The Lost Plates of Jack and Leiana

 We missed the traditional Dinagyang festival as we were in Tacloban for most of it. We did see a few performances scattered here and there, plus lots of preparations. It is a festival to celebrate the national or aboriginal culture. These are some of the traditional dress, men on left and women on right. The skirts remind me a bit of the Tahaitian grass skirts if you added an extra hoop to them. A painting we saw of the men in the traditional gear. A random display on a country road in Aklan. Me trying on a traditional skirt. It is one long loop. You step into the middle, pull the sides tight then tuck them into the middle and roll the waist down. I would hope there is some sort of string that secures it, but not for the demonstration. While out touring houses, we filmed a traditional water dance where the dancers balance a glass of water on their head and two in their hands. They end up rolling around on the ground. It is very impressive. Here's the link to watch it: Traditional ...

 We stopped at the Weavers' Cave again. This time they not only showed us how they weaved and the materials they use, but they taught us how to weave as well. The kids were really cute. They had practiced a welcome in English they used for us. Traditional weaving You place a horizontal strip across the verticle ones with half on top and half below. They you manually move the straw across the horizontal strip, using your thumb to anchor them. Once across the row, you add another horizontal strip. Tedious but effective. The vegetation Of course, I had to buy me a coin purse and new slippers as the last ones I've gotten I have about worn out.

 We spent two nights and parts of days at the Pintuyan Resort in Southern Leyte. It was a nice resort on a rocky beach. The temperature was perfect for sitting out and pondering. We also got to go swimming with whale sharks, which are huge creatures. Us arriving at sunset to the resort Another beautiful day in paradise. Jack's first whale shark. When they dive, they disappear quickly! You can skip the first 16 seconds of this one. It's just getting to the whale shark.

 We stopped in Hinunungan to visit with the Williamsons. She is a dentist from the Philippines. He is a mechanical engineer from the Shetland Islands. They met in Scotland, fell in love, married and have 4 children. Or something like that. They had us for lunch and treated us to young coconut water straight from the coconut that came off their property. We then scraped the coconut out from inside it and ate that. We then had to climb said coconut tree in an reinactment of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom. The tree is actually really short so we were standing on the ground for the photos.

 Jack and I took a quick trip back to Tacloban. When we arrived, the Udalls had a bunch of local missionaries over for dinner. It included Sister Asbell, Elder Salinas, Elder Familiar, and a few others we knew from before. I should have taken a photo or video of Sister Asbell and Elder Salinas coming in and seeing us. It was the surprise I was waiting to see on their face--joy, disbelieve, excitment.  We had a great dinner and Jack tried to be a Filipino. He got most of himself in the picture. I hope they don't keep us here until we can take a proper selfie. Jack, Elder Salinas, Sister Cuerno (new) me, Sister Udall, Sister Asbell, Elder Udall, Elder Overly, Elder Pilobello and Johnneil (a member of the mission presidency and general contractor for the temple) Elder Familiar is in front.

 We got to find a new apartment in Miagao, a city about an hour down the coast. Their church is an old bastillian type building. We toured it while searching for a new place. We were there at Christmastime and enjoyed their nativity. Notice that the sheep are fluffy with cotton balls pasted on them.

 Jack got his first traffic ticket in the Philippines. It is also one of his first tickets ever. We had just bought mattresses and were taking the U-turn spot by the store. However, unbeknownst to us, they had two weeks before decided to not let people U-turn there. There was a new sign errected and 2 policement there to give you a ticket. Since we were in Jaro, we paid it right away. It was only 500 pesos but it hurt. At the municple office, they had a stone seat of a caribou. I thought it was an apt place for a picture as we felt we had been gored by our ignorance. Oh well.