We are off for a weekend excursion to a nearby (2 hour drive) beach. Mahubay!

Michelle and I took our 20 minute walk to Starbucks to meet Leslie our friend who has lived and traveled here for decades. She found copies of a great travel book for us so we learned about some more interesting places to visit. Then we picked up Lori, (a girl from Chicago that works with Barry, Michelle's husband) and went exploring. We visited Grandmas Gallery, a home filled with unbelievable Chinese antiques, then we headed up to Marakina, the shoe capital of the world. Here there are many shoe factories and the Footwear Museum where 500+ of Imelda's shoes are on display along with one pair of Ferdinand's wing tips. There are 2500 more pairs of Imelda's shoes out there somewhere. We were not disappointed and noticed that many of the shoes were quite worn out, I am guessing she still has the ones that are wearable! When she found a style she liked she had them made in every color! Sometimes there were three or four of the exact same pair, style and color. It was quite fascinating. They were from every shoe designer you could think of and some even had her name on the insole where she had them specially made just for her.

There is also a Noritake factory in Marakina so we went to check out the beautiful china. I have never owned really nice china and this may be my chance. Without a discount, I could get 95 pieces (12 place settings plus every single side dish) for about 800 US dollars. In the US you might be able to get 45 pieces for that price on ebay for used china. Every so often they have a warehouse sale and the prices are 60% off of the regular price! I will report back on this after October 15, when I go to the warehouse sale.

On Thursday, September 29th, (my 47th birthday) I enjoyed lots of calls and emails, thanks everyone for remembering me! I went with my "Thursdays for Others" group to visit a habitat for humanity site in downtown Manila, where they have already built 450 "homes" 24 square meters in size. The size of a small den with a loft. 4-8 people live in each one. There are 8 in a row sharing walls. Each had a tiny room designated for a bathroom, no running water, just a stool that dumps right out to the back yard where it sits. They haul water in 5 gallon jugs to wash "it" down. No basin, no shower, no tub, no kitchen. They cook outside. We went to see what we can do to help and our first priority will be to help get the waste system installed so raw sewage doesn't run through the streets and alleys. They have NO infrastructure. The dwellings are built, then they work on sewer, electricity, and water. It is truly pitiful, oh so smelly, and filthy- No trash cans-there is garbage everywhere. My camera battery was dead so I didn't get pictures, but I will go back and take some because you just can't believe how they live and these are the LUCKY ONES, they have a home!!

Afterwards my friend Michelle and I went to lunch at the one and only Mexican restaurant we know of, and had Margaritas to celebrate our good fortune as well as my birthday. That afternoon I got a manicure, then went out to dinner at a really great restaurant in the Shangri La hotel with 10 of my favorite people here. Good food and Good wine!

The days are speeding by! On Wednesday, Sept., 27th, I went on a great tour of the Metropolitan Museum. This museum was built under the supervision of Imelda Marcos and houses an incredible collection of ancient gold jewelry found in various areas around the islands. It is so beautiful and intricate and some of it dates back to 500 AD. There is also a room full of paintings and religious articles from a Russian church, which Mrs. Marcos purchased with government money. It was on display at the museum when they left the country so it is still in the same display area and is part of the legal battle over what to do with "their" belongings now. It seems that most of their belongings were purchased with the people's money so who knows what will happen to all the jewelry, art, and shoes!

After our tour I went to lunch with three delightful ladies, one other American, a Canadian. and a French speaking Belgian. It was so much fun listening to them. I am by far the least experienced traveler and they have such stories to tell! My education is growing by leaps and bounds!

Today in my History class we had a very interesting lecture on the trading routes and how they affected the growth of the Philippines. An interesting thing I learned is that beeswax was traded to the Chinese for porcelain. I knew about Chinese porcelain, but beeswax was new to me. Pearls of course were and still are another major export. The speaker brought beautiful fabrics which are hand woven and not for export or even for sale, but for tribal ceremonial costumes. They are just breathtaking and apparently hard to find and afford unless you are in a tribe and need a costume!

He also brought instruments and demonstrated some music and dance for us. We concluded by all going to a nearby Asian restaurant for a yummy lunch of local dishes. I am getting much better about trying and finding things to eat in Asian restaurants. Today I had shrimp and mango stir fry which was delicious!

I played tennis today! The courts are on of the top of the Glorietta Mall across the street. A new friend, Melissa, lives in the condominiums there and we are going to try to play every Monday. It felt great to get out on the court again, but it was strange to be up so high. The wind factor was interesting- great on one side and brutal on the other! I happened to have won, 6-3, 6-2, but she is only 30ish and I could tell she is going to be getting a lot better. She has only played for four months and is taking lessons twice a week.

