Life with Steve
10-18-11
I was a little rushed to get something written last time and did not tell you about any of the details of my transactions and transgretions of my dealings last month. I had been looking for a vehicle since we got back here, but could find nothing I was willing to drive in my price range. I had looked at numerous vehicles, including cars, vans, mini-vans, and multicabs. There was nothing drivable under 120- 150 thousand pesos. That is not outrageous pricing, but beyond my means. Therefore I had pretty much decided on a brand new 150 cc motorcycle for 38,000. A couple weeks before I would have the money I was put in contact with another Kano that was selling a tricycle for 15,000, so I bought it almost sight unseen. Turned out to be a good buy as I could turn around and sell it if I chose for almost double, but I wanted it for myself. My wife was going crazy with me riding around on it. Not sure if you know about riding a tricycle, but they are more unstable than a 2 wheel motorcycle. Have to be real careful, especially turning right. It has a tendency to tip over if going too fast, and slow is often too fast. Plus you have a long appendage sticking out that must be taken into consideration when hugging the right side of the road. One more thing, the 150 bike is an automatic. I expected automatic was like my wife’s motorcycle, no clutch when changing gears. But automatic on this scooter bike has one gear. Forward! No nuetral even. New experience for me. Anyway, after riding this for less than a week I found a mini-van for sale for 70,000 pesos. So I borrowed from my account and bought it. Also another steal. Both need some work but am getting it done slowly each week with what I can afford with my allowance. My wife and I each get 4000 pesos a week. Most of mine goes to fixing vehicles, wood and tools for my carpentry (still having lots of fun with that), and now garden tools for my new land. Which brings me to buying the land to build on. We have been looking for some decently priced land in Butuan to build on. I have all kinds of objections at the lands we looked at. Too far out, too expensive, too small to stretch out on, and crappy roads. Well I did have to compromise on the road being unpaved and rutty, but only for a couple hundred meters or so. A relative of my wife has a large area of land, and being recently widowed, she wants a good neighbor. So we bought aprox 1.1 hectares at 300 pesos per meter, and will buy an adjoining 4oo sq meters at 500 per meter. After we get it all paid off we will start saving to build. I have a computer program to help me design the home I want. Hinay-hinay!! Slowly – slowly!! I finally have some land where I can have a compost. Have already started it with debris from the yard and vegetative cuttings from my kitchen. At the moment I am short of dirt. Everywhere I dig it is clay. Maybe I can use that to make some adobe bricks, using rice stalks instead of straw. By the way, just to reitterate myself, I know nothing about any of these things I busy myself with, it is strictly learn as I go. So any suggestiond are always welcome. Take care all, and enjoy the life we have!!
10-08-11
Many things are the same here in the Philippines. Right this minute on a Tuesday evening, it is like pulling hen’s teeth to get my neice and nephews to study their school work. Ah yes, I remember it well. The biggest worry in the world was “does she like me?”
Moving on:
I have taken up carpentry. I know absolutely nothing about the skill, but I have lots of the Time-Life books on the subject, plus the internet is loaded with information. My first real project will be to make a pair of saw horses. I found a miter box at Gaisaino, but it only has angles of 90 and 45 degrees. I have as yet been unable to find a T bevel to make other angles accurate. Greg has offered to let me use his electric miter saw but I really want to learn from the hand held tools first.
I bought an 8 points crosscut saw today, and some wood to make some make some shelves out side for our pots and pans in the dirty kitchen. I’ve already done this for our shoes outside, It is not a use of carpentry. The shelves are cheap 1 x 4′s and the walls are bricks. If I ever get a little skill I hope to redo them in a skillful manner.
The Visayan lessons are coming along nicely. I am actually learning a bit this time. I tried 4 years ago when I lived here before but was totally confused. Now I can make short sentences when I text my wife and mother-n-law. I even speak a little to the store clerks and jeepney drivers. Most of them get a kick out of it, although I also believe they laugh at me too. Just the price of ignorance.
