Pool fun at Patio Victoria
Trip Start
May 07, 2012
1
10
27
Trip End
May 30, 2012
San Juan, Bicol, Philippines
Sunday, May 13, 2012
As the crowds of Filipino families poured in, the day became more and more interesting for people watching. Several things we observed in the Filipino culture today included: It’s not considered rude or strange to clip your toenails at the dinner table. As we watched a women give herself an hour long pedicure right at her table. There is no regard for children wearing clothing at the pool. At first it seemed that all the children were wearing suits or even clothing (which is also normal swim attire for this culture) but as the day grew longer the more naked kids got. If it were appropriate, I would have loved to have snapped some photos of the naked kids wearing only swimmies running around but I think that’s weird so I’ll just tell you about it. In addition to that, kids also began peeing – EVERYWHERE!?! Give them credit for not peeing in the pool, okay. But the excessive peeing around the pools edge was a bit much. I can’t fathom that in America.
A BIG scare of the day occurred just after lunch when the crowds at the pool starting screaming and gathering around the edge of the pool. A boy drowned and was pulled from the pool unconscious. A white man (maybe a tourist?) was first on the scene and immediately began CPR to resuscitate him. We watched in horror as his mother screamed, cried and jumped up and down in hopes that he’d be revived. It was clear that no one knew how to handle the situation and my adrenaline kicked in as I thought I might have to run and help as well. It’s always been my greatest fear to have to USE my CPR training. Chest compressions were done for what seemed like forever and finally the ambulance arrived. The boy was picked up, motionless, and whisked away. The girls and I were so upset as we watched. We later asked our waiter what happened and he said he was taken to the hospital and was breathing when he left. A near-death experience for that little guy, so we were happy to hear that the outcome was a good one in the end.
We left the pool and made another trip to Robinson’s. I’m guessing we’ll be there a lot. A few items like water bottles and snacks were needed. I found a "Twin Berry" frozen yogurt store (mimicking PinkBerry) and a vanilla yogurt hit the spot. I also found a flower shop and bought both our home stay mothers flowers. They actually celebrate mother’s day here in the Philippines too! So I thought it would be nice to acknowledge our home stay moms J NaNay Leah loved them and Ate Joy cried.
Allyson is sick today with a head cold and sore throat, so we went to the pharmacy to get her some medicine. It’s typical on these trips for someone to be sick at any given time. So far I’ve had two girls pretty sick. I came home and took Tylenol Cold & Flu and some Emergency C trying to fight off getting anything myself. Tonight Heather has a stomach ache and is already in bed. The heat is getting to them all while I seem to be doing okay.
We are settling in early tonight as we prepare for a long week of work at our clinics. We have a six day work week with the Medical Mission Day in Dagamo on Saturday. Tomorrow I am headed to Palo with Anna and Heather, their clinic is the closest of the three so we’ll leave about 8.
Happy Mother’s Day to all from the other side of the world!
