the tricycles and parked cars and speed bumps every few hundred feet nothing can move faster than 15kph. It is a maze of streets. I kept trying to note the street signs and I was doing ok but after about a dozen turns I gave up. It seemed it was a left than a block than a right and then a quick left etc. Impossible to follow. When we stopped it was at the end of an small alley. Maybe 2 small people can walk abreast. We wound down there a short piece and we were there.
The family home is a common style here. Concrete block walls covered with corrugated metal roof. Between the roof and the top of the walls is open space. I assume it allows a breeze to blow through in the heat of the summer. But there are so many little homes of 1 or 2 rooms crowded together I don't see how much breeze can get there. But they are on a slight hill so perhaps that allows them to capture some wind when it blows from the downhill side. The home has 3 small bedrooms, a kitchen area, a living room with nothing in it except a tv, and a screened-in porch area with a table and 2 long benches which is where they eat. There is only one chair which I was offered so I could sit. No sofa or anything else. The bathroom is the small with a toilet without the cover and no shower. They have a large bucket of water with a dipper that they use to have their shower, lukewarm water of course because the temperature is always warm here. There is no hot water. Comparative to the stardards of neighbouring homes theirs is quite nice. Her father is a transport driver. He worked for awhile in Saudi Arabia. The Middle East is a common destination for Offshore Filipino workers. His English is good. Her mother spoke only a few words. Jen has 3 sisters and 4 brothers. I only met her sisters because the brothers live elsewhere. I thought Jen was small but her older sister Jane, 28, and younger sister Abby, 21, are smaller. They might be 4'10" but probably 4'9" and might have to carry something for the scales to reach 85 lbs. They look like extra-large dolls. I think Jane's waist was small enough that I could touch my fingers if I spanned her waist. Her youngest sister Michelle, 17, is different. She is taller and heavier than the other 3. She eats everything in sight like it was her last meal.
I will continue this later. Time for almusal
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