Still waiting for our house to rent in Sydney. We had some good news today from the agent, two possible applicants. Thank you Jesus! Our reserves are being hammered from Australia and here.
Our house is fully furnished which is an enormous blessing, however, there are a few things that we still need to buy before we are complete. We are watching our pennies (pesos) very carefully at the moment so we have to make do with what we have.
We now have a rice cooker, frying pan, large saucepan and sharp knife. Mandy was able to contact a gas supplier so now we can actually use the frying pan and saucepan. We have had scrambled eggs, fried eggs, fettuccini, and lots and lots of steamed rice. Nacho's makes the kids feel like they are at home too. Cheese is ... well ... different to cheese in Australia.
Fresh fruit, tonnes of banana's, pineapples (yummy)(more on pineapples later), watermelon, papaya and mango's (yuk). The fruit is beautiful but it does not last more than one day even in the fridge. So we are finding we have to shop every 2nd day at least. We are used to stocking up the fridge once a week and that is it. That does not work here.
I have looked at some popular Philippine recipes to see what we can try - there are some nice ones, and there are some ones that (sorry Mandy!!!) we are going to skip! (Anything that involves intestines) For goodness sake I'm a Science teacher, biology at that!) Ahh yes and fertilized duck eggs - I'll leave that one for the more adventurous too.
We will get a washing machine but until then it is washing by hand. Do not take your washing machine for granted anymore. Girls go to your laundry and give it a little loving pat right now! It is amazing how little things make a big difference. The sink plug! Filipinos don't use them. They just turn on the tap and let it run. Rub detergent on to the sponge, cloth (whatever) and wash the dish (no hot water), not sure with washing but there are no plugs to be found. Corey is now my plug engineer, we have devised a plug that does not let water escape too fast. In the kitchen for the moment a square plastic bowl filled will hot water from an over worked kettle is used to wash our dishes - just as well we don't have many! A big blue bowl was purchased to wash clothes. Yes Mr Kettle gets a good workout outside as well.
Sean helping with washing
Amy doing some of her washing
One week of cold showers! When we looked at the house it just never entered our minds to ask about hot water - not that knowing there was none would have changed our minds as this house was a 1000 times better than the other house. That first moment I realised there was no hot water I swore! Sorry!
Having been to the Solomon's just a few months ago where there was also no hot water, and showering for eight days - the thought of 300 days was just a little overwhelming.
Hey! My idea of camping is a four star resort! The water in the Solomon's was freezing first thing in the morning, refreshing in the evening. So I decided nightly showers would be the go here too. I am going to make it. To quote Corey " it takes me ages to get in and ages to get out" - weird hey. The water is not as cold as the Solomon's, and in the evening it is actually very refreshing. However, today Mr Kettle also got a work out for a once a week hot water hair washing.
Corey need to design a solar shower for you.
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