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| June 17, 2003 - Like most families in the rural Philippines, my family own a few pigs. There are three pigs living in our backyard, awaiting their day (July 16) of reckoning. Pigs are usually served on special occasions, in this case, the town fiesta. Aliw, my host sister, feeding a pig that was very tiny when I arrived a few months ago. Pigs grow pretty quick. | |||||||||||||||||
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| There are many different ways to live as there are Peace Corps volunteers. I did not have any dreams of living in a remote jungle or island when I signed up. I'm not sure what I would do there, I'm a city boy. I hoped to do business work. I like electricity and running water, as most people do, they make life more enjoyable. I am also a big fan of information. | |||||||||||||||||
| Information becomes precious when you are separated from it. For my education here I read the Asian Wall Street Journal, Far Eastern Economic Review and Economist. They are all publications with an Asian office, so the delivery time is decent and I get to see a different perspective on the world. | |||||||||||||||||
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| You might laugh at weather forecasts, but imagine not having them. A typhoon hit us over the weekend, no one really knew (not that I spoke to at least) until it was well into a day of pouring rain. "Summer/Dry Season" is over here (as is the rice harvest), the "Rainy Season" will be starting now, so we will see more rain. It is a welcome respite from the heat, about 10 degrees cooler with the rain. | |||||||||||||||||
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| June 27, 2003 - Growing up, I never thought about where my food came from. I thought rice came in 20lb bags from Safeway for $3.99. I now have the pleasure of learning where rice really comes from. My host father is a farmer and there are rice fields all around. Right now, farmers are plowing fields with carabao (water buffalo), turning the soil and leveling it. | |||||||||||||||||
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| Seedlings (rice) are planted in little nurseries for 14 days then transferred by hand to rice paddies. This is hard work. Workers are paid 80 pesos a day ($1.50). Finally, the paddies are planted and it will be between 75-85 days for most varieties of rice to be harvested. Farmers ususally plant different varieties. The paddies will need to be flooded with water during their growing period (a few inches of water). There are 2 harvests per year. Mr. Paner owns 7 hectares (approx 14 acres) of land. He is fortuate and does well as a farmer. Land reform was/is a huge issue in the Philippines. Many powerful families own large tracts of land. Many poor farmers do not own the land they farm. They are either tennants or squatting. | |||||||||||||||||
| As a tennant, they give 50% of the harvest to the owners of the land. At home, we eat fresh rice from the last harvest. We eat a variety called IR-42, premium rice, quite tasty. This rice takes 90+ days before it can be harvested and is the most expensive rice available here. Mr. Paner stores his harvested rice and will periodically mill it at his friend's mill when he wants to sell it. Prices are better as it gets farther from the harvest, he is a good businessman. | |||||||||||||||||
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