The Clements in the Philippines: Update #9: April 6, 2006 More Protests and Pics to Put Faces to Names

Hi All,

Well there was another protest in the Philippines. Once again against the President. However, if I didn't get out of bed because my son (the kicker) wouldn't let me sleep, I would never have known about it. Clearly it wasn't anywhere near us and it wasn't a big protest. However, to read the global papers online you would think it was huge. I got to say though, the news reports do take a while to come out, I could have written three articles about it in the time it took for CNN and Reuters to finally cover the story. Thing is, as someone said at lunch today, when something does happen that might actually have an effect on us expats, the text messages fly. Even with me only being in the country for less than three months, I get a ton of texts from people. The phone never rings (or rarely) instead everyone texts each other.

The expat community - while large in numbers - is very small in some regards. Just from joining the British Women's, a book club and the Canadian Club and from hanging out around the city, I run into the same people all the time. Case in point, I went for a newcomers welcome lunch today (organized by Crown Relocations) for women who recently moved to Manila. There were only five of us there, but only one was brand new to me. Two of the ladies recognized me and we realized that we have the same Doctor and were in the waiting room together. Then I already met another woman from my 'Ladies who Lunch' outing. Another time I ran into people I know at the Deli and grocery store. With Manila being such a large city - way larger than Toronto - to run into the same people all of the time is really quite neat.

Now, for a short vent. My name is Debbie, not Gabby. For a country where people are frequently named things like Joker, Baby (for both Males and Females), Girlie, Kidlat, etc, why is it so hard to get their head around the name Debbie? When we signed up for Internet, even though I said my name more than 5 times, we still ended up with the service being under the name Gabby Clemente. Then, when I went to a woman's house for bookclub, I had to tell the security at the gate my name more than 10 times. What name did they hear? Gabby. AGHHH !!!!! I think I am going to have to start giving the name Deborah as maybe it will be easier for them to say. Who know's maybe so our son won't be teased we'll have to give him a more traditional name... like Bobo.

On another related vent, I keep teasing Dave that our son's first word will not be Mommy or Daddy, but Mamsir. Because everywhere you go, you are greeted with "Hello Mam, Sir." And we're not just talking once in the lobby, we're talking about every single security guard in the lobby, then by all the security guards when you enter the mall, and inside the 7/11, etc. Sometimes, it becomes so much of a routine for them to say "Hello, Mam, Sir." that they will say it even when Dave isn't with me.

But on the bright side, I do so love having someone else cleaning for me. For the cost of $10 I have someone come to my apartment and clean it for a day. And we're not just talking about pulling out the Swifter. She actually moves all the furniture and first sweeps and then mops the floors and wipes down the cupboards and walls. It is pretty impressive. She still is afraid of the cat though. As is our landlord. Poor Pheobe, she would have such a complex if she understood how shocked people are at the size of her.

Since my last post, not much has happened. I've been sleeping a lot - or trying to - and feeling very tired and hot. I remember people saying that it is brutal to be pregnant in the summer. Well let me tell you, it is way worse to be pregnant in the summer in the Philippines. I am so worried about dehydration that I drink at least 4 Litres of water a day and gatorade whenever possible. That does mean though, that I am always going to the bathroom and rarely do I leave an air conditioned place.

At our doctor appointment today, we found out that our son is very, very healthy. You're supposed to start doing kick counts - where you count the number of kicks, movement etc you feel when you are lying down. If you don't feel at least 10 in an hour, you're supposed to have a snack and then test it again. Well... it took less than 5 minutes to feel way more than 10 movements. And his movements have gotten to be very strong - so much so that I sometimes cry out in pain. You can even see his movements now and Dave can feel them through a sheet and blanket.

I went to the American Women's Club Bazaar. There were a ton of stalls set up in a conference hall selling everything from clothes, fake designer purses, craft items (including handmade quilts for about $200), pearls, furniture, etc. It was quite neat to look around but never settle for their asking price. I did find though, that afterwards when I showed Lainie my purchases and raved about my discounted prices, that I definitely didn't get the best deal. However, I still think that the price I got was pretty good.

We also went to a shower for Glen and Lainie's little boy-to-be, Lochlin. It was a lot of fun and exciting as we are on 'baby watch' for Lainie. The pics below are from the shower and will help put a face to some of the names you may see in our blog.