Pictures Say It Best

I wanted to share a few of the photos from the trip that I hadn't posted. Many of these shots will live not only in our memories but in our hearts. Enjoy, salamat and Happy New Year.



Dan & Sebio rehearse for the Easter Sunday church service

  

Lunch out after big shopping trip





Emma feeding the piglets

 

Sometimes you just have to nap or as Becky called them "Snappers"







  


Group shot of everyone on our last day

  

Ming Ming their cat



Dan the Man enjoying sticky rice made by Lourdes





Dan taking Becky and I to the transportation stop





The 3 of us before departing from China



Tis The Season

Sorry, I didn't realize it had been that long since I posted, my apologies. I will start by saying that I hope I can truly convey the thoughts and feeling I'll be putting in this post. They really do come straight from my heart. This has been an incredible year and I really want to acknowledge and thank people who made it all possible and truly made a difference in my life.

Probably most appropriate is to start with some of the people who made my trip possible. Actually the trip wouldn't have been possible had it not been for the God's Town presentation, then "gentle" nudging of Linda and Becky. Linda first and foremost for encouraging me to move past simply sending money to sponsor Sebio and actually going and meeting him and all his co-children and the staff at God's Town.

Becky just added more icing on the cake with her humor and "let's just do it" attitude. You really both have come to be very special women in my life and I thank you for helping me see not only that I can help others but myself as well by doing things I never thought possible. (can you say big freakin spider in the toilet bowl at 3am) It's much more than that but honestly who really forgets something like that!

He probably should have come first but I thank and appreciate Aaron for allowing me this experience. And no I didn't need permission but he understood how important this was to me and took care of the home front, as did all the spouses while we were gone. He also encouraged  me when I had doubts about going at all and I love him for that.

And of course there is our Sebio who often writes that he has nothing to give us. I tried to explain to him while I was there and I've written in letters that he gives us great joy in allowing us to sponsor such a good young man. His love for us and being like the son we never had is gift enough. Also his doing well in college now makes us so proud and happy.

I'm thrilled to share with all of you his first report which he sent by email I might add. Here in his own words:

Hi ma'am I'm here in Internet cafe I want you to know of my Rating or my Grade of all my subject on my first semester

SUBJECT. RATING
AIT111--------------------------------------------88
AIT112--------------------------------------------86
MATH 111 ---------------------------------------86
MATH 112---------------------------------------81
FILIPINO------------------------------------------88
ENGLISH------------------------------------------84

How cool is this not only handsome, kind and hard working but smart too. This picture accompanied his message and grades.

I also must give thanks to others who gave generously to help put smiles on the faces of everyone at God's Town by giving money or the infamous cocoa we took with us. These special people include: my big sis Mary Blease, Linda Robinson & Edna Chafy my co-workers and Diane Roberts, Aaron's co-worker, along with my friends Josie Geiger, Kristine Maberry and Arlene Horner. I would be remiss if I didn't say special thanks to Mary and her husband Bill for coming to see me the night before we left. It meant a lot to me and our recent reconnection means even more, love ya sis!

Special thanks to all those known and unknown people from numerous countries and US states who have visited the blog to read about not only my adventures but the wonderful kids and staff at God's Town. Very special thank you to the person from Belgium who reads the blog on a regular basis. I don't know you but just recognize by my stat counter your views on a regular basis. I would love for you to friend the blog and say hello.

And even though the year of my big adventure is coming to a close I don't think this journey is going to end any time soon. I say this for several reasons;

1. I want to go back again. I really miss everyone there. And if his letters are any indication Dan, the assistant director and just the sweetest guy keeps saying he wants me to return. Probably not in 2011 (sorry Ma'am Linda) but more likely in 2012. And I love getting mail from my new family there.
2. Aaron wants to go.
3. I really love not only the people but their food. Our big news at home is we had a local Filipino woman from our development open "Manila Cafe' and Asian Mart" right down the street. We're talking walking distance to a real turo-turo; small eateries in the Philippines are lovingly called "turo-turo". The exact literal translation of which is "point-point" simply because all you need to do is point the food you want to eat from the selection of food displayed in a table, I hope to post a picture of this eatery soon. Arlene, who grew up in the Philippines is also to blame for my love of Filipino foods because she was the first one to introduce me to it even before my trip.
4. And of course there is Sebio and we hope Eric as well. While I was there and with Purie present to interpret I told Sebio what he meant to us and offered if he ever wanted to come visit us we would be happy to have him. The onus is on him to do the necessary paperwork etc to come but the offer is out there.

So as I tell Sebio and hopefully as you can see, you don't have to be given "some thing" it's all about the relationships and the people you are loved by.

To All Who Read This

Happy, Safe & Joyous Holiday Season & New Year

Christmas Comes Early for Me

For those of you who know me I'm a big kid at heart. I recently received 2 presents related to Sebio. The first came a few weeks back when I was asked along with my travelling companions to speak at the church about our trip.

When Linda arrived she had a red folder for me. In it was something I'd been waiting for, a copy of Sebio's high school diploma. I will find a frame for it to proudly display in our home but here for all of you to see is the proof of his accomplishments.

 The following is a photo of Sebio first with Dan, the Asst. Director at God's Town and with Purie, the Director. As always he appears his shy, apprehensive self. But handsome none the less in our eyes. We are so very proud of him even though we couldn't be there to see him that day. I almost was but missed it by I believe about a week.

Just a note about the background on the photos, that is made from the husk of coconuts. It is a page from a book that was filled with photos and some notes made for the 3 of us on the day we departed God's Town. Each book was personally made and if we first thought they were photos taken earlier that was proven wrong by the fact one of the photos in my book had me in it! They were very covertly and creatively made and tied with some other natural material I'm not quite sure of its origin. It was also a gift and remembrance of the trip I will always treasure.

