Matt and Kristin in the Philippines

In our photo gallery there is a shot of a Manila slum. Homes erected in classic clapboard, no running water or proper sanitation or bathroom facilities. There is a constant stream weaving along the cracked pavement of rank water and soap bubbles. Here in Davao, many of these communities are built on stilts above the putrid sea water which contains all sorts of floating matter, flip-flops, cookie wrappers, bottles. Yes, it looks like Sally Struther's commercials, but without glossing over the rawness.

This is where Mel lives, in a tiny, bamboo/clapboard/'we found these big pieces of wood on the side of the street' home. Two rooms. She's spent the past 17 years of her life here. She's spent the last few years working as a prostituted child.

There is an understanding in the Philippines that we should generally respect our elders. If there is an elder to whom you have a particular relationship, you might indicate your affection and respect by taking their right hand in yours and lifting it to your slightly-bowed head, touching the back of their knuckles to your forehead. I'm not sure what Filipinos call this, though when instructing children they usually say "Bless!" This has led me to think of this maneuver as "the bless thing."

One of the first times I saw this is a good example of how it's supposed to work. We were at a church during our orientation weeks, and i saw the middle-aged pastor lift the hand of an elderly woman to her forehead. It was a gesture of affection and respect, filled with warmth.

Thank you all for your concern, we want to let you know that we and all the members of our group are safe.

We heard that one geologist said the mudslide that wiped an entire barangay off the map was caused by the large amount of rain only and was not caused by the illegal logging and mining that cause so many mudslides in this country.

May justice come to this country wracked by an endless series of environmental, political, governmental, and social crises.

This is old news, but I just thought I'd say that I'm a little grumpy that Bono is not only a better rockstar than I am, but he's also a better preacher.

http://www.data.org/archives/000774.php

But I AM a rockstar, at least. :)

We've put up some pictures finally. It was a lot harder than you'd expect. Click on the image gallery to the right. We've named it "Philippines." Clever, huh?

This particular one is not included in the gallery, but a different shot of the same place is. This is a common sight in the Philippines. While many people live in modern houses, many more live in simpler, cheaper nipa huts. Nipa is the name of the tree from which the primary materials for the hut are taken, especially the thatch for the roof. Bamboo is often aslo involved.

This particular hut is not really a common sight because very few people travel to this area. This is taken during our immersion with Indigenous People in a very remote area up in the mountains. No electricity or running water, but they live near a beautiful river. Most Indigenous People have been forced up into remote mountain areas as the land is continuously confiscated by large companies, mostly foreign, with full support of the government and the military.

Say 'No' to peace,
if what they mean by peace
is the quiet misery of hunger,
the frozen stillness of fear,
the silence of broken spirits,
the unborn hopes of the oppressed.

Tell them that peace
is the shouting of children at play,
the babble of tongues set free,
the thunder of dancing feet,
and a father's voice singing.

Say 'No' to peace,
if what they mean by peace
is a rampart of gleaming missiles,
the arming of distant wars,
money at ease in its castle,
and grateful poor at the gate.

Tell them that peace
is the hauling down of flags,
the forging of guns into ploughs,

I didn't think I'd be able to watch Penn State in the Orange Bowl. What are the chances American college football would be shown in the Philippines. NBA Basketball, sure; that's huge here. And I looked online for the schedule and found out ABC was showing the game, and surely they don't have the international scope that ESPN does. But I checked this morning, and there on ESPN was ABC's coverage of my alma mater football team winning in triple overtime. No one else was home, so I talked to myself. I hadn't realized how important commentary and discussion among fellow game watchers in the room is part of the football-watching experience.

* Turkey\n* Ham\n* Pizza\n* Vegetarian option\n* A big roasted pig. Twice.\n

It has been a busy holiday season for us. Kristin arrived in Mangagoy on Dec 23 and we went to lots of parties and ate lots of food for Christmas. Then we returned to Davao for a day, did laundry, hit an Italian restaurant to give me my first break from Filipino food in a month, and the next day traveled an hour south to Kristin's placement in Santa Cruz, where we will be staying at the parsonage and eating a lot of food for New Year's.

Did I mention that there is a lot of food?

On a normal day last week in Mangagoy, I had rice and fish for breakfast, rice and squid for lunch, and rice and kinilaw for dinner. Kinilaw is raw fish, often tuna, with cucumbers and vinegar. I'm really beginning to like it, especially since it's always served with Coke to help digestion and control aftertaste.

Call it whatever politically correct label you want, but here in the Philippines I am a white American.

Really, it wouldn't matter if I came from another country because white skin is automatically American until proven otherwise, and I have no evidence to contradict this. I am still a gangly, tall, increasingly tanned, but white skinned, Americana in a land of rather short, dark Filipinos. There is no hiding, not even in the dark.

Being white means never eating rice, or so many Filipinos seem to believe. Often, I assure Filipinos we do eat rice in the US and I like it very much here along with the rest of the fish, chicken, and beef prepared for us. I'm not a big fan of the raw tuna-cucumber combination though. But these are the same Filipinos who serve us the very best of what they can, a freshly slaughtered, non-GMO chicken, copious amounts of rice, fish, eggplant, mangoes. Food is very central to this culture regardless of your color; we eat all the time.