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I had a very interesting and enjoyable weekend. We went to Ragay, which is about 60 miles from Naga and is where Carina's mother's family is from. Her mother is the youngest of seven sisters and four brothers. Three of her brothers have died already. It has been a family tradition to go to their parent�s house for a family reunion for many years. Her mother's family was less accepting of me than her father's family. Carina says they are more conservative and questioned my sincerity probably because we met on the Internet and I am a foreigner. I had already met four of her aunts prior to going there and I get along with all of them but very well with one in particular. She and her husband raise and sell plants for landscaping and house display and she offered to provide us with all the houseplants we needed when we get our house built that we need at no cost. When I got to the family house I was met by two other aunts, which I had not met before, and was questioned by them for a little while. Then the one from Naga that offered the plants arrived and joined us. She had brought me a hand fan made from palm leaves as a gift. For the next hour or so I sat with them under a tree on the lawn as the rest of the family, aunts, cousins etc. arrived. I was introduced to all of them as Carina's husband. One of her cousins came over and asked me if I would like to join some of them and have some brandy. The aunts told him I would stay with them and I could do that after we eat so he left. We provided the pig for the feast and there were lots of different foods that had been prepared by most members of the family. When it came time to eat we went through the line and got what we wanted and went outside to a table where we ate. Before long people started bringing plates and trays of more food over to our table. I felt a little self-conscious because we were getting the choice cuts and entire plates of some foods but it seems everywhere I go this is the norm. We had roast pork, known as Lechon, and spare ribs as well as other dishes with pork. There were also chicken prepared in about five different ways and fish and shrimp and shellfish. Lumpia (small spring rolls filled with minced meat and dipped in sweet sauce) and Pancit (Noodles with chicken, shrimp and vegetables) not to mention various vegetables and fruits prepared from local recipes. Of course there was rice. Later her cousin came back and I went upstairs and joined four male cousins. I was questioned about my relationship with Carina. It was friendly but they wanted to make sure Carina had made a good choice and I was treating her well. They were curious about how we met and why I moved here. They wanted to know what I thought of Gaby and how I liked living in the Philippines. After a couple of hours I was told they were proud to welcome me to their family and hoped I liked them as well. Of course by that time I was feeling no pain since we had been drinking brandy with a water chaser, which is the most common way of drinking. They wanted to know if Carina was the jealous type telling me that many Filipinas are. I told them I didn't think she was so they decided to play a trick on her. Later when she came up to check on me to see how I was doing, one of her cousins that is still single, told her that he was going to take me to the local dance that night and would introduce me to some of the local women. Immediately Carina looked at me and said no! Everyone laughed. Our maid came with us as did the maids of many others and she helped with the cooking and cleaning as well as looking after Gaby part of the time. The rest of the time either Carina�s mother or one of her sisters watched Gaby so we seldom saw her most of the day. She was really tired out from all the playing with her cousins. That night I slept in a small room with nothing but a fan on a bamboo bed with a thin mat but no mattress. Carina had no problem with it since she was used to sleeping this way until we met. She suggested I place a pillow under my hips to make it softer and it helped. I slept but kept waking up when I would turn but with the fan, surprisingly the heat didn't bother me. I guess I am getting used to the climate here. Now I'm looking forward to the next one of these. |
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