Katie tells me that I need to record at least one critical incident per day so here is mine for today: Tennis was great, BUT there was this annoying ball boy who kept running through our court, yelling"fault", "inside", "outside", "love-love", "40-30" whatever the score was every single serve. Well I sort of like chasing my own balls (called exercise!) and keeping my own score (called keeping my thinking and remembering skills sharp!) I have not talked much about domestic issues, but I need to. Bottom line: this is his job, for which he gets paid very little. I kept my mouth shut, and am now getting it out of my system.

We attended our first live performance on Sunday afternoon. Repertory Philippines performed William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." This was in a good sized theater located among movie theaters in a nearby shopping mall. It was done in pure Shakespearean style with all male actors. We were all impressed by the articulation of the all Filipino cast. Their Shakespearean English was perfect and the play was quite hilarious. We all enjoyed ourselves very much!

Hello Friends and Family!

I have decided to try to make an online journal. As many of you know one of my goals this year is to become more computer literate and able to maneuver around the internet. I am a very slow learner and am really hoping this program has spell check as you know I just hate misspellings!

I will start this journal today, but will go back to chronicle the past few days and what I remember about them.

On Tuesday evening, Sept. 20, we went to an American Women's Club activity. Line dancing lessons! Terry, Katie, Michelle and I went with about 20-30 other people to a club called "Handlebars Bar and Grill" It was decorated in "Easy Rider" decor with lots of motorcycle handlebars hanging from the ceiling and motorcycle stuff all around. It didn't seem like a biker bar but more of a country western bar. We had a great time and will go back the next 2 Tuesdays as well because we are getting ready for the HOE DOWN! which is the 15th of October. The Hoe Down is a really big fund raiser for the AWCP and we will have a chili cookoff, dancing, etc.... It is at the nicest hotel in Manila, The Westin, and should be a great time. The proceeds are going to build a school in one of the nearby provinces.

I wrote an article about a tour I took to a cigar factory which I will send via email with pictures as soon as I finish it. That tour was on Wednesday, Sept 21. Terry, Katie, Allison, and I attended a "cigar" event that evening at a little Mexican Restaurant near Allison's school. Yes I said Mexican! We found one and they even had a cigar event there! The U.S. Embassy has a "Cigar Club" and Terry is joining up. It was nice for him to meet some new people and relax. The owner of the restaurant is very friendly and came and sat with us. We are meeting so many interesting people from so many walks of life.

On Thursdays I have been going with a group of women to different charities around the city to see where help is needed. On Thursday, Sept. 22 we toured another orphanage. This is my third orphanage in three weeks. This one was very well taken care of and is sponsored by the Lutheran Church. They have the old rickety iron cribs with slats that are too far apart, but everything was clean and the children were happy. I was able to hold the babies and play with them. One little guy fell asleep in my arms. I really wanted to bring him home with me! This facility had children from 3 months to 5 years and works very hard with church ties in the states to arrange adoptions. Three of the nineteen children there were going to US homes in the next few weeks. One little guy has a cleft palate and has to be fed with a syringe. I am hoping to track down the special kind of nipple that is needed for cleft palate babies. Apparently they are not readily available here.

On Friday, my friend Michelle and I walked to Starbucks about 1/2 mile away to meet with an older American woman who has lived here for 30 years and traveled extensively throughout the islands. She is amazing and so inspirational with her stories about road trips with her women friends. We learned about the best places to visit, the roads to take, hotels to stay in , etc... She was so helpful and we are planning our first weekend excursion to a beach next weekend. We hope to visit a volcanology center on our way where they track seismic activity all over the world. It is just an hour away from here!

On Saturday, it rained all day so we slowly got around and went to lunch and out for some shopping. Katie found some really cute clothes to fit her and that was fun. Terry and I met some new friends for dinner. I had met Miriam weeks ago as we tried to navigate our way through the two day process of getting our children registered at school earlier in August. Her husband works for the Asian Development Bank and is stationed in Afghanistan. He was here on a break so they invited us to go along with a few of their friends. Again, just unbelievable how many diverse, interesting, adventurous people we are meeting. These people have literally traveled, lived,and worked all over the world. This has been the first time that Terry has been going out with people other than those he works with, and it has been great for him to talk to others and hear their struggles in their work.

