Honestly it’s beautiful and I’m so happy to have this experience, it’s lush and green and it feels truly far from how we live at home. We’re learning more bits of Tagalog and the girls are thrilled to have little people around. The air feels clean and it’s quiet (except the pigs at feeding time and the roosters, and the…cicada sounding things (?) which really I don’t mind, none of that, and the gentle dirt sweeping that seems to be going on all the time, a soft pleasant noise)…but…yes you hear the but coming, and I’m not trying to negate anything here, so am I supposed to say yes AND…well I’m just trying to be honest because yes AND these tiny ants are driving me bonkers! Ok, that’s definitely an exaggeration, but I am not a fan. They are everywhere, and there are a billion of them. Seriously don’t think that can be an exaggeration, it’s probably an underestimation. Makes me think of The Birds and the horrifying thought that their sheer numbers would be unstoppable no matter the sprays and weapons I would try to wield if there were some reason for them to want to mount some swarm upon me. Yuck! Oh the thought is seriously silly and also terrifying. I don’t know if they’re biting me or if they just make my skin crawl. And I’m seriously sticky. Not sure if it’s just the humidity or the humidity plus bug spray, but I’m afraid to not use the spray because being on the edge of the marshy water seems pretty prime real estate for mosquitoes (though all the Filipino folk we talk to seem to think dengue and malaria aren’t really things that happen here…hmmm let’s hope so). And don’t forget the sunscreen! That layered with everything else. But other than that. It’s pretty amazing.
The Adobo Hobos 