...Last night in the Phil-ppines...

The short of it...

Where am I: Manil*, Phil-ppines

I'm feeling: Tired but relieved...it's nice to finally have Internet
access. Actually, it's nice finally being close to civilization
compared to days out in the middle of nowhere. Stomach is a little
queasy (see below).

So far I have: oh dear...where do I start. Well since this is the
*short* version, let me pick my top 3 (in no particular order).

#1 Watching a whole pig be killed before my eyes, cooked over charcoal
on a bamboo pole and then eating it
#2 whipping out my very poor Illocano (my family's dialect) on some of
the local children, ending in laughs because the only words I know
include foods, body parts, and "Your armpit smells". Yes, folks...my
mother taught me well.
#3 A combination of my first 24 hours in the country beginning with
being stranded at the airport for over an hour (my family went to the
wrong airport) and trying to use a pay phone or borrow a cell phone,
sleeping under a roof made of bamboo poles and sheets of galvanized
steel, waking up to roosters cockadooling at 3am and pigs squealing

Later I plan on: enjoying taking a shower with no bugs and sleeping on
a firm, non-sloping mattress

Interesting foods eaten so far: I think I have had every Filip-no
dish I've ever grown up with plus at least 10 others I'm not familiar
with. I also think I ate more pork in 6 days than I have in 6 years.
We had at least 3 different kinds of meat dishes at every meal. Going
vegan doesn't sound like such a bad idea.

Been totally blessed: with the family I stayed with including my
grandparents. I was also really blessed to visit with both sides of
my mom's family (I had to sneak behind my grandmother's back to visit
my grandfather's side due to some person issues she has). I also
loved visiting the plot of land my mom grew up on (the house is torn
down) and visiting the neighborhood school.

Something in pr-y about: our flight back to Ch-na tomorrow morning.
Also please continue to pray for my health, I think all that meat is
killing me and Om-n isn't going to be very promising (lot's of carbs
and more meat). Also pr-y that I have some good times with the L-rd
out here. It's a bit hard to get some time alone and really commune
the way I want to.

...a little more commentary...

If I could use some verbs to describe the main gist of what I have
done everyday for the past few days here, they would include: eat,
sleep, eat, nap, visit/sit with family, eat, sleep/nap. Sounds boring
and the pace I must admit was hard to adjust to. Still is. In the
middle of sitting around and eating/napping/sleeping we did have a
number of highlights like visiting other family members, going to the
market in a "tricycle" a motorbike with a little attachment (you can
have 7 people riding on it at once), being pulled by a cow on a sled
thingy (unfortunately there were no water buffaloes around, otherwise
we would have been on the back of one), sitting out in the middle of a
thunderstorm, walking in the rain, visiting the local school and being
mobbed by a whole bunch of school children, "fishing" for frogs,
Karekoking (nothing says Fil-pino like good music/voices.)

I loved hanging out in the small town I was in-in the middle of
nowhere where my mom grew up. I have a way better appreciation for
the humble and poor beginnings of my family now. I saw my mom in the
little girls, in my cousin's strife for something better, in my
family's work ethic. I wish I could hug her right now. (Yikes I'm
getting a little homesick!)

I DID NOT like the bugs. There were huge bugs and they were often in
the shower with me. I had to swallow my pride a lot. My
anthropological/intercultural studies background failed I guess as I
had to face my weaknesses and admit I just could not handle some
things I have always prided myself in being in control of
before-things like bugs, dirty, noises in the middle of the night. Oh
well. I've come to accept that about me. And that's okay.

All the time I have for now folks! I'll try to think of more as a
process over it in the next few days. Thanks...it's kind of
therapeutic! =)