An email from Myles

I got this email from Myles my step-daughter-in-law. Remember? She is Nigel's wife :-)

I take special note of the freezing weather she mentions; which they who are based in Europe are experiencing right now. I really could not imagine how that feels. Much like you are in freezer, huh? OMG!

Myles, as I know her is pretty resilient. Weather conditions and all :-) But I am sure, now more than ever, she misses her big hunk of a hubby, who'll be off soon to follow her. So until that time, Myles will have to make do with thermal wear and thermally enabled bed and linen to keep her warm.

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Hi Tita,

Just taking a break from uploading pictures at the website that Nigel and I am creating. Hope all is well with you and the boys. I have not started reading the book that you gave me. By the way, thanks for the thought. I will read it after i finish one that's been gathering dust over my bedside table.

It is negative 10 over here. It went up to as high as negative 15 a week before I arrived! We have ice on the road which makes it quite slippery. My body is still adjusting to the radical change in temperature.

Anyway, I will send an email for the link of the website as soon as it is done.

Give my regards to papa and the boys.

Take care always,
Myles

Ibanag and Filipino Childbirth Rituals

"For parents, birth rituals and ceremonies provide an immediate sense of connection as well as inclusion of the child into the clan, tribe or community. These rituals establish at a very early stage, who they are. The rituals also serve as guideposts as they grow and develop their own sense of identity. Even if they drift away from or reject their heritage, their early experiences give them a place to return to if they so choose".

The Ibanag culture is filled with childbearing rituals and practices which have been handed down from one generation to another. Here are some of them.

1. It is said that if a pregnant woman has a lot of blemishes or pimples on her face, her baby will be a girl.
2. If the mother glows and radiates beauty, the baby will be a boy.
3. If the mother craves for sweets and other carbohydrates, the baby will be a girl.
4. If the mother is craving for oily or fried foods, the baby will be a boy.
5. The mother should not eat 'balut' (a native duck egg d…

Learn the Ibanag dialect?

As I mentioned in one of my prior posts somewhere in one of my blogs, the Ibanag dialect is somewhat difficult to learn because when you speak it you can sound like a chirping bird :-)

I learned the dialect by just hearing it from my Mother who use it everytime her relatives come to our home to visit. And this was not that often. You see, her relatives from Isabela, that's where she was born, come to spend their vacation with us every summer, yes the whole summer months. And yes, EVERY summer of EVERY year. Well, they don't come empty handed. They bring sacks of rice, ample stocks of meat enough to feed all of us for 1 month. They bring live animals too, like chicken, piglets, not to mention baskets of fruits and vegetables, even our neighbors get their share.

Wherever Ibanags are, you know they are around because they are so loud and so noisy. They have this habit of speaking all at the same time :-)Sigh. Now if that is not enough reason for anyone to learn the dialect, I …

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