Now I mentioned 2 presents, Sebio's diploma copy being the first the second came recently and sent me into quite a 'tizzy' around the house. I suppose the precursor to the big surprise came in the form of an email from Sebio. Yes, our first technical communication. The funny part was thankfully I always check my email spam folder. In it was an email with the subject line of "I Am Happy".  My first assumption was oh well another Viagra ad for me to delete. But there was something about the senders email address that I kept reading before automatically hitting the delete button. Then it hit me: that is Sebio's name. So with great excitement I opened it and sure enough here was our first communication via email:

Sent: Fri, September 17, 2010 11:10:41 AM
Subject: I'm happy

Hi ma'am Dawn and sir Aaron
I'm happy this DVD and letters that I recieved yesterday, you show me your love and to my co-children here I'm happy also that sir Aaron would like to sponsor for Eric.

Not only was this message monumental being our first email but it confirmed his support and approval about our decision for Aaron to sponsor Eric.

This inaugural email arrived as a duplicate message in my Inbox but also, in duplicate was a request for me to sign on and add Sebio as a contact on Yahoo chat. I figured ok but what were the odds that was ever going to happen? But I obliged his request and added him onto my Yahoo contacts. I haven't used or been on Yahoo chat since Aaron was deployed in Iraq. It was our lifeline while he was there but I haven't had the need for it since.

Sebio's first email came some time during the night on a Thursday. This past Thursday we had left our home computer on a bit later than usual and I went to turn it off before bed. I figured if Sebio is going to the Internet Cafe' as part of his college course on computers just maybe there might be another email message from him. Well in my Inbox again was another double request to add him on Yahoo chat. Well ok, thought I did that but just in case I log onto Yahoo and check to make sure it's done. Suddenly and for me my second present I literally yelled to Aaron: "SEBIO IS ONLINE". Sure enough it showed our guy was online so I immediately typed in a message; Sebio is that you?  And after what seemed like forever it was confirmed it was. He was at the Internet cafe' but our connection seemed to go in and out. But we exchanged a few words back and forth that he was doing well and liked school.

Unfortunately it was getting late and I had an early call for a work event the next morning so I tried to tell him why we had to log off. Not sure if he got or understood our message but to my surprise and happiness came our next email correspondence:

Dear Ma'am Dawn and Sir Aaron

Thank you for the letter and DVD that you sent to me that I received last week and we watch the Pirate movie it was good continuation of the story about pirate number 1and 2.


I want you to know about my studies, College is a lot of work in school but it's fun,
I got 24 speed above accuracy per minute in my type writing and I focus on computer so I know about the parts of computer and when the computer was made and Involved so I enjoyed this course because more Information we studied.


Ma'am Linda said that Eric does not have a sponsor, I'm happy that Sir Aaron would like to sponsor with Eric.


I hope you read this letter


THANK YOU AND I MISS YOU
SEBIO

What better presents could a person get, except maybe some hugs, but I'll just have to wait until my next visit for those.

Next Post: Meet Eric, our new addition to the family.

SO WHAT IS A BALIKBAYAN BOX?

A balikbayan box (literally return to one's homeland box) is a ubiquitous corrugated box containing any number of small items and sent by an overseas Filipino known as a "balikbayan". Though often shipped by freight forwarders specializing in balikbayan boxes by sea, such boxes can be brought by Filipinos returning to the Philippines by air.

These boxes might contain nearly anything that can fit and that the sender thinks the recipient would like, regardless of whether those items can be bought cheaply in the Philippines, such as non-perishable food, toiletries, household items, electronics, toys, designer clothing, or items hard to find in the Philippines.

Shipped boxes are delivered directly to the recipient, nearly always the family of the overseas Filipino.

Part of the attraction of the balikbayan box is economic. If the items were sent individually or in smaller boxes through postal services, the cost could be significant. The trade off is a long transit time by container ships, typically taking several months, and the lack of a solid delivery date.

Another part of the attraction is the cultural expectation that returning travelers will bring gifts to family, friends and colleagues left behind in the Philippines. In this way, it is related to the practice of "pasalubong" or a souvenir brought for loved ones or friends.

Balikbayan box started with the law enacted by former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos during the 1980s during the resurgence of Filipinos working overseas. The Philippine Bureau of Customs Circular allowed the entry of personal goods to the Philippines from Filipinos overseas, tax free. This was done by asking friends and co-workers who were coming home to the Philippines to bring gifts with them.

The balikbayan box business started in 1981 in Los Angeles, California by Mr. Rico Nunga who at that time was working in a shipping company and started REN International. Mr. Nunga brought up the idea to Mr. Monet Ungco who at that time was based in New Jersey and put up Port Jersey Shipping.

Why did I go to my favorite resource Wikipedia to bring you the history and definition of the balikbayan box? Because Aaron and I are preparing to send one over by the end of September. We would love for anyone who would like to participate and send items over to please join us. Since it will hopefully arrive in time for the holidays a note can be put in for the home's director Purie to put items away to be used as Christmas presents. Just imagine the arrival of a big box just stuffed full of things for everyone?

 
Since my travels there I put together a list of items I know they would like or could use. Regarding any food items remember it's a long trip over. Be mindful of items that could spoil, expire or melt. And since they love getting mail, cards and notes are always welcome for inclusion. These are suggestions if you have other ideas we'd love to hear them.
 
