I looked at my blogstats and I see that the number of visitors is reduced because I have not been writing. Yay, so it is time for more stories!

Thanks to everyone who enjoys my blog and thanks to everyone who makes comments here. I did not have confidence to write one year ago, when I started this blog. But now I know I have the capacity to write stories that people enjoy. Maraming salamat!

I have many stories to tell you. So my plan is to post these stories more often now that we are in the year 2010. I had a very nice Undas holiday (editor’s note: November 1, similar to the Days of the Dead celebrations in Mexico).  I could not be back in province to visit my grandmother in the semetario for Undas. But I did make a nice meal for her and for my other relatives.  You can see in the picture.

We also had a very good Pasko (Christmas hehe) this year, and magparty for New Year’s. We had a lot of food, some of my cousins got very lasing (intoxicated), and we played music all night.

So I am sorry I have not been writing my stories, but I promise to write more in the next days. Happy New Year!

First, here are places you can go to help:

www.philippineaid.org – I mentioned this one before.

www.inquirer.net – This is a newspaper website. They have a lot of information about the Ondoy Relief Drive.

www.redcross.org.ph – Yes, they are very active here just like in the US and other places.

I want to let everyone know again that this is not the only time that we have trouble in the Philippines. We have so many typhoons every year. Many people die each time we have a bad typhoon. Houses fall into the rivers. Children and old people drown. Little boats sink in the ocean.

This happens so many times each year in the Philippines talaga. You can see in my blog here that I wrote a story about Typhoon Feria back in June. There are some pictures too.

It is my wish that our country could help more with this trouble. It is very kind that strangers from other countries help us when we have pain. But I wish that we did not need so much help.

I am happy that my friends and family are OK now. Ondoy did not hurt us. But maybe the next typhoon will be bad for us. I don’t know.

So we will help others who were affected by Ondoy. You know that we are strong people and we help each other. The spirit of bayanihan is always with us. If  this spirit is with you too, then maraming salamat po!

But so many people died in this typhoon, and now the world knows what can happen in the Philippines. We get more than 20 typhoons each year and they cause many problems.

Typhoon Feria back there in June damaged many houses in Samar Province where I am from. I was visiting then and it was very scary. You know we don’t have a radio there or any way to know when a typhoon is coming. We just hope for the best and we know that no one will help us.

Two other typhoons in August and September gave us rain for more than one week. A lot of floods and some people died then, too.

But I think that nobody outside of the Philippines knows about these things unless they are very, very bad.

As I said, my family and friends and I are OK. We have work and a place to live. See, I took the pic here of my street three weeks ago with Typhoon Morakot. It rained for one week, no break. But Ondoy was not worse for  us. (The jeep is not mine hehe, it is somebody else in the neighborhood. But there is trouble with the engine, it does not run. It just sits there!)

Ok, I will be serious now. On TV we are seeing that many people died in Ondoy and many thousands of people lost their homes. So many people are very poor and live near the rivers. But what can they do? That is their life.

I know there are many kind Kano people in the world–US, Canada, England, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, like that. And many pinoy live in those countries and other countries too. So I know many people will try to send money and clothes and try to help the Philippines.

I found a website that is good: www.philippineaid.org. You can also send email to me at oldfield73@yahoo.com if you want more information on how to help.

All of us thank-you for that. Sometimes you see that people are really good only when things are really bad. But also remember that we Filipinos are very strong people. We know about tragedy and “calamity” events. We help each other, and we will survive always. Bahala na.

My readers are very important to me. I hope I don’t write too many negative words here about my hard life. I want you to enjoy my writing!

My Kano friend tells me sometimes that I need to think about “the big picture.” He means I should dream about a good life in the United States.

OK, fine. But for many of us here in the Philippines, this is not possible. I can wish if I want, but the only reason I want to go to US is to get a job and help my family. I know salaries in US are like 10 salaries here in the Philippines. I also know it is very mahal (expensive) in US, so is not so easy there either.

Here is a picture of where my family lives in the province there in Samar. It is very beautiful there. If you are not lazy you will not starve because you can get fish from the sea and fruit from the trees. But you cannot wish for more than that.

