December 17 Hooray our computer is fixed. It just needed to be restarted??? Brother Pua did it in five minutes. I feel so dumb when it comes to computers. I started this letter almost a week ago but did not finish it so am sending it now.
December 12, 2010 Grandma Carr is 96 today! She is amazing.
I lost another of my nine lives in our wild taxi drive coming home from Church today. (No wonder a rosary is hanging from the rear view mirror in most taxis—they need all the blessings they can get.) The only way I could remain half way calm was to look out the side window instead of the front, and I was reminded what a colorful country we are living in, some good some bad. Almost all the businesses have paintings done by high school students on the cement walls surrounding their places but the graffiti artists have added their bold embellishments, or the politicians have plastered their campaign pictures, fifty at a time on top of the previous candidates’ pictures. The streets are crowded with people dressed in everything from very shredded jeans (popular in the US, only here the shredded knees are done naturally) to high heels and short skirts. Many men hold roosters, grooming them for cock fights later in the day. The little Sari sari stores sell numerous items from peanuts to pork rinds—mostly just snack foods, cigarettes and loads for everyone’s cell phones. Along the street. vendors are selling clothing, flipflops, cheap Chinese toys, intricate bamboo Christmas star decorations covered with bright colored plastic, all kinds and shapes of exotic fruits neatly stacked so high I don’t know how they keep from falling over, umbrellas, and all kinds of Filipino delicacies cooked over small charcoal grills. The nicer businesses and homes which are barred and gated are right next to dirty, run-down hovels. I have been so impressed with the theme of the most of the Christmas decorations here. There are so many large Nativity sets in front of buildings or businesses. The most popular items are three dimensional stars made from short bamboo sticks and then covered with bright colored plastic. There are very few Santas; everything seems to be centered around Christ’s birth. We went to Talisay which is one of the wards farther out from the central part of Cebu today. Tricycle cabs and motorcycles compete with the taxis and jeepnies for road space there. I don’t know how many alleys we drove down; there are a few main roads and even one lovely super highway but most of the city roads are alleys that twist and turn and intersect. I get so lost, there is no way I could find my way around. And through all the maze and haze from exhaust fumes, the people are still smiling!
We had assisted the youth from the Talisay 2 Ward with baptisms for the dead yesterday so thought it would be fun to visit that ward today, but when we got there we discovered their ward had started at 8:30 so we went to the Talisay 1 Ward Sacrament Meeting and then stayed for the Talisay 2 Sacrament Meeting. Again we were treated like dignitaries or royalty and invited to come sit on the stand. Larry was also asked to give a 2 minute encouragement talk to come to the temple, and if possible become an ordinance workers or a volunteers. There were four newly baptized adults who were confirmed in the meeting: two middle aged grandparents who will be a great asset to the ward, and two tall, thin, young adult women. The Church is still growing so fast here.
When we got home at 12:30 Larry called Gina on her cell phone which the Pecks had given her to find out if they were going to Church and she said yes. He asked if she would like him to meet her and take them on the jeepney. She was excited at the prospect and Larry said he would meet them at the bottom of the mountain at the Catholic Church. AS hot and tired as I was, I felt I should go with him. So we called another taxi and took off for Guadalupe. The taxi driver drove slowly around the church block but we saw no signs of Gina and Pablo. Larry had the taxi drop us off at the Catholic Church and we started up the clay road; Larry was determined not to leave without finding out where Gina and Pablo were. WE stuck out like sore thumbs. This is an area where you see no white people and certainly no people dressed in Sunday best carrying scriptures. A group of men were standing by motorcycles and asked if we wanted a ride; we told them kindly that we were going up the mountain. Larry guided me off the road into a grassy area and told me to wait while he ran ahead. An old man watched him go and seemed concerned. A few minutes later he crossed the road and came to where I was standing and shook my hand. I had a difficult time understanding him, but thought he was asking if I needed help or a ride. I told him my husband had just gone up the mountain to find some people we knew and would be back soon. He beamed and said, “Merry Christmas, Mam” then turned and left, apparently satisfied that I was not stranded there. I was shocked to see Larry coming back down so soon. He ran nearly the whole way. When he got to their house Gina was gone, she had had someone call her to do housework and since they were out of rice she needed to go so they would have money to buy food, therefore they were not going to Church. WE walked back down the hill, hailed a taxi and went home instead of attending a third sacrament meeting. The next day, Larry took them a bag of rice and other food while I took money to Sister Cultura to give her money to buy ice cream for their Christmas party on Friday. Gina was very apologetic that she couldn’t go to Church. We are taking her shopping for Christmas things for the children next Monday.