FOOD ITEMS:
Canned foods: corn, meats, Spam etc
Spaghetti
Hard candies, pixie sticks etc

RECREATION/ENTERTAINMENT
Jigsaw puzzles
DVD movies: list available of what they already have compliments of Sebio
Balls

PERSONAL CARE ITEMS
Shampoo, hair products
Toothpaste, toothbrushes
Dove Soap
Toilet paper

GENERAL ITEMS
Funnels
Ice cube trays
Tools
Nails, screws etc
Kitchen towels
Wash cloths, bath towels

Dog & Cat treats, toys

Plastic totes

Long wooden matches

Aluminum Foil (Reynolds)

Ziploc Bags

Saran Wrap

Candles (taper kind)

Silverware

CLOTHING

Boys/men's small items

Girls/women’s small

Anything you care to contribute to put a smile on the faces of the children and staff at God's Town will surely be appreciated. I can say that with all certainty. The shipping cost is not cheap but we will take care of that.  If you have items for the box please give them to me or Aaron by September 24th.

From Aaron and I we say thank you and from those at God's Town, they would say Salamat.

** And if you live in PA and are a member or associated with PUCC, my other 2 travel companions; Ma'am's Linda and Becky are also collecting and preparing a box for shipment. See one of them for details regarding their box and deadline for submission.

Jacob, Our Hero

In trying to figure out what to tell you next about my adventure, the one story I did not want to be remiss about telling you was that of Jacob. From what I've been told Jacob often has difficulty being in school. He also was having problems at God's Town and there was talk he might have to go somewhere else to live. A requirement of living at God's Town is the children must attend school. Here is Jacob on the right with the visor on and Nathaniel.

Emma, the oldest of the staff has recently been working with Jacob and there were signs of improvement in his behavior. But none so striking as what happened the day of our planned outing to take everyone (and that meant everyone, and then some) from God's Town to a "resort" as its called there, to go swimming. Ma'am Linda always finds out  where everyone wants to go on a group outing when she comes to visit and this time was no exception.

I was not present to what actually occurred with Jacob but I saw one of the emotional results. Linda came into our room where Becky and I were preparing for this outing to the resort. She came in with tears in her eyes and took a moment to relay the following. It appears that Jacob who by the way is 10 years old, went to Purie (God's Town Director) and offered, volunteered, to stay behind, miss a day of fun and swimming, to take care of the farm (ALONE). You see with a working farm, run and tended to by everyone who lives there, some chores can't miss being done. There are animals that must be fed and crops to be taken care of. Our outing was going to last pretty much all day and just getting to the resort would take at least an hour....nothing and I repeat pretty much nothing is less than an hour from where they live.

After relaying this story to us, next came the proclamation, "that boy gets a bike". I mentioned taking the big wheel to God's Town, but unfortunately if it was to last the bigger kids had to be restricted from riding it. As much as they wanted to (and sneaked in a few pedals) it just had to be. We had told Jacob who really wanted to ride the big wheel we'd buy one in town when we took the older boys for the "Big Shopping" trip. But unfortunately we couldn't find one then. Believe me I can't forget Jacob's face as we drove back in from the "Big Shopping" trip in Catbalogan searching for that bike, which unfortunately was not there. But now, after this heroic, responsible act of selflessness we had to find a bike.

The "resort" which I put in quotes because it is nothing like what we here in the US would think of in those terms was nice.  It had 2 swimming pools, shaded tables which were reserved for us, some other pavilions for bigger parties and more. But it was pretty small. Now when the staff at God's Town plan for an outing boy do they plan. I can't even imagine how late they stayed up making food for us to take. We had a cooler, pots and much more. Because there were so many of us a bus was rented. When we left and counted off to make sure we had everyone the count was about 36 and it actually grew along the route picking up some friends of God's Town....

Now the bus, well this was another type of thing Ma'am Becky and I would refer to as getting an X over it. And what that meant was if it were here in the US it would more than likely either be illegal or at the very least deemed highly unsafe. The bus sounded bad, if it had a muffler not sure it worked, from where I sat well...let's just say I could see the ground through the thin rust spots. It did not have windows and was open on the sides but there were flaps that could be brought down in the event of rain. And that event did happen on our ride back but those flaps, only on one side, and it wasn't mine. Exhibit A below:  a still shot of the bus!

Exhibit B of the bus; pictures, sound, and ending commentary by Ma'am Becky so cue the video:

But regardless of how apprehensive I was about that bus, the scenery along our travels to the resort was pretty amazing. After first passing by our destination we finally made it. The outing itself was fun. Even Ma'am Dawn, who would rarely get in a pool literally spent hours in there. Mostly with M-D because he was so small for the big pool but loved playing volleyball with a beach ball. So with me hoisting him out of the water and balancing him on one leg, and hopping on my other, M-D and I played, and played and played. All the kids seem to have a good time, even Sebio when we finally got him in the water. The video below includes me hopping around with M-D, playing volleyball with Asst. Dir., Dan and narration by Ma'am Linda with a host of other squeals and fun-filled laughter and yells in the background from a cast of characters.

And some of you may be wondering what about the bike for Jacob? A picture is worth more than 1000 words. That's Jacob in the yellow top. And, one of the last times I saw Jacob riding around the building on that bike, he was giving a chicken a ride!!  That's our Jacob, you gotta love him.

We also got another small bike as a next step up with training wheels. But don't read my words, just listen to the sound of the bell ringing.

Project Water Tower

I have had a couple of inquiries about how people can help us reach our goal of funding the purchase of a water tower at God's Town. As you can see I now have a fundraising thermometer and it's moving rather slowly. We had one very large generous donation from a friend of Linda's and the rest has been from my selling candy and snacks to my chocolate addicted co-workers and donating the money for the tower.

Just imagine not having consistently running water, or filling a bucket before you go to bed just to make sure you've got some to dip into for your "shower" in the morning in case there is none available. Having a water tower will be more than helpful to the children and staff at God's Town, it will literally get them threw their days better. 

The group that initially started God's Town I can only assume had at least thought about a water tower as is proof here by the concrete that was laid for it. However for whatever reason they felt other things more important. Althought I can't think of much more important than having water. They also were not the ones who believed in God's Town becoming self-sufficient and creating a working farm.  But hey, everyone has different ideas, it's just a good thing the people with the idea of making God's Town more self-sufficient are the ones working with them now.