You see many bahay kubo houses there. But you know people just sleep on the floor there. Some are concrete and some are bamboo. This is no problem, but it is very hard for Kano when they visit!

My wish talaga (really) is to build a CR (toilet facility) for my parents. Is only 15,000 pesos ($300) but that is a lot of money if you don’t have! Sometimes when I visit I can leave 2,000 pesos there for my family. This helps them.

There is not much work there. Sometimes someone will need my bros to go to the bundok (mountain) and work for a few days. But no “steady job” as you say in the US.

So it is funny to me if I see people reading about bahay kubo because I think they want a nice vacation. They see travel brochures. They don’t really want our life here in the Philippines lol.

OK so let me tell you about all the fun things we do. Because we have a lot of fun even if life is hard. Our families are so big we are not bored. I have more than 100 relatives in my barrio there in Samar. We gimik and we gossip a lot!

We can always go into the sea there in Samar. All of the islands protect us from waves. The water is always very warm.

Many times we play cards, too. We play tongits. (Editor’s note: a three-player game sort of like rummy.) It is fun and fast. I won 12 pesos from my sis and coz yesterday hehe. Big money!

Sure, come to the Philippines. Maybe you will stay in Boracay or some resort. Maybe you will find vacation bahay kubo place for 3,000 or 5,000 each night. Maybe you will even have aircon.

I hope you visit my beautiful country. We like to see visitors and everybody knows we offer very good hospitality here in the Philippines. You can eat adobo manok (chicken in picture) or baboy (pig), and pancet. Maybe you have sisig yum yum if you are near Manila. Don’t forget to have halo halo for dessert!

But our lives are different, not the same as yours. I am sorry if I am complaining. Not really. I just want people to understand how life is here really. What you want to do is up to you! Bahala ka!

Salamat for your reading po. I like to write and my wish is I help you understand life here in the Philippines. Ingat ka lagi! (Take care always!)

When I was nine, my father became very sick with tuberculosis. He had to make the hard trip to Manila to go to hospital, 20 hours on the bus. So all  my bros and sisters had to live somewhere else.

I went to live with my aunt and uncle. She is my mother’s sister. They have one of the bigger houses in our barrio, and the only house with a real CR (toilet). I went to live there with my little bro Arnel who was only nine months old.

I had to do all the cleaning and cooking and also watch Arnel. He cried all the time, and many times I cried too. I just wished so much he could be quiet, but that’s how babies act.

My uncle really hated the noise when my bro was crying. One day, I was cooking and my uncle came home. He told me to make my bro stop crying. I said only “sendali lang po” (wait a minute please). This is what we always say when we ask someone to wait with respect.

My uncle hit me hard across the face when I said this. My nose was bleeding and there was also blood in my mouth. I told him I was only trying to finish cooking. I only have one body, I said. You know, same thing when people say they only have two hands. Then he hit me again.

My uncle hit all of his children. My aunt was very scared of him too.

That night when I went to sleep I wondered how much more of this life I wanted. This was not a life that I could live. So I moved to the bundok (mountain) with my older bros and sis and younger bro. We were poor like rats. But my older bros got food from the trees and fish from the ocean. And of course they never hit me.

Even today my bros can make me a little crazy because they tease me so much and make me angry. But they are real family and I can never forget how strong they were back then. You know, they were only about 11 or 12 years old then.

Even today I will never forgive my uncle. When I go back home to my village I will not speak to him. One time he wanted to borrow money because he knows that I make money there in Pampanga where I live. But I refuse to loan him even one peso.

We are taught in the Philippines to respect our family members and to not be bastos, or rude. But I have learned the worst words in the English language, and I really want to use those words against my uncle. It is God’s responsibility to forgive him, not my responsibility.

I know that child abuse happens all over the world. So I don’t say it is only in the Philippines. But there is no excuse for a man to hit a child like that. I hope someday my uncle learns that and understands what a bad thing he did to a girl who was working very hard and was only nine years old.

Here is a picture of the “main street” of the village where I grew up in Samar Province. It is a very beautiful place that some people think is “paradise.”

