View of Cebu & Sunday Ministry

Last week we visited "Tops" which is a lookout where you can view Cebu City. It's beautiful from up there.

For dinner we went to an Italian restaurant with an open porch overlooking the city. It was beautiful watching it turn dark and all the lights coming on.

On Sunday Bevan preached at Banawa EFC (which is on the campus of ETCP) and he and the girls did 2 special numbers. This service started at 6:00 am. - only when there are 5 Sundays in a month. You can just imagine how hard that one was with Bevan being the non-morning person that he is! He did great though, and the bonus was that we were home by 9:00 am and had the whole day to ourselves.

These are Mango trees - they put a paper "envelope around each mango so that they are protected from bruising, bugs, etc.

The official "McDonalds" of the Philippines - Jolibee

Always vendors at the windows trying to sell you something - newspaper, sticks of gum, cigarettes, bottled water, dust rags

Construction the Filipino way - very scary at times.

I spy with my little eye...

I spy with my little eye......

A smoker...a person selling newspapers by the mall taking a smoke. The sad part-it was a young boy who looked around ten, no older than fifteen. Mom says some of them do it to prevent hunger. It was very sad :(

A taxi driver...taking a public pee on the side of the road. I didn't actually see him, but I saw him do up his fly as he called "taxi ma'am?" I said yes and then he sped around the corner. I figured he was just a guy going to get us a taxi, but then up the road he came driving a taxi!!

Jeepney riders...not just any kind of riders. They didn't sit in the Jeepney or hang off the back...they rode on top! There I saw a Jeepney full of people inside, full of people on the roof and more people hanging off the back. I've never until now seen that before!!

A room of people with addictions...to 24!!! Our family has been watching a TV series from Canada over the past 2-3 weeks. We just finished the series tonight. Now we are impatiently awaiting the 2 new series which will catch us up to the most recent one to leave us even more suspended!!!

Garbage piles...flocked with people and kids scrounging through it, trying to find anything even remotely edible I'm sure. I felt so priveledged and so sad to think that even the thought of that makes me "sick" and the thought of anything but that to them could make them actually sick!

By: Melissa

Melissa's Pictures for YOU!

Here are some pictures that I thought you might enjoy. Just another little piece of our life in Cebu!

Brain Puffs (see Melissa's last entry)

This man is often seen selling his uniquely cut mangoes. They are green mangoes, cut to look kind of like a flower! I want to try one, but we haven’t yet.

Here are the scores from our 10 pin bowling experience. This was the last round, so we didn’t get to finish it completely. I don’t know if you can tell, but my first 2 bowls were strikes. And I beat everyone, too! For the ½ game that is!

Garbage cans all over Ayala mall are like this. 3 cans which each say Biodegradable, Recyclable, or Residual. I’m glad they have a description of the proper garbage to go in each one underneath because I don't have a clue!

the "official" worship team

This group of kids were part of the worship team - so cute, and they sang
their heart out.

This was our visit yesterday to Central EFC, and Bevan preached. This church had no air con, so it was a hot couple of hours.

Pictures from Germi

Here is a picture of the capital building in Cebu.

Here are a couple pictures of one of the major malls in Cebu called Ayala Mall.

Fun Experiences??

This is a Chinese church we went to on Sunday. It was interesting because a few of the songs were in Chinese but luckily the sermon was in English with a Chinese translator. You have to adjust to the pauses though...and to the sermon being twice as long!!

Afterwards we went out for lunch with Robert and Anna Lee. Mr. Lee is in charge of the Canadian consulate here in Cebu. They took us to a really nice Chinese restaurant and the food was delicious!! I have never had such yummy Chinese food!! Mmmm...and they were nice enough not to order chicken feet for us.

KFC Delivery anyone?? If you can't tell... the biker is a KFC delivery boy.

