philippines part 2: people and places

For part 2 of my Philippines trip, I'd like to introduce you to most of the members of my family and more pictures of my home and our life there.

Flowers right outside our front door. My grandmother and aunts have quite the green thumb, a skill I did not inherit.

My uncle Arnol trimming some sugarcane. When I was a kid, I loved grabbing a piece and eating it raw - the juices are sweet like candy!

My aunt Edith, preparing some squash blossoms for dinner. Aside from being such a cheery shade of yellow, they're delicious.

Other foods I indulge in when I'm home: Jollibee two-piece Chickenjoy complete with rice and gravy, simple home cooked breakfasts of egg and rice, sweet rice cakes called bibingka, and fresh-from-the-shell coconut.

...and more food. My aunt Lyn demonstrating how to drink soda from a bag (the best way to drink soda!), my favorite street food of pickled green mangoes + shrimp paste (also eaten out of a bag), and freshly made chicharron (fried pork rinds).

The view coming down from our old house.

The house my grandfather built and in which my dad and his eleven (!) siblings were raised. We moved to our current house when construction had proceeded enough along to be habitable and to spare my grandmother the burden of getting up and down our little mountain in her later years.

My grandmother, Rosita. She is without a doubt the single most influential person in my life. She's my hero. Isn't she beautiful?

Clockwise form the upper left: my female second cousins - Nicole, Justine, Azen, and Lea; my cousin Marissa; my aunt Aida; my uncles Amor and Carlito; Marissa's son, Kenneth; my cousin Rose. Phew. I tried to get everyone but I couldn't find any good shots of my uncle Ely, my aunt Arma, my cousins Elar, Madelyn, and Arcely, or my aunt Nitha. Still, I'm batting over .300 consider how large our family is.

This little lamb lost its mother, so my aunt had to feed it using a baby bottle.

Some wild turkeys (I took this shot as close as I dared...they're kind of mean!).

And last but not least...basi, Ilocano moonshine. wink wink.

want more Philippines? part 1: on the way home