I mentioned that there are Alcoholics Anonymous meetings here in Butuan. Also want to mention that the meeting is held every Sunday at 10:00 am at the St Joseph cathedral next to the park downtown. It is upstairs in the building to the right. And I have it from one of the members that he is willing to meet one on one if there is a need. So much for the communitty service announcement.
My goodness, I wrote the first part of this only a few days after my last letter. The idea was to write every couple days and then have something that I didn’t rush at the last minute. Well, it is now well past the last minute. Hopefully I get this done before another deadline or two pass by.
It is Sept 12 today, and 9-11 in America. Terrible day for the US nation, and for the world. Very sad.
I am now driving again. Got a good buy on a tricycle, and then a few days later found a small, small mini-van. Great buys on both. They both need some mostly cosmetic work, but thats ok. Noone will want to steal them at least.
And this week, I made a down payment on a hectre (plus) of land to build a house for us. Finally setting down roots again. I have been going to the land to do small amounts of work. So far, we are cleaning up some of the trash and overgrowth. Have four compost heaps started. Taking vegetative scraps from dinner preperations to add to the heaps.
So life has gotten a little busy. Haven’t gotten to the saw horses yet, but have almost finished a wall to hang my tools on. Have learned enough to start using a little bit better grade of wood for my carpentry attempts.
Promised Greg I would get this to him today so am done this month. I guess tommorrow I will be starting thye next letter.
Steve
It takes a special patience to live in the Philippines, and it was tested by a couple friends of mine very recently. (One of whom is a contributer here, and will give his perspective also.) I was texted by them on a Sunday afternoon that they had been in an accident while riding a jeepney. I went to the emergency room where they were being treated. Both had plenty of bumps and bruises. One also had a deep gash in his forehead that needed to be sutures and the other had a dislocated shoulder, painful ribs, and before we left was coughing up blood. Xrays showed the dislocated shoulder but the ER doctor (actually a new resident) said he could do nothing for the shoulder other than sling it for the night and refer him to an orthopedic doctor on Monday. I asked him about replacing the shoulder right then in the ER and he said he didn’t know how, so I reminded him this simple procedure was described in the Merck manuel. He looked it up and then decided it was not appropriate at that time and needed to wait.
By this time the patient was started to cough up a red tinged sputum. As the time went by the tinge of blood became small globs. We finally convinced the patient that he needed to be admitted and so started getting it done. The doctor had been advocating for this for the entire time and was happy the patient finally agreed. The problem was the hospital demanded 5000 pesos up front for admittance. None of us had the money but the patient agreed to pay the next morning when his friend could access his money. (The accident happened on a Sunday afternoon). The hospital refused to admit him without the money first. We also explained the insurance would be paying the bill also, but to no avail. The hospital told us that the patient needed a document from them for the insurance company to pay, but the could only give that to him if he were an inpatient. But they refused to admit without the up front money. By this time the small globs of blood was getting bigger. I offered my credit card now, very reluctantly as I figured once they had my card the would bill me for any further charges also. But not a problem, the hospital wouldn’t take a credit card, only cash. The patient went home that night and got a Kano friendly doctor the next day and was admitted to a different hospital. Turns out the blood cough was from pnuemonia which he had developed the previous week. He also had rib fractures, and the dislocation went back in place without treatment. He was also having difficulty breathing which was relieved with a chest tube insertion to relieve the pressure in the plueral cavity by removong the leaking blood. He spent several days in ICU for that. I found the care he recieved at this hospital quite adequate. His problems there started when he was finally well enough to be discharged. But I believe the other writer will give a better perspective on that as I have not talked to anyone about those details. (Editor’s Note: patient agreed to a payment plan during his stay, and upon release, the hospital did not honor the agreement and refused permission to leave).
Thus the need for patience here. But it is still the place I choose to live as I consider that he pros far outweigh the cons. Even though one the the cons could be a premature death. I will focus on the pros in my next column.
Also want to say Happy Birthday America!!!!
