The Master Chef?

Did I mention I spent almost every night watching cooking shows in Manila?  Well, I did.  Most of them were of Australian origin and my favorite was by far Master Chef Australia.  Despite it being an old season (and literally NONE of the food being vegan), my inner foodie was all like, "No big deal.  We can do that."

So, with our limited supply of produce, my work has been cut out for me.  I'm talking breads, muffins, slaws, salads, humus, baked tofu... Heck, falafel is even on my "to make" list.  It's fun to try recipes, dabble in creating dishes, and hodge-podge whatever substitute ingredients we need.

Granted, this normally wouldn't be the best time of year to go all Martha Stewart.  Hot season is supposed to be cranking up to high heat right about now.  Key word: supposed.  The past couple days have brought some of the coldest weather I've experienced in the Philippines thus far.  We even dropped to 19°C (which is something like 65°F, but still, I had woolly socks on, okay!), so the heat of the oven has been welcomed for the most part.

In addition to baked goodies, I've been enjoying some mailed love from my family.  Letters and packages and even emails from the states have perked me up just as much as Banana-Pineapple Bread.  Trust me, it's delicious.

We're slogging away through 4th and 2nd grades with the girls, but they've seen the light at the end of the tunnel.  Once they realized there are less than 60 school days to go, the morale in the schoolroom brightened considerably. I feel kind of bad because my being here means they don't really get a summer break.  We'll "finish" the school year with the month of June and be neck deep in the next grade by mid July.  Even still, we're all pretty excited for the finish line.  Finish line = a trip out of our village to do some cultural exploring in other areas of Luzon!

I just need to remind myself that this isn't a sprint. It's cross-country through and through. The analogy would probably work better if I was actually a runner.

You Can Take the Girl Out of the Country...

After a ten-day trip to Manila and blessings too numerous to count, I was more than ready to return to the quiet life in our village.  How could that be?  My theory is, no matter where I go or choose to live, I was born and bred in the middle of nowhere, so that is where I will always feel the most at ease.  City life, with all its convenience, is nothing short of exhausting.  There are always people around; the noise never sinks below a dull roar.  The hustle and bustle is fun for a while, then it's a relief when it's over.

Video chatting was definitely the biggest plus to our stay in Manila.  I got to see my Ohio family for the first time since October and my New York family for the first time since Christmas.  It felt wonderful to catch up on each others' lives, to hear one another laugh, to ramble on in comfortable (and comforting) conversation.

Oddly, the video chats might have been one of the more difficult parts at the same time.  It is one thing to live isolated from your loved ones with small, infrequent messages.  It is another experience entirely to visually and audibly interact with them without any means of physical expression of love or joy.  Try as we might, we cannot squeeze air with all the strength in our arms.  Our heads cannot rest on shoulders over 8,000 miles away.  Kissing air is the same as not kissing at all.  Loneliness that had been held at bay by distance, came crashing in.

Even in the midst of all these emotions, I could not say that I regret the decisions that brought me here.  I long to be home, but I dread the day I have to leave.  That's the trouble with giving your all wherever you go.  I have a sneaking suspicion it is all going to be worth it, though, and that gives me hope for whatever God has next.

Another top experience was FOOD.  Vegan or not, I've always been such a foodie.  As a vegan, I particularly enjoy food of the green persuasion.  Rest assured that I'm no longer grumbling in my heart, but God saw fit to give me some veggie-goodness anyway.  Believe me when I say I pounded that rabbit food.  I horked those suckers down till my stomach distended into a mound that resembled three months of pregnancy.  Spinach, corn, artichoke, roasted red peppers, cabbage, broccoli, snow peas, cauliflower, pineapple salsa, mushrooms... I went to town (literally and proverbially).  Not to mention other goodies like freshly roasted peanuts with salt and garlic.  Or kutsinta and kakanin, also known as some of the best varieties of sticky rice cakes ever created.  Food might have hijacked my Instagram for a couple days to say the least.

Other experiences were newer and took longer to process.  Over our time in Manila, we caught multiple jeepneys.  My favorite jeepney ride took place later one evening.  Shannon and I caught went to get some last minute supplies, namely frozen berries and soy milk. The guy at S&R packed up our spoils, but he put all of the soy milk in the flimsier of the two bags.  All was well until we went to get off the jeep and the handles of the bag came away in my hands, sending the soy milk straight to the pavement.  Thankfully, nothing broke and I was able to carry the handle-less bag back to our room on my shoulder.

