archive for the “Baguio Gold” category
Warm thanks to my parents and to JoAnn P. for depositing donations for the A-V-C-A family’s poverty relief. The monies donated will pay for the kids’ inoculations, asthma medicines, a water tank and chicken feed. »→
Well, I took Rose from Baguio Gold to Precious Jewels Learning Center (K- grade 3) to meet her teacher, Joy and to retrieve her new uniforms. But we couldn’t get the jumpers. Typical. Rose can wear her plain clothes tomorrow, along with other pupils whose uniforms aren’t ready.
Afterward, Nick, Pat and I rode a jeepney into Baguio City so that we could shop for supplies. Almost every day I buy something. In Florida, going to a nearby Wal-Mart several times per week by car for quick forays wasn’t inconvenient. Here, taking a jeepney to the city and walking about searching for merchandise is not convenient. »→
This morning I got up and watched the IndyCar race in Fort Worth Texas on ESPN. It began at 8:30 Saturday evening there and 9:30 a.m. Sunday here. While I watched the broadcast, Nick walked up to Monterrazas Village to visit Dominic and me.
I asked why he didn’t ride his bicycle while I thought that perhaps pedaling uphill is too difficult, even in low gear. Nick said that Andy had deflated the rear tire on the rough, rocky road of Baguio Gold. Okay; a replacement inner tube will cost only 60 pesos. »→
I just realized that Dominic and I have been in the Philippines -and in Benguet Province- for three months. What a dizzying three months it’s been. Real culture shock for Dominic and cultural ‘acclimatization’ for both of us. Today Nick, Andy and I went to Tuding Hardware for cement, lumber, lag bolts, washers, nuts and paint.
I want to build a support stand for their family’s new rain barrel. Nick rode his bicycle from Monterrazas Village all the way, about two miles downhill. »→
On Sunday afternoon, Dominic and I heard that Rose wouldn’t be going to Kindergarten at Baguio Gold Elementary School. I asked why, and I heard that BGES doesn’t offer a Kindergarten class. In the past it had tutors, but the last tutor has quit.
Monday afternoon I asked Mack to look into this when he returned to Baguio Gold from Baguio City, where we had gone for his new student seminar at City High. »→
My quest to find a blue barrel has ended, because I found Baguio City Pet Supply on Magsaysay Avenue, which does not sell pet supplies any longer but focuses on reselling used, plastic 55-gallon drums which had held soap and other industrial products. I picked one which had held Unilever soap. »→
This morning I awoke feeling refreshed and recalling interesting dreams. Almost as soon as I arose, Mack sent to me a text message telling of a Sepak Takraw game in Baguio Gold. So after a quick breakfast, I headed out. On my way upstairs, I heard 8-year-old James’ voice, and when he saw me up at street level, he happily told me that Cola, one of the family’s two dogs, had given birth to seven puppies while the family was gone for two days. Dominic and I noticed yesterday that Cola was skinny, ribs showing, and seemed somber. »→
Yesterday Dominic told Mack that he need not cook for us, so that he could resume construction of his chicken coop using the lumber and screen/mesh that Mack & I took to his home from a chartered jeepney. At night Dominic and I rode such a bus to Baguio City for dinner in a stall in VGF Fast Food Mall. In Philippines, “fast food” denotes already-prepared pots of lukewarm entrées, such as stews, from which we choose to accompany rice. I’ve had chicken meatballs, chicken adobo and ‘mixed meat’ (ground and mixed with finely chopped carrots, onions, pepper & other in a seasoned sauce). »→
I awoke earlier than usual to head downhill to Baguio Gold to meet Mack to ‘hunt the wild bamboo.’ Although I can see stands of 2″-6″ bamboo many places, they’re on private property. Mack had said that we could cut 6″-8″ diameter ‘Mindanao bamboo’ then pay (to a landowner) 100 pesos per three-meter length. As we wanted free bamboo, we needed to trek into the boonies to find some hidden clusters. We walked down the horribly rough, rocky, muddy and slippery ‘road’ (I hate to term it a road), and after a mile we diverted into the woods to feed the mosquitos and hike to the river. »→
I have taken melatonin to help me sleep because I could lie awake quite awhile thinking of the people living in poverty in Baguio Gold Barangay. And I earlier took meloxicam for pain relief (knees and ankles), so now I’m bleary-eyed and heavy-headed and desire only to go to my bed. I had shut down my computer. But as I haven’t typed anything today, I switched it on, logged-into this site, and I’ll hunt-and-peck now. »→
I walked down to Baguio Gold again. Isn’t that how I begin several posts? According to a Digital Globe topographic map, our home, which is lower than Baguio City, is 4609 feet (.873 mile) above sea level. The Baguio Gold Barangay basketball court is 4002 feet ASL. So the vertical drop is 607 feet in about a mile. I don’t know the walking distance. Out here in ‘the country,’ we’re not on maps of Baguio City and its environs. I estimate 5/6 of a mile.
(Dominic) After surveying the land, Brian and I have discovered that the Philippines government is not very accommodating of foreigners who want to set up a for-profit or not-for-profit organization. Apparently, many bad actors have come to the Philippines for less than noble purposes and have hid behind not-for-profit organizations in order to operate drug rings, sell pirated videos, prostitution, or whatever. »→
The A-V-C-A (four surnames) family in Baguio Gold consists of a grandmother, whom I address as Nanay, and four youths whom I’ll refer to as Mack, age 18, Pat (16), Andy (13), Nick (11), Charlotte (7) and Rose, age 6. »→
I walked down to Baguio Gold, expecting to play Sepak Takraw or basketball or walk further downhill to look at and photograph mines and miners. I couldn’t find Andy, Nick, Arnold, Pedring or Marcus. Some days some of the boys find work as helpers hauling aggregate and mixing concrete on construction sites or gathering stones for walls. »→
I walked downhill to Baguio Gold Elementary School to play Sepak Takraw with the kids. I had learned a little of the game from Mack earlier and from the internet. See my primer, listed in “pages” on this site. Most days in April we have rain showers, and some days I haven’t gone down to Baguio Gold. Today I had a good time on the Sepak Takraw court. My team lost one set, then we switched sides of the court and my team won. I didn’t contribute much, though. And I didn’t ‘call’ the ball when I should have. Oh, well; live and learn. We didn’t play the third set of the match, because…
Today I walked down to Baguio Gold borough again, to play Sepak Takraw with the youths, using the new ball and net. Well, I hardly knew the rules, and I certainly didn’t have the skills and ‘the moves,’ such as the bicycle kick. So I thought that I’d photograph the kids playing while I learned the game.
Today I took my compact umbrella and a camera and headed downhill to Baguio Gold Barangay (neighborhood/borough). Although the sky was clouding and my knees, shins and ankles ached, I thought that I’d get some exercise and see and photograph the mine entrances, refineries, tram lines, rock arch, pool of water, hills swathed in clouds … In previous forays to Baguio Gold I had no camera, or I had my camera phone and made a few lousy pics. »→
As I write this, I hear a repeated shrill shriek or whistle coming from the world outside. It sounds like a cat whose tail has been stepped on, or a little girl shrieking, or a steam whistle or … I don’t know. It’s an irritating, eerie sound, irregular in intensity and meter, but almost every second.