Steve
My subject this time is food. I may not be the one to talk about this in depth as I found out how limited my knowledge is on the first 3 attempts to write this. But, here goes. I ate mt first fertilized duck egg (balut) in my first 3 weeks of living here. It was runny, gooey, and salty. Since then I have found out there are several ways to prepare balut; depending on the length of fertilizing time (usually about 16 days) and the length of boiling time, i.e. hard boiled or soft boiled. There are many favorites among the people here. the most popular is “lechon”, Bar-B-Qued pig, roasted on a spit over a very hot fire, so the skin gets nice and crisp. Another holiday favorite is spaghetti. I thought at last, some food I am used to! But the spaghetti here is prepared with sugar, and the meat is hot dogs. It takes some getting used to but now I enjoy it. Still like my own better though. Some great foods are the noodle dishes such as pancit, pancit canton, and other noodles. Fish soup is a popular dish that most foriegnors will have to get used to if they want to eat at some of the local places. I have also tried blood, good depending on the cook, dog, very tasty, chicken feet, almost pure fat, and chicken intestines – smart to avoid. I personally try to eat a lot of steamed vegtables, bar-b-q chicken (lechon manok), salad, and grilled fish. This and walking is helping me attain my non-obese goal. But long way to go. My wife and I are going back to the states next week. Will spend about 10 days there before returning home (that’s Butuan). I hope to sell my truck and 5th wheel but with the economy and diesel prices going crazy, I may wait until next year to sell. Main job is packing and shipping all our belongings to Butuan. My wife will start 2nd year nursing school, our nephews and neice will start their schools, an I will be searching for the best massages in Butuan. Maybe I will do reviews on them in a couple months. I have no idea what I will talk about next time. If anyone has a suggestion please tell me what interests you. But remember, I am married and not able to do deep research on some subjects. Almost forgot, I will continue my Visayan lessons. They will be once a week for 4-5 hours. The cost is 375 pesos per week. If anyone wants to join me we can do a day convenient to you. All for now. Sige ha.
I have just returned to Butuan City after an absence of three years. It is good to be home!
My wife and I left here and traveled around the US in a 36′ 5th wheel. It was great, but have had to give it up due to physical problems. That is, all the physical damage I have done to the rig from my driving style. You know, driving by braille. It is in the shop right now getting some dings banged out, and then we will sell.
While touring the US my wife started taking a correspondance school for LPN (LVN in some states). It is based in Manila and we had to go to Manila for her clinical studies. She is now an LVN graduate nurse waiting to take state boards. She is also now an RN student at Urios here in Butuan. I am a disabled vet so she gets the GI bill, in fact she is the first GI bill recipient at the Manila LVN school. We applied and got it accredited for the V.A. Urios is also accredited for the G.I. Bill.
When we lived here before we moved around a bit. We started out in a 3 BR, 2 story, townhouse type of structure. It was furnished and we paid 15000 per month, plus utilities. It was located near the Otis mall in Libertad, we checked the area but nothing vacant last month. We also lived downtown in a second story new apartment for 9000, and rented the downstairs for a business that cost substantially more than we made. Last month the store was vacant but the apt was not. Really nice place. We also lived in a subdivision called Basic Homes in Baan. We rented an unfurnished, 3 bedroom house for 6000. Side note, all these places had 2 CRs (comfort room) or bathrooms. The place we rented before was vacant, but is now furnished. The rent is 13000 per month, and is our home again.
We were able to get a motorcycle for my wife to ride to school, and that is our only transportation at this time. So I get around using jeepneys, tricycles and busses. I am over 300 pounds and arthritic, so it is an adventure every time I go somewhere. We also have a car that we rent when needed. It belongs to a friend so it is substantially less the the going rate.
I have agreed to do a column, letter, what have you, for Greg’s ramblings each month, so that will keep me out of trouble for a couple
days each month. That is, if anyone is interested in anything I might have to say. And if not, my wife still listens to me at times.
My wife and I have no children but we are helping with educating her nieces and nephews. We will have 3 of them living with us this fall. 2 high school and one college student. My big goal in life is to see that all 17 or 18 get a college education.
Another goal I have is to learn to speak Visayan. I studied it a bit when I lived here before, but I didn’t put in the time to actually learn. So this time I am putting in 2-3 hours a day studiing and practicing. I have a tutor that comes to my house at 9 am each week day and stays until 11:00. Maybe this time I can actually learn a little.
