Angela Makes her First Filipino Dish

Angela made her first Filipino dish for me to try. It was really good, however she almost burnt down my house! Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/ENZm0mYacIY

Appreciating Where You Come From

            Life in the Philippines made Angela Dennis appreciate her life in America in many ways. She enjoys her life in America, but also misses the Philippines. Dennis lived on the small province island Mindoro. She spent a few years growing up on the island, and then moved to the United States. In her teenage years, Dennis moved back to Mindoro and now she lives in Kansas City with her sister.

         Dennis never thought she would enjoy several months of winter. In the Philippines, there was no winter, just long, steamy, hot summers.

            “Mindoro is different geographically. It’s in the Far East, therefore we don’t have winter. It might sound great not having a winter, but let me tell you our summers were ridiculously hot,” said Dennis.

            The island is surrounded by the ocean and there are a lot of mosquitoes. Dennis explained how every night her and her family had to sleep with mosquito nets on them. She said it was something she had to get use to, but she would rather have the net on her than nothing at all. Estrella, Dennis’s mom, was saying it’s always important to have a mosquito net covering your body.

            “One time my son left his feet out of the mosquito net over night while he slept and in the morning his feet were covered in giant red bites. His feet were so swollen and he could hardly walk,” said Estrella.  

            Dennis said she has learned to appreciate air conditioning because she didn’t have it on the island. Air conditioning was only used by the rich who lived in the capital city Manila.

            “I appreciate America because we have air conditioning. Back home in Mindoro we couldn’t afford air conditioning and to have it would have been a waste. Since our house was made of bamboo there was no way to secure it to the house and the air would have escaped through the bamboo,” said Dennis.

            Dennis says she is grateful for her home here in the states, but most of all she misses her bamboo house and it is the one thing she wishes she could bring here.

            Wooden planks, boards, bamboo and straw make up the traditional materials used in Filipino houses. Due to low financial possibilities, majority of the architecture and visible construction materials come from the natural surroundings. Dennis lived in a bamboo house without plumbing.  

            “My mom’s brother built our bamboo house. He was born with an architectural technique. In the provinces if you’re really good at something, your just good at it and get paid for it,” said Dennis.

            Dennis also explained how in the provinces one does not have to attend four or five years of school in order to get a job on the island. Filipino’s on the island just stick to doing what they are good at.

            “We had a beautiful bamboo house; I wish I had a picture of it. It had a large balcony overlooking the ocean; it was two stories high with two bedrooms. However, there was no bathroom because my Uncle couldn’t do plumbing. We used an outhouse or the ocean….I’m just kidding we really didn’t use the ocean,” said Dennis.

            Besides her house, Dennis also misses the fruit trees which grew in her backyard.

            “Fruit trees were everywhere! I had some in my backyard and along the beach. We had coconut trees, mango trees and banana trees. In the states you have to go to Wal-Mart or Price Chopper and pay $.69 for a banana, but in the Philippines I can just walk outside and grab a banana or mango off a tree and I don’t have to pay anything,” said Dennis.

            Moving to America has made Dennis value her Filipino life style and appreciate what her life has to offer in America. She hopes to one day move back to Mindoro with her family and live in her bamboo house.

                                                             Angela with her family

                                                         Example of a bamboo house

For more information regarding life in the Philippines check out these links:

http://www.philippines.hvu.nl/markets1.htm

http://www.philippines.hvu.nl/housing1.htm

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/country_result.jsp?country=Philippines

Witchcraft, Brushing Teeth and Loin Cloths. Oh My!

This is a podcast about interesting and different customs/practices on the island of Mindoro. Angela shares her experiences and opinions on the customs and practices.


http://cari2.podomatic.com/entry/2012-04-11T07_50_56-07_00

Kulam--Filipino Witchcraft

Work Life

This is a narrated slide show I put together. The slide show captures Angela working at Quiktrip and discusses how work is different between the Philippines and America.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN5aO0pAm6I&feature=g-upl&context=G2c97f09AUAAAAAAAAAA

Angela and I at work