Haben die Erfurter keine Mannieren?

Es ist mir aufgefallen, wie die Leute von Erfurt und Umgebung schlechte Mannieren haben. Sind die Leute hier einfach schlecht erzogen? Was haben sie für eine Erziehung gehabt? Ich will nicht verallgemeinern, will nicht sagen dass es ein deutsches Problem ist, weil meine Erfahrung nur hier in Ostdeutschland bedingt ist.

Ich habe schon erfahren, wie alte Omis eine Schlange überholen, nur weil sie denken, dass es Ihren Recht ist. Ich bin selbst schwanger, und nutze meine Situation nie aus. Ich wurde schon von Servicepersonal belogen. Ich war in einer Straßenbahn, kämmte meine Haare (weil ich in eile war) und ein Herr hat mir gesagt "Das macht man in der Offentlichkeit nicht." Das geht ihn doch nicht an! Warum ist das ungerecht, ich schade niemand!

Ich war in Taize, als ich schon erzahlt habe. Ich habe angefangen zu singen,weil ich Langeweile hatte. Ein junge hinter mir hat mich sehr irritiert angekuckt und sagte, "Kannst du aufhören? Es ist richtig ätzend!" Und dann hat ein Heavy Metal lied von seinem Handy laut gespielt! Wir waren doch in einem heligen Ort! Ich hab ihm gesagt, Er hat sich deutlich ausgedruckt, er braucht diesen unhöflichen Aktion nicht mehr. Später habe ich erfahren, dass seine gruppe kamen aus Schmalkalden(wie peinlich, da ich jetzt dieser Ort mit seinem Verhalten verbinde) und die anderen Gruppen halten diese Gruppen für kommisch, da die da waren wegen Urlaub, und waren nicht mal Kirchangehörigen. Ich wollte nicht mal sagen dass ich in Erfurt wohne, da ich nicht mit diesen Leuten etwas zu tun haben möchte.

Wie gesagt, jetzt bin ich hochschwanger, und ich habe erfahren wie Schulkinder, Jungs, ihren Platz nicht mal mir angeboten haben! Sie hatten ein Sitz nur für ihren halb leeren Rücksäcke gefullt. Ich habe die zwei angekuckt,und gewartet. Nichts. Bis zur meine Haltestelle. Ich wollte etwas sagen, aber ich meine, Mensch, es sollte doch selbstverständlich sein, oder? Egal ob ich auf den Philippinen oder in DE bin.

Ich dachte es war nur so mit den Jugendlichen, aber eine unangenehme Überraschung wartete letzten Samstag auf mich. Eine Gruppe von alten Männer (eine Reisegruppe?) hat sich genau so wie die Jugendlichen verhalten! Ok, einige hatten einen Stock schon dabei, aber es gab Männer die um 60 waren und auch ohne Gehstock laufen konnten. Sicherlich können Sie auch Platz für eine schwangere mit einem Einkaufsrollo machen!

Ich war dann gestern mit einer Bekanntin, die auch Schwanger ist. Und es ist wieder passiert! Was geht in den Köpfen dieser Menschen werde ich nie verstehen.

Balisong (music post)

This song was at the top of the charts before I left Manila. People liked to kick on Rivermaya's sound during this time because they sounded a lot like Coldplay. However, the song is well done, and what's wrong with following a genre? It's not like they ripped of a song (like Oranges and Lemons), or a chord (like Coldplay has been accused of). I really liked this song, really romantic.

So here's Rivermaya pre-Rico Blanco departure with Balisong.



Here he is again with one of his latest songs, "Yugto" (in Tagalog) I think that there is no question, he's one of the best musicians/songwriters in the Philippines right now, right up there with Up Dharma Down.

Too Much Information

Warning: Scatological references

This Birth Thing Ain't Easy. Boy, do I know that now.

I am kind of like the god Ares. I am not squeamish about seeing blood and violence. I lived near a hospital and was assigned to the police beat when I was in journ school. I've seen stabbed men, hovels, and the feces-covered walls of a city jail. But tell me a story about blood and gore and I go into hysterics. As long as I am not at the receiving end of a syringe I am fine. When I am, I really have to steel myself like a champion fighter. I am a wuss.

I've been taking these Geburtsvorbereitung (Birth prep)classes for the past couple of weeks. I thought in the beginning that they were relaxed affairs, Lamaze classes where you were taught how to breathe and push, with my supportive, loving hubby at my side.

Turns out that there's only one round of "partner classes" a month in my city, and I missed that boat. And that they don't teach us how to breathe, they were really BIRTH PREP courses. Like, they tell you what to expect and what's gonna happen.

So at last night's class, the midwife explained what to expect when we get to the hospital. Apparently, pregnant women in the last few weeks before the delivery become constipated. It is a side effect of the hormone progesterone, released by the body to prevent premature contractions. This also prevents the woman from *ahem* doing number 2.

Then the progesterone levels sink, starting the contractions and releasing a round of diarrhea.

