www.Betsy and Terry.fun

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.