Matchless Matches

One of the things that hasn't ceased to amaze me is the matches you can get here. They are small, even wooden matches and actually have very little material in the match head. But they light first time EVERY time! This box is nearly empty and the strikable sides of the box are still in pristine shape.

In the second of my worlds, there are several brands of matches but the best is Rainbow matches. Even so, they don't all light. Sometimes the head breaks off and goes sizzling off in some crazy direction. (My face or arms have been burned more than once by flying match heads.) And usually the sides of the box wear out from repeated striking long before the matches are all gone.

But then there is Brand X. In the village market, there are always a couple of guys going around selling three boxes of Brand X matches for 15 cents. They are very agressive, they shove the matches in your basket and hold out their hand hoping to intimidate you into paying for the worst matches on earth. These matches are a royal pain to have to use. I have more than once used over half a box to light one candle. They break, the stuff they are coated with is uneven and seems to be very fire resistant. A single match usually needs to be struck multiple times before it finally lights. In the process of striking, matches frequently break, and the rough stuff in the side of the box gets shiny (and useless) from use. Many matches never do light no matter what you do. Some do light but don't stay lit long enough to get a candle burning. I avoid Brand X like the plague. The only thing they are good for is tinder for a fire - if you light the fire with something else.

Torticollis and cell phones

It appears that in this state there aren’t any laws about cell phones and driving because I certainly have noticed a lot of drivers do use them. One needs to be more on the alert for inattentive drivers than ever before. I have followed cars which were having a hard time staying in their lane and then suddenly were driving fine. The driver must have ended his/her call. Several time I have seen cars in the far left lane suddenly zoom across multiple lanes of traffic to exit on the right by drivers yakking on cell phones. When you see drivers whose mouths are moving they may not be singing or talking to themselves – most likely they are talking on a cell phone - and that’s a sign to watch out! Another sign is torticollis: abnormal postures and movements of the head. If you see a driver with their head bent to their shoulder, look out!

Yesterday while I was walking, a poodle puppy came bounding out to greet me. His owner was a woman with a crooked head who walked a bit like Lurch as she tried to call the puppy back. I thought she had torticollis or maybe left-sided weakness from a stroke or something as she seemed unable to reach for the pup with both hands and her head was oddly bent to the left resting on her shoulder. Every time I started walking again the puppy ran back towards me so I finally stopped to wait for the woman to capture her pet. It took me a few minutes to realize she was talking on a cell phone gripped between her head and shoulder. She didn’t have torticollis after all!

My sister commented in a public restroom about the need for cell phone etiquette and soon we were in a lively conversation with several other ladies on the topic. They complained of interrupted conversations as people grab for their phones, phones ringing in meetings, in church, people shouting into phones in stores, elevators, startling you, intruding in your space and forcing you to hear their one-sided conversations. Or people start talking and you think they are talking to you but aren’t.

At least people around here don’t seem to text as much. People talk as they walk but I haven't yet seen anybody out crossing streets while texting!

Dusty haired people

(Oct 2009)

Now I am back in the first of my worlds for a visit. It’s often interesting what stands out. This time it was all the dusty-haired people. There are a lot of graying people to be sure. But it’s more than that. Maybe it’s partly because I am used to seeing black heads in Asia and here there are a lot of blonds and light brown haired people. Or maybe it’s because people’s hair is dry from climate, too much washing/drying/perming/dyeing, or from chlorine/fluoride in the water. I am not sure, but the visual impression I get is of a sea of dusty-haired people!

August-September notes

August 2009

Well it’s another hot one. Maybe there really is an El Ninyo forming. Last week the sky was brilliantly clear but this week it has that hazy, dusty tinge it gets when the fires on the next island are burning (the annual "smokey" season - see entries from Oct-Nov 2006, July 2007). It has been raining a little but just enough to increase the humidity, not great gully-washing, roof-pounding rains that would actually cool things down.

I am teaching English in the heat of the day, from 11:00-2pm this week and next. That means I have to dress professionally (read: hot). I’m commuting from the village which means wearing a jacket too for sun protection. The commuting is actually not too bad. It is the month of fasting so traffic from the rural areas at least is really light at the times I travel, tho if I spend too long doing errands and come back after 4pm it can be rather heavy as people come out to do shopping, etc. The light traffic makes for a more pleasant commute. Traffic picks up significantly at the city limits, but since I only have to go to as far as the school, it’s not so crazy as it gets further into town.

The temporary wooden-coconut log bridge is showing signs of age and breaking at the edges but still seems safe enough for a motorbike. It’s definitely cooler in the village – not that it is cool but it is not as hot as the city. There have continued to be lots of power outages. It’s a lot more bearable out here without power than in a hot, closed up city house without power! This morning I’m actually still feeling slightly chilled with a fan at 6:15 am. According to my alarm clock it is 81 degrees. Hmmmm.

(Temporary coconut log bridge collapsed a few days before I left. Luckily not with me on it!)

