Mindoro Island

Sunset in San Jose, Mindoro Island

Coconut delivery truck- notice the coconuts are inside and the kids are riding on top!!!!!

Water buffaloes just chillin'

Beautiful fish and coral- Dauin marine preserve

Siargao Island and Cloud Nine Surfbreak

This is a little slice of heaven in the Philippines- one of the most famous surf breaks in this corner of the world. Really great people- most of them surf- we feel like we are back in California! We stayed at the Boardwalk at Cloud nine- the picture is a view of the totally cool pier that the surfers walk down to get to the surf break- the stairs are towards the end. There are several International Surfing Championships here- from May to October. You gasp when you see the wave break- it is the most beautiful color of aqua blue- super clean water here- it could be love!!!!!

Meet Twix!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is Twix- a too cute puppy that Shay and Donny got the kids! Jacob is officially the parent, but everyone takes turns taking care of and playing with her! She is part Doberman and part Rottweiler- not usually my favorite combo, but she is really sweet!!

SCOTTY AND IZZY- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY B-DAY TO SCOTTY AND IZZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU IN APRIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE (GRAMPA) STEVE AND  (GRAMA) SUSIE

Rice and basketballs

While going by Ilin Island with captain Boyet, we came across three little children about 1/2 mile offshore- approximate ages were 8 or 9 for the oldest boy, 5 or 6 for the little girl, and 18-24 months for the baby! They were out trying to catch fish because the family didn't have enough to eat. We are all so paranoid about safety for our little ones that we go overboard to make sure nothing happens to them- can you imagine a baby on a raft 3 feet wide in the ocean??!! Several hours later on our return to our hotel on the Island of Mindoro we saw the same kids still at it trying their best to catch something.  Anyway, we asked Boyet what we could do to help and he said that if we got a bag of rice (50 kilos) it would feed the family for about 5 weeks. So we went back the next day with four bags for the little group of homes. The kids can't break the cycle of poverty if they can't go to school, and they can't go to school if they have to work. So much need...we are praying for wisdom on how to help.

On a lighter note, one of the sports that is really big in the Philippines is basketball. On Ilin island is a basketball court and Boyet's son Lester even has his own hoop- a bit broken. The only problem is the only basketball had worn out...... so we bought a new hoop, net, basketball and pump! very fun! 

White Island and Grace Island

White Island

White Island and Grace Island are between a 1/2 mile and 5 miles respectively. You can spend the night at cottages on either- White Island is primitive (you can get a cottage for 1500 pesos a night- about $38 and Grace Island is fancy- and pricey- starting at 4500 pesos- about $125!

Altho they both have gorgeous white sand beaches and crystal clear waters, there are not many fish to see. Grace Island has a unique "fish tank"- an area about 30 feet wide and 50 feet long- it has netted sides and you can swim in there if you want. There are hundreds of different colorful fish and turtles. I was thinking these were samples of fish in the lagoon; not so- when I swam over to the bay, I only saw a few fish. Several cool kinds of coral, starfish and a few 4 foot long sea slugs that looked like snakes!!!!

Starfish off Grace Island

Trip to San Jose, Mindoro

We are heading up north to San Jose on the island of Mindoro. We met two wonderful people, Linda Fernandez, a retired neonatal intensive care resuscitation nurse- that's a mouthful- hope I said it right! She goes around the different islands teaching this course at her own expense. This is a required course for nurses and paramedics in the US, and she is sharing it with the nurses in her beloved Philippines. Linda has been in the US for years working at Kaiser Permanente running this program and supervising nurses.

Sonny Gordovez is a retired telecommunications consultant for AT&T and had several financial planning, securities, insurance offices in Southern California. Both were raised on Mindoro and have the Montesa Foundation that has been formed to help the people on the Islands of Mindoro and Ilin.

They have several properties that they want to be used for ministry and are talking to Pastoral Training of Asia about working together to make that happen. Donny and Shayla are working with PTA.

We stayed at a lovely hotel owned by Edith Park called the White House- the grounds are immaculate and gorgeous- and it sits on a beautiful beach that goes on forever - we finally got our beach walk!

