I'll post about our amazing Bohol weekend when I get home and download all of the pictures. But something big has happened here in the Pacific and I feel the need to write about it.
Friday afternoon Michelle was packing for her trip home and had posted on facebook, as we all do these days, about what she should do in Tokyo during her layover the next morning. We then learned, by comments, that the airports in Japan were closed following a 8.9 earthquake. Many of the airports were dealing with damage, while some were completely submerged following the tsunami (or "salami" as Kaitlyn calls it). Her flight was cancelled until Sunday night, instead of Friday as planned.
A little crazy, Keven Todd and Michelle were trying to decide what day she should fly out, Thursday night, or Friday night. They chose Friday. Had they gone with Thursday, Michelle would have been inside the airport when the earthquake hit. I am so grateful that they listened to the quiet promptings of the Spirit.
But, even more stressful than the cancelled flight, was the next danger facing us. The news reports informed us that the entire Pacific was under a tsunami warning. The earthquake had ticked off the whole ocean and the Philippines were suspected to be hit in the next 2 to 4 hours. Cebu is somewhat land locked for an island. We are shielded from the sea by several other islands. But we honestly didn't know how safe we were from the killer waves. The news stations were rightly focused on Japan. Here in the Philippines there are no public service announcements, so all we had to turn to for information was the international news.
For several hours we stayed glued to the TV, going through every possible scenario. what would we do if we were hit by a tsunami? What if we were unable to leave our house for a few days? How would we know? Would we have any warning? Our poor family back in Utah got a horrible wake up call, and I doubt they got much sleep.
In the end we were completely untouched. Several provinces were evacuated, but there was no major damage. Around 9:00 Friday night we were released from the tsunami warning. And I went to bed with such gratitude and fear for the Japanese people. My family and I were safe and sound. But there were thousands of people suffering on an island just north of us. I am eternally grateful that we were spared from such tragedy, I am so humbled by the knowledge of what could have happened. I hope and pray that all those who are missing or injured, and the families of all involved will be able to find peace, and to rebuild.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Friday, March 4, 2011
DMJ Would Be Proud...Voluntary Lockup
First of all, how sweet is this amazing building?! This is the Cebu Provincial Capital building. Margie took us here to sign up for our place in YouTube awesomeness! Have you seen the "CPDRC World Famous Dancing Inmates"? No? Well I sure have! And if you haven't you need to go onto YouTube and check out this crazy awesome Cebu experience!
The Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center is a prison. A few years ago they began dancing as a way to make exercise more fun, starting with DMJ's (Dead Michael Jackson) Thriller! It's used as a way to increase confidence. And seeing as how the attractive ones are treated like rock stars, I can see why. So on the last Saturday of each month they put on a 2 hour performance. A performance so epic that Brycen tries to get us to play "Dancing Prisoners" every day! We happen to live on this awesome island and so you better believe we were there! After a somewhat death defying drive, complete with a shattered window, up to the prison in a bus we saw this. 
Yes, those are prisoners staring at us from behind the bars. Slightly intimidating? Yup. Especially when they call to you and expect you to wave back. Funny thing, Michelle was informed that this was a minimum security prison, more of a detention center rather than a real prison for hardened criminals. WRONG! Our personal prisoner/crowd control officer/tour guide informed us right before the show started and 1,000 plus prisoners marched to within touching distance of us, that most of the inmates are there for murder. Nice. Voluntary lockup with murders. Only in Cebu.
This sexy woman, is in fact a man. He has far better legs than me, can handle heels far better, and has the moves of a stripper. He is also not alone in his fashion choice as a male. Here in Cebu there are lots of "She Men" or "Lady Men." If you remember the "Thriller" video, there is a pretty woman who enters a nightmare...this is how they do it in prison.
I had no idea so many men could dance in unison! They were so in sync that I just smiled and stared in awe the whole time!
They did a few other DMJ numbers. Including: Ben, Billy Jean, and They Don't Really Care About Us. This shot was taken right after the classic crotch grab. Something you had to be there to believe. That is a lot of inappropriate touching.
The P on the backs stands for prisoner. And this number is "They Don't Really Care About Us" choreographed by Michael Jackson's personal choreographer. After that amazing entertainer passed away the dance team came to Cebu and taught them this amazing number. This was my very favorite number! Especially because the original video took place in a jail too. This dance is featured on the "This Is It" DVD. Yeah, this is a big deal!
They all did this move! Come on, this is awesome! And they all have matching Converse shoes! During this number I realized that prison wouldn't be so bad here. I mean, Aubrey likes jail, but I've never seen the appeal. However, in a 3rd world country prison means food, water, showers, toilets, clothes, electricity, and snacks brought to you by the audience. And occasional money to buy other things, they handed out papers asking for donations after the show.
