Apirri and Musings

  Since the raft trip fell through, I had a day to fill and the tourist Bureau suggested a ride to Apirri, a town on the north coast of Luzon. It’s shrimp season and there is the pier to see. Well the shrimp boats were a shrimping and the pier was a big empty block of concrete. I went the other way from the pier to the end and then went through a squalorous shanty town. Everyone said “Hello Sir” which is the standard greeting here. The sun was baking me so I stopped for a cola and got a “Cola Pop” for about 10 cents. It was cold and not bad. I walked around town for a while, then headed back to the van ride back to Tuguegarao. A young woman got in next to me and started talking about her job. She is a Social Worker with a Masters degree. I explained Marcia and we talked social work for the two hour trip except for the Born Again part! People are very interested in you, your  family, and the interaction. They are often surprised to find whole families don’t live together. And Nursing Homes are unheard of.

  Yesterday while waiting for the bats to wake up, I chatted with the guides. The 16 year wanted to know what flying was like. Was it hard to breathe when you are way up there? He also wanted if I knew Oprah, (I don’t) did I know Bill Gates? (I don’t) He seemed quite disappointed like I was a social failure so he asked me if I knew ANYONE famous. I told him I knew Bill Heuser and he seemed satisfied. His friends had a girl hanging around and suggested that I could talk to her. She was very shy and kept her eyes down. They said she was a good worker. I asked if she were strong and had good teeth. She remained shy and demure in her womanly fashion.

    i suggested that if she would consider marriage, she could get a husband and a grandfather in one deal. That idea excited her so much and she ran away, probably to pack her things for the ceremony. Unfortunately she must have had too many things to pack since she never returned.

   The back of taxis here have “How am I driving” Text….. There is a real mix of vehicles in Tug and close by. There are cars, busses, vans, two types of trikes, motorbikes, horse drawn carts, water buffalo carts, sleds, riders on buffalos (real cowboys not our horseboys) There are also some tractors driven by Chinese diesel engines. They are the cheapest, most reliable thing around since there are so few moving parts

  The elevator says 10 people max but you have to average 154# Maybe 8 Americans? I’m flying to Palawan tomorrow where there definitely is a beach!