So, if you'd like to help us raise the temperature on the fundraising thermometer, please consider donating whatever you can. Please be sure to make your checks payable to One Heart as that is the church's mission fund which sponsors God's Town. If you'd like to specify your donation towards the water tower simply put God's Town water tower project in the subject line. Donations of any size, which are tax deductible, should be mailed to: One Heart, c/o Penbrook United Church of Christ, 56 Banks Street, Harrisburg, PA 17103.

Coming up more trip adventures, pictures, video and information about our newly sponsored young man, Sebio's friend Eric.

Attack of the Toilet Bowl Gagamba

Ok, as I said I think I can finally talk about this...enough time has passed and the nightmares have subsided, sort of. Well, it wasn't quite that bad but I didn't think so at the time.

I guess first and foremost I should begin by telling you what a gagamba is or what it means in Waray. By the way, Waray or Wáray-Wáray or Samarnon (commonly spelled as Waray; also referred to as Winaray or Lineyte-Samarnon)is a language spoken in the provinces of Samar, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte (eastern portion), and Biliran in the Philippines. You will hear more about their language and accent and the major confusion it caused me and Ma'am Becky one morning, but back to the gagamba which I'm probably stalling about. I do believe I had my first encounter with said gagamba, oh sorry, it means SPIDER. The gagamba and I had our introduction I do believe on my first morning at God's Town. My recollection, although his may be different, is we met on the shower wall. This was my first encounter with all things creepy and crawly in the Philippines.

Now, many of you are probably thinking ok, spider, we have those here and yes I would agree we have them here, I've had them in my house.  BUT I'm not sure if there is more translation to gagamba, but if there is it should probably be, big SOB spider. Now I first described the gagamba to my roommate Ma'am Becky as being as big as my head. Ok yes that was an exaggeration at the time for dramatic effect, however to say he was a good 3 1/2 to 4 inches is probably not. Our first meeting went fine and I lived to see another day...

Then came one very, very dark late night when I just had to go to the bathroom. I do believe one of these adventures came during a brown out, meaning no lights in our room or the bathroom area. I had to rely on the wind-up flashlight we had. I ventured in, flashlight in hand and of course I decided to check out the area first! All looks good until there, under the toilet seat, all you can see are "LEGS", numerous legs. My first terrified reaction and probably burst, in albeit a somewhat hushed auditory exclaimation was "oh heck no". (heck is being substituted in case I have some younger readers) I went back to my little bed thinking, I'll just try and wait til day light.  And try as I did, I just couldn't so I ventured back and he was still there, at least his legs (all of them) were still visible. So I summoned all my courage and lifted and dropped the lid. Success in the fact he ran, unsuccessful because I couldn't see where he went. So, I did what I needed to quicker than I ever had and high-tailed it back into my little bed, sheet over my head to protect me from any subsequent attack.  Once again I survived to tell the tale.

Now surely on the next dark night when I just had to return to the bathroom he would not be there again, surely!! I mean he probably had a lovely family and should have been home with them in the middle of the night. Well no, this time as I shine the light to scope out the situation there he is, yes I am sure it was the same one each time. Trust me you just know your gagambas. There he was suspended just under the bowl. Just kinda hanging out, no where to go, nothing to do but terrorize me. "Seriously" I believe was my exclaimation this time. Then it hit me this bathroom not only had 2 shower stalls but 2 toilet stalls...I would just go down to the other one it was all connected, I didn't need to leave the room. So I pass the sink in the middle, open the door to that stall, shine the light and sadly, I still can't talk about the evil that was crawling on the walls in there. I do believe I found out later those might be the filipino version of roaches. All I know is they were big and more frightening then my friendly gagamba.

Now I of course would again attempt the waiting game but that wasn't happening. Back I go, and sure enough he's still "hanging out" under the bowl. Eureka, I'll flush and down he will go...and so I did and so he did NOT. "Seriously?" I'm getting more frustrated and now obviously making noise because I can hear from Ma'am Becky's bed, "do we have a problem in there?" Well yes, he's back. She has now joined me in the battle. Our plan of attack is to try and knock him off. We grabbed a colored pencil (do children really need the color green when coloring?) and the plan is one lifts the lid, one knocks him off. It was a nearly flawless plan, until he decided to jump off and run into a hole behind the toilet.  It appears our friendly neighborhood gagamba actually did live in the neighborhood. 

Big Shopping

Very sorry for the previous posts gastronomical interruption. Thank you for indulging me and my stomach to reminisce about the food. Now to continue on with more notes and adventures from the trip itself.

One of the highlights of our trip probably more for the 5 older boys than for us might have been when we went into the town of Catbalogan. This was a planned excursion to take the boys in for a shopping trip. Also factor in that this was Good Friday and a holy week for them there as well. Once we got into town many of the businesses were closed for the night.

We decided before leaving God's Town that we would all spend the night in a very cute hotel called the Rolet. Which to it's US visitors were thrilled at the idea of a night of running water, shower and air conditioning or as it's called there air con. It is also where I experienced my first brown out which is when the electricity goes down. My first one wasn't so bad it didn't last very long. But air con is no good without electricity, now is it?

At least 2 of the boys; Abraham and Junald hadn't been to town since around 2000. So going on the trip to Catbalogan, which was about an hour from God's Town in addition to the 5 older boys, Dan, the asst. dir. Purie, the dir. me, Linda and Becky and we even threw a couple more people in for good measure because they live in the town. We called on our trusted driver who brought us from the airport to deliver us to town, in the same basic SUV. This photo is of just the boys in the back!! I believe the final "head count" was around 13.5. The half accounts for Purie's little granddaughter riding into town with us to go home.