After the main part of the show we were allowed to dance with them. They taught us a dance that should have been easy, but it turns out I have no skill when it comes to inmate dancing after all. Aubrey will remain the only felon in the family if all goes well, because they'd probably execute me like I did the dance. They did tell us that all inmates who can't dance are set free, "a joke. A joke."
We posed for lots of pictures, no worries, we were safe. And I have to say that this was one of the greatest Cebu experiences to date! Where else could I have seen that many men dance in orange? They also sell purses and crafts made by the inmates, another thing I'd only see here.
The buses that took us to the prison filled up super fast! So the gates were opened and prison workers, not inmates, loaded up prisoner transfer vehicles, PTV's if you will, to take the rest of us back to the city. I'm talking real PTV's! Slam the door, lock you up, don't try anything funny or we'll shoot, trucks! Could we have ended this adventure in any way more appropriate or fantastic!? I submit that we could not!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Chocolate Chips Of The Sea
Oh how I love these once in a lifetime experiences I get to enjoy out here! Even the ones that freak the pee right out of me! Ok, not really, my bladder gets stage fright in the ocean but you know what I mean.
Since the Philippines is a country made up of over 7,000 islands, "Island Hopping" is a favorite weekend pass time. At home, I'd probably go to a movie or freeze my white girl booty off in the snow on a February weekend. But this past weekend, I spent my time on a boat in the ocean, basking in the sun. Feel free to glare at the computer screen now.
A banca boat is a long and skinny boat with large skidders off the sides. We went on one on our Bantayan trip but it was vastly different from the luxury version we spent the day on this time. We got to the beach at about 9:00 in the morning, and we were loaded into a small little boat that I felt sure would tip each time someone entered. A small crew member pushed us to the boat and we climbed aboard. The boat was amazing! It was all white, half of the deck was shaded, and lined with cushioned benches. There were big bean bags and a lounge chair to soak up the rays. I instantly knew it was going to be a good day. 
Our captain and crew were introduced, the lead guy's name was Alvin, and it took all of my self control to not ask if the other members were his chipmunks. These 4 crew members were at our beck and call. They handed us towels as we got out of the water and laid out all of our life vests to dry. They also lugged our coolers, and gear everywhere!
I saw some random orange guys, a barracuda, and a lime green and ube purple fish! I saw big fat round ones and long ugly brown ones. But the most prevalent fish was a small black and white striped fish, we called them zebra fish. They were everywhere! They swim in big schools and have no respect for personal space. So here I was, enjoying the awesome and terrifying ocean, minding my own business when I learned a very important lesson, boats drift in the ocean, even when anchored. I put my face back down expecting to see something pretty and instead I saw nothing. Dark, murky, vast nothingness. When I imagine hell, that's what I see. I freaked, and was out of the boat 5 minutes later. But I told myself that I needed to really see and experience everything. So I grabbed a hold of the ladder and took a long look at the drop off...I now know why Marlin freaked out when Nemo touched the butt!
Since the Philippines is a country made up of over 7,000 islands, "Island Hopping" is a favorite weekend pass time. At home, I'd probably go to a movie or freeze my white girl booty off in the snow on a February weekend. But this past weekend, I spent my time on a boat in the ocean, basking in the sun. Feel free to glare at the computer screen now.
A banca boat is a long and skinny boat with large skidders off the sides. We went on one on our Bantayan trip but it was vastly different from the luxury version we spent the day on this time. We got to the beach at about 9:00 in the morning, and we were loaded into a small little boat that I felt sure would tip each time someone entered. A small crew member pushed us to the boat and we climbed aboard. The boat was amazing! It was all white, half of the deck was shaded, and lined with cushioned benches. There were big bean bags and a lounge chair to soak up the rays. I instantly knew it was going to be a good day.
Our captain and crew were introduced, the lead guy's name was Alvin, and it took all of my self control to not ask if the other members were his chipmunks. These 4 crew members were at our beck and call. They handed us towels as we got out of the water and laid out all of our life vests to dry. They also lugged our coolers, and gear everywhere!Our first stop was a fish sanctuary about a 1/2 hour from Mactan island where we took off. We all lathered on the sunscreen and chilled on the deck as we made the trip. For those of you who know me, you should know that the ocean freaks the heck out of me. There are some creepy things in it, it's big, and it has the unfortunate side effect of causing death in 20 different ways at any second. But I'm only here once, and you better believe I was going to experience everything! Snorkeling, yeah, that's intense.
