The older brother of Julius?

More Interesting Flavors

So instead of pretzels or a bag of chips, we were all offered Corned Beef flavored crackers on the flight to Cebu. Everyone was grossed out but I thought I would try it. It tasted like pepperoni. Everyone then wanted to smell it. After Terri mentioned it smelled like dog food, I was done sampling.

Speaking of Milk

Sorry, it has been awhile.

One of the things that me and the boys laugh about is a commercial for milk. We see it on TV, hear it on the radio and see it on billboards. Chocolate milk is big here. Usually comes in a box with a four month expiration date. So we stay away from it. In the US we use the term "chocolaty". Here the call it "chocolatey". So it comes out "Choco Lady". With a pretty funny jingle attached to it. Anyways, we enjoy "Choco Lady".

All Milk Is Not Created Equally!

Having never had to worry about buying milk, I never even considered that I would some day live in a country, where finding real dairy milk would become my goal in life! That's not to say that there is no milk in this country, because there is and the Filipinos seem to be quite happy with it, but it is nothing like what I would call milk.

Actually, refrigerated, homogenized & pasturized milk, is still relatively uncommon in this country, and most Filipinos still buy milk in powder form, or in liquid form that does not require refrigeration. This is due to the fact that a lot of poor families, do not have electricity, or use it only for night time lighting, since it is so expensive, therefore it would not be practical to have a refrigerator.

Unfortunately, the refrigerated milk they do have is not the same as what we are used to back home. Nestle milk (sold in 1 ltr bottles) tastes something like melted vanilla ice cream, which sounds quite tasty, but try drinking a glass of it, or putting that in your cereal every morning! Not working for me! There are a few other brands, none of which we have ever heard of, but so far our experience with them hasn't been any better.

After going a few weeks without milk at all, we found a dairy that has whole and 2%, however they require a purchase of at least 10 ltrs, and they go bad after 3 or 4 days. Finally we came upon a brand called Dairy Gold, which comes in 1/2 gallon boxes, says it is from Washington state, and has both skim and 2%, as well as whole. Although there is a bit of an after taste, which we have not yet identified, it is pretty much as good as it gets, so I can usually get the boys to drink a glass a day and be satisfied. The odd thing about the milk, that I haven't been able to figure out, is that when the milk arrives at the market, it has an expiration date about 2 months away!

Now, I am no geography expert, but I am relatively sure that we are nowhere close to Washington state, so it can't be that the milk is extremely fresh, and combined with the barely noticable after taste, it makes you wonder.

But now that we have found the only acceptable choice of milk, if I could actually find it, that would be good. I have realized that one of the reasons for the expiration date being so far off, is that they only get shipments about every 2 or 3 months. I have now been looking for milk since the week before Christmas, and have run out of all possible sources! I usually try to buy 10 - 12 quarts when I can find it, but having gone out of the country over the holidays, I obviously missed an opportunity, and of course the only thing I can get out of the store employees is "out of stock"!

Same Food, New Recipe

Our experience with having household help has had its stressful moments, but is has also had some very funny ones as well.




Helen, my very sweet and competent maid, also does all of our cooking. She makes a wonderful Lasagna, and even Landon will eat her tacos! Brennan loves any type pasta with her spaghetti sauce, and she has learned to make Poppy Seed Chicken, and even Jambalya. She can follow any recipe, and is very careful to remember any special requests for the next time.




She previously worked for a German family, and when I asked her what she knew how to make, Beef Strogonoff was one of her answers. Since we like it as well, I decided to let her make it for us. What I didn't realize was that there is more than 1 way to make it, and I will never forget our faces, when she placed before us a huge platter of Beef Stroganoff made with large chunks of dill pickles! Of course Steve and Brennan, who hate pickles and won't eat anything made with them, would not even touch it! Since I did not want to hurt Helen's feelings, and because I never even knew you could cook will dill pickles, I ate as much as I could manage, washing it down with tons of water. I have to admit throwing the remainder in the trash when she was on her day off that weekend, and we have not asked her to make it again. I am sure she wonders why.




