One small anonymous island hidden within the thousands of other islands that make up the archipelago country called the Philippines. On that little island, called Bohol, lies hundreds of perfectly shaped hills all plotted within close range to each other, forming a beautiful landscape for anyone's delight. And on these hills are enormous trees that create cocoa. In fact, the ground instead of having soil, is covered in cocoa powder.
When it rains, that powder turns into a large slush, making the biggest, yummiest chocolate drink you've ever desired. The inhabitants of the island all come running out of their bamboo nipa huts and run into the puddles with mugs, pitchers, buckets in hand and scoop up the natural wonder that has blessed their lives. The little boys and girls know where the hidden treasure is, they all run down into the large pond that forms behind one of the bigger hills. As they run, they strip down to their underwear, ready to dive in and enjoy a chocolate bath and savor the moment because they're not sure when the rains will come again.
Each year the different villages throughout the island hold a chocolate scuplting contest. Anything from chocolate castles to dolphins are formed. The winner recieves a large ribbon and medallion covered in tinfoil. The best part of the prize is that if you unwrap the tinfoil, the medallion is made out of chocolate! Delicious...
Okay, we can all imagine right? The reality is, there truly is a place called chocolate hills, all the above is true except for anything that has to do with cocoa or choclate... oh, and the yearly contest part.
Yesterday Jeremy travelled 60kms to see the hills and they are pretty amazing. We also saw these tiny little primates called "tarsiers", cutest little things that could fit in your hand. They've got the hugest eyes, similar to the Gremlins' eyes. They can turn their head 180 degrees, like an owl. Unfortunatley they're endangered; currently they're being bred here.
Tarsier. Photo Courtesy of Ren, who influenced me to come to Bohol.
Originally uploaded by dean's quarter.
I rented a little Honda motorbike to do all the travelling yesterday. I've got the sunburn on my arms to prove that I was sitting on a bike all day with my arms outstretched reaching the handgrips. (I didn't think its still possible to get burned after all this time I've spent in the sun). I love riding motorbikes, I should honestly consider getting one. I haven't driven one since I was in India, its amazing I know what the hell I'm doing! I love how they just let anyone have it. For about 7hrs of use I paid about $5 CAD. When I returned it, they just take the keys and say 'thanks'.
Hired Help
What's with all the employees? I guess its good that jobs are formed for people, just so they can be employed. However, it can get quite annoying going into a store and being outnumbered by 10 staff members surrounding you and attempting to asisst you.
Something that I still haven't gotten used to is that most families here in the Philippines have some form of hired help. Whether it be a maid, nanny, cook, driver, laundry cleaner, personal masseusse, manicurist, etc. Its so weird to just have a maid come into my bedroom and make my bed and clean my bathroom, or have the live-in nanny set the dinner table, serve the food she's cooked and then collect my dirty dishes once I'm finished. The other day my cousin was asking why I always insist on clearing my own dishes. I guess when you don't know any different, everything else seems odd.
The sad thing is that they're poorly paid, I guess that's why most families can afford them. On the other hand, if you're a "live-in" the food and accomodation is an expense paid for by your boss. I feel sorry for them at times, it seems as though they never get a break. Jeremy's uncle has a driver who came with us to his family reunion. The whole time he didn't have anyone to talk to and he came out from hiding once to eat his dinner and then retreat again to his own privacy.
I'm not saying that these people are treated like slaves, because they're definitley not. I think that in a lot of cases, they become like part of the family. There's always that hidden fine line though and I don't think that the hired help would ever really want to test where the line ends. Maybe then, that's why they always end up being reserved and humble.
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