>
> On Wednesday, September 21, 2005, 26 members of the Museum Volunteers of the
> Philippines enjoyed a very informative day touring LA FLOR DE LA ISABELA,
> ("The Flower of Isabela") manufacturer of fine cigars since 1881. This is
> one of only three manufacturers of hand rolled cigars in the Philippines.
>
> We boarded a bus in Makati City and traveled south on the South Superhighway
> for about 30 minutes to Paranaque. Upon our arrival we were met by a
> friendly group of staff members. Just as we were about to begin our tour,
> the electricity went out and we were left in the dark. That did not keep us
> from "seeing" what we had come to see, so we began our journey through the
> impressive factory.
>
> The tobacco is kept at a constant temperature and fermented for 4-5 years
> before being used in cigars. The fermenting process requires the leaves to
> be rotated by hand in order to eliminate excess nicotine, ammonia and sugar.
>
> The first group of cheerful women, working by candlelight, were evaluating
> and sorting the leaves according to their size, color, texture, weight, and
> thickness. These leaves would eventually become the final layer on the
> cigars which is called the "wrapper." During this process the workers
> removed the center stem from the leaves. The "wrapper" leaves are then
> bundled together in groups of 26 and kept at a constant 18 degrees Celsius.
>
> After about 30 minutes we were excited when the electricity came back on and
> we were able to see the rest of the operations. The largest section of the
> factory is the area where the cigars are rolled. There seemed to be about 60
> people working away rolling cigars. There are many different varieties of
> cigars. Each roller was assigned to make a certain type of cigar and
> required to meet a minimum quota per day. They are paid extra when they
> produce beyond their quota. This incentive program has worked well
> providing positive reinforcement for dedicated employees committed to
> producing a quality product.
>
> Following the rolling area we watched the quality control workers carefully
> examining each cigar individually for perfection of size and shape. The
> cigars are then sorted by color to ensure that like colors are boxed
> together. The finishing steps include banding, wrapping in cellophane, and
> finally boxing and sealing the cigars for shipment.
>
> At the conclusion of our tour we were able to place our personal orders and
> carry our cigars home with us

Hoy Friends! We are well into our 2nd month now and I can't believe how busy we are. I have a new friend who lives across the street and we have been attending some meetings and volunteer activities together. It is so nice to have someone to do things with. Her name is Michelle Marshall, she has three children who are in 3rd,5th, and 6th grades. So she is a little younger, but doesn't seem to mind. I am doing just fine keeping up with her! Her husband went to High School in Kansas 30 miles from where I grew up and he knows my Dad's best friend from his college days. What a small world! We have attended two garden/plant shows. The flowers and native plants are just beautiful here. The first show was an orchid festival- I will post pictures as soon as I can figure out how to do that. The second was a little neighborhood garden club show, which featured individuals who had propagated different plants and they loved to talk about them like they were children. I am constantly amazed at the friendliness and genuine interest Philippino people have in others. On Monday I will begin my formal education here by taking a college level class on the history of the Philippines. It will include tours to places around the city that are historically significant. I am looking forward to learning everything I can. I don't know if I mentioned this because I am not typically a "Name Dropper" but.... Imelda Marcos lives in our building. I have known that since we moved here, but didn't really think much of it. I guess 15 years ago this was brand new and the best place to live. Well, yesterday as I was leaving the building, Michelle comes running in the front door saying "there she is, did you see her?" Sure enough, I looked up and there she was walking out with her body guards and attendants. She looks exactly the same as I remember her in pictures 20 years ago. I couldn't see her shoes.......but we ARE going to visit the shoe museum here which features 500 plus pairs of her shoes. Have I mentioned that there are a lot of people here? I have been trying to wrap my mind around the numbers for over a month now. There are 86 million people who live in the Philippine Islands. There are over 7000 islands, many of which disappear during high tides. These are volcanic islands so much of the land uninhabitable, so there are just massive numbers of people living in the green areas of the physical map. More than 60% of the natives live on less than $2.00 a day which is what they consider the poverty level in SE Asia. This country is 80% plus Catholc and therefore birth control is not practiced. I have been to see some of the really impoverished areas and it is truly heartbreaking. Disease is a huge problem, much like what was left from Hurricane Katrina, but this is just their everyday life. In some areas of metro Manila, entire neighborhoods of thousands of people are suffering from Tuberculosis. We visited St. Lazerus Hospital yesterday to see the center that takes care of the children whose parents are dying in the hospital. They arrange for adoptions once the children are orphaned. The first thing I noticed was a lack of books. They had a few children's books but not enough. They care for children up to 15-16 years of age so I am now on a mission to collect books. I know many of you have great books that you just don't know what to do with..... Well if you are interested in helping bring some of those back after Christmas, I plan to donate most of my luggage pounds to bring them back. Gay and Nancy- Have you been discarding any books lately?