Another interesting experience was going to the movie theatres. Me Melissa and Jeremy went to see Transformers (which was really good by the way...). It was fun and it only cost us $2.00 each (Canadian) for the best seats in the theatre! But I soon found out they weren't the best seats in the theatre. At the beginning of the movie I heard some rustling in the dark corner about 5 seats down from me but I thought it was a person. Unfortunately halfway through the movie I heard some squeaking and realized it was a rat!!! Well that made me feel so nice and comfy...NOT! I didn't tell Melissa or Jeremy though and I just sat through the movie with my feet high on the seat in front of me. At the end of the movie when the lights came up I saw that my cup was 3 seats down from me...and I hadn't moved it. But thankfully I didn't see the rat. Screaming and running away would've been a little bit embarrasing. The guy behind went and looked and said yes there was a rat. Well I'm not sitting there ever again! And maybe we'll try a different movie theatre next time.

Posted by Emily

Melissa here!!!

Hey everyone....sorry I haven't said anything yet. Its all on my facebook. But I'll add it on here now:

July 8th: Hey People!! How's it going? Well I am in the Philippians right now. It wasn't as hot as I imagined but it grows on you...litterally, the sweat grows on you!! Well, I just arrived yesterday morning (that would be my Sat your Fri night). Our first flight was 12 hours and the 2nd was 2 hrs 20 mins. It was a very long trip! But I think I'm over getlag....I made it through that first day and slept the night! Well, once we got off the plane, Jeremy and dad picked us up- Bob and Jean (missionaries) drove. It was strange b/c they had to wait at the other side of the road behind a gate and once they saw us come out they had to go to the security guard to let them over to us....kinda diff. But they said without that the whole country would be in the airport! On the drive to our place I drove in the car with bob emily and Jeremy. Basically what happened was I looked around at everything while Jeremy talked about everything and anything! But that worked out quite nicely!

My first impressions of the Phillipians were:

There is a lot of poverty everywhere. In our society it is almost contained to certain areas whereas here, it is everywhere. It seems as though there is barely a turn where you don't see poverty. It is really quite sad...they live in these makeshift shaks of anything they can find. Jeremy told me that once he saw a place without even a roof. It was a floor and a counter and it was flooded so all there was was the top of the counter...b/c of the rainy season this happens a lot. (the rainy season is like their winter)Another thing that really struck me was all the beggers and ppl on the street. At intersections they come up to your windows and beg or sell you diff things. This one begger girl was very percistant. She had seen money in the car and then wouldn't leave. she would make these faces that actually made me laugh (b.c she was so percistant and the way she wnet about it was kinda funny!). And then she even brought over this littler girl who was even cuter!! It was kinda amusing but quite sad...bob said its funny to see b/c as one person gives at the front of the line, then as the beggar goes down the line more ppl give! But it's actually illegal to give to beggars. You are supposed to give them food and stuff instead so that they can't buy drugs etc. That's what hit me the most-the poverty. Now another part that hit me like a rock was standing out. I was told that I would stand out b/c I'm white but it isn't the same feeling I had then when I actually experienced it! They laugh at you and whistle b/c your white....so its very strange to ( as a white female) walk down the street! And they talk to you with their eyes so I can't look into the men's eyes at all....it is VERY diff. It will take some getting used to! So pleaze pray for me in this adventure. And that God will help me ajust and minister to the ppl....thanks! I miss you guys! Melissa :)

July 13th: Hey there everyone! Well I see that the temp is rising over there and you are feeling the heat like me. I see on my dad's comp. that you in wl are suffering with 33 degrees C. HAHA! And it only 30 over here!! lol! But it is more humid here so that makes a diff. But how is your summer so far? So far I have gone swimming numerous times, gone 10 pin bowling....I will show you the videos soon (I forgot my cam cord at home so I have to get whit to bring it or see if one of my fams cords work...) I have also ridden on a VERY squishy jeepney tons of taxis and gone groceryshopping 2wice. They actually have a lot of canadian (american actually! I just like to say canadian!! lol) name brands in the stores....all kinds of stores too. Not just food and clothes. Oh yes, and I've been shopping in the malls ate at McD (gross!) and been to the gym....I'm VERY sore from that. I have a trainer and I was supposed to go again yesterday, but there was a fire in the mall somewhere and the gym isin the mall so it was closed.....so I got a day off just to get sorer(if that's a word!!) today!! Well, have a great summer! Melissa

So that is all that I've said so far...that's pretty much all that's happened! I hope you enjoy my short statements....I wish I could show you pictures, but I forgot my cam cord at home.

