Mmmango

Nate has been telling me for as long as I can remember that he won't eat the mangoes you can get in the US because there is no way they can compare to the mangoes in the Philippines. I have had them in the US and they tasted fine. I couldn't understand how they could be so much better in the Philippines. Until now. I finally had my first Philippine mango and it was amazing! I don't know how else to describe it. We had it for dessert one night and when I went to bed that night all I could think about was how I wanted more.

The aftermath. I chewed on the seed until I couldn't get anymore off.

Terrible continues

Is it really the terrible twos or did I miss something and the threes are actually a whole lot worse? I don't remember this with Liam. Maybe I have just blocked it out of my memory. I guess Jonas is not 3 yet. This could be one last burst of terribleness to get it out of his system for the lovely threes or the well behaved, listen to your mother, eat all of your food threes. I wish.

I seriously don't know what is happening to Jonas but he is definitely testing his parents right now. I feel bad for our neighbors because as much as I try to calmly tell him to stay in his chair to finish his food, by the 15th time during the same meal I start to raise my voice a little bit. Okay, a lot! I could feed him chocolate cake for breakfast and he would still get down, turn sideways in his chair, turn his spoon into a gun, sword, light saber - anything but eat.

There is also the constant whining, fighting with his brother, doing the opposite of what I just told him to do and (trying to) ordering me around. I want water! Put this together! I want an airplane! Mom, put this on! I would think that he would have learned by now that we don't respond very well to whiny orders from our children.

Liam has been acting up too. The boy has a serious attitude. At least I can send him to his room until he has a better attitude and when he comes out he really will have a better attitude. Jonas would just start playing and forget why he was even in there!

I feel like it has all multiplied since we got to the Philippines. Or maybe I am noticing it more because I am not working anymore and I am home all day long. I guess it could all just be them trying to adjust to this new environment. As much as we go to malls we are also stuck in a small apartment a lot. All I know is I am going to go crazy if this is how the next 4 months are going to be. More venting. Sorry. He is lucky he is so cute!

Please leave lots of comments about how 3 is so much better (easier!) than 2. Thanks!

To Tip or Not To Tip

I have a problem with tipping. Every time someone does something nice for me I wonder if I am supposed to tip them.

1. Hold the door open for me to walk through.
2. Point me to an empty parking spot.
3. Help me change a flat tire.
4. Tell me where in the mall the supermarket is located.
5. Help me back out of a parking spot.
6. Wash my car windows in the pouring rain.
7. Say "Good afternoon marm" as I walk by.
8. Wait on me at a restaurant.
9. Point out a taxi for me to get into on a busy street full of taxis.
10. Give me no other choice and take my groceries to my car for me and load them into my trunk.
11. Put your face on my car window at a stop light and stare at me.

We had to go to the Immigration office in Manila last Friday to submit some paperwork and fingerprints. We drove in so we were looking for a place to park. We got to an area and could see that there were about 5 parking spots up ahead. There was a man standing out in front of these spots and he pointed for us to go into one of them. We pulled in and Nate gave him 5 pesos (a VERY small amount of money but what did he really do?!). The man looked at the money and told Nate the charge is actually 30 pesos (61 US cents). Does he own the parking spots? No, he doesn't. Nate told him we would give him more money when we got back. He asked if we wanted the car washed. No, we didn't. When we returned a couple of hours later the man was just finishing up washing our car. Nate got really mad and forcefully told him he did not want the car washed and gave him the rest of the money. Stuff like this really makes me mad.

When we first got here we were leaving the grocery store and needed to catch a taxi home. As we walked outside of the store the side of the street was packed full of taxis and jeepneys. All we had to do was walk in any direction and we would have run into a taxi that would have been happy to take us home. Instead some guy sees us coming and runs up to the nearest taxi and tells us we can have that one. I guess he is like the taxi pimp? Nate gave the guy 5 pesos that time too and he asked for more! Nate just told him that was all he had.

