Day 17-19: Land of Baklas and Tomboys:

Alex’s mom Luisa is from the province area Bicol and apparently this area is like the San Francisco of the U.S. Alex has 3 uncles here and they all prefer to be called Titas instead of Titos, which are the Tagalog words for Aunts and Uncles. The plane ride was short, but it took 2 and a half hours in a van to get from the airport to the jungle area Luisa is from. Alex’s family here is very nice. This is true of all his family whether they be from San Diego, Manila, or Bicol. I have never met a member of his family that is not overly accommodating. Filipinos are just very nice people I guess. When we got here it was hotter and more humid then Manila so they took us to a local cold, natural spring pool for a swim. The water was great and very refreshing. It was nice to not be itchy from chlorine afterwards. Apparently they don’t get very many tall white tourists here in Bicol though. During our trip to the pool all the kids would stare at me for several seconds as we drove by on the tricycle. We went to a different natural spring pool on our second day and one girl rode by on a motorcycle and I could hear her say, “whoa, Americano.” I can’t help but laugh when this stuff happens. I think I am going to start waving at all the little kids when they stare at me from now on.

Unfortunately we received some bad news when we got back from the pool on our first day. One of Luisa’s best friends past away from a heart attack while we were gone. It was crazy because we had just saw her earlier that morning before we left. She was kind of like a sister to all of Alex’s aunts and uncles here in Bicol. Janine and Bheng had to take care of a lot of the communication from the hospital in Manila because their mom’s are here with us in Bicol. I feel really bad for them because that’s a tough thing for two 17 and 19 year old girls to have to handle. They have done a good job though and we are all flying back to Manila tomorrow, Friday, instead of Monday like we were originally planning. It is going to be sad when we get back to Manila, but we are kind of looking forward to it because we miss hanging out with the cousins already. Even in mourning Alex’s aunts and uncles drink though so like last night I am sure tonight will involve alcohol and Karaoke. For some reason they are dying to hear me sing. I’ve tried telling them that I have a horrible voice, but they don’t care. I think they just want to have fun laughing at the tone deaf white man. I am ok with that though as long as I have a few cocktails first haha.