Cebu February 2014

Mabolo Chapel

This is a lovely plant that grows in front of the Mabolo chapel. All the greenery is lovely.

Very few people at church have vehicles. A few have a motorcycle but the Pastidios have a little truck. He and his son are building a condo so they need a vehicle and they are always happy to take passengers if they can  squeeze in.

 

We were shopping for groceries and saw a sign that said: "Lion dance at 3:00PM". Well the dragon pulled up about 3:45. they all jumped out but then got back in the truck and left--you can't have a lion dance without the lion and the lion wasn't there. We visited with some nice people and about 4:45 everyone pulls up again and the dance begins. 

 

This fellow with the mast represents the Sun God--always happy.

They paraded all the way through the Fooda grocery store.

 

Our next adventure was up the mountain to the Marco Polo Hotel. It is a very posh 5 Star hotel--very expensive. But, we were told that there was an interesting trail from JY Square. We asked directions along the way but everyone just directed us up the road--like below. It was an interesting walk.

When we got to the guard at the gate we asked about the trail and he said that it was closed--too much construction. People in the hotel told us the same thing but we wanted to take a picture of the Cebu from up the mountain so we just "kind of" walked over toward the construction. There were a lot of people and motorcycles coming and going so we took our picture and kind of kept going. The workers were very friendly and kept assuring us that it was fine--even when it said "no trespassing".

 

Always everywhere there are flowers even in the construction area.

We found the trail, heard quite a bit of gun fire but decided that we were going in the right direction because it was downhill. When we got into the open area we were at the shooting range and this was the army base. They even had two soccer fields. I haven't seen so much green space since I got here.

This guard at the gate really isn't going draw his gun. I asked if I could take his picture and he was quite agreeable. We probably walked about 11 km. that day.

The next Saturday the Wieland's wanted us to pick up tickets to go and watch "the dancing inmates of Cebu". So, we walked down to the Capital Building and found out that you just had to sign up and get a number.

This is Josephine Capangpangan. She is about to retire but has worked at the Capital for 17 years as a guard. She got some chairs and we waited around for a couple of hours. There were interesting people there--a couple from Ireland, two girls from Finland, criminology interns from three colleges and quite a few Japanese students. They said that they come to the Philippines to study English because it is cheaper.

 

 

These interns were from Mindinao--the south island. There were two other college groups there as well.

 

Everyone just waiting around 

 

Then the little buses started to show up and we would crowd in or wait for another.

They seem to do quite a bit of rehabilitation. This is the canteen which has snacks , and crafts that they make. There is also a program to teach them to read and write because many aren't educated.

There are over 1000 in the group that performed --a few women but mostly men. We were told that it is all very voluntary and they seemed to enjoy performing.  You could go down and talk to them--we didn't. On the internet later I checked and it said that crowding in the prisons is a problem and also food quality--they may need vitamins.

This was our guide, Raymond, at the Jumalon Butterfly sanctuary. He is partly retired but they want him to teach an English class. He has travelled to the United States. The museum is down a small back road and there are no signs. The butterflies are not enclosed but are free to come and go. The trees and garden are what attracts them. The family  started the museum in 1974 and they live on the premises. Butterflies have been collected from all over the world. Canada's butterfly is the Monarch and can live a year or more but some butterflies only live for 3 days.

 They have a nursery and hatchery. The cocoons below are bright gold and probably this protects them from predators --at night it looks like the eyes of an animal.

 

Julian Jumalon, that started the museum was quite a brilliant man. He was a teacher, artist, musician and butterfly collector.

This is a special piece of his art work - "the first street in Cebu".

Now, this is what missionaries are really here to do and we love the people and the work.

This is Joshua and the only church member in his family. He is a return missionary and has trained as an electrician. He is from  Leyte and speaks 5 languages. His family have a furniture business. However, typhoon Yolanda destroyed their house and damaged the business. His father and brother were rebuilding but he was in Cebu to earn some money. The detergent and fabric softener on the table are products that he and his partner are marketing as part of an ACE project. The Academy for Creative Enterprise is established to help church members with small business.

Richard is the  young man in blue below. He came in with the Stake Relief Society  president that is behind him. Richard is an orphan. His parents died of tuberculosis several years ago. He is 18 years old and has cares for his two younger brothers. He has finished high school or the equivalent by doing night classes but his younger siblings are behind in their school work. Richard has sorted in garbage dumps to find wire, wood, or other things that he could trade for money or food. He has also recently had a job carrying and loading 40 kg bags. The quota was 480 bags a day--he isn't afraid of hard work but it would be great if he could get some training and skills.

Two of the girls and the boy in short sleeves kneeling in the bottom picture are from Tacloban. Their homes and places of work were destroyed so they cam to Cebu. The girl to my right wants to be a security guard, her cousin beside her had a good call center job before. Now they  were in Friday and they found a website that will take welders in Canada from the typhoon area so they think they may take a course. The fellow with long sleeves down in front, Abner. is engaged to Princess the tall girl in the back row and all they could think about was getting married.

 This was an unusual class--they are all members. Sig on the left works in a call center. Sharp young fellow--just got married and works at the temple. The sister beside me has two children. Her husband is a welder and she is trying to improve her English, take a computer class and find a job. The problem with this group is that several are over 35 and it is a challenge to find a job that will hire you. Rolando is one in red shirt.  We prayed hard and worked with him. Friday he texted that he had a driving job.

 This is one of our missionary Career Workshop classes. They take the workshop the day before they leave the mission field. The mission presidents feel that this is very important and we love to do it. They have learned so much. The girl in the center, Usha, is from India. Before her mission she was taking microbiology classes but now wants to change to business administration.