The reason for my desire to speak Visayan is because I get tired of being avoided by my Filipino family. Right now when I join them in one area, within a short time I am by myself. I go to where they emigrated to and soon, I am by myself again. I was starting to get a complex. Then my wife explained to me that they moved because they are all “shy” to speak English with me. Shy in this case means embarressed. I can’t seem to make them understand that I don’t expect nor care if they speak good English with me, but they stay shy.
I think my hardest goal is to become non-obese. I have a bad arthritic hip that the V.A. will replace as soon as I loose enough weight that I can survive the surgery. So I am eating a low fat, low sugar diet and giving daily thought to excercising. Sometimes I actually DO the exercise I think about. I have no vehicle, as I previously indicated, so I travel by jeepney and tricycle. I have to walk a ways to get to the highway where I catch said tansporters. Thus I am forced to walk a bit if I don’t want to be a hermit. All good!
In conclusion, I love my life here in Butuan. I love the people in general. I adjust my thinking so I can accept the ways things are here, no matter how totally ineffective or foolish it may seem to me. It is what it is. Next time I will talk about the food. Hope to see you then.
Hi Steve,
Welcome back! It’s good to see you survived living in the US of A for that time. If you get to Davao please stop and visit. We have a place on Samal Island too if you want some seaside exposure. I’m building a 12 foot Garvey Flex which can be seen at http://s275.photobucket.com/albums/jj300/davaodan/ along with many other pictures including our Samal Island home.
If I get up your way I’ll be sure to give you a call.
Later,
Dan and Elma
Hi Dan,
I am looking forward to traveling when we get settled down a bit more. And your place is near the top of the list. Looks like you’ve been real busy, between the new buildings at the beach and all the boats you’ve been building. And the fish! Did you get any of those from your beach or were they all from the boat? Great picture albums!
Steve
Good to have another Veteran around Steve. My name is Mike and I’m married to Elizabeth Cortel Jansen here in Buenavista. What percentage disabled do you need to be before your wife can go to college on the GI bill? I also get disability from the VA.
Mike
Hi Mike,
You need 100% to get that benefit. I am actually 80% but am paid 100% with all the benefits due to unemployability. I started at 40% in 1973 when I got out of the army, but have deteriorated some over the years. It has given me my dream life. Living good and not having to work for it.
I like Buenavista. We almost bought a little beach house there back when we had some extra money. Really regret not doing that when I had the chance.
Hope to catch you at the Friday meeting or the new one with your wife if it gets organized. Take care,
Steve
I’m only 40% right now. Though i have two claims still pending and one more issue to file a claim for. Good to know about the college thing though. I’m working online 40 hours a week now so mostly i don’t get into town except on weekends. Though if you are ever going to be in BV in the afternoon feel free to look me up. Greg has my phone number. I’ll be in town this weekend probly. I do need to get out more though lol. I’m starting to take root in my chair.
Mike
Hi Steve,
I am also a 100% disabled veteran. I read that your wife is going to nursing school in Butuan. My wife and I are also thinking bout attending Urios. She is tired of being a CNA. Backbreaking work for such a little woman. So Steve, can you tell us how you get started enrolling in Urios through the GI Bill? WAs it easy, hassle free? My wife, son, and myself are coming to Philippies Oct. 16, for almost 6 months. Wouild be GREAT to meet you and yoyur wife.
Mark
Hi Mark, just saw your e-mail and then found this note to me also. Good thing I don’t claim to be prompt. But I do apologize for being so slow to respond.
Anyway, my wife has transferred to a different nursing school because of a particular instructor there at Urios. She is now in St Josephs also here in Butuaan. We have cleared the way for getting both schools veteran payment friendly. But I can help you all you want when you get here. Especially for a fellow Hawkeye. I lived in Lynn county til I was ten. Wonderful area of a wonderful state.
Take care, looking forward to seeing you.
Hi Steve,
What a small world! I no your a great guy growing up in Iowa, LOL!! Did you grow up in the Cedar Rapids are? I live near Dubuque.
Great place to live, but I found paradise in the Philippines. Love it!!!!!