One day, our taxi driver seemed unable to keep his opinions to himself.  Shannon told him we were Canadian, rather than explaining that I was an American.  THANK GOD!  This guy spent the next good chunk of our drive telling us how much he hated Americans, how America stole all of the Filipino silver and copper, and how much he loves the Filipino president and his choices.  Now, I have nothing against patriotism, and I felt he was entitled to his own opinion.  That being said, I have never been more stressed out during a conversation in my life.  Eventually, he got tired of speaking politics and turned his attention to religion.  While his questions may have been designed to give himself more speaking time, Shannon was still able to share the gospel with the guy.  All in all, I'd call that a win.

The entire trip could boil down to a muddle of malls, department stores, stalls, scents, and sights.  I'm thankful for the opportunity to meet other missionaries at the guest house.   The walking and shopping facilitated building stronger relationships between my host family and I.  Sure, we're all as exhausted as ever, but we're living with purpose and joy.  I, for one, would trade a good night's sleep for daily purpose any day of the week.

With all that said, I'll add some pictures next.  March out.  April, bring it on.

Except Peanut Butter and Jam

I knew being a vegan in a tribal setting would be...interesting, to say the least.  Even before I arrived in the village, I had mentally prepared myself to experience one of two fates.  On the one hand, I could be forced to eat animal byproducts and spend 80% of my time in the CR (which apparently means comfort room, and that's what Filipinos call the bathroom).  On the other hand, I would manage to survive solely on rice and the random bean I could scrounge up.  Thank God, neither of those things happened, but I thought I'd share some of my food experiences so far.

Day one, I learned something extremely important.  Soy sauce.  Liberally and frequently.  When in doubt, soy sauce.  Every time.  No ifs, ands, or buts.  Soy sauce.  Except on peanut butter and jam, because I'm an American and I'm pretty sure PB&J should be our national dish.  More on that later.

Also on day one, I made a pretty sweet discovery: you can buy rice anywhere.  Wendy's?  Rice.  McDonald's?  Rice.  Shakey's?  Rice.  Of course, that doesn't mean anything in a tribe miles away from everything.

I also learned that rice isn't always just some white or brown grain.  Sticky rice makes a pretty radical dessert.  I don't know what they call it in Tagalog (a quick Google search says Biko, so maybe that's it), but what's in a name?  It comes in all different flavors and colors.  White is coconut, yellow is sweet corn, purple is something I forgot the name of, and brown is plain.  And, yeah, that business is vegan!  Be still my salivating taste buds.  There is also a dish made from glutinous rice balls and coconut milk.  Again, vegan.  Again, drooling at the memory of it.

Continuing in the dessert realm, we make ice cream from frozen mango and coconut milk (do I need to say it? VEGAN) or from frozen bananas (*ahem* Vegan). And yes, we do make it in the village.  And yes, that is why I will be at least 5 lbs heavier upon returning to the States. 

Calabasa is a sort of squash that is kind of like a pumpkin and a sweet potato's love child.  I've learned to love it.  It's good with sugar or soy sauce.  Why not get crazy?  I bet I could even eat it with sugar and soy sauce.  In the words of Samwise Gamgee, "Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew..."  It's even good in a pie, though I haven't tried soy sauce on the pie.

We've also started making humus, because it's super easy to make once we get garbanzo beans shipped in.  And yeah, I eat that business with soy sauce.  One of my favorite hodge-podge dishes consists of raw cucumber, left over pasta, humus, and soy sauce.  Don't knock it till you've tried.  After all, someone wise once said necessity is the mother of invention.

The villagers have asked the missionaries more than once if I'm okay, if I need anything, and if I do alright without eating meat.  They were shocked to find out that I don't even eat eggs, and are certain I must be miserable.  Unfortunately, most of the traditional dishes are primarily made of meat, so I won't be able to sample them.  I don't think this is a very great loss, though.  They might tell you a dish has pork, and that's true.  The recipe does call for pork.  However, they most likely made it with a dog that killed one too many chickens.  Or they might just make it with a dog because that's what they have.  Nobody seems to mind and my theory is soy sauce.  Good news, most of the traditional desserts are made without dog, or any other meat, and usually use coconut milk, so I'll be able to sample those.

Now to explain PB&J.  I eat it close to 5 times a week, at least.  Or PB&Banana.  Or PB all alone.  Or I'll swap PB for almond butter.  Oh yeah, and I also learned how to make vegan bread, so I eat it on homemade bread.  Every.  Single.  Time.  No soy sauce required.  Sure, I eat a lot of rice and beans, but I also eat a lot of PB&J, or beans with other stuff plus soy sauce, like calabasa.

And that's how I vegan in the Philippines.  Thank God for soy sauce.