Recently Helen asked if I would like for her to "cook for me" something to go along with the main course for dinner. What she made looked kind of like au gratin potatoes, and we were very excited until I scooped out a spoonful and realized that there was tuna in the bottom! Now I personally love tuna, and had no problem with it, but of course neither Steve, Brennan nor Landon would touch it, so once again I was the only one to try it. I am not really sure what else she put in it, maybe sour cream or some type of yogurt, but I will be throwing it in the trash this weekend.

Murder

Did that get your attention?

We were informed in the paper today that the Philippines had more recorded murders than any other country in 2004 as stated by the Guiness Book of World Records. (not sure why there is a 4 year lag between getting these statistics) There were over 3,500 murders that year. While that is alot, surely other countries have more. Maybe they just aren't reported.

The Filipino spokesman, always the optimist, stated - "While it is good to acheive world records, we should focus on more important areas." Well said.

Helen & Alice

Steve has already introduced you to Eddie and Butch our drivers, so I will tell you about the maids, Helen and Alice.

Helen is more of a cook than a maid, but she also does the laundry, cleans the kitchen, feeds the dog and generally runs the household. She knows more about what goes on there than I or anyone else does, and she does it all very happily, and without complaint.

She spoils us by having fruit ready every morning, and making sandwiches for lunch, along with whatever we request for dinner. She is a very quick learner, and does well following a recipe, but she doesn't like to use a microwave, and prefers to use a toaster, instead of the oven. This works out great as long as you like all your food to be crunchy on the outside, and cold on the inside! Besides being ever cheerful and hardworking, she is a Christian and can always be found reading her Bible when her chores are done.

Alice does most of the cleaning, and with 6000 sq feet to clean, she is always busy. She also helps in keeping the boys organized, and makes sure they have everything they need for school. She is very good about keeping an eye on workers while they are in the house, and is always there when we need her.

I know that this seems like so much indulgence, and really I have to say that it is, but in a recent training class I took for handling your employees, I found out that it is not unusual for a Filipino family of 6 to have as many as 12 household helpers! Now if I could have drivers and maids, and live in the U.S. then I would have it made!

Sometimes you gotta go...

As a follow up to the poverty post...with some many people without basics, electricity and plumbing are not high priorities. Just feeding your family is on the list for many. As a result, there are millions of people that need to find a place to go to the bathroom. At least for guys, the city has helped them out. These are nothing more than a metal shield for a little privacy. Terri and I estimate there are at least 1,000 of these in the city. And they are sitting on major roads for the most part. So while disgusting, at least it is better than not having them. Sorry, we haven't seen anything for females yet.

This is what you typically get to see. I know you will enjoy it.

Poverty

I have been asked a few times if there is a middle class? are there alot of poor people? etc. I read in the newspaper today that 52% of all Filipinos fall below the poverty line here and another 24% are right at it. So, 76% make at or less than $150 per month for the entire family. I was even a little shocked by this. The prices for food really aren't that different than in the US. So you can imagine how hard you would have to work to feed and shelter a family for $150 each month. The numbers aren't that different between those that live in Manila and those in the provinces. Makes for a very hard life, yet so many people here are positive and happy.

We are back in Manila

Sorry, we haven't been on in awhile. Just got back from our first home leave trip. Spent the time at my parents house and at Terri's mothers house in Arkansas. We really had a great time. Landon had a party with his old friends from school. Terri had a lunch with her friends. I had dinner with Rusty and Tom a couple of times. We had about 10 doctor/dentist appointments between all four of us. It was really a great, great time. Only took a few days to get used to how cold it was. Temps in the 40s is not too bad, but compared to our 90s everyday of the week, it is quite the change.

We were told that the first trip home would be the hardest. They were definitely right about that. It was so easy to get back into the hang of things being home. But it was unbelievably sad to have to get on the plane to come back here. Not that things are bad in Manila, it just isn't home. I am sure once school and work start (tomorrow), we will get into a routine. But it was much more difficult than I thought.