Since my 1st e-mail my wife is thinking bout going to nursing school in Makati. Where she has a niece in her 2nd year. They might live together, then the niece would be great help to her, if she needs.. But what papers do we have to file, or where do we go to register. Don’t we have to go to the VA office on Roxas Blvd.
We are coming to Butuan oct. 16th, would love to meet you and your family.
Mark
Yep, just north of Cedar Rapids outside of a town called Alburnette. Our communitty is called Lafayette. We had a general store, one pump gas station, feed store and a train depot. Also about 14 houses and surrounded by corn and soy beans.
And yes, you need to get the VA clearance there in Manila for your (wife’s) eligibility. Thats the pain in the *** part, although my wife did it without much help from me.
Looking forward to seeing you.
Steve
Steve,
Did you have to file Form 22-5490 Dependent Application for VA Education Benefits, we have, to get a certificate of eligibilty? We did it here in the states, but gave the address in Butuan where we be living..
Mark
Steve is in contact with you directly. If not, let me know. Thank you
Hey Steve, when you return from your sortie in the USA, give me a shout. Cherry wants to enroll in the program at Urios… Your insight and expertise would be appreciated…
Will do Ray, and will put Cherry and Maribel in touch with each other. We will return on the 6th.
Where are you taking your Visayan lessons? I think I want to join you. I speak a little…(read damn little)… Visayan and would really like to learn a lot more. I can pick up some here and there and can speak more than I can understand.
It’s kind of funny (and difficult ) as in a conversation Filipinos might speak Visayan, Tagalog and English all in one sentence. Messes with your head. Cherry , of course has been my angel in learning. In the “early” days we had a erasable marker board. She would write a word(s) down and it would slooooowly percolate into my thick skull. Need to start doing that again.
I think all kanos should learn (or at least try) some Visayan, no matter how poorly. To me, it’s first, a matter of respect. If nothing else, everyone has a good laugh. I live here and feel that I should at least try to speak. It changes the way they will look at you. I have found that if you try (even butt poorly),most will try to help you learn new words, phrases or even a little bit better service. I’ve made some friends and learned a whole lot about people,places and things with just a bit of effort .
Of course some kanos are so egotistical that they think they are the center of the universe and Filipinos need to learn English just for them. Everyone can learn, even a little.
OK, done rambling…
Steve,
So far with Ray that makes us 4 students. Do you want to tell Ray that we play Omaha while in class, or shall I?…:)
Im in for the Omaha. But please dont offer me any Dog on a stick. lol. Il be there June 20 thru the 28.
Well……………………………………………………it seems to me like you guys need a bit of a handyman around there from the blogs I have read, (haven’t read Greg’s yet) but I really wish I was there when you guys wrote all this stuff because I dunno, I can use a saw (electric or hand) weld, use a level, change a tyre, install a toilet, knock up a wall, build a house (sort of) as well as being an Electrician by trade. I would welcome the opportunity to help other people and love the comradeship of a good old Westerner get together to knock up a garage or pour a concrete floor or whatever. Who’s supplying the beers and who’s doing the Barbie? Only problem is that I have to buy all my tools all over again when I get there.
My partner says that her Dad gets a bunch of blokes in to mix by hand and pour concrete so I think maybe I will go buy a concrete mixer, bull float and vibrator (no, not that kind) when I get there and put them all to shame!
Cheers
Pete
Pete, I haven’t been on site for a couple months, but am very interested in getting together with you when you arrive and/or available. I have been investing in a couple power tools but haven’t put them to much use. See yoy then, Steve
Hi Steve, we haven’t met but I have enjoyed reading your page. My wife and I are currently residing in Butuan. I tried to locate the AA meeting in the building adjacent to the St. Joseph church you mentioned across from the park. I think it was the pairish main office I checked and the building next door to that. Needless to say I couldn’t locate it. If you would kindly give me more specific directions so I could make it to a meeting I would appreciate it. Thanks.
Dave, tried to e-mail you, but got no answer. We usually hold the meeting at a residence now we are but two. Would be graet having you, EZ DUZ IT
Steve