Regatta!

Everyone at work is getting ready for the upcoming Regatta!  It seems as if nearly all of the municipal government is heading out for the event, which is outside of Lagonoy proper, up and over a mountain and then down the other side to the north coastline., probably a 2 hour drive.  And I will be going as well!  I will be staying with a whole bunch of people - They say we will be camping.  Im not exactly sure what that means, but I have been told to bring lots of mosquito repellant!  Oh boy!  I dont have a sleeping bag, so I suppose I’ll just bring some sheets.  I think the sleeping will be on the ground.  This Regatta is a big deal.  My crew is bringing with us two (2) pigs which will be slaughtered when we get there for food!!!  Why do it this way you ask?  Because we have no refrigeration!  And apparently we have about 50 chickens as well.  

The Regatta is a yearly event that has been going on for ages.  Its all about boat racing and Im thinking its a rowing sort of thing (think crew, filipino style) with a bunch of races done by age group and then an overall race regatta champion!  Im told that there is a sort of ‘Babe Ruth’ of this competition… He’s an older man who has won the large solo event year after year.  Sounds like fun!

In other news, I was in the mayors office today trying to act busy and what should walk in but an entire wedding party!   Well, it seems as if the mayor marries people!!!  Apparently, this is done often because the mayor does the ceremony for free but the churches charge a lot.  The couple looked so cute, he is his best pressed barongg, and she in a white wedding dress that had obviously been in the family for who knows how long!  I snuck into a little closet adjacent to the mayors office so I could hear and see the whole thing without disturbing the moment!  So sneaky, I am!!

Now, I can hear loudspeakers down the road and I was asking what all the fuss was about.  Seems as if there are no invitations for the wedding reception - the entire barangay is invited to attend.  It is a custom that money is pinned to the brides dress by all the neighbors, family and other folks attending.  I know there are similar customs in other cultures.  Of course, our custom is to just put the money in an envelope - so boring, right???.  Anyway, I was told I definitely should NOT go to the party bc as an americano they would think I was coming to bestow on the bride a large sum of money!!!  Better to avoid that confrontation!  

Stay tuned for Regatta pics!  Oh, and let me say just one thing more… Insects rule the world.  Make no mistake.  When we are dead and gone the insects will live on.  They will probably mutate in Darwinian fashion into some super creature.  There are so many insects here.. Mosquitos of every color and size, ants… you don't know ants until you leave a crumb of food on your outdoor stove.   Little bugs.. Big bugs… Spiders… so much diversity!!!