bad dreams

i've been having weird dreams ever since we got a new mattress. charlie says that because we have a proper bed now, i am getting good sleep. it is only when you sink deeper and deeper into sleep that you enter the realm of dreams.

many times i wake up crying because of this dream or that. thankfully, my alert husband could wake up at the first call and hug me back to sleep. the other night, the dream was so bad i couldnt get it out of my head.

let me tell you.

yesterday, charlie and i went to XU main to watch Kabuwadan. It was National Museum Day and there was an opening program. It was supposed to start at 5pm. We arrived around 4 and toured the museum exhibits while waiting. It turned 6pm and the program has not started. We decided to go home.

That night, I had a dream.

It was an eerie continuation of my story. While walking towards the place where we ride the multicab to Balulang, we met a hysterical  Cathy and all her family. They begged for our help and her sister even cried and begged us, saying her baby was in the hospital. Cathy seemed to be really angry and frustrated.  I asked them how much do they need since I only have 2,000 pesos with me. Then somehow I ended up giving them pork humba and they were very happy and started eating.  Enter ethel neoniz carrying her very cute baby girl. I showed the baby to charlie and he carried her in his arms. I remember thinking how happy i was to see him holding her. Then we decided to go on home. But then i suddenly went back to hold the baby and play with her. After a while, i gave her back to her mom and went to join my husband. I saw him arguing with someone on the street and i said to myself, not again. Suddenly i saw him fall. I ran and shouted his name. Then i see him on a truck, on the floor.. and i saw blood everywhere. I was now screaming with horror and saw that he got a steel pole stuck on his chest, like somebody stabbed him with it. It was weird coz as he lay gasping for breath he keeps saying, its not your fault. And i see the man beside him doing his best to stop the bleeding. I remember saying sorry over and over again and blaming myself for leaving him on his own.  

and i woke up with tears in my eyes and my husband hugging me tight saying, "its just a bad dream..."

the search for the elusive sunting

ap-ap in bisaya, haole rot in hawaii. this skin fungus manifested in charlie's legs the day after we went swimming at the pool.  charlie said white men suffer this disease in hawaii and somebody has yet to find the ultimate cure.

i said, really? well, here we treat it with sunting. actually, i've never had ap-ap before but when i was young i remember one of my friends had one and she treated it with sunting. as a student in surigao, we were also made to memorize all the herbal plants. in second year, we were required to tend a herbal garden as a biology requirement. that's how i got to know about sunting.

of course, anything herbal and natural fascinates my husband. so for hours, he researched about sunting or akapulko. incidentally, we had one growing at home but mama recently cut it down. charlie picked a few leaves and using the blender, made juice out of it. he then rubbed it on his legs.

he looked so funny with his green legs and he suddenly had this wild idea about selling the stuff in hawaii and calling the medicine Dr. Boo's Green Legs. hahaha!

the medicine is supposed to be applied for 3 to 4 weeks and there was not enough sunting at home. we heard about sunting growing near the river. so the adventure begins!

"don't kill the plant guys!"

together with ai-ai and aiza, we scoured the whole puntod area of balulang for sunting. we must have walked four miles for just a kilo of sunting leaves! we were expecting lots so we brought four big plastic bags but returned home with just charlie's green bag full.

"isn't it interesting that this plant grows right beside the road?"

the river was muddy brown from the rains, the roads had potholes, and the sky was gray but we just walked on and on. we reached ai-ai's house and charlie became instant celebrity with the kids. 

"hey, you guys! what's up with that?!"

along the way, charlie couldn't resist the animal farms and ended up talking to pigs and cows. he just had to have a photograph with them! 

"dont you have the flu?"

"how's it?!"

finally, we gave up and sat under the cool shade of coconut trees. we did some photoshoots then came home to start making akapulko juice. i felt like collapsing afterwards. the last time i walked this far was during the immersion years! then i realized what i just did and i was actually bringing my own husband out for his immersion! hahahaha! i was able to show him a brief glimpse of rural philippines. this is just the beginning.:)