The Lost Plates of Jack and Leiana

 Monday was a holiday so our ward had a picnic at the beach. Most of the ward spent the day there enjoying the sun, sand and ocean. Jack and I only got to spend a couple of hours. The ward met around 7 am and left the church house around 8:15. The ward had rented two jeepnees to transport members to the beach. Jack and I got pictures with them. However, since we had to leave early, we took the mission truck. We helped transport the rice down as well. Jack had made sukiyaki. The ward had chicken, pork belly, hot dogs and all kinds of other food there. We ate quickly before leaving to help some sisters go to the doctor for a check-up.

 Driving down to Sogod, the southern part of Leyte, we crossed over the Agas Agas bridge. It is the bridge over the deepest canyon in the Philippines. Being with elders, they had to test how far down it was. They threw a rock over the bridge and it was 5 seconds before it hit the tree tops. The vegetation picture is looking straight down. There is a waterfall that has to be pretty large for it to be seen from so high above yet it only looks like a rapid. It was a beautiful area. One of the elders tried hollaring to see if there was an echo and there was a faint one. Pretty awesome. We had to laugh at this sign posted on the observation deck of the bridge. I don't think this sign means what you think it means. The mountains in the distance were also amazing.

 Ironically, I am writing this post while Jack is sleeping. Take that as you may. We have had some amazing thunderstorms and pouring rain. We haven't gotten caught outside in one yet, but we have heard it pound on the roof of our apartment, the church and the truck. The last one obscured the road in front of us, but we didn't dare stop, just slow down. I tried to capture the storm as it quieted.

 While we were in Catbalogan checking sisters' apartments, we came across a cocao tree growing right outside their front door. I had never seen one before. It had tons of pods on it. I learned that the red ones are still developing. The yellow ones are ripe. The landlady gave me some chocolate she had already processed, a whole bagful of little discs. She said to add sugar and make hot chocolate out of it. So I did. Since we didn't have sugar, I sweetened it with honey. It turned out really well. It was more like Mexican chocolate as we made it with water instead of milk. Still a nice treat on a rainy day.

 Jack and I have been traveling around the island of Samar for most of the last week. We were doing apartment inspections and helping at zone conference. It has been lots of driving for long periods of time over often very bumpy roads. [Western Samar is much worse than Eastern Samar.] Some interesting highlights.  We got to go through a police check. The police were stopping every vehicle and checking for license, vehicle registration and safety, such as wearing seatbelts in cars and helmets on motorcycles. We had all that in order and went through the checkpoint quickly. On either side of the checkpoint, about a 100 meters or so away, were large groups of people gathered. Most were on motorcycles, but a few had cars. They were just waiting for the police to finish the check and leave so they could continue on their way. They were missing at least one of the required items. Most of the roadways follow the coastline. There is lots of vegetation and houses that block the view, b...

  On long car rides, you have to stop occassionally and enjoy the sunset. We were headed back to the mission home after being on the island of Samar delivering supplies and inspecting apartments. We pulled off on the side of the road and walked down to this beautiful sandy beach. I was surprised at how warm the water was. (of course, I put my feet in the water.) You can see the sun setting over the island of Leyte, where we were headed back to.

 I didn't know that much about tropical medicine before I came. Boy am I learning a lot. For example, rabies is a slow acting viral infection. If you have possibly been exposed to rabies from an animal bite, the hospital will give you both the immunizations and rabies immunoglobulin. This has to happen before you start to show signs of an infection. Otherwise it is fatal. Animal bites are so common in the Philippines that they actually have Animal Bite Clinics all around that specialize in just giving rabies shots. From what I hear, you get between 3-5 shots the first time and a couple of follow up.  Dengue Fever is another viral infection but transmitted by mosquitos. With this, you tend to spike a high fever, be achy with a severe headache, often behind the eyes, and can throw up. Some people get a rash. I lost a lot of sleep one night working with missionaries who might have had dengue fever. We wanted to keep them out of the hospital if possible without damaging their heal...

Have I talked about the roads yet? They are basically two-lane "highways". There is often a lane on the outside of these lanes. However, that lane could end suddenly, turn to grass, have a pole in the middle of it, have a dog sleeping on it, have rice [or coconut husks] drying on it, have cars parked on it, small kids playing, etc. Jack noted on the drive back from San Isidro last week, two water buffalo were napping on the road in the dark—that was a surprise!​ It is always a gamble if you use that lane. [The napping water buffalo were in a section where that extra lane was gone--they were just comfartably napping on the national highway in the dark as a surprise when we rounded one of the frequent curves.] The road itself is crowded with trucks, cars, motorcycles, trikes (motorcycles with an elaborate side car) and pedi-cabs (bicycles with an elaborate side car attached). We have seen all kinds of things in the side cars—people, pigs, a water buffalo (with a blindfold on), ...

 Here's an example of one of the churches. They all look very similar. It is very lush here, but a different lush than Seattle. I'm not sure how to explain it other than different plants. Almost all the churches are one story with lots of windows and fans, reminding me of churches in Hawaii. Here they are white with the brick fascade under the steeple. Very pretty and very distinctive.

 Everything in the Philippines is small. It has been a long time since I have felt tall. Not only are the people shorter, but so are the bananas. Those are mikans, aka satsumas or mandarin oranges, next to the bananas. Jack's thumb is in the upper right corner so you get perspective. Though small, they are very sweet and flavorful. Luckily for us, the price for almost everything here is pretty small as well.

  We spent Saturday night and Sunday in Baybay (pronounced bye-bye). We accompanied the Johnsons to the branch there after dropping off supplies and doing apartment inspections on the way there. We went down around the southern point of Leyte. I have to say that the view from Sogod (pronounced So good) was spectacular.  Sunday after church, Sister Johnson and I went out with the 4 sister missionaries to visit some members and investigators and just some interested friends. We were out in more rural areas, going into barangays, areas with a narrow road and houses that go back into the fields from the main road. I had to snap a few pictures of the picturesque areas. Whle I understoof very little of what was said, I enjoyed meeting the people. They live in such humble circumstances and are yet so generous.