Great huh?

If this doesn't happen, a woman is asked to try to force a bowel movement before delivery. This is done to try to make more room for the baby's head when it comes through the pelvis. Sometimes, a woman just "can't go." Some women suffer through performance anxiety.

"...Dann machen wir einen Einlauf." said the midwife.
"Was ist ein Einlauf?" I asked.

My face transformed from a look of curiosity to horror when she described what it was.

An enema.

I am gonna get an effing enema.

"But really, it will be a great relief to you when you get it! The baby coming out creates so much pressure, you would be thankful for a few millimeters more!"

Then she described the different methods used to anesthesize the area. The epidural, I knew that already. Then she said that that's only used if the pain is THAT INTENSE, and they'll try a less invasive method first.

For any woman who has had a yeast infection in Germany, the word "Zäpfchen" evokes a sense of slight dread. It is the German word for suppository. Considering that the baby is coming out of the front hole, You'd expect the suppository to go there.

But no, no, no. After the enema, I would get a Zäpfchen plugged in. The last time I used an anal suppository was when I was seven, during a bout of severe constipation. This one was supposed to numb the area, not to induce a bowel movement.

Mouth agape, I asked, "Warum dort?" (Why there?)

"Well, your intestinal muscles also control your cervical muscles, so numbing that area also numbs the cervical muscles."

Well, I guess since the baby is coming out the other end, putting the suppository at the back end makes sense.

So basically Not only would I have a sore front side, I'd also be dealing with a sore backside as well. Why did I sign up for this again?

Manila Sound (music post)

Sometimes I feel I was born in the wrong decade. I caught the tail-end of the dark days of disco as a kid, and from what I hear from my parent's generation, Manila was a really happening place in the '70s. I really like "Manila Sound," the Filipino version of disco-funk-swing that dominated the airwaves then. The '90s band revival was also really cool. Sometimes I wish creativity would dominate the airwaves again, just like it did in the '70s and '90s.

Here is a song that always makes me homesick

My favorite Manila sound song. It reminds me of the phat beats of Jamiroquai.


And check out Makati before the buildings took over!


Spot the celebrity: Vilma Santos, Val Sotto (ang payat!) Si Spanky Rigor pre-T.O.D.A.S.!

Haha anyway good times for my parents, I guess. My memory of the '80s is pretty hazy, but these songs bring back my childhood.

D.I.Y.

Time crawls when you are a kid, and the three-month summer vacations in the Philippines seem looooong and tedious. I remember being a very creative kid, taking on a lot of craft projects that took my fancy. I remember making my own pasta when I was 10. I also made my own drawstring bags made of discarded pant legs at the time cut-off shorts were the rage. Though sewing wasn't my strongest suit, I sewed and crocheted several dresses for my Barbies when I was 11. I ate self made pasta for a week when I was 13. I've collected (and lost) several recipe collections, and baked up a storm when I was 15. Made a collage/photo album when I was 14.

I guess this is what led to cosplay. For those who didn't know me before 2006, I was an active cosplayer in the Philippines, making costumes of my favorite characters.



This is perhaps one of my favorite costumes, because I made it myself, with a little help from my family. I was always good at making props, I never really excelled at sewing. This costume is made of spray painted paper mache, wire, and cloth. That it turned out so well was my reward in itself.

For some reason, I felt I lost touch with my creative self in Germany because I was so preoccupied in learning German, then Spanish.

As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention, and I have been cooking, cooking, cooking for the past couple of months.

After my first months of pregnancy, when I couldn't even stand the smell of food, I began cooking. A lot. First I got started with Filipino food.



I already started when I first came to Germany, but my zealousness went to high gear in my fourth month of pregnancy. I never thought that my favorite Filipino snacks were so easy to make! Because I am not allowed to eat raw food, sushi was out of the question. It would have driven me mad if it were not for Surimi, fake crab meat, which is actually made of cooked fish. I've made my own sushi before, so why not? So I made my own maki rolls. Then I realized that I missed Shrimp Tempura, which is weirdly enough not standard in Japanese restaurants in Thuringia. I have seen tempura in menus in Hamburg and Frankfurt, but they were prohibitively expensive. They were soooo easy to make! Then I remembered, hey, I haven't seen green tea ice cream in menus here. So I decided to make my own ice cream.

The Germans said that my ice cream tasted more like cookie dough than green tea, maybe I put too much cream? But I was sufficiently satisfied with the results that I decided to make chocolate ice cream. Take note that I don't have an ice cream machine.



Thomas and I, being freelancers, aren't faring so well in this economy. Gifts to friends are mostly now mostly self-made, hopefully they will be appreciated just as much as store bought ones. I have been preparing a small planter that I've filled with herbs for a couple of months now as a going-away present for a friend. We needed a rug for the balcony, and my bag of pairless socks went to good use. Part of me wishes that we were more flush financially, but a part of me asks whether I would be this motivated to be thrifty/creative if we were.