The "big shopping" as it came to be referred to by the boys wasn't going to take place until Saturday morning. A scouting party for food went out to see what they could find from the few eateries still open. The hotel was kind enough to let our 'crew' eat in their little coffee shop area on the the floor.

The food scouts gave me my first chance at experiencing Filipino spaghetti. I had heard and read recipes about this. Sometimes it will include cut up hot dogs. The other key difference between ours and theirs is it is much sweeter. My notebook included a notation that I prefer our style to theirs. My other noted observation was that since they found it at a little take away place it arrived for us to eat in little individual plastic baggies. But, as always they had also found some fabulous bread and pastries. My theory is it's something in the water there that makes their breads and pastries taste so darn good.

Our lodging for the night also made for the perfect vantage point to watch the Good Friday procession that went right past the hotel. Here is a photo of Sebio and Junjie waiting to watch.

And this photo was the view, directly across the street, from the same balcony.





The final couple of pictures illustrate the "goods" from the Big Shopping. Now if anyone is keeping track there are only 4 boys in this photo. There were 5 stuffed in the back of the SUV in the earlier photo and I've mentioned 5 older boys. The morning of Big Shopping, Linda had to take Eric to the hospital for a tetanus shot and stitching because on a day prior he had badly cut his hand.

I had to include this photo of Sebio (it's one of my favorites), I had him model his new sneakers because as I told him those were exactly the kind Sir Aaron would buy if he had the chance. And just to again put their money into perspective. My recollection is we took 5 teenage boys shopping each getting: sneakers, good flip flops, jeans, shorts, tops and underwear for oh about $165 US dollars...and no not per boy, TOTAL. Around here what a pair of teenagers jeans alone could cost that, right? We had given each of them a basic budget and kept track of their spending. After shopping, during our group lunch Becky went over each boys spending and they were told how much was left from their 'budget'. Some had enough for just a pack of gum (I believe that might have been Sebio) to a few pesos.

It was a fun, interesting and somewhat exhausting experience. Not having any kids it was quite a treat to watch and advise 4 teenagers during group shopping trip. Becky and I had our marching orders from Linda, especially that they were to try everything on. It was a bit too far and nearly impossible to return anything like here at home. In the end I do believe they all enjoyed themselves and their purchases. I would be remiss if I did not mention how kind and thoughtful they are too each other. We had to take Eric around for sneakers separately. I know it was myself, Eric and at least one other of the boys. No sooner did Eric pick out sneakers and of course adhering to the order they had to be tried on...it might have been Junjie but one of the other boys bent down to help Eric tie the laces. They really are a kind and thoughtful group of boys growing into young men.

We saw quite a few new outfits being worn at church for Easter Sunday. Several of the boys mentioned and thanked us for the Big Shopping in notes they put in the memory books we were given upon our departure. But more about that in another post.

Next Post: I think I'm finally over the trauma to write about the Attack of the Toilet Bowl Ga'gamba!

Food Glorious Filipino Food

We interrupt our regular chronological trip report to talk about another favorite subject of mine....FOOD! For those of you who know me the revelation that I'm a certified foodie comes as no surprise. So I thought it only fitting to devote one of my posts to food, specifically the foods I ate and have come to love from the Philippines. And thanks to my travel mate Becky, aka Ma'am Bicky I have some lovely photos to accompany my ramblings. And so let the food descriptions begin.

A couple of less than positive things I will admit to about the food on my trip:

1. I did not try the balut. Linda loves this and I think looks forward to it every time she visits her second home. Balut is an Asian delicacy. Here is the description from Wikipedia: balut is a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell.

2. After white rice at every meal, 3 times a day I really didn't want to see it let alone eat it any time soon after I returned from my trip.

3. While I wouldn't eat or even entertain on my plate shrimp with their heads still attached when I visited New Orleans years ago, I did eat them while in the Philippines. And I didn't die or have any heebie jeebies!

4. I tried jackfruit and it wasn't my favorite thing but that might have been because it was very warm when I ate it. I tend to prefer my fruits cold. And more importantly we learned Ma'am Becky is allergic to jackfruit among others.

And now on to the fabulous foods I did eat and learn to love in the Philippines. I think my favorite breakfast food had to be the eggplant! Yes, eggplant for breakfast. Pictured here, it is pretty simple to prepare although when I got home and tried to recreate it I nearly burnt the condo down. Lucky for Aaron he was away that weekend. The basics of the dish: maintain the stem on the eggplant and use fairly small japanese type variety. Roast it over an open flame. There Ester and Dehlia would use one of the fish shaped BBQ contraptions over their gas stove top. At home since I didn't have one of those I used two skewers so I could hold on to it over the flame but I kept lighting the darn thing on fire! After its cooked, remove the skin and it should be cooked enough to then take a fork and smash it. (again don't remove the stem) Then you dip it in beaten egg with seasonings of choice and fry in a frying pan. It was fabulous and I have since bought a fish shaped BBQ contration to try again.

I also fell in love with their fruits some of which were gotten right from their garden. In particular the baby bananas. And try as I may I'm having trouble getting them here at home to be anywhere near as good. Not only are they small and sweet but the color is a deeper yellow. And even when the outsides would turn pretty dark the insides didn't get mushy like ours often do. I have found some baby bananas at home but most are from other countries. My friend Arlene, who I've mentioned before, did get me some from the local Filipino market, but I could only salvage a couple before my co-workers "stole" some of them. And there were other delicious local fruits like mango and papaya.

Speaking of mangoes, run don't walk, to your nearest Filipino market or anywhere else they are sold and get some champagne mangoes. I did not have this variety while I was there but I have discovered their goodness since being home. If you are interested I'll let you do your own research on the differences but one notable one is the skin color, champagnes are golden outside vs. green.