But you can see there are no roads there. Also no electric and only one little CR for my entire family of more than 100 people.  There is no mail service there and no doctor of course.

You will not starve there if you are not tamad (lazy), because you can fish in the dagat (sea) and eat fruit from the trees. You can also drink coconut alcohol lol. Some people there drink too much of this!

The village school has only first grade. After that, you have to take boat every day across the water to another barrio on the island. Remember, I told a story once about a girl who drowned in third grade because the boat was in a storm. The school in that barrio goes to fifth grade.

Then you have to go to another town to finish elementary school. It is a big accomplishment to do this. In my family, two of us did it and four of us did not. I have two little bros and I hope they can do it.

Then you have to walk over the bundok (mountain) behind our town for two more years. You can do this if you are strong. I love the bundok you know. Even if one time I hurt myself on the bundok because I used a bolo to cut a tree and the tree smashed into my leg.

The tree was part of a school project in third grade. I cried when I saw the blood. But nobody really feel sorry for me, except my dad I think. If you live there, you have to accept life and do not complain!

Anyway, for high school you have to travel far away and board with someone. I did this until I finished three years of high school. But it was so hard for my parents to have budget to feed me. My third year was so hard because I had no money and no food so many times.

So I did not finish. I moved up to Manila and went to work. I have worked for five years now and really I want to finish school. Up here in the city there is a better opportunity for me to finish school I hope. If you do not have a good education, you have no opportunity in the Philippines. Nothing. Zero. Wala. Waray.

So yes, everybody should stay in school. But when I hear a Kano say this, I want to ask, “do you understand life here? This is not the United States you know!”

I was not born when Ninoy Aquino was killed. I was only a baby when Cory Aquino became President. So let me tell you something, I did not even know that she was President. I only know Ninoy because the international airport in Manila has his name.

In the Philippines many of us worry about getting money for food and paying for our apartment and bills. We have very large families and all of us are responsible to help. So many problems every day, we do not have the time to discuss political things very much.

I know that pinoy in the city with education know about politics. Maybe they think I am ignorant because I don’t know about many things. But remember, in my village in Samar there is no electric, only one toilet for my whole family of more than 100 people, and only tin roof or bamboo for the houses. I do not complain, but everyone should know about life there.

Now I know that Tita Cory was a very brave person. She faced the Army with no violence. She showed how tough Filipinos are inside talaga. I am very proud that everybody in the world knows about her.

I don’t want to talk about politics in my blog, but you know we have a big election next year. Now I understand about People Power and how Corazon Aquino started it after her husband was killed. I am sad that she did not do more because the Philippines is a very beautiful country with very beautiful and strong people. But mahirap ang buhay (life is hard) always. Maybe we need more People Power today.

You all know Pambansang Kamao (Manny Pacquiao) and how he makes us proud.  I think maybe Tita Cory was even stronger than Manny because she tried to give all of us Filipinos a better life and she was only a small woman not a tough boxer.

When I watched on TV, I can see that Corazan Aquino was a great person, but she is also a mom and a grandmother and a great friend to many people. She is in God’s hands now and I hope that everyone who loved her feels better because they know this.

I hope you read my story before about Typhoon Feria in my home in Samar Province. I was visiting there for the Fiesta San Juan. After the Fiesta, I had to get back to where I live in Pampanga because I have a lot of work to do.

Really I was tired of so much time with my very big family in Samar, and I needed a break. I was also helping my Kano friend visit Samar, and it was very hard for him.

It also was hard for me because I worried a lot about this. The very hot weather is bad for him and he is not used to a place without electricity or toilet or pillows lol!

And the usual problems with money and some family fights made me tired in the province too.

So I had many things on my mind. First we had to go to Tacloban, but our only way to begin was in my dad’s small boat. It was not good to ride it four hours to Tacloban. So we took it two hours to the town of Babatngon. You can see this boat in main part of the picture here. It has the orange paint inside and the man standing next to it.

