Lyn and I are still experiencing Jet lag so we usually take
a nap in the afternoon and we usually wake up early around 4:30 am. This
morning we heard an unusual sound on the roof. It was a scrapping sound
followed by a sliding sound. Turns out it was chicken climbing around and
having some early morning fun. After waiting around for about an hour and half
we decided to go into town early and buy some baked goods for breakfast and
just enjoy walking around the town. This town has a really cool vibe. Not too big
not too small. It was nice to see the town waking up and everyone starting to
get busy to greet the day. After having a nice walk in relatively cool air we
stopped in a bakery and bought a large sampling of their goods. Everything from
pandesal to things I had never seen before. When we got back everyone was up
and we had breakfast. Today we would be going to swim in the river. It was a
ritual that they usually did the day after a burial. It would involve having
special water/minerals poured on your head and then after turning around three
times you went for a swim in the river. After you got done you were supposed to
change your cloths and everyone’s old clothes were collected and put in bags.
Then those bags are thrown in the river and away they go. We all put on our
oldest clothes and packed fresh ones for the trip. We left about 8AM to go to
Lyn’s Mom’s house to meet up with everyone before heading to the river. Of
course we arrived by trike! The river was about 2 or 3 miles away and we would
all get there by riding scooters, motorcycles, trikes and one van. It was
decided that Lyn and I would ride on the back of Charles motorcycle to the
river. Yep three up on a motorcycle……. gotta love it. Charles asked me if I
knew how to drive and offered to let me drive back. Wait what I would be
allowed to drive on the roads of the Philippines?!?!?! This is a dream come
true for me!!! We all headed out caravan style. We arrived at what looked a
little like a rock quarry and proceeded to the riverbank. We all went through
the ceremony and then enjoyed the cool water of the river. The current was
strong but it was shallow where we were so we just enjoyed the cool water and
the fellowship. After changing and throwing our old clothes in the river and we
were on our way. I drove Charles motorbike with Lyn on the back. We drove in
the outskirts of town across bridges with beautiful scenery and through
neighborhood road. I could not have been happier!! When we got back we had
lunch and a few red horses (beer) and just had a good time over all. After that
we went home and took our usual afternoon nap. We went back to Lyn’s Mom’s
house and had a prayer service for Lyn’s Dad who had died just one year ago.
After the service I sat on the front porch as more and more kids got braver and
decided to try out their English on me. It was great usually with everyone’s
help we could all figure out what we were saying to each other. If we got too
far off the beaten path I would call Lyn over to straighten us out. Grace Lyn’s
niece lived with Lyn’s Mom in her house and she was telling me about the farm
that they worked on together. We decided to go take a look and see the crops
and the general area. It was about 3 miles away and of course we would go by
trike. Rommel was going to drive and Lyn, Grace and myself would ride along.
After going on about every road surface you can imagine we arrived at the farm.
We walked through some trees and then the scenery opened up to one of the most
beautiful scenes I have seen here. We walked about a quarter of a mile more and
just enjoyed each others company. Grace is a 1st year Agriculture
major so she plans on being a farmer when she gets out. For the trip back they
offered to let me drive the trike back. Awesome! Lets roll! As soon as I
started driving it felt like the trike had a mind f its own. It seemed to pull
me in every direction except straight. Some of the road was paved and was not
too bad but you had to remember two things. Number one you were much wider than
a motorcycle and you did not lean to steer you just turned the handle bars.
After growing up riding motorcycles it was very hard to steer in ths fashion.
While I was only going about 25 mph it felt a little out of control as I
manuervered around dogs, chickens, kids playing and oncoming traffic. When we
hit the unpaved roads it only got worse. Here you had to watch out for puddles
and ruts in the ground. This meant you had to line the bike up to miss the
holes with the bike wheels as well as the sidecar wheel as well. Some times you
had to go through ruts and your steering would go away completely for a few
seconds only to be regained when you came out of the rut. This was a challenge
to say the least. Finally we had to cross a muddy rutted road that went between
two rice paddy fields. If I messed up we would be over the edge and down in a
rice paddy. I got about ¾ across and I hit a big rut and instantly the entire
trike started going to the left and straight for the rice paddy! I could just
see me flipping this thing. I naturally put my foot down to help stop and
balance as the brakes did not seem to be doing anything. All of this was
happening while we were probably only going about 15 mph. Thank goodness we
stopped about a foot from the edge. After thanking everyone that was riding
with me for not screaming we were on our way and I managed to get us all there safely.
I have a much greater respect for all of the trike drivers and will need much
more practice before I will be taking one on the main roads anytime soon.