I had arranged to visit Sister Cultura’s third grade class Wednesday after we got through at the temple. She teaches at the Guadalupe Elementary School. There are 123 teachers and each has 50 to 65 students. They have split sessions with the first group starting at 6 am and letting out at 12. Sister Cultura’s group starts at 12 and goes until 6 or a little after. They have a 15 minute break with a snack. When we left it was raining hard and the traffic was so bad with the rain and everyone getting off work that it took our taxi almost an hour to get to the school. Larry wanted to climb the mountain to visit Pablo and Gina to see if they were planning to go to Church Sunday so I got out of the taxi and he went on. It was dark and still raining so I asked the guard at the gate where Mrs. Cultura’s grade 3 classroom was. He politely informed me that I was at the high school, that the elementary school was farther down the street. I gingerly stepped over rocks and broken limbs from the trees and who knows what else—there was no sidewalk and no street lights to help me see my way. Luckily I did have my umbrella so I was partially dry. The guard at the elementary gate told me that Mrs. Cultura’s classroom was “at the back” so I started walking “back”, asking any adult I could see. By this time, many of the children were leaving so I asked them. Some said they were in Mrs. Cultura’s class and they were so excited to help me. I was walking in mud up past the soles of my shoes and my toes were squishing the mud around. One parent who had come for her child told him to guide me to the classroom which I thought was very kind. By this time my hair was straight and hanging in my eyes. I saw a lighted classroom ahead and assumed it must be our destination but the children said, “No, we have to go to the second level. Up we went through an unlighted stairwell. I held onto the pipe railing all the way. The cement steps had big chunks out of them. I must have had ten children clustered around me, making sure I made it to the right place, and there were parents walking behind us. Sister Cultura was so surprised to see me. She thought I wasn’t coming because of the rain and it was 30 minutes after I was to be there. Twenty three of her 53 students were in the room still and were jumping up and down when I walked in. “Sister Ward is here! Sister Ward is here!” they yelled. She had them sit on their rows of benches behind the rows of tables that were their desks. They sang a Christmas song for me, one I had never heard and then ushered me around their classroom. There were colored paper charts and a few hand drawn pictures on the walls. There was one shelf of books about 24 inches long. The children had made a diorama of biomes; there was a physical cleanliness chart that was checked off for clean hands, clean faces, clean feet (they took their shoes off at the door so mud wasn’t tracked into the classroom). A lined black chalkboard was on the front wall and had information the children were to copy. There was a ruffle valance at the window with white netting hanging down. Sister Cultura proudly told me that the Department of Health had brought the mosquitoe netting just the day before with the hope it would prevent the children being bitten. Dengue fever which is spread by mosquitoes has been at epidemic proportions this last while. There was a large picture of Mary on the wall. The children say a prayer everyday in unison together and cross themselves; this is very much a Catholic society. The children did not want to leave but I finally convinced them it was time to go home; many of their parents were waiting just outside the door. They all wanted to shake my hand. Sister Cultura used her cell phone to light the stairwell for me to go down and was able to direct me to some cement squares so I didn’t have to walk back in the mud all the way. Larry was supposed to be waiting for me but he wasn’t there. Sister Cultura’s husband and little boy were waiting on a motorcycle to take her to a ward activity, but she insisted on staying with me until Larry came just minutes later from the direction of the high school. ( He had walked up to Gina’s but they were in Lahug visiting Gina’s mom and he had come back to where the taxi had dropped me off.) Children are children the world over. These Filipino children were anxious to learn all they could about me, and begged me to come back (which I will for their Christmas party on the 17th).
We packaged Christmas gifts for our three adopted missionaries who are the only members in their families. I bought socks and new ties for the elders and even had one for Daddy. There was a wrinkle where it had been folded so Daddy got the iron out and pressed it. Yikes! It melted with just a warm iron! I guess that’s what you get for 59 pisos.
Friday night we went to the San Nicholas Ward Christmas party with the Ganirs. Again we were caught in traffic so it took an hour to get to the church. And again we were treated like royalty. The Stake President, President Montera had set up a special table for us in his office when it came time to eat with all the special Filipino delicacies! I hope I have learned a little in graciousness from these people.
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