The faith of a 3-year-old

As I write this blog, I’m sitting in McDonalds. In New Zealand, McDonalds was a place we didn’t visit much, and when we did, it was usually the McCafe which was a good distance from our house, which made the ideal place to ‘turn around’ on a morning walk. (after a nice cappuccino, of course). But here in the Philippines, it’s one of the few places that are open at 8am. The malls don’t open till about 11am (probably a legacy of the Spanish influence) and even Starbucks, which I would actually prefer, in terms of comfortable seats to sit down with a laptop, is only open at 9:30. This morning, as I have to be back at Emily’s nursery school by 9:30 for a field trip, I decided it wasn’t worth fighting the traffic back to our apartment. My only other choice here closeby was ‘Jollibee’, which is the Filippine version of McDonalds. It’s a very similar concept, but instead of a tall, cherry-headed man with big red shoes, their mascot is a big fat bumble bee with a white chef’s cap. This morning, familiarity won out, so my blogging companions are Ronald in plastic and Karen Carpenter though the loud Muzak.

We’ve really been enjoying the international church here in the Manila. Part of the reason is probably that when you’re dealing with culture shock and just plain stress, your desire to connect with God seems to increase. Another part of the equation is that Emily and Zoe have settled very well into their Sunday School classes, so we actually get to sit through a whole service with no interruptions. This hasn’t been the case for about 3 ½ years!

Emily’s been paying attention in Sunday School. She’s been asking all sorts of fabulous questions about God, as she tries to assimilate the things she’s being taught. “Does God live in our chest?” “Why can’t we see God?” “When are we going to die?” “My sore is better – isn’t God clever to make our body heal itself!” “Sometimes I’m naughty.”

I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of talking with her about spiritual matters. While I find them far from easy, and I know I don’t have all the answers, I’m glad she’s at least interested in our creator. I was touched the other day when Emily declared “When I die, I’m going to give God a great big cuddle!” I was very proud of her budding faith, but then was promptly reminded that she is only three when she added “And Jollibee!”

A guest editorial...

Hi all, Nigel typing today.

Thought a contribution from me was overdue although a disclaimer before I begin: I suspect my literary style isn’t quite up to the standards established by my lovely wife thus far. J but I’ll give it a shot.

This weekend has been a milestone in a number of ways. The search for a house into which to move has moved from ‘the hunt’ to ‘the negotiation’. The details are in the capable hands of the admin staff at school who handle the intricacies of the Philippine legal framework, which weaves a web of intrigue around even the simplest thing. For example, the process of moving from a condo (apartment) into a house is governed by a 37 step process, each step of which will no doubt involve various forms signed the standard seven times plus a thumbprint for good measure (well I might be exaggerating a little…)

Secondly, after dragging Joanna around the city looking at a couple of vehicles which weren’t really us, I came up with the idea of deciding on the type of vehicle we wanted by going to a dealership – then buying privately afterwards. We’ve settled on a Toyota Tamaraw Revo, which is classed as an AUV (Asian Utility Vehicle) – named after the indigenous water buffalo of the Philippines…. I prefer the name it has in Indonesia – Kijang – which at least is a deer.. somewhat more graceful. But here this is THE family vehicle of choice… so hopefully by tomorrow, all inspections going well, we will be mobile without being subject to the whims of Manila taxi drivers.

Thirdly, yesterday we found a veritable Garden of Eden in the form of the La Mesa Ecopark. It was a bit of a trek out to the northern edge of Manila but worthwhile – a clean, VERY green

forested area with picnic areas, play equipment, a fitness trail (we didn’t make it all the way round… well we stopped after 20 m….) a huge bank of flowers, something we didn’t investigate called an orchidarium… and a boating lagoon. We’ll definitely be back – the large swimming pool setup was wonderful – no city noises or smells, and surrounded by tropical forest. The kids were something of an attraction with the locals – but it wasn’t too packed and we were able to relax. A valuable recharge!

I’m obviously working too hard – can’t get away from the old three point essay even here…. Thanks for reading!

And for the BIG news...

We're gonna have another baby!

Yes, baby #3 is well on the way. (Although from the size of my tummy, you might think he/she was further than only 14 weeks... I chalk it down to being my body's 3rd time at this - it knows where it's going, and has been pre-stretched!)

Emily understands quite well what it all means, and is very interested in it. She wants us to take the baby out now, just so she can have a look. She's quite concerned that the baby have his/her own 'blankie' as she and Zoe have. So next week sometime, Emily and I are going to make a special trip to the fabric store to buy some cotton blankie material and some satin edging, and together we're going to sew a wee blankie for the baby.

This is Emily giving 'baby' a cuddle :)

pics of Puerto Galera Weekend

Visit to Puerto Gallera

(This blog is two weeks old – we got distracted by the typhoon, so I haven’t managed to put this on yet, but we have some nice photos, so I thought it was better late than never…)

We met just after school on the Friday afternoon. Most of the new staff plus some others then loaded our gear onto the bus, and headed south. We arrived at Batangas, on the southern coast of Luzon around 6pm, then hopped on a few ‘Banca’s in the dark to take us across to Mindoro. We were staying at Sabang, not far from the town of Puerto Gallera.