I mentioned Ma'am Linda's joy in balut and mine in eggplant and there will be more postings and recipes later but what about Ma'am Bicky's passion? You must say it like a very lively chant: "mango cake, mango cake" !!

A couple pictures here to illustrate; Ma'am Bicky eating mango cake and the bakery where it was displayed and bought in all its glory.

And let me end by saying it's not like we visit and only enjoy their delicious delicacies we bring some for them to try and enjoy as well. Since we were there during Easter what better treat to bring them....PEEPS. But not only did the children love peeps, of course, but so did the adults as evidence here in the photo of several of the staff enjoying a peep or two!

The Experience Really Begins

I first want to apologize for not posting sooner. My plan was to put up a new post about the trip at least each weekend. Unfortunately when I got back from the trip in April, our 18 year old cat Sammy was not doing well. Given her advanced age I really thought that she had waited for me to return so that I could say goodbye and not to put Aaron through making any hard decisions. She wasn't doing great before I left and we had even discussed some possible scenarios if anything happened before I got back.

I am happy to report that in the week after my returning from the Philippines we took her to a Vet. and animal hospital that I will ever be grateful to. Dr. Mankowski of the Mt Laurel Animal Hospital diagnosed her as diabetic!! Which during his phone call he sounded excited about, I guess mostly because of how upset and tearful I had been when I brought her in. I figured that appointment might be a final farewell but no....we learned how to give insulin, changed her food and take her readings and I can now report it appears she has actually reversed her diabetes. Which the wise and compassionate Dr. Mankowski said could happen. He just didn't expect it to happen that quickly.

And now on to my next trip post!!

We were greeted on our first full day at God's Town by some early morning rain. And other than that day we had very little during our entire trip. Dragging our still sleepy minds and bodies out of the dormitory Becky and I were officially welcomed by 2 of the older boys, Sebio being one of them. They each ceremoniously placed beautiful handmade, personalized necklaces around our necks. (Linda had received hers earlier.) Here is a picture of all of us wearing them. The "flower" on there is actually from a coconut. The front said "Welcome Dawn God's Town Children's Home Philippines and on the back of mine was a small photo of Sebio riding a bike.

We really started our day by lots of unpacking. There were many hidden treasures among all of our luggage that we had to find a home for, including the infamous ax which was given to Dan who is the asst. director and great role model for the boys who live at God's Town. Another big hit were the ice cube trays Linda had brought. Purie didn't know you could buy them, she thought they only came with newly purchased refrigerators.

Among the things we had brought was believe it or not a big wheel. None of the children there had probably ever seen, let alone ridden one. There were only a couple of children small enough to ride this, even though some of the bigger ones did try. But as with most children's toys; some assembly was required. I had been dubbed the technical "wizard" from among my travel mates and that included putting the big wheel together. Now all it really needed was a screw but it 'was' a really long one, in a precarious location. I decided more specialized assistance might be needed for this job so, I went in search of Sebio. He was thrilled to help out and even figured out a more direct route to placing that precarious screw. It gave me a chance to work on our bonding.

Our first full day at God's Town also included: a pig roast (lechon) one of their very own they raised. I did see part of the processing of the pig but will not post any of that here. Becky and I since we have the same exact birthday: April 16th were presented with special coconuts with straws and treated to their rendition of happy birthday.

Later in the day there were games for all some we would be familiar with but with a Filipino spin. This included the climbing of a bamboo pole with pesos on the top for the winner. After many tries that honor went to Junald even though Junjie was soooo very close. They had a sack race that I think only the adults participated in and at the end after jumping you had to recite quite a tongue twister in their language. And finally a pinata but not like we think of a pinata, this was a clay pot hung up with candy inside and broken by swinging an aluminum baseball bat. It was all too funny to watch but everyone had fun. And much to his delight M-D (age 6) discovered, on his own, that his new found big wheel actually had a storage compartment in the seat and that made the perfect hiding spot for his pinata gained candy bootie.

A few lessons I learned as our first full day at God's Town started to come to it's end:

1. Regardless of how much (or little) they have here at the God's Town Children's Home they are happy people.


2. Unlike many children in the US, these kids share and share alike...this was noted while Becky and I watched M-D and Lovel play with the new big wheel. What we observed was there was no conversation, no fussing or fighting over it. One would ride around the building, come back and they would switch, no muss, no fuss, we were amazed.


3. I will never not appreciate running water again...you will hear more about this as the posts go on but think about going thru your daily routines with little or no consistent running water.

Their water problem can be solved with the installation of a water tower. This is now my quest, mission, goal to raise the funds needed so that the God's Town Children's Home can purchase and install a water tower. What might a water tower cost...in US dollars I hope to help raise about $5,000 so the tower, labor and some accompanying concrete work can be completed. If you want to help please contact me.

Next up: Sleeping with lizards and other things that went bump in the night, along with the older boys "big shopping" trip.

* FYI, clicking on pictures, in case you didn't already know, does blow them up bigger!

We Arrive & I Meet Sebio

After viewing the MacArthur Monument and stopping for a bite to eat we started our long ride to God’s Town. Linda and Becky commented that much of the road we were traveling on was not paved during their last trip. I had many observations during this part of my trip and much of what I was taking in was overwhelming to me.

The single lane roads were populated by small homes and I assumed a series of homes made up what we would think of as villages. People of all ages could be seen along the roadways. Their houses basically sat next to the road itself. Children played, people walked and could be seen transporting their water in large cans from a central source. Near dusk farmers were walking their carabao back from their day of laboring, usually in a rice field. There just appeared to be people walking everywhere. Even when our travel was in the dark of night you would just see people walking along the road. I kept wondering to myself “where are they going or coming from”; because for all intents and purposes, we were in the middle of nowhere.

