Mr Lee Posted April 28, 2011 Posted April 28, 2011 Well my wife and I are back in Cagayan de Oro and to tell you all the truth, I think I am getting too old and set in my ways for these province visits. I am not sure how many more I am going to be able to make. It was hot, raining, muddy and How the heck can people just live with and accept nature? Is it me, or is it them who is correct living the way they or we do? I cannot stand bugs, ants, rats, and scroungy looking dogs and other critters running around most often uncontrolled. I get a little upset when baby pigs, street dogs and who knows what else, run in and out of the kitchen area. I get a little miffed when I wake up and see ants crawling all over the wall next to me and my face. I get a little concerned when some flying insects land on me during the night and evening and was told by my wife that one of them likes to bite the tip of a boys private part, at that time I was very happy that I had been sleeping with shorts on because of all the children around, :yes: and I get very upset when I try to sleep and the rats are running all around the ceiling and rafters. By all the noise they were making, my guess is that there tons of them and they must have been having a feast on the left over food which must have been abundant due to our visit. I bet they sent out the word and brought all their brother and sister rats from far away. :unsure: Well this was one of the worst trips into the provinces for me and the situation has gotten much worse over time and it seems that our extended family has just decided to live with it all.So what the heck is normal? My two Balikbayan boxes arrived and the one that my wife packed with packs of soups was eaten into and right through a blanket to get to the noodles. There was blood all over the box where the hole was, so someone must have killed one of the guilty invaders and that happened during transit, or while the boxes were stored in Cagayan de Oro,and before even heading to the provinces. Upon arrival in the provinces I found my towels we stored there had been eaten, so big holes in them and one large enough for my hand to fit through, Ant, ants everywhere and I forgot to bring my boric acid. So to me, all that has to mean disease and who knows what, yet the people out there are happy, and appear healthy, and seem to be thriving. So guys and gals, the next time you see an ant in the house, be happy it was not a rat or pig running around. :lol: Awh the fun of it all, having some very poor relatives and not being able to do a damned thing about it to bring up their lifestyles. For those of you first getting into a relationship, be sure you know what you are getting into ahead of time, and while I would do it all over again, I wish I knew then, what I know now, so maybe I would have continued to work another few years and saved up some extra money to help our family with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted April 28, 2011 Author Posted April 28, 2011 I just got out of a wonderful hot shower for about the 20th time since returning to the city. Did I say how wonderful it feels after being out there with no aircon, no hot water, and no real shower, just bucket bathes. :lol: wonderful.OK so will we be going back out there again, yes of course we will because I love my wife and her family, and they were so good to me and always waiting on me hand and foot and some nieces and nephews fanning me to keep me cool because of the extreme heat at times, so the only difference is that I will prepare the next time because things have changed since the last visit. Items to buy and some to ship for the next trip in our BB boxes,Rat poison and lots of it but I will have to be careful to keep it away from anywhere that kids can go, so only up in the rafters at night and not in the daytime because those little kids can climb trees to get fruits and coconuts, so I know walls will be no problem for them.Rat traps and because some I saw were as big as cats, there will have to be some large ones. Maybe a pellet gun but I am going to have to check the rules on those, anyone know if it is legal to ship in a powerful pellet gun?Large plastic chairs and a nice thick foam mattress, but I think I will just buy those in CDO or Malaybalay and bring them out with us.Hmmmm, I will have to think of some others, maybe even buy some snakes in the city and let them loose out there, that is if the people will not kill them, since it seems there are no natural killers out there left except the people. Got to think about that one but there needs to be some type of balance, so maybe pet boa constrictors or pythons might be good if the adults make sure to keep the babies safe.Definitely cats and lots of them. Seems there might be plenty for them to eat and that might make the need for some of the other things unnecessary, :unsure: or might need them all to cut down the population quickly since they seem to be abundant and will only grow more abundant by the time we go back. Anyone else got any ideas on how to cut down on the rat population?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hounddriver Posted April 28, 2011 Posted April 28, 2011 Its good to hear about your visit and that you have recuperated from it. I couldn't do it. I visit in the province and find the nearest pension house, hotel, resort or what have you, even if we have to drive half hour each way.I can only surmise that you were more than a half hour drive from the nearest lodging. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art2ro Posted April 28, 2011 Posted April 28, 2011 Lee,Your stories of your province experience reminded me of those same things I've experienced 40 yrs ago and that's why we don't travel into the rural provinces anymore, been there and done all of those things and I didn't like it, especially all those creepy crawlers, snakes, spiders, farm animals, stray cats/dogs and rats of all sizes! It's their way of life in the province, not mine! Luckily, we don't have many close relatives that live in the provinces anymore, they all have long moved closer to the cities and left behind the province life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa Carl Posted April 28, 2011 Posted April 28, 2011 Love this post! I wonder how many of us have experienced exactly the same, and said the same. My family think I am crazy as I walk around with a can of Baygon! Oh oh look out here comes Carl with the Baygon, cover the kids! cover the food! Everyone out of the house!! Ha ha, I must admit, now we don't have the rats, or too many other flying or crawling critters, but still the ants! Millions of the little buggers! Last night while reading this sight I made a cup of tea, put in the tea bag and sugar (I have run out of the Hermesetas from the UK, and don't like the taste of the Sweet and Low). 