It was a rough crossing, and bancas are designed to sit on top of the water, so we were up and down like a yo-yo for an hour. To my amazement and relief, the girls were so tired by that stage, that they fell asleep in our arms! (The passengers on one of the other Bancas were not as lucky – they were accompanied by one of the children screaming the whole way! His mum was glad that he was at least screaming in Spanish, so most of the others couldn’t understand what was coming from his mouth!)

We arrived at the resort, put our bags away, went down to the water-front restaurant for a light meal, then headed straight to bed. (Suffice it to say the single staff members did not go straight to bed. I believe the local pub got quite the workout that night, but hey – it’s not really our scene.)

Actually, the whole area around Puerto Gallera is a diving haven, so come Saturday, most people were off on boats to take them for a dive, or else having diving lessons in the pool. Diving is not ‘our thing’ right now, and the girls were perfectly happy playing in the sand by the resort, and learning how their new water-wings and goggles work. We didn’t enjoy the hecklers, though, who wanted to sell us things, or take us to other beaches etc, so for the Sunday morning, we booked a small boat to take us to a more secluded beach. There was some nice snorkeling to be done there, just offshore, so Nigel and I took turns looking at the underwater world and looking after the girls.

Saturday afternoon, after the girls’ rest time, we put the backpacks on and headed inland to explore Puerto Gallera township. We caught a local jeepney, and got quite a nice intro to the place from a local school teacher who was squashed up next to us. She recommended we go look at the church, so we did that, and were pleasantly surprised to see a wedding had just taken place. The neat thing was that for the wedding cars, there were a couple of decorated Jeepneys! We witnessed the Bride & Groom sit up front, while other guests/wedding party members squashed in the back, and some even on the roof! IT was quite a sight, but we felt it inappropriate to take pictures.

After our wee wander around, we hired a tricycle to take us back to Sabang. Nigel and I squashed in and put the girls’ backpacks on the floor in front. And held on tight! Back at the resort, we again ‘chilled out’ and had an early night. Holiday time when the girls are asleep in bed is the perfect opportunity for Nigel and I to catch up on our reading.

Sunday afternoon we headed back. The sailing was much smoother, and the ride fine, but long, due to the rain. We got back around 8pm, had just enough time to get the girls to bed, the bags unpacked, clothes in the wash and to bed at a reasonable time.

...And on the lighter side...

Having just moved to the other side of the world, we don't have the large musical instruments that we have had in the past. We were lucky enough to 'babysit' a piano for a few years, and more recently, we've had a guitar in the house. Here, we have just a harmonica. Nigel's been encouraging the girls to have a go playing it, and this afternoon, Emily was getting the hang of sucking in and out, and trying to push the button at the same time. Well, she'd been doing quite well, and when all of a sudden there was a very strange noise. Nigel and I just cracked up laughing, and Emily wasn't sure what to do. She'd been trying so hard to blow. Then she realised what happened, smiled, and said "Hey - I did a farty at the same time!"

Typhoon pics

These pics are from our street in downtown Manila, the day after the Typhoon.

And This is Nigel making the most of our one working power socket which had generator power!

Who would have thought that we would spend our 5th wedding anniversary living in the aftermath of Typhoon Milenya. Despite the fact that we had only one power socket working from the emergency generator, on Friday morning I got a cappucino in bed. Nigel had carried the coffee maker out to our one working socket (via extension cord in the hallway), and made my coffee. It was very much appreciated.

Nigel had a half day at work. The typhoon, which turned out to be the worst the Philippines had seen since about 1995, had badly affected the school. The new senior block, where Nigel's classroom is, and which was finished only a week before school started last month, had a roof collapse and it flooded. Trees were also everywhere, shade-sails had been shredded by the 160km winds, and of course there was only generator power.

The girls and I spent the morning visiting a family from church. As we drove there, we saw trees and debris everywhere. In the tree-lined village where our friends live, those same trees had wreaked havoc on the streets, power-lines, fences, and in some sad cases, houses. Our friends had a huge mango tree lying in their swimming pool, on top of the felled fence. While I was shocked to see this, they were pleased it had gone into the pool, not through their living room window. They, like the rest of Manila, and in fact the whole island of Luzon, had no electricity, but they also had no running water. While there was bottled water to drink, we couldn't flush the toilets. It would be three days before they would be able to take a shower again. (which, in the heat, with no air-con, is quite something.)

We were actually very lucky in our apartment. At least we had one power socket running off generator. This meant we could plug in a fan, and have some moving air. And we had plenty of running water, for cold showers, which was fine, especially when it was 30 degrees. We have never bathed so often!

Friday night, leaving Jenalyn in charge of the girls, Nigel and I went out to celebrate our anniversay. We found the big malls had plenty of generator electricity. We had a nice mediterranean dinner (cooked by a Filipino chef, who had trained in London) and then we went to a movie.

We didn't get power back till tonight, Sunday. In the end, we got off very lucky. The worst it got for us was heat rashes and bad moods. Some 100+ people lost their lives around the country, crops were destroyed, houses and cars. It really makes you think how quickly things can change, and lets you appreciate what you've got.