Matt and Kristin in the Philippines

You may have noticed that I have posted links to PCUSA Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase's blog on the left, and this entry is a good example of why I have done so. Some of you know that I blame Rick (to some degree, anyway) and my encounters with him and sermons like this one for my current presence in the Philippines. Of course, it must always be noted that when I called Kristin after hearing Rick speak and said "Let's leave the country!" she said "I was wondering when you were going to catch up." Thanks be to Rick and Kristin and Jesus for helping me come here.
Matt

Are you ready for Christmas? - Friends,

I used to live in the U.S.A. Now I am living in the Philippines.

In my hometown(s) in the U.S. it is cold and often snowing this time of
year. Here it feels like summer in Florida.

I used to eat Honey Nut Cheerios(r) with 2% milk for breakfast. Now I have
rice and fish and some very red hot dogs.

I used to get out of my bed (big Serta mattress), walk across my
carpeted floor to my big desk, turn on my computer and surf the Internet at
high speeds. Now my mattress is thin (though it's a luxury to have a
mattress at all) and the floor is wood, and the only computers to be found

Mangagoy (mahng-AH-goy) is not the official name you will find on the map. This confused me, because everyone refers to it as Mangagoy, and even the buses put that name on the sign in the front window. But the maps call it Bislig, because that's the name of the official city, which is a recent political designation. Mangagoy has been the commerce center for years, though. So people still call the whole place Mangagoy, and I actually do live in the neighborhood that is also officially Mangagoy. Kristin doesn't, though. Kristin still lives in Davao.

See, the program wants to give us both a connection with a local congregation and also have us be involved in areas of our personal interest. For me, my supervisors tried really hard to match several different areas of my profile with appropriate placements, and so I have a human rights NGO in Davao and a fun progressive church in Mangagoy. But the towns are about five hours away from each other, so Kristin and I are also five hours away from each other.

I've had a lot of fun playing with this new site and its features, such as a discussion forum like this one. What do you all think? Is it too confusing? Any questions? Is there some feature that's missing?

Thanks for the feedback, and for all your support!

Top Ten Songs of Davao City

WARNING: It is NOT my fault if any of these get stuck in your head!

10. ANYTHING 80'S

And I do mean anything!

9. Gasolina by Daddy Yankee

Gotta love techno. Especially popular in the McDonald's equivalent, Jollibee, featuring a happy little bee instead of a scary looking Ronald. Makes me want to bust out my dance moves.

8. The Reason by Hoobastank

Who names a band Hoobastank?

7. There's some song that I can't find the title of but the main words are "Is it really love, is it really lo-ove?" I don't know if it's love or not, but it is "really annoying, really annoy-ying."

Kristin & Matt on the beach in Mindoro

I don't think I've actually ridden a motorcycle since I was a baby, and my father had a motorcycle. I don't really remember that experience, of course, but I imagine I wore a little baby-vest made of black leather with the words "Hell's Angels: Presbyterian Chapter" on it.

In any case I got to ride one today. It's a very common form of transporation here, so it's almost strange that I've not ridden one until now. We just piled the four of us on there, and while we were cozy, a Filipino would notice that there was room for at least two or three others. Some people ride "sky-lab" style, putting a plank across the seat and balancing people or cargo on either side so that it's as if the motorcycle had wings.

We are now experts on riding a bus in the Philippines.

We prefer the "AirCon" busses, which of course cost more. For the extra price, you get:

1. Really cold air conditioning, so that you have to wear socks and long sleeves, and perhaps a light blanket. It will remain very hot outside, of course, so you will be too hot in your warm clothes whenever you stop to eat or use the restroom (that's "C.R.", of course, for "Comfort Room". In themselves not very comfortable, but very necessary if you want to be comfortable on the bus).

2. Bigger, more comfortable seats than the regular bus. This makes it easier to sleep, which you really want to do because you've been on this bus for six hours now and it's the middle of the night and you have to stay awake through the forum or whatever it is you're going to on this bus. However, while these coach-style seats are way better than those of the regular pack-'em-in-like-sardines busses, the roads of the Philippines were not designed for sleeping. While being on a large bus means you are likely on paved roads the whole time, there are still very serious mountains and curves, and the bus drivers are so competent that they can take these hairpin turns at over 100 Kilometers per hour, which --in miles-- is about WAY TOO FAST. All of the Filipinos on the bus seem to be asleep in spite of this.

Well, we're living in Chicago now. Our year in the Philippines ended on August 16, 2006. Most of our time in the Philippines was in Davao (pronounced "DAH-vow"), Mindanao ("MIN-dan-now").

Davao is roughly where the purple dot is on this map:

Geographically speaking, the Philippines is off the coast of southeast Asia, some 7,000 islands which make up the nation. If you smushed all the islands together (but please don't...there's a good chance that would have enviromental consequences) you would have a land area roughly equivalent to the state of Arizona. The island of Mindanao, the big island in the south on which we live, has a land area very close to that of the state of Indiana. Go Hoosiers.

Okay, we're trying out this new blog software now. Welcome to the new site! Everything above this post is new, while everything below you've probably read at some point.