5 minutes later went to pour the water and milk and the ants were feasting on the sugar in the cup, in fact I am sure they were trying to move it off the table and to their home!Where else could you live, and have a chuckle daily about life!!Thanks for the sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted April 28, 2011 Author Posted April 28, 2011 (edited) Its good to hear about your visit and that you have recuperated from it. I couldn't do it. I visit in the province and find the nearest pension house, hotel, resort or what have you, even if we have to drive half hour each way.I can only surmise that you were more than a half hour drive from the nearest lodging. The nearest hotel would be an hour ride plus about a half hours walk down the mountain to the main road to where vehicles could pass. The road up is dirt and the large sugar cane trucks go up and down and ruin the road and while they are supposed to repair it, our family said they hardly do it, until it is no longer passable for them, and then they bring in some rock and fill the deep ruts their trucks put in them. We had to walk down the mountain to the main road to catch a vehicle back to CDO and it took me about a half hour walking at a pretty good pace and at times walking on the edge of the mountain with a pretty bad fall below had I slipped off due to the mud being very slippery, and the fall would have been very long had I slipped off the half a foot wide dry section which I had to walk on at times when given no other choice, so a hotel was out of the question, and the friend we had who drove us up, had to stop about half way up with the 4 wheel drive vehicle for us to walk the rest of the road, since there was ruts in the mud that looked like swimming pools. Otherwise I would have just rented or borrowed a friends car and drove up there and slept in the car, but no such luck. While it is no fun, it is an adventure and while I really do not mind much of it, most round eyes that I know would never dream of even visiting a place such as that. It surely is not for everyone, but after working in the slums of a major city in my younger years, and out in the everglades with snakes and alligators for a number of years later on, nothing surprises me or bothers me much.nowadays, and you should have seen my wifes eyes when I brought an alligator and some snakes home to her not long after she first arrived in Florida. :unsure: Edited April 29, 2011 by Kuya Lee correct word Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted April 29, 2011 Posted April 29, 2011 Love this post! I wonder how many of us have experienced exactly the same, and said the same. My family think I am crazy as I walk around with a can of Baygon! Oh oh look out here comes Carl with the Baygon, cover the kids! cover the food! Everyone out of the house!! Ha ha, I must admit, now we don't have the rats, or too many other flying or crawling critters, but still the ants! Millions of the little buggers! Last night while reading this sight I made a cup of tea, put in the tea bag and sugar (I have run out of the Hermesetas from the UK, and don't like the taste of the Sweet and Low). 5 minutes later went to pour the water and milk and the ants were feasting on the sugar in the cup, in fact I am sure they were trying to move it off the table and to their home!Where else could you live, and have a chuckle daily about life!!Thanks for the sharing. For those of you who are more adventurous to live out in the boonies for awhile, the extremely remote provincial or mountain life is an eye opener. I was invited (challenged) to sleep at my Lolo's nipa hut for the weekend and I tell you, it was pure misery. Everyone goes to bed around 8PM and then total silence throughout the night. My grandfather purposely told me about frightening calls of the mythical creatures such as "White ladies", Aswang and the Kapre. Needless to say, I would have my imagination run wild throughout the night as I try to find fresh batteries for my flashlight. I was fascinated with a family of geckos that were feasting on insects right above me and once in awhile I would hear little squeaks of big ass rats rummaging along the ground below us. The nipa hut was about 4 feet above ground, supported by bamboo stilts. Several meters from the nipa hut was a river where my grandfather told meabout my dad and his friends performed "self circumcision" with a bolo and a bottle of Tanduay rum. I busted my gut when Kuya Carl pictured himself as Rambo with his secret weapon Baygon. I'm with you buddy,we should make a TV commercial being bugs killers! By the way sir -- welcome aboard!Respectfully -- Jake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted April 30, 2011 Author Posted April 30, 2011 We are now back in the comfort of our condo in Cebu City, and not a bug to be found when we got back, not even an ant. I love it. I can tolerate living out in the provinces with all the other things that live out there, but I just hope I never swallow any unexpected protein while snoring, and never get bit by some of those darn rats or one of those crazy bugs that is said to like to bite kids male parts. Anyone ever heard of that? My wife said it is a Timos flying bug but does not know how to spell it and I wonder if it is just another thought conjured up? Oh and the NPA went through the village I was in, two nights while we were there, and they asked one person who shall remain unnamed, how I was doing because I was sick the second night we got there and then the next night too, so telegraph, telephone and tell a Filipina since they seemed to know all about me and were not in the least interested in paying me a visit, so maybe that was because I am good to our family, so they might be happy about that, yet in the past, one brother who hit his wife was warned that the next time they had to stop by to visit him, would be his last time on this planet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa Carl Posted April 30, 2011 Posted April 30, 2011 (edited) Thanks Jake, I have to admit, I look forward to reading Lee's and your replies, talk about busting a gut! It makes me feel like I have a few kindred spirits out there. We should be writing a play, (comedy) for sure it would make some money. A sort of Archie Bunker style for expats living or visiting the Philippines. I'll bet an evening with you lot (with a few San Migs) would cause some near death experiences from laughing so hard in itself!!!Some how the image of a group of ageing, over weight, balding (well in my case with a ponytail of blonde/grey hair) expats, all armed with cans of bug killer, flash lights, or just big boots etc getting lost in the jungle trying to rid the world of unwanted critters ,would I should think, be an over night success!If we don't look ridicules enough to the locals now can you imagine what they would think then. Maybe we could all get "banana bikes" (now I am showing my age) put lots of flags and clickers on them and peddle around the neighbourhoods marketing ourselves.Wow, that would certainly keep any of the NPA away! What a frightening thought, and sight I should think.Just a note, I notice that there are others out there who seem to write with bigger letters etc. Does that mean there are also others out there who need to get their eyes (or glasses) checked again! I thought it was only me who kept using larger font sizes.Love it please keep it up!! I could use some laughter in my life right now, until I find some work.Carl Edited April 30, 2011 by Kuya Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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