The fish sanctuary was a big coral reef, and we dropped anchor and donned some highly sexy masks and orange life vests and descended into the depths of the ocean. I sat on the ladder for a few minutes, trying to convince myself this was not how I was going to die, and praying. But I finally got in. I held on to the skidder and took my first look under water. SUCK A DUCK SIDEWAYS BATMAN! I stopped breathing for a minute. My first thought was something like this..."AHHHHH!!!!"...followed by..."That's the freaking ocean!"...and then I was struck at the beauty and the majesty and the grandeur that my mother has always described the ocean with. I soon discovered that no one can hear you with a snorkel mask on, but continued to freak out each time I saw a fish. Our cute little neighbor girls were so kind as to tell me not to look behind me, because that was the drop off. I swam as fast as the current would let me away from the boat and the drop off. I wasn't even slightly tempted to look at that death hole.
I saw some random orange guys, a barracuda, and a lime green and ube purple fish! I saw big fat round ones and long ugly brown ones. But the most prevalent fish was a small black and white striped fish, we called them zebra fish. They were everywhere! They swim in big schools and have no respect for personal space. So here I was, enjoying the awesome and terrifying ocean, minding my own business when I learned a very important lesson, boats drift in the ocean, even when anchored. I put my face back down expecting to see something pretty and instead I saw nothing. Dark, murky, vast nothingness. When I imagine hell, that's what I see. I freaked, and was out of the boat 5 minutes later. But I told myself that I needed to really see and experience everything. So I grabbed a hold of the ladder and took a long look at the drop off...I now know why Marlin freaked out when Nemo touched the butt! Our next stop was a small island, Pandanam island, it's part of the Bohol province. We got off an this gorgeous island surrounded by a huge sand bar and noticed the sand moves here. There were crabs everywhere. Not the big red, Sebastian kind, but small sand colored little dudes that were about the size of a quarter. They were dang fast! There were also hermit crabs all over! There were natives with buckets of crabs, rock lobsters, and sea urchins. You could buy them and they would cook them for you. We stayed with our KFC chicken we'd packed. We had our lunch inside a little leaf covered hut and set out to discover the treasures of the island. We found big pretty seashells, and little "sand pesos" they are similar to sand dollars but a little smaller and more puffy. We found our big ones amid oyster shells, the seagulls eat them and then toss the shells back into the water.
As the tide went out and the sand bar was exposed we went for a little walk. Gaylene found starfish. Live, huge, starfish! They are called "Philippine Starfish" but I prefer the nickname "Chocolate Chip Starfish." These guys are native to the Philippines and have black horns all over, that look like chocolate chips! They were incredible. We took lots of pictures and I enjoyed the tape like feeling when you pull them off!
After we played some more and got scorched, aside from the 4 applications of sunscreen, we loaded back on the boat for the return trip. As we slowly moved out we looked over the side and saw lots more of these awesome starfish. Including a white one with black horns, when moving it looked like a zebra! As we got settled the crew handed out ice cold wet washcloths for us, heavenly! And then we all went home.
I have never understood why my mom loves the ocean, being a mountain and desert girl. But now I understand. There is something so beautiful about standing on the dock surrounded by nothing but water and how small you feel. There is a majesty and a mystery about the ocean that simply blows my mind every time. I love looking for shells. Every time I find one that's different or perfect or has character I feel like my Father in Heaven is saying, "Here Ashlee, I made you a present." I am so grateful and humbled by all I saw and felt. I love the ocean, and I will sorely miss it's presence in my life.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Kung Hei Fat Choi
Happy Chinese New Year, and welcome to the year of the rabbit!
Being in Asia has given me the opportunity to fulfill a life long dream and take part in a holiday that has always seemed magical to me. Yay! I don't know why but Chinese New Year, or the Lunar New Year has always fascinated me! The lanterns, the coins, the little red envelopes stuffed with money, the dresses and silks, the cherry blossoms, and especially the dragons! Yes, this little white chick from Utah has always wanted to see the Chinese Dragons dance and parade around! Why you may ask? I have no idea, it's just awesome.
There is a hotel on our island called the Marco Polo and it is Chinese owned, so they go all out for this holiday. We dressed the kids up in traditional Chinese costumes and headed to the swanky hotel. After a dinner of pizza eaten poolside, yeah we're cool like that, the drums began and the magic took over!
There were 5 dragons! 4 were the ones you think of, withe the big bearded heads and people inside, and the 5th was a long pink one on poles! The pink one was long and skinny and danced above our heads. The other 4 were covered in sequins and awesome! The firecrackers and parade began outside, and as I tried to make it through the crowd to get to Michelle and the kids the parade moved into the lobby...I got stuck between the sets of doors and for a few minutes I was totally surrounded by dragons! Greatest thing ever!
