It's not Monterey

It's Monday and that is designated shopping day. We began our day at CC Masantol, the church and home for our mission (seen to the left). Pat took me to San Fernando and Angeles for a first tour and shopping. After days with old world store fronts and open markets, our visit to a mall was a pleasant change. The mall was very modern and nothing like I had experienced in the early ninetys. In fact in 1993, when I last visited PI , I had gone to a mall that was modern in the Manila Makati area. Now they have this one called SM malls of asia. It was only one hour from Masantol and the church. We were driven by our driver Ron, through rice pattys and sugar cane fields on either side of the highway. Ron is a very nice family man about 45 years old. We drove in his Mitsubishi van. On the highway we were passed by speeding buses headed for the Bagio and the mountains. Motorized trikes with bench seats competed for the same space as buses and overstuffed small trucks.

The SM mall was a very large super mall. It had all modern stores, but few with american names. The grocery market was in the mall. Again it was quite large. Nothing like the sari sari mini 10 product family markets in Masantol. Sm had any item you might be seeking but most had asian lables and packaging. Shopping takes research and discovery with so many new products. The meat and fish were openly displayed in their own area of the store. The smells were strong and to all yet unaware, revealed a different culture. Ron was so nice, he even helped me choose some fish. There were probably several dozen varietys to choose from. Our tour and shopping was a full days event. With the Virays due to fly tomorrow Cindy stayed at the house.

After returning to Masantol we had a lite supper and reviewed final directions in preparation for the Viray's departure Tuesday morning. I have been having devos earlier than normal each day. So far my body has adjusted some to time but holds to a a four am wake up. Maybe this is because of the humidity? At night you begin by using an air conditioner to cool your room. After it is cool you use only the fan. The electricity is expensive from what I hear. The fan cools you during the sticky nights and doubles as a mosquito repellant. Along with humidity there are the continually noisy roosters. Not quite as bad as I remember while staying in Bacolid years ago.

Tuesday we departed at 6 am for the three hour(heavy traffic) ride to Manila airport. Wow (I thought to myself)
I am really going to be here alone. The airport was very crowded. You can not go inside at all if you don't have a ticket. So we said good bye at the curb in the midst of others fighting for standing room. The Virays were scheduled to fly on EVA (the airline the team took last Year) with a layover in Taipei Taiwan. They should now be in Monterey (over 20 hours time).

On our return from Manila airport we (Ron the driver & Jhek Jhek) stopped at Chow King for lunch. Lunch here comes around 11 to 11:30 am. Chow King has fast food type asian food. For the road I visited a Starbucks (amazing!) next to the Chow King. We returned to Masantol about twelve or one.

Tuesday night brought the first church meeting I would lead solo with the Virays gone. It was a prayer meeting. There were about seven adults and as many children. After worship and a devo we had prayer. For the devo I shared a little about
God's love for us and how he listens to our prayers. The scriptures I used were Jeremiah 29:11-13 and Ephesians 3:20. After we divided in groups of men and women we had 20 minutes of prayer time. My group of men had Jhek Jhek (my mid twenty something helper) and five young men. The youngest was probably seven (a cute little fellow named John John). I praise God for a great time of fellowship.

Today Wednesday, I woke up a little later, about 5:30am. I spent my early hours with devos and preparing for the day. I did some laundry. But since it is raining, I probably will not be able to dry it today. We dry laundry on a line to the side of the house. As I began to search the internet for immigration info I had a horible recollection. I recalled my error. I had forgotten to check my zip pocket on my shorts before tossing them in the machine. Oh no! In there was my passport. I ran to the washer and turned it off. These machines are about two thirds the width of USA washers. As I removed my passport I tried to remain calm. What an unfortunate mistake, it was soaked and seemed ruined. I am trying to dry it now with a fan, page by page. The lesson, always check your pockets before doing laundry!