Same date as my previous entry, 456AM, same locale.
Recap: I talked about a form of "Gaydar," as well as some other inconsequential nonsense.
This entry: One thing that strikes me, that sticks out in my mind so much from my time in Mindanao, was a day that took place in the summer of 2007. The island like the rest of the Southern Philippines is starved for infrastructure. This spring they blamed El Nino for the lack of electricity. For the weatherly challenged among you, El Nino (I have no idea how to place the accent "~" over the 2nd "N" on a computer keyboard) describes a phenomenon that produces less precipitation than usual.
The thing is, contrary to what descriptions of the Philippines say, there has always been a "Dry Season" that takes place at that time of year. This year, regardless, water levels dropped and because that fair island is dependant upon hydroelectricity, there were what they call, "Rotating Brownouts," actually total "Blackouts" but schedualed a day in advance: "Tomorrow from 4PM until 12AM Butuan will be having a Brownout."
To me? The schedualing makes all the difference. We are huge consumers of electricity. Aside from several mills I have a sideline, a small factory making fertiliser, machinery takes electricity, you get the point.
Worse than that, it means no air conditioner, no PC, no DVDs. At times like those I go crazy. When I was still with Rizza her sister Marian (now almost 11) would fan me and sing tonal Chinese songs as I napped (usually nodded) on my sofa. For some reason they are teaching them Cantonese songs in San Francisco College, her school, go figure.
In 2007 though, the lack of electricity was due to terrorism. 1 of the 1st principles in Oppositional Warfare is to neutralise the infrastructure of land you are operating in. I won't bore you with the "why's,"etc., only to say that Insurgency, operates on different principles. Yet, when one is telling a utility to pay X amount of money or we will blow up your pylons it really does add up to terrorism for its effect on the consumer (electricity is a neccessity even in a place where most homes don't have it, think of people depending upon dialysis or respirators). The utility though faces sheer criminality. Anything that works on the island is paying out the ass.
Also affected were telecommunications companies,like "Philcom," a cable,internet and cellular provider. On the summer day in question we had electricity, but no TV, cable or internet. What to do?
I took Rizza in the Sportage, the SUV we use for driving around town, and went to the internet cafe across from our main bank. In the cafe school girls and those slightly older, who didn't know me (we had just moved to the village ) would go apeshit.
The memoury that I am getting at involved one such girl. As I got online, in fact, it was Bluelight, I heard them talking in Bisaya but couldn't make out much of what they were saying, the cafe was mad loud and I was trying to read a thread I was posting in.
Afterwards, Rizza came to me and I asked what they were talking about. She told me, "The girl? She asked what site I met you on." I said, "Site? What does she mean?" Rizza explained that this girl had thought that Rizza and I had met on a website! I was floored.
I guess I am a bit innocent in some ways because I had never really thought about all those 75 year old men and nubile 20 year old virgins they ended up marrying.
In Israel we have a good many Filipinas as well as Thai women because of Guestworker Programmes but you don't see too many Jewish men marrying them (banging is a different case, unfortunately). There are no old Jewish men bringing home 19 or 20 year old Filipina wives.
So this was my introduction to the sordid world of "Online Dating."
I was talking about it with Mom and Dad at dinner and they told me about "Uncle Pete." I had heard the name while in Israel.
One of Mom's childhood friends was a woman named Mylene. An only child, she cared for her parents until both died and then, a virgin at 35 (not unusual in the Philippines), she joined a convent and became a Novice, a "Nun in Training."
Always living a sheltered life she felt unfufilled, decided she wanted a family of her own to fill that void. What to do? She went online and met an American man named "Pete."
Pete was about 60, but told her he was in the CIA, and working on assignment in Iraq. I only learned of this bullshit when he came to Mindanao, which I have to admit is a lot more than most men do (most never show up).
When he came she asked Mom if they could stay in our compound because she was afraid that an American man wouldn't accept the local standard of living. Mom and Dad, being who they are, accepted and the loving couple spent a week in our compound.
During that week he promised this woman, in front of Mom and Dad, that he would buy a helicopter so he and the woman could travel easier (hahahahah). The really sad thing is that most rural Filipinos, even with money, are so sincere that they accept whatever a person says as truth, until they see otherwise.
Then he told them he's a CIA agent (before the woman merely said it), then he became a Mercenary in Iraq (story changed). A 60 year old Mercenary...
I kept telling Mom and Dad that he is full of shit, don't let him come near anything of ours, and don't talk to him again because some white man talking about the CIA could get us all killed.
In the end his week was up, he left with a promise to return 2 months later to marry the woman.He never returned. On his 1 week visit he took her virginity, made a fool of her to the whole town, then, it turns out that he was trying to fuck another friend of Mom's.
In the end he wouldn't come online to talk (after leaving).To make a long story short, the lady ended up dying, truly heart broken with nothing to show for her life while that cocksucker went on to romance that other woman. I wanted to "talk" to him in person but of course he never showed his face again.
It turns out though that the "playing" takes place on the other end as well. Men fall in love online, lose their life savings and worse but there it is, the lovely character count so I will have to talk about it in my nest entry.