Dumaguete market

I think Pastor Jim would have liked us to taste the durian- the big cut fruit in the center- luckily I saw it on Anthony Bourdains show- it smells like dirty socks and is banned from taking on buses!

What do you think, Scotty? Sushi!

 Steve and Pastor Jim- he's showing us the ropes...like "buy your fish on Saturday morning so it will be fresh!!!!!!"

This is how we get our fresh shredded coconut! Yum!!

The downtown market takes up an entire block- just for fruits and vegetables on the right half and fish market on the left.

R&R

After a week of long flights and getting settled in, we went down to Dauin, about 30 miles south of Dumaguete. On the water is Bahura, a  hotel that reminds me of old Hawaii. The grounds were beautiful- plumeria trees, coconut palms, flowers and a great pool for the kids. There was snorkeling in front, but the water was a bit rough so the kids still haven't gotten to snorkel yet!

 Banana mango pancakes and mango shake...yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Dumaguete

Dumaguete gets it's name from the Visayan word "to snatch". In the 1811's marauders would swoop in and steal people for slaves. A bell tower was constructed to warn the people so they could flee.

It is known as "city of gentle people", which is true- everyone is very friendly.

 It is a University town, the most prominent is Silliman University, which has several locations around town. It is known as the Harvard of the Philippines.

The most popular mode of transportation is the "tricycle" or pedicab- they are everywhere and they are cheap! You can get all over town for about 20 pesos a person- about 50 cents each.

The waterfront along Rizal Blvd is really beautiful- acacia trees and a statue of nuns that sailed here years ago- the Sisters of Saint Paul. If only the pedicabs didn't pollute, you could spend all day here!

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to all the birthday boys and girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ben, February 14, 13 years old

Jon, February 20th, (today!) 15 years old

Margie, February 21, 39 years old!

Sarah Grace, February 22, 11 years old!!!!

Leaving on a jet plane!!!!

We are off on our next adventure- this time we are following our kids to the Philippines. They will be working with Pastoral Training of Asia out of Dumaguete (PTA). Our youngest, Shayla along with her husband Don, and their children Jacob (14), Benjamin (13 as of Valentines Day!), Sarah Grace (almost 11- on the 22nd!) and Daniel, 9. The kids took off on the day before us- February 6th- we woke to the news that there was a 6.9 earthquake in the Philippines- then when the details came out it was in Dumaguete! It ended up being about 45 miles north- shook and swayed at PTA, but no damage. There was quite a bit of damage up north.

We left the following day from Bozeman at 7 am and flew into Seattle. (Fun airport) Our next flight was to South Korea on Asiana Airlines- I would recommend it to everyone- there was really good food- filet! Small and definitely not the Mint, but a welcome surprise. Each seat had its own tv built in to the seat in front- it even had controls! There were 20 new movies! I told Steve I was staying up all night to watch them! The flight did seem like it lasted forever- I believe it was over 12 hours. It was so amazing to watch the path of our flight- it went over the Queen Charlotte Islands and Alaska, then over Russia! Wild! Anyway, they kept feeding us and I kept eating it all! Stopped at South Korea (cleanest most beautiful airport I have ever seen) then on to Manila.

So. Korea Airport

Marriott Manila

 Spent the night at The Marriott at the Airport- normally I would have Pricelined a 4 star hotel for a cheap rate, but after looking at some of the reviews on what they considered 4 star, we decided to play it safe and pick something familiar. They even upgraded us because they ran out of standard rooms- I didn't even have to beg!

flying to Dumaguete!!!

The next day we flew to Dumaguete and were met by Shay, Donny and the kids as well as Jim and Shonda (they founded and run PTA for the last 25 years) Noel and JenJen (wonderful husband and wife team that keep PTA running smoothly). Great small airport.

Jim and Shonda

Jetlag!!!

Had an unbelievable dinner at a fun restaurant overlooking the water- fresh fish, mango shakes, tons of fresh veggies and rice dishes, pizzas for the kids- all for about $6 each! Sorry I am so wordy- I'll try to keep it shorter next time! (yeah, right!)