Well, one last thing.....last night I made a concoction. I called it brain puffs....now don't jump to conclusions. Everyone in the family liked it! But I won't tell you what was in it. I will soon show you a picture and then you can guess!! Well, have a great summer!

this is Melissa signing out...

Vegetables

Hi from Grace. Cooking will be a big part of my job here, so I thought you might be interested in some of the vegetables we have here. I have no idea what these are, so if you have any ideas I'd be grateful. :) Stella (my house help) does the shopping at the market but I'm not always sure what to ask for.
Acelgas, Alagaw leaves, Alugbati leaves, Ampalaya leaves, Balbalulang (seaweeds), Baguio beans, bamboo shoots, banana heart, bataw pods, cassava leaves & tops, camote leaves, chayote leaves, chayote fruit, gabi leaves, garlic leaves (they LOVE garlic!), himbabao, kangkong, katuray flower/leaves, malunggay leaves/pods, mustard leaves, okra, onion bulb, pako, patola, pepper fruit, pokpoklo (seaweeds), saluyot, sigarilyas pods
squash flowers/leaves, talinum, unsoy, upo, coconut shoot, cowpea pods, kamansi, langka, lima beans, mungbean sprout, pigeon pea pods, rimas, singkamas (one of my favorites), squash fruit, string beans pod

Just so you don't think we'll starve, they do have some you do recognize...beets, cabbage, cauliflower, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, tomato, carrots (and a few others).

When we go to the market I'll send a picture.

Interesting Things....

Us squished in a taxi. Jeremy took the picture from the front. Their cars are very skinny!!!

This is our house. It's in between other houses that are sort of in one long building.

This is a tiki...well that's what Jeremy calls it.

Alright...now for some interesting things that I've seen. Oh this is from Emily by the way.

Well I saw a lady "mowing" her lawn today. This means that she squats over the grass and clips it with bush-trimmer-type things. So no lawn mowers here...they snip the grass by hand. I bet that's why there aren't very many lawns here. =D I also saw a guy welding a metal gate. The interesting part though was that he was only wearing sunglasses to protect his face and he was wearing shorts and flip flops. So the sparks were flying all over him...kinda scary. That would definitely qualify as an unsafe work environment in Canada.

Another funny thing was that we went to McDonalds and I got some nuggets. And I learned that sweet and sour sauce costs 8 pesos. The funny part is that it costs 6 pesos to ride a jeepney for any distance that they travel. So it costs more for sweet and sour sauce than it does to take a ride on a jeepney. Doesn't make sense to me.... I'm kinda excited to go back to McDonalds now to try some of their interesting food. I want to try their spaghetti (my all time favourite food) and their McRice Burger. haha. On the picture it looks like rice cakes instead of the bread. So I'm not sure if it's crunchy or hard but it comes with chicken or beef. Should be interesting! And it's not like it cost very much...a Big Mac costs 115 pesos which equals $2.60 Canadian. And that might be the meal...I forget.

Well we're having fun so far...we went to chapel today and I made friends with a girl from China who is visiting the school for a few months. Tonight Dad is going to Rotary and Stella brought us lots of fruit from the market today. Yay for pineapple and mango!! Well somebody will update y'all later...bye for now!

Emily's Update

Well this is Emily writing this one. Sorry there won't be any pictures because I haven't loaded any off of the camera yet.

Well we finally got here...the plane ride was long but it went faster than I'd thought it would. The worst part was when our flight was delayed leaving Vancouver so instead of leaving at 2:55 am we had to wait til 4:30 am. That wasn't nice. But somehow Melissa and Mom slept on the chairs. It was weird because we left Williams Lake on Thursday morning but didn't actually get to Cebu until Saturday. I couldn't even remember what day it was anymore.

