Daily Report: Sweating and Freezing

My bike was finished. I told Mechanic Jun to drive it the 15 miles to my house in Jasaan to see if any kinks needed to be worked out.

Yes, there were kinks. I don't have my bike yet.

Puppy Tyson is doing well. He seems to be naturally house trained: He always goes out an open door and pees on the cement walk or in the grass. Of course if he finds the door closed, the floor is fine... so he's not batting 1000.


Tyson still has his new-dog smell. He
likes to swim when the water isn't too
cold, and riding on motorcycles is also
high on his list of enjoyable activities.For reasons I can't understand, Tyson's breath always smells like poo... and he won't drink the schnapps I offer him. He chews on everything, just like any dog, but he's a fast learner, and realizes that when we make "the buzzer sound" he's doing something wrong and stops. He's playful and happy and waddles around and is all roly-poly in the grass.


Epril beating the heat with
the freezing cold spring
water.It's the hottest time of the year here in Mindanao. We went swimming today at the most secret of the five pool resorts in Jasaan: Out this crazy steep dirt road about half a mile out into the jungle, but actually quite close to the other pool resorts. We brought Tyson with us as well. We found out that he can swim just fine, but the natural spring water is so goddamned cold the little guy was almost in shock after 10 seconds of exposure, and didn't stop shivering for an hour afterwards. I really can't understand how water coming out of the ground can be a colder temperature than any air temperature that The Philippines has seen in the last million years. And the earth is supposed to get warmer as you go down too... especially in a volcanic place like Mindanao.

Mayor Jardin of Jasaan was also hanging out there at the pool resort, so we chatted for a bit. He might be getting the road up there paved, which would be great... although it's the bad condition of the road that keeps the resort quiet and under-occupied, compared to other resorts on a Sunday afternoon, packed with hundreds of screaming kids and karaoke singers.

Mike and Emilyn Bird had a baby girl yesterday, and brought it home today. Total cost of a normal uncomplicated vaginal delivery in The Philippines: $450. And that includes everything including the optional First Class service: Mike left the house with $500 in his pocket on Saturday morning, and came home with $50 in his pocket on Sunday afternoon. Food for the family, flowers, drinks, taxi, diapers... all of it. Not bad.

Epril and I stopped by to visit the newborn tonight. She had such a bright red face that I suggested Mike nickname her Cherry. He might. The women cooed and awwed inside, while Mike and I sat out on the porch and got drunk. I think I lost my phone in the process since I can't find it now. It was a worthless 8-year-old Nokia, so I'm not worried about that, but losing all my friend's phone numbers would really suck. I hope it turns up.