no boundaries

As a Westerner living in the Philippines I get used to my privacy being invaded all the time. Recall this? Filipinos are a very open people. It's their culture. They share everything and generally no topic is taboo to talk or ask about. Everything is up for discussion. There are no space boundaries either. Personal space is non existent. Sometimes I find that Filipinos even fall into the nosey category. Now you know it's just in their nature...

I am almost done pumping (breast milk that is, in case you weren't sure). Woo Hoo! I've been carefully weaning off the pump so I don't experience the excruciating pain I did last time when I stopped pumping suddenly when we went on a beach trip. At the time I wasn't making much milk (so I thought) and didn't want to pack the pump all the way to the beach. I had no idea the pain I was in for two days later. This time, I'm only pumping when it becomes painful, which is about every 48 hours. My goal is to be able to leave the pump at home for my upcoming trip to the States.

Anyhow, I walked in to the kitchen yesterday morning still in my pajamas. Cora was at the sink. "I thought you were going to pump last night Mam, that is why I didn't rinse the bottle brushes", she offered up (I didn't really care about the brush). I explained to her that I didn't pump because the milk is going away and I didn't need to. To which she replies " Oh yes, but your breasts are still perky." She then comes closer, says "excuse me", pulls my shirt away from my chest, looks inside, and says "and you no longer have the large blue veins on your chest." I had to laugh because I'm not an extremely modest person so it didn't bother me tremendously. Instead I thought it funny that she had looked down my shirt and even funnier still that she had said "excuse me" first. As if she could do anything she wanted as long as she excused herself first.

Oh goulai!