2014 herzien

De statistieken hulpaapjes van WordPress.com heeft een 2014 jaarlijks rapport voor deze blog voorbereid.

Hier is een fragment:

In een San Francisco kabelbaan passen 60 mensen. Deze blog werd in 2014 ongeveer 2.700 keer bekeken. Als je blog een kabelbaan zou zijn, zou die ongeveer 45 reizen nodig hebben voordat die zoveel mensen zou kunnen vervoeren.

Klik hier om het complete rapport te bekijken.

Day 9 – Solano: rice fields and cockfight

In the aftenoon we decide to take a walk to the ricefields next to the hotel. People were very friendly and we were even invited to try planting for ourselves. Nobody dared to step with his feets in the water so we only have been taken pictures.

 

On our way we noticed a kind of arena. We were invited to take a look and it was very surprising sport, a cockfight; a duel between two cocks  that will end only when one of the parties is dead . In Belgium it is forbidden, but in every town in the Philippines is an arena. and on Sundays and public holidays they are fighting ( tupadas ).
The cockfight is a typical male affair and is for Filipinos, the place to gamble. A very important person at a cockfight is the’ kristo . He stands as a Christ figure with arms raised in the middle of the arena and is involved in placing bets with the crowd. The amount of the bid is shown trough gestures with the hands. The losers throws his money tot the Kristo after each battle.  The right leg of the cock gets a tari (a sharp knife) .Before the cocks are released one takes them a moment longer to get stirred. Because the birds put up their feathers , they look a lot more impressive .
If the actual battle begins , the audience is almost as excited as the cocks itself and it is really noisy in the arena . Often the battle has been settled within a few seconds. Well I didn’t like it at all.

Day 9: Solano – SMU graduation

A Tribute to Cunina graduates and godparents

We were very happy to be transported by tricylce to the SMU.

The program was outstanding and we were very proud to take part. The SMU Choral sang very beautiful. They participated in various competitions and were even allowed to represent the Philippines internationally. We felt very special and we even were cald on stage. We listened to speeches from the cultural Ambasador of goodwill, the university president, vice Precident and godchildren.

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Afterwards we went back to the hotel and had a nice time at the hotel with the godchildren.

Day 8: Solano – Criffel

Godchild: Criffel  – Godparents: Frankie & Jeannine

We were invited to ride along to Criffel’s home high in the mountains. The road was very dusty but we enjoyed the view very much.  Ripe corn was drying on the street.  Fields with corn with mountains on the background.. so lovely.

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We were welcome and invited by Criffel’s family to have a look in the house. The kitchen was outside and there were chickens, a goat and fruittrees.. It was a very beautiful place to live but it was about 1 hour driving. So when Criffel goes to school, she is staying with her aunt for the week.

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Beside the house there was a jackfruit-tree. Nangka is the official Dutch name of jackfruit. The jackfruit is impressive to see. Fruit grows three years after planting the tree. A single fruit can grow from 75cm to one meter and can produce 250 large fruits annually, ranging in weight from 3 pounds up to 30 pounds. The fruit is easy to pick because they are growing near the trunk and low. The fruit contains up to five hundred four cm long seed. The flesh is ripe yellowish and tastes faintly sweet and has a sweet smell.

Afterwards we enjoyed the beauty of nature in the Eco park. We drove to the higher points to watch the nature and the mountains.

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And especially for Jeannine & Frankie a took a fotoshoot from the lovely Criffel