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i finally found a usb cable to connect my camera to my laptop so I can start sending pictures.  Unfortunately I deleted the earlier pictures of Jen's home and my days at the beach in Subic Bay. These pics are all from around benita's home.  I came to this area on Sunday to meet Jocel but her home is minimal so her friend Benita invited me to her home. It is a good home for here. 2 bedrooms, small living room, and kitchen. There is small courtyard in front. The housing as you see in typically concrete block with corrugated metal room. most of the windows do not have glass but may have metal or plastic shutters. All the windows are barred and the doors and front gate are heavy metal. Theft is rampant so one needs to protect their property. The paths between the houses are often navigable only by foot. Even a bike is not much use on many of the paths. Most of the time there are only stepping stones to keep you from walking in the mud if it is raining. There is a stream at the bottom of the hill but it is cesspool; loads of garbage and many of the houses in this neighbourhoop have their sewage flow directly into the stream. Sometimes I see kids wading in it and my skin crawls. No wonder kids get sick here often. I asked about it and was told they are scavenging through the garbage to find anything they can sell.

Benita's hone is comfortable compared to some I've seen. She has running water and a toilet but the toilet is not a flush toilet. To use the shower they fill a large bucket with water and you wash yourself using a dipper. If you use the toilet you dump several dipperfuls into the toilet to flush it. She has a propane hotplate with two burners for cooking and a good refrigerator. She just bought a 42" flatscreen. In her home are her younger sister and a younger brother along with her 3 kids. Her ex-husband and she have remainded good friends and he spent 3 days building her a new tv stand to hold her tv and dvd and laptop. Benita is 34, her sister is 20 and her brother 19. Her children are girls 13 and 6 and a boy about 10.  Her ex-husband has been sleeping here also this week. There are only 2 bedrooms and  I am in one. They use mattresses on the floor. Benita and her sister Algean are in their final year of stuying to be a caregiver. They both hope to find positions overseas. With the shower it is much easier to have someone wash you because of using the dipper. Some of them shower together. So since Benita and Algean are studying to be caregivers they insist that I let them shower me so they can practice. I was always in favour of people pursuing higher education so that is the norm here now. One or the other wash me. It is definitely easier and does a better job.

In her home I am family now. When I came to phils I expected to spend my time in hotels but I  really wanted to experience their lives. I  have sure got my wish. Every day I am living a filipino life. The family have been wonderful to me. The little girl gives me a hug every time she sees me.The teenage girl is getting to practice her English with me whenever she can. it is improving all the time. Benita and her sister have fair English with Benita's being good. She studied an advanced English course years ago.

The poverty in this area is evident at every turn from the stagnant putrid stream to the bare minimum housing like Jocel's. In the pic of Jocel's house you can see the poor state of it. The roof leaks when it rains. There is no toilet. She cooks outside in a covered shelf using small pieces of wood. There is a privacy curtain in front of it because if they need to pee they go just outside the door into a small gutter that runs under a wall down to the stream. To shit they use a bucket that she then dumps again into the stream. If a typhoon hits then the stream will rise high enough to flood her floor. I can't imagine the mess it must leave behind when it drains back down. The smell is foul but it is in most places I have been. Even in subic near the beach the tricycles and jeepnies and trucks spew fumes constantly and the noise is almost deafening. I can barely hear any of the family when we are out walking. Even in her home the tv is very loud maybe to drown out the roosters and dogs outside even though they can't be sitting more than 10 feet from it. Most families also have at least one fighting cock which add to the noise and many keep dogs for protection. enita went to Australia one time and she found it hard to sleep because it is was so quiet.

Noise is my biggest complaint. It is so constant that I wonder how anyone has good hearing here. B

I am enjoying my stay with benita's family. She is a kind and generous person and she looks after her family well. There's always some food and the kids and the clothes are clean.  I think I will stay here for the week now. She is always asking me to stay longer. I think they would like me to stay here for the rest of my trip but I have others to visit and I want to go back to subic bay again before I leave. 

I find food a little cheaper here but I was surprised at the prices. It is costing me more that I bargained for when it came to food. But if you are interested: a quart of local brandy will set you back $2 or less. A pack of 20 smokes is less than $1. A litre of gas about $1.20. A big mac meeal is about $4. A jeepney ride from here to a lrage mall is $0.25per person. a bottle of water (which is all I drink) 0.25. 

I will get more pics soon now that I have a memory card and usb cable for my camera.

Take care all in your winter wonderland. Here I try to be careful to remember my sunblock and to drink lots of water. The locals are finding it a little cool in the mid-20's-30 range.