Something in my lower back/waist got pulled on the trip, either from sitting so long in weird seats or possibly hoisting luggage. Domestic airlines use new contoured-for-Asian-sized seats where the "pillow" part usually hits me between the shoulder blades. The seats are also closer together so that more passengers can be crammed into the plane. If my knees aren't jammed into the seat ahead, they have to be sideways. Makes for cramped sitting. Anyhow, something got strained. Over the course of the day my back gets more and more cramped and stiff and after standing teaching for 3 hours it is downright uncomfortable. Two days ago I started sleeping on the floor. It does seem to help. Even tho the mattress on the new bed is hard, it has springs or something and maybe that little amount of shaking and movement keeps things off balance in the spine department. I also broke down and took mefanamic acid (Ponstan) last night. This morning it still feels slightly cramped/spasmed in the area but not exactly painful so that’s good. Maybe today will be better.

This country is admittedly not good for my back. Even my motorbike is a tad too short and I can’t quite sit up straight and still reach the handlebars. Mirrors if any are too low, even the new ATMs I have to bend way down to even see the keypad! Tables and seats tend to be short and I have to make a concerted effort to sit up and not hunch over. I think I have developed the habit of hunching down to fit the furniture...

September 2009

I am in the village. Friday I finished the last English class. After class I bought a new printer for one of the teams and brought it home pinched between my knees on the motorbike. Yesterday (Saturday) I set it up and printed one sheet and then it started complaining of a paper jam. (And there is no paper jam.) Nothing I do changes it and so it won't print anything, just keeps wanting somebody to clear the nonexistant paper jam. So I will have to haul the thing back to town and see if they can fix it. Sigh!

While sitting on the floor intently focusing on the printer, a kitten playing on the bed next to me decided the flashing light on my glasses was cool so he swatted at it and got a claw in my eye. Ow! Fortunately I have a tube of not-yet-expired terramycin eye ointment. Half my eye is bloody but it's not very painful and I can still see ok. So picture me tomorrow riding my motorbike squinting thru one eye with a printer in a box balanced on my knees or squeezed between my knees or something. Whoo hoo!

Three worlds

I spent a month in the second of my worlds. It is no joke that I call each of these three countries “worlds”, for that is what they are. The languages are different, the religions are different, the dress code is different, the food is different, not to mention customs, worldview, transportation, government, house layout, yard maintanence standards, medicines, even writing paper and pens!

I have noticed how the brain helpfully seems to compartmentalize experiences. When I am in the second of my worlds I automatically drive on the left side of the road. Remembering names of streets and shops is always difficult upon arrival for the first few days until the brain gets the proper file to the front. Visual memory is instant but the linguistic stuff seems to take a bit longer to get to the forefront. (That means that I can still get to places even if the names of the roads I need to take aren’t on the tip of my tongue.)

This trip I was to teach a 24-hour English course and fit in visits with three teams around that. The only problem was, that I didn’t know when the course would actually start or how many of the hours could be done in one day. This seems to be the way things operate. You make a plan but no need to figure out the details until the time comes to actually do it.
Anyway, I will post some notes from that visit.

Yard kittens and ants

Ooops! Here a couple of back entries that didn't get entered for "operational reasons". (Well, that's what the airlines say when planes are late).

August 2009

Roof kittens become yard kittens

The two kittens we had been feeding on the neighbor's roof finally came down. Luckily all this time no one has moved in yet but since that could change at any time, we needed to figure out a way to get the kittens to come down into our yard and eat there (not to mention that it would be a whole lot easier for us to feed them there!) We started putting their food closer and closer to the edge of the roof near our place. Then I started putting it on the wall between the two apartments. They protested at first but hunger overcame fear and soon they were eating on the wall. But the wall is narrow and more than once they knocked the food off the wall trying to both get at it at the same time. And the ants were becoming a problem on the wall. But the problem was, how to get them down?

With some trial and error, we made a cat ladder from tree branches, plastic twine, and left over wood, with the rungs close enough together for kitten legs. In no time at all they had figured out how to use it and now gallop up and down several times a day!

And now they have made themselves at home, playing with a rubber centipede a friend donated!

September 2009

Be careful where you sit

We have had some major ant wars recently. There are several species which like different habitat. There are the medium sized black ants which mainly live outdoors but march around in columns and seem attracted to water. (See picture.) They only bite if you accidentally compress them while they are running over your body somewhere.

There are the tiny almost no-seeum brown ants that LOVE the cat’s food dishes, and any kind of crumbs, sweet or savory. They are wide ranging and love to bite. These monsters can crawl into beds, on chairs, desks, computer keyboards, etc. They seem to live in cracks in the wall.

Then there are the medium sized red ants – miniature fire ants. These live outdoors (so far) and march in columns. They are especially attracted to dead bugs and animals, and cat food. They bite without provocation and cause quite an itchy burning bite and the pain can last for days.

We finally declared war because it was getting so bad. We found some “ant houses” at the hardware store filled with a syrup that attracts the ants. They take it back to their nests and it kills off the whole lot. This seems to have been effective with the small brown ants. I can once again take a nap on the floor without being bitten up.