I think I'm allergic to planes because while we were flying my allergies were really bad!!! And I felt absolutely miserable but then once I slept the night here in Cebu they were gone. So no allergies here....it musta been the plane.

Anyways...it is pretty hot here. Luckily this is the coldest part of the year but it feels hotter than our summers in Canada. We went to the swimming pool today and it felt really nice. It was actually a little bit cooler then so it felt nice to just sit beside the pool and sun tan. Otherwise it would've been way too hot!!

The driving is really funny here!! Everybody honks but it's just to let the other people know. And pretty much the lines don't mean anything because cars swerve around other people and into the oncoming lanes all the time to get around people who are in the way. Plus pedestrians have no right of way so they have to get out of the way. It's interesting to cross the street cuz you pretty much weave through the cars hoping one won't hit you. I really wish I could drive it would be so much fun. But I won't even bother asking since I know that nobody would let me.

Well that's my little update for right now. I don't actually feel jet-lagged at all but I am tired so I'm heading to bed. Yay for air conditioned rooms!! I don't know if I could sleep otherwise...well goodnight...or maiiung gabii (who knows if I spelled that right!!)

Tricyle Ride

Jeremy and I went for a ride on this tricycle to a local restaurant that Jeremy had heard about and was dying to go to. Besides the restaurant being a dump, we had quite the experience on that trike. Talk about an unstable feeling weaving in and out of traffic and wobbling around on this vehicle. My only regret is not having someone take a picture of Jeremy and I crammed inside that little side cab so you could see why all the locals laughed at us when they saw us go by. We arrived at the restaurant (15 minute ride) and the driver told us that for P100 ($2.30) he would give us a round trip experience (not his word) and he would wait for us outside the restaurant. We agreed. After eating, we were surprised to step outside into a torrential downpour. We were thankful to have a guy waiting for us so we didn't have to walk and find a ride in the rain . . . . . . even though we later found out that the going rate for a ride like this is P6 ($.14) for each trip.

Father and Son Getaway

Jeremy and I were spoiled as we got away from the hustles and bustles of city life to a nearby beach resort called Plantation Bay.

The resort was beautiful but our timing was off and let's just say that the 'star' ratings for hotels are not all comparable or equitable worldwide. For example, there is not a hotel in Canada or the USA where we paid as much as we did in US dollars that would have the sounds of rats in the ceiling hustling about and gnawing on things - which, by the way we did experience. And our timing was off since the three major pools at the resort (two saltwater, one freshwater) were drained for maintenance. In fairness to the resort, they gave us a complimentary upgrade from the cheapest room at the resort, which we had booked, to one of the nicer rooms (building pictured below).

And more illness issues . . . . . . the tap water or food contaminated me (maybe not at the resort but somewhere I picked up some nasty little bacteria!). The swimming water infected my ear (the opposite ear from the one that took me to to an ear specialist doctor two weeks ago). Seven days later, with the help of antibiotics, I'm just getting over my recent bout of ailments. Wow, when you grow up in Canada, your body sure is used to being pampered - or is that, healthy! I have a new appreciation for all 'food safe' pushers back home in our neck of the woods!

Now, I'm sure that it sounds like I've been complaining, HOWEVER, all in all, Jeremy and I had a very valuable and memorable time. A saltwater, filled lagoon at the resort. Our room is in the building to the left.

The real salt water ocean. Jeremy had his first ocean, snorkeling experience where he saw a small variety of fish. His highlight was seeing two puffer fish swimming together.

First year students

These are my first year students taking Understanding and Communicating Scripture. They are waving to their friends in Canada.

A few health concerns have changed my pace a bit in the past week so I'm a little behind in my posts to the blog (pun intended). Let's just call it Montezuma's Revenge.

In two days, the rest of the family arrive and I'm sure you'll begin to see more activity on this blog once the three women get involved!