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Published: June 21st 2008
Hi all,
So I've been in KL, Malaysia since Thursday now and it's absolutely amazing. It's a busy city and a lot different than most cities in the Philippines. It's a lot cleaner here and the people don't bother you as much (ie. trying to sell you things) when you're walking down the streets. Yesterday was all walking: saw almost the entire city! Today I went to the Batu Caves which were really nice. I had to climb 250+ steps of stairs and was greeted by many monkeys! haha and tonight I'm off to Singapore with the nightbus.
My last few days in the Philippines were also absolutely mind-blowing!! A lot had happened; I really enjoyed Dumaguete. The "home-stay" was incredible, one of the best things that I have experienced. I stayed in Barangay (meaning "community") Batayan, which consists of roughly 5000 families. They measure many barangays with "families" here, assuming that the average family has 4 people. I stayed with the family for 4 days and visited many different organizations, such as women shelters, street children shelters, health clinics, foster care center, etc.
I know that I mentioned that the house might not be much better than
"My" street
This is the street/environment where I stayed at during my "home-stay'the houses @ Smokey Mountain, however, I think "my" house was much better. The house consisted of plywood, tin roof, cement floors...the shower was cold and there was a bucket with a pail incase I wanted to use that instead. Also, I had to share my shower with 2-3inch cockroaches. House lizards are another common aspect of the Filipino household...haha they're all over the place!! "My" family however, was just like any other family: caring, loving, chores, etc. Our entire block consisted of family, so there were aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents all over the place. They really made sure that I had everything I needed. The first night there we went out into the town (right near where my hotel was...strange feeling to know that something comforting and familiar is so close and to know that that is where your backpack/belongings are being kept until you return from the "homestay")...anyways, we went out to the boardwalk and tried a bit of the (extreme!!)Filipino culture: Balut! It's a fertilized duck (or chicken but usually duck) egg with a nearly-developed duck embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell! I don't know what has come over me this trip but I
"My" House
Down and to the left is "my" house.. have been trying THE most random foods!! I have always been such a strict(!!) vegetarian, but are you truly embracing and submerging yourself within a new culture if you restrain yourself from trying different foods?
I have to admit though that I didn't eat the baby duck! haha I couldn't do it - you could see almost everything..I think mine was maybe 14 weeks old, so it didn't have any feathers yet!! And it smelled kind of bad, but the outer parts (the "yolk" and "eggwhite") tasted just like any other egg! YUM...I'll have mine sunny-side-up! haha but that is just one of many stories!!
Unfortunately, I still do not have any pictures - I need to download them off of my camera, maybe tomorrow.
Hope all is well!!
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peterpaul
non-member comment
fotos!!!!!!!!!!
hee poppeke was schrijf je toch leuke verhalen....................... MAAR WAAR BLIJVEN DIE FOTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOS ????? xxx