The red ants were especially annoying as they seeme to be taking over the back yard. We didn’t want to spray because of potential harm to pets and environment. And since the roof kittens are now yard kittens, we didn't want them playing with the leaky "ant houses" we used in doors. I found instructions for natural methods on the internet. So for several days I would pour boiling water on the main nest holes and then douse the area with blenderized pomelo peels and water. Citrus peels are supposed to have some ingredient that insects don’t like. Pomelos have very thick skins and so I was able to quickly make a lot of the mixture. Now a month later, the ants are still there but in greatly reduced numbers and confined to a much smaller area.

More on giants

Now the son of the man who was said to be killed by a giant is complaining of chest pain. He is worried that the giant may be taking further revenge on him. So he left his carpentry job in the city to go see the quack doctor in the village. This is the same young man who survived 13 stab wounds a couple years ago plus a couple bouts of pneumonia afterwards. I suspect it is more due to the fact that he suddenly took up smoking during his father's illness, but what do I know?

He was somewhat relieved when the quack doctor assured him it wasn't the giant but rather a dead grandmother who is demanding some chickens.

I can't help wondering why grandparents who loved us in life would now turn against us in death and become malevolent.

Still amusing ourselves to death

I read the book "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman a couple years ago and when I ran across this cartoon, well, it says it all. (Cartoon by Stuart McMillan at www.recombinantrecords.net)

Slain by a Giant????

Giants are apparently large spirit beings who like to live in certain trees, especially large trees with heavy shade. They are said to be able to cause mischief if you inadvertantly disturb them.

A friend’s brother recently became sick. He was 50 years old. Last week there were rumors that a “friend” of his whose father was a renowned practitioner of black magic had put “poison” in his food. But, this week they said it was a giant.

There was an old mango tree on his property which had been there since he was a boy. It’s a tree that bears the smelly mangoes, they are very sweet but have an unusually pungent odor and not everyone likes them. Some neighbors recently asked if they could cut the tree down and use it to make charcoal, a common way for rural folk to make a bit of cash. Since not many people are interested in buying the fruit, he agreed and it was done. But, soon afterward he became ill. According to the quack doctor, there had been a giant living in that tree and he was angry because it was cut down. The quack doctor recommended that they do a certain ceremony with a white chicken and 8 eggs. They did do the ceremony but it didn't do any good.

From what I could tell, the man had lived a hard life. His wife died soon after their third child was born, nearly 20 years ago. He left the kids with his parents to raise and he went to the city and spent many years as a pedicab driver. His meager earnings were spent mostly on drinking. He often just slept in his pedicab rather than rent a room. He smoked and drank for years and didn’t eat well. After his father died 5 years ago, he moved back home with his mother and worked some on the family farm but continued smoking and drinking heavily with his friends. When I heard that he was complaining of lack of appetite, weight loss, difficulty breathing, swelling, I assumed that he was probably starting to have problems with liver failure.

But, what do I know? Whatever it was, he died this morning. His entire family was present as he had requested. But I do wonder what they will put on the death certificate.....

Rat Update

June 8, 2009

Since we have been able to close the windows we have not had any more nocturnal damage to our fruit and vegetables. But it sure does make the place hot! The rat has not yet given up trying to get in. For the last three days he has apparently tried to climb up the glass and has left his urine all over the outside. We know he is BIG because the glass panes still have nearly a ½ inch gap between them. I am sure if he could get through, he would have done so. (Though he would still have to deal with our new screen.)

Saturday much of our white cement and saltine cracker mixture that we put at the back of the empty apartment next door had disappered. We refilled it and put out more dishes. Sunday I didn’t go check the dishes next door but the BIG rat had again left evidence of trying to get in through the window. I bought a kilo of bread crumbs from a bakery. It must have cake crumbs in it too because it smells really good! This afternoon we went to refill the bait bowls with the bread/cake/cement mixture we saw a dead rat in the path! Hooray! (But it wasn’t the BIG rat.) From the smell there are more like it down at the basement entry. Hopefully the new bait will smell as good to the rest of the rats as it does to me. I also bought some shrimp flavored Knorr cubes as a further taste treat if needed. We also found a plug-in rat repellant so we can try that too though of course it doesn’t solve the problem, it only (hopefully) sends them elsewhere. I’m not quite ready to leave the window glass open at night, though.

July 4, 2009

The rats seem to have vanished. We have had no more nocturnal visitors, we no longer hear them in the daytime and we haven't seen any at night either. We no longer find their droppings all over the yard, and we have barbecued a couple of times with no visitors! I gues the cement and bread crumbs did the trick. We recently got new neighbors who cleaned up a big pile of old cans and rubbish in their yard so we hope things will stay calm.

Unfortunately, the new mama cat died a couple of weeks ago. We think she died of poisoning because she died rather suddenly and we know other neighbors use rat poison. With three growing kittens she had been very busy hunting. Her three kittens were under the roof next door. We tried to catch them but only got one which died shortly afterwards. (They hide deep under the roof and we can't get at them.) We thought maybe all three had eaten of the same poison rat but suprisingly the other two have survived. They are very shy and startle easily. We have been putting food out 2-3 times a day and when all is quiet we can sometimes see them come out and eat. Fortunately no one has yet moved into the next door apartment on that side so we can go through there every day to put food on the roof. But we haven't figured out how to get them. I hope they will eventually be willing to come into our yard.