Recap: I talked about a form of "Gaydar," as well as some other inconsequential nonsense.
This entry: One thing that strikes me, that sticks out in my mind so much from my time in Mindanao, was a day that took place in the summer of 2007. The island like the rest of the Southern Philippines is starved for infrastructure. This spring they blamed El Nino for the lack of electricity. For the weatherly challenged among you, El Nino (I have no idea how to place the accent "~" over the 2nd "N" on a computer keyboard) describes a phenomenon that produces less precipitation than usual.
The thing is, contrary to what descriptions of the Philippines say, there has always been a "Dry Season" that takes place at that time of year. This year, regardless, water levels dropped and because that fair island is dependant upon hydroelectricity, there were what they call, "Rotating Brownouts," actually total "Blackouts" but schedualed a day in advance: "Tomorrow from 4PM until 12AM Butuan will be having a Brownout."
To me? The schedualing makes all the difference. We are huge consumers of electricity. Aside from several mills I have a sideline, a small factory making fertiliser, machinery takes electricity, you get the point.
Worse than that, it means no air conditioner, no PC, no DVDs. At times like those I go crazy. When I was still with Rizza her sister Marian (now almost 11) would fan me and sing tonal Chinese songs as I napped (usually nodded) on my sofa. For some reason they are teaching them Cantonese songs in San Francisco College, her school, go figure.
In 2007 though, the lack of electricity was due to terrorism. 1 of the 1st principles in Oppositional Warfare is to neutralise the infrastructure of land you are operating in. I won't bore you with the "why's,"etc., only to say that Insurgency, operates on different principles. Yet, when one is telling a utility to pay X amount of money or we will blow up your pylons it really does add up to terrorism for its effect on the consumer (electricity is a neccessity even in a place where most homes don't have it, think of people depending upon dialysis or respirators). The utility though faces sheer criminality. Anything that works on the island is paying out the ass.
Also affected were telecommunications companies,like "Philcom," a cable,internet and cellular provider. On the summer day in question we had electricity, but no TV, cable or internet. What to do?
I took Rizza in the Sportage, the SUV we use for driving around town, and went to the internet cafe across from our main bank. In the cafe school girls and those slightly older, who didn't know me (we had just moved to the village ) would go apeshit.
The memoury that I am getting at involved one such girl. As I got online, in fact, it was Bluelight, I heard them talking in Bisaya but couldn't make out much of what they were saying, the cafe was mad loud and I was trying to read a thread I was posting in.
Afterwards, Rizza came to me and I asked what they were talking about. She told me, "The girl? She asked what site I met you on." I said, "Site? What does she mean?" Rizza explained that this girl had thought that Rizza and I had met on a website! I was floored.
I guess I am a bit innocent in some ways because I had never really thought about all those 75 year old men and nubile 20 year old virgins they ended up marrying.
In Israel we have a good many Filipinas as well as Thai women because of Guestworker Programmes but you don't see too many Jewish men marrying them (banging is a different case, unfortunately). There are no old Jewish men bringing home 19 or 20 year old Filipina wives.
So this was my introduction to the sordid world of "Online Dating."
I was talking about it with Mom and Dad at dinner and they told me about "Uncle Pete." I had heard the name while in Israel.
One of Mom's childhood friends was a woman named Mylene. An only child, she cared for her parents until both died and then, a virgin at 35 (not unusual in the Philippines), she joined a convent and became a Novice, a "Nun in Training."
Always living a sheltered life she felt unfufilled, decided she wanted a family of her own to fill that void. What to do? She went online and met an American man named "Pete."
Pete was about 60, but told her he was in the CIA, and working on assignment in Iraq. I only learned of this bullshit when he came to Mindanao, which I have to admit is a lot more than most men do (most never show up).
When he came she asked Mom if they could stay in our compound because she was afraid that an American man wouldn't accept the local standard of living. Mom and Dad, being who they are, accepted and the loving couple spent a week in our compound.
During that week he promised this woman, in front of Mom and Dad, that he would buy a helicopter so he and the woman could travel easier (hahahahah). The really sad thing is that most rural Filipinos, even with money, are so sincere that they accept whatever a person says as truth, until they see otherwise.
Then he told them he's a CIA agent (before the woman merely said it), then he became a Mercenary in Iraq (story changed). A 60 year old Mercenary...
I kept telling Mom and Dad that he is full of shit, don't let him come near anything of ours, and don't talk to him again because some white man talking about the CIA could get us all killed.
In the end his week was up, he left with a promise to return 2 months later to marry the woman.He never returned. On his 1 week visit he took her virginity, made a fool of her to the whole town, then, it turns out that he was trying to fuck another friend of Mom's.
In the end he wouldn't come online to talk (after leaving).To make a long story short, the lady ended up dying, truly heart broken with nothing to show for her life while that cocksucker went on to romance that other woman. I wanted to "talk" to him in person but of course he never showed his face again.
It turns out though that the "playing" takes place on the other end as well. Men fall in love online, lose their life savings and worse but there it is, the lovely character count so I will have to talk about it in my nest entry.