Advice From the Ladies Who Lunch

One of the women at the office (the one who told me about taking scuba lessons) has kind of taken me under her wing; unfortunately she’s a consultant and is working there only through the beginning of September, when Habitat for Humanity Philippines will host an Asia-Pacific Housing Forum. She invited me to lunch on Monday. This time I had the rice and hot dishes (it’s easier for me when someone tells me what I’m eating) and I came up with a new favorite dish – kaldereta, a beef-tomato-carrot-in-tomato-sauce dish. Actually, my favorite is still the chicken adobo I had in New York with Debbie, but I haven’t had any here yet! It’s more to have something to say when people ask. Anyway, she told me that it is important to clean your plate – there should not be a single grain of rice left on it.

I had the chance to put that into practice right away on Tuesday, when I went on a field trip with the president of the organization and some other folks. We had a 7:00 am – or, as I just learned, n.u. (abbreviation for words that translate to “now morning”) departure – I woke up at 5:30 (I am so used to not setting an alarm – I hope my future involves as few alarm-clock awakenings as possible) and took a taxi because I had no idea what traffic would be like. The taxi ride featured my first incident of major harassment – I’d had a couple of minor ones but this was tough. I think there’s more harassment in small towns, but not as much as there was in Morocco (and most other Peace Corps countries). Anyway, we went to a site about two hours south (rice fields, volcanic mountain ridge background), where Habitat is the infrastructure partner on a project to resettle 4000 families from the Pasig River and the railroad tracks. This is a huge undertaking and they seem to have thought of everything – not just the infrastructure but also building a sense of community norms and values, livelihood training, recreation, education and health, religion, composting, even an organic garden and a meditation space. We saw the site and then there was a meeting of all of the major players, led by a dynamic woman from the foundation that is coordinating the project. Think of the typical Habitat for Humanity local chapter that might build a house a year, and now think of Habitat for Humanity Philippines helping to create a brand-new community of 20,000 people – that’s what I have to convey. The meeting included lunch – kaldereta again, and a vegetable dish I had had the day before and didn’t like (too much bitter gourd) – so I knew what I was eating and knew to clean my plate. It was a long day and I was somewhat rudderless – my counterpart was supposed to come along but got stuck in traffic and didn’t make it – but I learned a lot – seeing the scale of it, the other players, and especially Habitat’s role and expertise were all helpful.

But most of the people in the office don’t go down to the canteen for lunch; when I refill my water bottle I see them eating, but I didn’t know where they got their food – until today. It turns out that the same lady who brings the afternoon merienda also brings box lunches to buy at around 10:30 n.u. I bought one today – some more beef, rice and noodles. Not a lot of fruits or vegetables in the daily Filipino diet! I think I’ve had enough now and am going back to the tuna sandwich – I might have to have two, to avoid having a too-sweet snack at snack time. At least at the canteen I can get a banana! And some chips – I was wondering why the smoothies, which I loved in Morocco and was planning on making a staple here, just weren’t working for me, and why I kept thinking about having something salty – and then I was reading about dehydration and realized that my body needs more salt! But I also want fruits and vegetables. Thanks to Hanna, I tried rambutans (I had seen them in Indonesia but wasn’t sure what to do with them – you break open the spiny skin and eat the inside; they’re hard to chew so you kind of suck around the giant seed in the middle – all that notwithstanding, I’m ready to get a kilo and eat ‘em all up – they’re refreshing). I still have to figure out how to get enough vegetables – maybe I’m due for another CPK salad! As long as I brought the kilo up, the Philippines is on the metric system but also uses feet, inches and yards for measuring things. The Philippines is known for having the sweetest mangoes in the world – but I just missed the season!