Every single day (if we leave the house at all) we are faced with situations like this and I am never sure what to do about a tip. And if we are supposed to tip, how much? I am sorry; I am not such a moron that I can't see when a parking spot is empty. I am perfectly capable of backing out of my own parking space. I will not pay you for washing my window (and doing a terrible job I might add) when I didn't ask you or even give you permission to do it. Staring at me through my car window like I am some kind of freak show or tapping on my pockets as I walk by to see if I have any change in them will not make me want to give you money.

I know we are more fortunate than a lot of other people are but can you imagine if every time you left the house people washed your windows, helped you find a parking space and then back out again, carried everything to your car for you, etc. You could easily give away $5 a day. That is a lot of money! I can understand giving money to people who are selling fruits and homemade goods on the streets. At least they are offering you something and giving you a choice of buying it or not. I cannot handle people who make up jobs for themselves, don't give you a choice and then expect to be paid.

Sorry, I just had to vent a bit there.

And FYI, I wish I knew for sure about the things I listed above. But I think it might be 1. no, 2. yes, 3. no, 4. no, 5. yes, 6. yes, 7. no, 8. no, 9. yes, 10. ?, 11. ?

Liam's Kingdom party

Sir Liam

Liam had his first kid party this year the weekend before we moved to the Philippines. He requested a Kingdom party and wanted to dress up like a knight.

So of course Jonas wanted to be a knight too.

The birthday cupcakes
(One of these days I am going to make my kids a cool cake! Their birthdays always seem to coincide with moving though.)

First shot at the pinata.
I think this was the best part of the whole party. Definitely going to have more pinatas in the future!

Jonas going for it

Nate finishing it off.
I promise we let other people besides Liam, Jonas and Nate have a turn!

Family Portraits

by Liam

Barber Shop

One morning we were walking through the mall and there was a barber shop completely empty. All of the guys needed haircuts - especially in this heat - so we went in and got them all done at the same time.

Apartment in the Philippines

A few pictures of our apartment...

Living room

Kitchen area. It came with the stove top but we bought the toaster oven ourselves. We can't drink the tap water but we can buy the 5 gallon water jugs for around $2 US each from the lobby downstairs.

Jonas' side of the room

Liam's side of the room

The bathroom. I am so happy to have a flushing toilet. Nate has told me what they can be like sometimes. That blue bucket in the shower area is for bucket showers. There is a smaller cup and you just dump the water on yourself. I haven't tried one yet but Nate has (and did his whole mission). There is a heated shower though. That little unit hanging next to the shower head heats the water as it comes through. The only problem is that the water pressure is horrible. Think of the worst pressure you've ever had in the US and cut it in half and that is what it is like. Basically just falling out of the shower head. The only time it really matters is when I am washing my hair. As soon as I find a good place I am chopping it off!

Jonas taking a bucket bath

Lego station. Love these things. Liam and Jonas will sit there for hours building things.

One of many tiki. The come out in the evenings and run around the walls looking for bugs to eat. They freak me out because they are so fast and their skin is sort of see through but Nate says they wont hurt you.

View from our bedroom window.

View from our kitchen window.

It has been comfortable so far. Each of the rooms has an AC unit in it (which we run all night) and there is an oscillating fan mounted on the wall in the living/dining room. The kitchen is cramped, but it works. We only have a few dishes so washing up after meals has been mostly easy. We do have to dip the dishes in a bleach/water solution after the regular wash, which gets annoying.

The apartment building is used for visiting scholars, researchers, professors and foreign grad students and it set up almost like a hotel. So one day we got home from doing some grocery shopping and a maid had come by and cleaned the place. I am not sure if it is their job to really clean the whole place or if they are just here to gather the dirty sheets and towels and replace them. She had definitely done more than just the towels and sheets. The boys had left toys all over the place and there were a few dirty dishes in the sink she had cleaned. I am a little uncomfortable with it all but I guess its something I have to get used to. It makes me want to clean everything up every time we leave the house though. I feel bad about someone doing our dishes and picking up the boy's toys.

The grounds of the apartment are so pretty. It is so green everywhere! I will have to take pictures of the outside later. There is also a guard in the lobby downstairs around the clock which is really nice.

We have 56 stairs to walk up. Liam and Jonas run up them easily but it hasn't been so easy for me, especially when my hands are full of groceries. I am hoping by the end of the 4 months I will have super tough legs. :)