What at times felt like an endless ride took us past some impressive sights including travelling over The San Juanicious Bridge. It is an arch-shaped truss bridge in the Philippines stretching from Samar to Leyte crossing the San Juanico Strait, part of the Pan-Philippine Highway. It's the longest bridge in the Philippines spanning a body of water with a length of 2.16 kilometers (1.34 mi).

After turning on to a bumpy dirt road I was informed we were getting close to God’s Town, and I was nearing my first meeting with Sebio. As we entered the enclosed compound of God’s Town, on the gate hung the welcoming banner pictured here.

As we started to carefully unfurl ourselves from the vehicle we had spent hours riding in and the children came pouring out from a variety of locations, suddenly there were fireworks!! Yes, they lit fireworks to mark and celebrate our arrival. This heightened my anxiety of whether I would recognize Sebio. And there from behind a group of other children I spotted him and as I had been fore-warned he was shy…so much so he attempted to hide, which basically failed because I just went up behind him and gave him a hug and said hello. He responded with a smile, albeit a nervous one and still looked a bit shelled-shocked, as I’m sure I did too because I couldn't believe I was actually there.

We said farewell to our skilled, friendly and informative driver (whose name now escapes me) and started meeting everyone. Oh my goodness how was I ever going to get everyone’s name straight; staff and children? We were then escorted into the dining hall and treated to some food and “entertainment”.This video is actually of a repeat performance of the same routine they did the night we arrived. I didn't have the wherewith all to get the video camera out the night we arrived.

We were shown to our rooms; Becky and I would share what is considered a storage room that was prepared with 2 little single beds nicely made up, looking comfortable and very inviting. Linda would be using a small building that was once an office. Purie’s original idea was to give that to me since it was my first time there but I think my deer in the headlights look informed Linda that my being alone would probably not be my preference and boy was she right.
I think after all of our travels that day even if our beds had been made of hard, razor sharp nails it wouldn’t have mattered because once our heads hit the pillows we were out for the count.

Next time: Our First Full Day at God’s Town

Are You Looking at My Ax?

I’m going to try and do this chronologically so this post is about our arrival in Manila and flying over to the island where the children reside at God’s Town.

The 3 of us weary travelers arrived in Manila very early in the morning. Linda had made arrangements for a van to pick us up knowing full well we would be laden with large, heavy bags. And there he was, our smiling van driver, ready, willing and able to take us to our hotel and much needed beds for some real sleep.

Even though it was pitch black driving to the hotel it was the start, for me at least, of an eye-opening and at times over-whelming experience. It is not like we don’t have poverty here in the US but this just seemed to go on for quite some time and some of these were the nicer homes. Of course parts of the city are very neon and glitzy but that was not where our final destination would be. We went to an out lying area of Manila called Quezon City. Which by the way, if you Google the city, just had a devastating fire in what the article referred to as a slum area leaving over 3,000 people homeless.

Our first couple of days in Manila included catching up on sleep, making arrangements for our flight to Samar and getting ourselves “pretty” for our visit with the children at God’s Town. We availed ourselves of one of the continuous places advertising massages and the like and it was heavenly. This and subsequent visits produced one of our new Ma’amisms as we call them: “If massage was an Olympic sport, the Filipinos would win the gold medal”. Stay tuned for more Ma'amisms we had many "pearls of wisdom" during our adventures.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t report that we visited a hair salon where I got a pedicure, had my hair cut and colored for 1,000 pesos. Now sure 1,000 pesos sounds like a lot but in US dollars: $22 bucks..that’s right, $22. But sadly regardless of all the compliments I got about it once I returned, I really can’t travel ½ way around the world to do it again any time soon.

After finally securing airline tickets for our next leg of the journey we headed for the airport to leave. I say finally secured because everyone was traveling due to it being Holy week. So through security we head laden down with huge heavy bags full of much needed items, tools and things for God’s Town including a big wheel trike. As one of the large duffle style bags goes through the guard looks at Ma’am Linda and ask, “Is this your bag?” to which she replies in what can only be describe as a near Marilyn Monroe, coy sort of voice: “Are you looking at my ax?”. Well yes he replies and proceeds to explain how it is election time over there and this item is not allowed. Linda then continues to make her case in a very charming voice that it’s a tool needed at the orphanage to help with the farm where we are going. She also offers to go get him coffee or a soda and needless to say, God’s Town now has an ax for the farm.

I’m going to end this post with a bit of history that we got to see.

The pictures are of MacArthur Landing Memorial situated in Red Beach, Palo, Leyte. The monument commemorates the landing of Gen. Douglas MacArthur at the beaches of Leyte in October 1944. It was the first time MacArthur had set foot on Philippine soil since he promised "I shall return" before evacuating Corregidor Island for Australia. The landings at Leyte kick started the liberation of the Philippine Islands from Japanese imperial forces in World War 2 which had occupied the country since 1941.

And finally here we are in front of the monument from left to right Lourdes, Linda, me, Becky, Purie and her granddaugher Lavelle. Purie is the Director of God's Town and Lourdes is her sister. They were among our welcoming committee at the airport when we arrived.

The Saga Begins & An Ode

It appears that most of my jetlag fogginess has subsided enough for me to start to relay the adventures and stories of our 2 week whirlwind trip to the Philippines to visit God’s Town. I have so much to talk about but I guess it’s best to just start at the beginning.

We said farewell to our men folk we were leaving behind to fend for themselves, who god bless their hearts got up early to see us off at the Harrisburg PA airport on Saturday, March 27^th. ( see photo)

That was pretty much uneventful and I must say the airport was nice and pretty quiet at that day and time. Our massive amount of baggage was checked and we were told it would go all the way to Manila even though we would be getting on at least 2 different airlines and flights later. We left Harrisburg for Newark which is where we would leave for the major leg of our journey. This is where the 16 hour long flight would begin…but not without our first “hiccup”.