 

This is a group of members that took the American Accent trainers lessons. They are supposed to teach the English classes in their wards. Two of the missionaries were there as they do lessons too.

The new Self-Reliance and Perpetual Education initiative has required a lot of work and training. The Stakes will now be teaching the Planning for Success Workshop. This is a series of four lessons a week apart. Travel and time is a problem if they have to go to the Institute or Employment Center so this should be helpful. These lessons are very helpful and now loans are only given for courses on the "preferred list" and at "preferred schools". The church wants to ensure that they will have jobs when they graduate.

This young lady is a "success story". Jada just graduated from architecture and passed her board exams. She has been a member of the church since 2011. There are nine children in her family and she is the youngest girl. Jada applied for a PEF (Perpetual Education Fund loan) so that she could complete her 4 year course. During school she worked as an intern for one of her professors, and had a full-time job before she graduated. Now she wants to start her own business. But, she says that her real goal now is to get married or go on a mission.

Waiting for Amie and Clayton

New Years Eve January 2014 was quite amazing.

There were fireworks, firecrackers and guns going off all at once in every direction. This actually continued all day. The bishop had warned us to stay home and keep our families safe. People are killed and there were over 1000 reported injures.  The guard on our parking lot said that they had a fire just below our window and were throwing firecrackers in it.

Very pretty to watch.

 

Amie and Clayton arrive--January 15, 2014
I went down to the Radisson Blu Hotel to meet them at 7:30 AM and we came back to the apartment.

Then to the office as they had wonderful Canada souvenirs for the staff. The OJTs  (on the job training students) had had been asking for chocolate on a regular basis.

The temple was closed for the regular January break and they were also making repairs after the earthquake damage. . Moroni is still facing the wrong direction. 

 

The jeepneys are a wonderful part of the Philippine public transportation.

Shopping at Ayala is not much different than shopping at the mall at home but we enjoyed looking around and then went to Café Georg for supper. When we got back Clayton realized that his cell phone was missing. He tried phoning hoping that maybe someone would pick up but no luck. There are a lot of good people in Cebu. Finally after they got back to the hotel he tried one more time and a lady answered. She found the phone in the taxi on her way to work at the Crimson resort on Mactan Island.
This was the start of our Olango adventure. It wasn't raining hard just the occasional shower to keep it a little cool and comfortable. Sister Keller and I met  Amie and Clayton at the Radisson Blu and the tour driver picked us up there and took us to the pier. This is Jun our tour guide.

 

This is how they got us out to the pump boat or ferry.  

First stop was the Wildlife sanctuary--5.3 km. 

This is the entrance to the Wildlife Sanctuary.

Then you walk out to this path to the viewing deck.

Mangrove trees

View through the telescope of a curlew. We did see quite a few birds.

Then back to the Talima Resort for a lovely lunch. Owned by a German fellow. The water was too rough for us to snorkel  or swim so we continued our tour around the island. I can never resist the beautiful Filipino children. They love to have you take their picture and then then look at it. The were playing in the sand with just some sticks f or boats and planes. It was about 25. km. around the island.

School girls on a  long pier--this was a holiday.

We got back to the pier about 3:00 PM. After a couple of hours we got the message that they weren't selling any more tickets and that probably the ferry would not be coming until morning.

So, we loaded the bikes on the trike and made our way back to the Talima resort, in the dark as they still had rooms. We were assured that there would be a boat early the next morning so an older fellow--probably the only one to be willing, picked us up at 6:00 AM in the dark. Because there were 5 of us and the driver for one trike and the terrain was very rough Amie and Clayton decided to run a good part of the way.

Well, we got back to the pier and no sign of a boat. There were many of the same people there that were waiting yesterday. We wondered what they did for the night.

 

There were several problems--Sinulog was on and the boats were involved in that, the tide was low  and the wind and waves were dangerous. Finally when the pump boats did start to arrive from the celebration at Mactan Ialand none of them would consider heading out into the rough water again. But, one captain said that he would take 8 of us for 6000 pesos. Two Englishmen and their Filipino wives needed to catch flights as well. The waves and the swells as we got into open water were quite huge but these men were obviously experienced mariners. Later one of the missionary couples that had been to Leyte told me that they had to sleep on the church floor because none of the ferries were running--tropical depression Agaton causes the  low pressure weather.

 

Approaching the dock at Mactan Island.

We made it even if we look a little worn. A shower and good supper help.

View of  Cebu from the hotel window.

 

 

 

Sinulog was an experience.  

A pagan celebration ushering in the catholic religion. Statues of Santos Nino are everywhere and huge dance competitions.

 

 

Rain's Fruit Stand. It is not very big and in among all the other stands so we almost missed it. There are many fruit , vegetable and second-hand clothing (ukay-ukay) along the street. 

 
Rain is showing us how to prepare a durian fruit. Some people say that it smells like dirty socks. I didn't think that it was that bad but you could still smell it the next  day in the office. It was kind of like eating pudding.

 

This is one of our guards--they change very frequently. He is friendly and is often seen reading out of an old bible or lifting weights. His weights are rusty cans full of cement on each end of a rod.

This is the fruit and vegetable stand just down our street. We were in the habit of shopping there most Saturday mornings until.... one day we went and they disappeared. The guard across the street said that they were reclaiming the property --a lot of new construction going on in Cebu.

It went down to 23 degrees Celsius in some areas so even the animals were dying of hypothermia.

 

This is the stairs to someone's front door. 

Jack fruit can grow very large. This man was just peddling along with his load

 down the busy street

Always interesting food--puto. This is sweetened rice wrapped in banana leaves, for breakfast. You can put more sugar on it or chocolate. Later it could be Krispy Kreme.

 

The public school classrooms may be plain, not very bright and lacking some equipment but the message on the wall is still great as are the people.