The boat does not have protection from the sun. So we left very early at 5am and we had to make sure our Kano friend had all of his skin covered. The sun in the Philippines will make a Kano’s skin the color of blood talaga.

There were eight of us in the boat, because we took some other people with us who are from Tacloban. And we needed help with all of our bags so we had people for that too.

From Babatngon we can take a very crowded van to Tacloban. The van did not leave until we had almost 20 people. This ride is for about one or two hours, I don’t remember.

Then in Tacloban we had to buy airline tickets to return to Manila. We did not have much money left, and I knew the tickets would be expensive to fly the same day. But we got lucky, we had enough money to get home.

So when we got into the van I was thinking about many things. The van had a little TV playing. My Kano friend heard on the TV that Michael Jackson died. This was at 8am. He told me, but I did not hear him. I think I was tired of listening to him!

We did not get home to Pampanga until almost 10pm. I was very tired. We did not eat all day because we had no money. Later my friend found 120 pesos he forgot about. I wanted to kick his butt lol!

At home a friend told me Michael Jackson died. I was very shocked. I love all of his music. Even though I am very young, I know all of his music, even when he was a little boy. This was a very sad thing to me and to everyone in the world, I think. I am sorry for his family but I think God is taking care of him now.

I told my Kano friend that Michael Jackson died. He tawa (laughed). “I told you this morning!,” he said a little angry. He thought that I did not care. He thought maybe I did not know who Michael Jackson was. He did not know that I just ignored him hahaha.

Many Kano are very matalino (smart) and they can make good money with only their minds. But sometimes they are blind to people in the Philippines. They do not see or understand what is happening. I mean, of course I know who Michael Jackson is! Wow, my Kano friend says the heat affects his brain sometimes. I agree!

I had experience with one a few weeks ago when I visiting home for the Fiesta San Juan. It was a very bad one and it scared everybody. We were just relaxing and having fun talking that day. The sun was shining, and it was very hot. A little rain came, but that is normal anytime of the year in Samar.

But then we heard a very strong wind. You have to remember that many houses in this barangay are made of bamboo. Even the nice houses have only a tin roof and many gaps in the walls. I was visiting in my ate’s house when the wind became so strong. Parts of the walls started to break, and everybody was very worried.

We have to protect the older people, and the children, and the boats in a typhoon like this. Everyone has a responsibility, and everyone knows their responsibility. So my dad, bros, and uncles ran out to the water to save the boats. They also climbed on the roof of many houses to tie things down. It was the best they could do.

We made sure the old people and children were safe in the strongest houses. Then we waited for God to end the storm. It ended after a few hours. The next day was maganda, the sun was hot, and we had a nice Fiesta San Juan.

This was Typhoon Feria, and it killed many people througout the Philippines. I am sad to say that typhoons kill many people each year. This time we were lucky my village. Many houses were hurt a little. But no people were hurt, and no one lost their house.

We have to help each other in a typhoon, because you know no one else will. Here are some pictures from Typhoon Feria. I also have a picture of the sun coming up the next day, and a picture of the houses the next day. I hope you enjoy them and understand!

The boat is a normal “banca” boat, but bigger than most of the boats in my village. We are loading the boat in this picture. I was lucky and slept in a hotel the night before we sailed to my village. Six members of my family joined us to eat that night, and then they just slept on the boat. It was OK for them.

The next day, we had luggage for a friend of mine and for me, two 50-kilo bags of rice, a 50-kilo block of ice, about 2,000 pesos of food, mineral water, and too many bottles of soda and beer!

I had a fight with my family about the soda and beer. Money is very precious here in the Philippines you know. This boat has a nice covering to protect people from the sun. It has a little motor to move it, and the driver steers with a bamboo pole that is connected to the rudder.

Here are some more pictures. I hope you get a good idea. The area of Leyte and Samar is very beautiful. Many visitors say it is the most beautiful place in the world. I agree, but you know I always say life is very hard for most people here. There is no electricity or running water in my village. There is never any money. But if you are not lazy you will not starve there because you can fish and you can eat fruit from the trees. I think sometimes that life is harder where I live now in Pampanga, because if you are wala pera (without money) you are wala food!