And now, the following is my ode to Mr. Snippy. We boarded Continental flight 99, in Newark bound for Hong Kong which, by the sea of humanity appeared to be fully booked. Becky and I had trouble finding a place for our carry-on luggage. When we questioned a flight attended he immediately said I can take care of it and whisked away our bags. Now our assumption was he was going to simply find a little, hidden unknown spot for them. Perhaps an overhead compartment we hadn’t looked in. But no, he returned to us, smiling saintly and announced “your bags have been checked to Hong Kong”! And while yes we were going to land in Hong Kong it was not our final destination and we had no reason to claim any bags in Hong Kong before our next connection because, as I mentioned before, we were told in Harrisburg all our checked luggage was going straight thru to Manila. So we calmly told him “Hong Kong is not our final destination, why are they going there, we’re going to Manila?” To which the flight attendant made a resounding comeback from across at least one aisle “how was I supposed to know, did you tell me you were going to Manila?” To which we replied, “you didn’t ask us.” This exchanged was a bit heated and other passengers even looked at us with sympathetic eyes and offered us some comfort and suggestions.

Our fear was it could take too much time to claim our now checked bags in Hong Kong causing us to miss our connection to Manila. We asked to talk to other flight staff to see if they could make arrangements while we were en route before landing to expedite our first hiccup. It appears word got back to the original hiccup producer because the flight attendant showed up at our seats, leaning so far over Becky on the aisle to actually touch my arm, while seated in the middle seat to say “I wasn’t being ‘snippy’ with you but you didn’t tell me you were going to Manila”. I interjected that I had never flown out of the country before like this and had no idea I had to tell him this detail. We didn’t know what he was doing with the bags and he never asked. It was his attempt at apologizing but didn’t cut much ice with any of us. His comment of I wasn’t being “snippy with you” from then on officially named him Sir Snippy in our books. We also at times referred to him as The Snipster or other similarly affectionate pet names. He later tried to make additional amends, after learning we were going to an orphanage, by giving us a whole tray of those little cloths they heat up and give you for your traveling pleasure!! Those cloths actually did come in handy at God’s Town but the ‘hiccup’ stayed etched in our collective memories.

Please check back later for more trip blog posts with titles such as:

• Are You Looking at My Ax?
• I Slept with Lizards.

and my personal favorite

• Attack of the Toilet Bowl Gaga'mba!

Not to mention lots of heart-warming stories about the incredible kids and staff at God's Town.

Baby Duck is Back in the USA

This will be a short post because I think I'm still feeling the effects of jet lag, but wanted to say the 3 of us returned home safe and sound from our far off trip. We got in Friday evening to Newark Airport which sounds strange when you figure we left from the Philippines at about 7am on Friday but with the time difference we basically traveled back in time!! It was good to be home with Aaron and Sammy but sad to leave my 2 travel companions and especially the children and staff at God's Town.

I have a ton of stories to tell, not to mention pictures, about our travels, meeting Sebio, his co-children and the staff at God's Town. While the trip really tested me in many ways, it did also give me a tremendous appreciation for what we have here in our country. I definately won't be taking things like running water and consistent electricity for granted any more.

Fair warning that some of the upcoming posts will tug at your heart and others may make you laugh so hard you'll pee your pants! I will end for now by saying I met some amazing, hard working and caring individuals and created bonds with people, although they are half way around the world from us not so very different.

Hello from the Philippines

Sebio and I are here at the Internet Cafe and came to say hello to everyone who is reading this blog. We are in town and just got done shopping and it is hot!

Everyone at God's Town is doing well and we are happy to be visiting with each other. We will keep this short but wanted to say hello and tell everyone we are doing good.

LOOK OUT: HERE THEY COME

Let the games begin as they say. Very soon 3 wild and crazy women (Linda, Becky and I) will descend on the Philippines. This trio includes 1 very seasoned international traveler, 1 somewhat versed international traveler and then there is the Babydux (that would be me), following behind never having left US soil ever before. And to say I’m nervous is an understatement.

Our final destination will be the Visayas region and ultimately the delightfully smiling faces of the children at God’s Town and for me personally Sebio. Linda said all along “you can’t just send money and sponsor a child, you’ve got to go and actually meet him” and very soon I really will.

Linda, Becky and I leave this weekend. From what I hear the children at God’s Town are excited beyond belief. They have been counting down the days til our arrival. Hmmm, sort of sounds like me, but then again most of you know I’m a kid at heart.

Right now I’m experiencing and repeating the grumbles I heard from Linda while she packed over a week ago trying to fit 100lbs. of “stuff”, not exactly the word she used, into the 50lbs. allowable for my checked bag. Hopefully my personal necessities will fit on my carry on bags.

I’d like to say I’ll be able to send updates for the blog while I’m away but not sure if or how that will happen. I do expect one day we’ll visit a nearby town that has an Internet cafe where I can not only show Sebio this blog that has been about him and his co-children, but have him put his own post up as well. So please check in to see when that happens because I doubt I'll send an alert but ya never know.

I am also going to try and complete a project with all the children by having them make drawings about things that make them happy then bringing those pictures back and turning them into note cards. We’ll use the cards to thank donors and possibly sell them to raise more money for projects at God’s Town.

Speaking of a project that is going to be one of my tasks while I am there to see what types of projects I can submit to foundations and donors for funding. Linda has already mentioned the need for a water tower there so I’ll get all the details and a budget in order to submit the request to funding sources.

Seeing as I have a bazillion things to do before we depart I don’t know if this will be my last USA post. If it is I hope you will keep the 3 of us in your thoughts for a safe, fun and productive trip. Talk to you all when I can. As Tigger would say; TTFN – Ta Ta For Now.