Don't Fear the Reaper

We have several dogs that hang around the convent and every night at about 2:30 am they begin howling their haunting melody. It lasts only for a few minutes but it's lound enough to wake me up and disturb me. The people here believe they howl when the spirits arrive to pray in the church each night. Creepy. There are other stories too. There's the one about the fairy Maria Benita who lives somewhere on the mountain, Mt. Panamao, which looms over our little hamlet. Supposedly she seducced some American dude who eventually crashed his plane into the mountain. Details are sketch. There's also the oft mentioned "wak-wak," named because of the sound it makes. It's the Filipino cousin of the vampire as it feeds mostly on human blood. However, it's capable of taking the shape of animals other than bats (eg pigs, dogs, bats, frogs, mosquitos?) During the day it's a normal person living amongst us but at night it rubs some potion under it's armpits and then you better watch yo self. wak wak! Supposedly there's one living in Bulalacao, a neigboring barrio. The alleged wak wak is an immigrant to Biliran from a neigboring island, and I suspect that it's simply the fear of the "other" that has caused his alientation by his neighbors. I'm curious to meet this fellow when I stay in Bulalacao for a week on "exposure" next month, yet I must admit I do feel a tinge of fear for the wak wak has many tricks ups his sleeve... A side note to this fear of the "other:" Before I came here several Filipino relatives / friends of the family expressed their apprehension for my staying in this region of the country due to the infamy of its residents in the dark arts of poisons. They supposedly befriend you, invite you inside for a bite to eat, and then you die! But not to worry since people such as these live only on the "other" side of the island... or so I'm told...

I spent much of today pulling ticks off of our new puppy. Her name is Saturday. see new pics of the pup plus other assorted adventures.
gotta jet. much love to you all!