The first few weeks here Chris and I have been adjusting to new food, new customs, and new ways of doing everyday tasks. The hike into the mountains was not as difficult as we were expecting, probably because the trail conditions were perfect, not too wet or too dry. It took our group 3 hours. We are living in a valley and to hike to any nearby villages requires hiking straight up and down. Everyone here either hikes barefoot or wears a rubber sandal called a Duralite. The other day I went to a village wearing the Duralites because the trail was fairly dry, but it started raining and my trip down was like skiing. I'm sure I look pretty funny to the Palawanos, slipping and falling while they calmly hike down, usually carrying a very heavy load. Most days we work in the clinic for the morning and then go to a nearby village to language learn for the afternoon. It's fun to explore the trails and find new people to talk to. Most villages are really 3-4 huts on the side of the mountain. Our hut is very nice with running water and a 2-burner propane stove. Most meals are rice with ista'an (the word for anything you eat with rice), usually some kind of curry. We have been trying many different kinds of vegetables. Kumbohang and pulu are roots that taste like potatoes and are the staple (along with rice) of the people here. There is syote, sweet potatoes, and various green leaves that taste similar to spinach. The first week we were here there were two weddings. One was located in the village of Kensuli, about 45 minutes away. Everyone traveled to Kensuli the night before and met in the schoolhouse. The elders and family spent a while discussing what would happen the next day and then they started cooking. We eventually went to sleep at a family's house. Chris woke up in the middle of the night and saw them skin and cut up 4 goats. The actual wedding took place at 7 the next morning. It was a very westernized ceremony with the bride wearing a white dress and a similar ceremony to most Christian weddings in the US. They took a few pictures and then the elders decided that they needed to do a traditional ceremony as well. This ceremony is basically the elders talking about the terms of the marriage and whatever else they feel like talking about. The husband must pay for his wife and also give a gift of tadyungs (tadjung) to the bride's family. A tadyung is a multipurpose cloth that can be used as a blanket, garment, or to carry anything. The elders can also charge for different offenses. For example, this groom went directly to his bride's father to ask for her hand in marriage. Traditionally, he should have gone to the elders of her village, so he was fined. He also was fined because the wedding occurred at a later date than what was originally set. They served rice, pansit, and goat meat after the wedding was finalized and the whole thing was done by 10 am. The 2nd wedding was much smaller with just the elders talking. The bride sat covering her face with a tadyung the whole time because she was shy. Most people here are very shy and couples don't show affection in public. For the most part, men and women are separated in any public gathering with men on one side and women on the other. The clinic is busy, especially on Sunday which is market day. There are 4 of us working in the clinic, but 1 nurse is leaving at the end of the month. All in all we are very happy here. Our biggest challenge right now is learning the language. Most people are friendly and willing to help us learn. They give lots of encouragement which is nice. There is no internet and we don't know if we will have any access while we are here, so Becca is putting this on our blog for us. (Thanks Becca!) We have our cell phone linked to our Facebook page, so if you send a message to our page (1-2 sentences at a time) it will come as a text to our phone. We can't initiate a message but we can reply. Well, thanks for your continued prayers. We will try to keep this blog updated every few months or so.
Sincerely,
Chris and Amy Kinney
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