Coins, real Philippine Pesos, began raining down from above, kids and adults alike scrambled to collect them! The drum beat was infectious and so loud we had to scream to be heard. The man throwing coins right above Brycen and myself really liked the little white boy, and so he made sure I was paying attention so that the coins he dropped would go to him.
The dragons ended on a huge staircase and after the hotel and city people told us "Kung Hei Fat Choi" a dozen women dressed as rabbits (complete with face and teeth painted on) paraded down the stairs with bowls of dressing. A massive assortment of grated vegetables was brought in and the dressing was added. Giant chopsticks, I'm talking 7 foot chopsticks, were provided and the traditional salad was tossed! The rabbits then began passing out samplings of traditional Chinese New Year foods. I tried an orange square of something, a chocolate filled sesame seed ball. There was some kind of chocolate soup, egg rolls, sio mai, and the giant chopstick tossed salad. So awesome! More coins were tossed and the dragons danced around again. (Side note: The guy inside the green dragon was hott!) After the celebration ended we rode a glass elevator to the top of the hotel and saw the entire city, including the LDS Temple.
My love of this holiday is now firmly planted, and I intend to throw the biggest Chinese New Year party Utah has ever seen next year! It's so fun to experience something you've hoped to experience for years! And it's even more fun when it's as magical and beautiful as you dreamed it would be! Cross that off the list, and add something new!
Being in Asia has given me the opportunity to fulfill a life long dream and take part in a holiday that has always seemed magical to me. Yay! I don't know why but Chinese New Year, or the Lunar New Year has always fascinated me! The lanterns, the coins, the little red envelopes stuffed with money, the dresses and silks, the cherry blossoms, and especially the dragons! Yes, this little white chick from Utah has always wanted to see the Chinese Dragons dance and parade around! Why you may ask? I have no idea, it's just awesome.
There is a hotel on our island called the Marco Polo and it is Chinese owned, so they go all out for this holiday. We dressed the kids up in traditional Chinese costumes and headed to the swanky hotel. After a dinner of pizza eaten poolside, yeah we're cool like that, the drums began and the magic took over!
There were 5 dragons! 4 were the ones you think of, withe the big bearded heads and people inside, and the 5th was a long pink one on poles! The pink one was long and skinny and danced above our heads. The other 4 were covered in sequins and awesome! The firecrackers and parade began outside, and as I tried to make it through the crowd to get to Michelle and the kids the parade moved into the lobby...I got stuck between the sets of doors and for a few minutes I was totally surrounded by dragons! Greatest thing ever!
Coins, real Philippine Pesos, began raining down from above, kids and adults alike scrambled to collect them! The drum beat was infectious and so loud we had to scream to be heard. The man throwing coins right above Brycen and myself really liked the little white boy, and so he made sure I was paying attention so that the coins he dropped would go to him.
The dragons ended on a huge staircase and after the hotel and city people told us "Kung Hei Fat Choi" a dozen women dressed as rabbits (complete with face and teeth painted on) paraded down the stairs with bowls of dressing. A massive assortment of grated vegetables was brought in and the dressing was added. Giant chopsticks, I'm talking 7 foot chopsticks, were provided and the traditional salad was tossed! The rabbits then began passing out samplings of traditional Chinese New Year foods. I tried an orange square of something, a chocolate filled sesame seed ball. There was some kind of chocolate soup, egg rolls, sio mai, and the giant chopstick tossed salad. So awesome! More coins were tossed and the dragons danced around again. (Side note: The guy inside the green dragon was hott!) After the celebration ended we rode a glass elevator to the top of the hotel and saw the entire city, including the LDS Temple.
My love of this holiday is now firmly planted, and I intend to throw the biggest Chinese New Year party Utah has ever seen next year! It's so fun to experience something you've hoped to experience for years! And it's even more fun when it's as magical and beautiful as you dreamed it would be! Cross that off the list, and add something new!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Tijuana + China Town = Carbon
So, we live pretty close to China and therefore we can get really cheap things that say "Made In China." And since Michelle likes to make watches and such our friends, Jappie and Joy offered to take us to Carbon. Carbon is downtown Cebu. The only way to describe it is that if Tijuana and China Town fell in love and procreated, the result would be Carbon.
The married ladies, so everyone but me, removed their wedding rings and all other jewelry. We all zipped up our purses and held them in front of our bodies. Our pockets were double checked to make sure they were empty. The taxi dropped us up on the street and our adventure began.
The streets are a nondescript gray, as are most of the streets here. It was raining, as it does most days, and so there were puddles all over. I was wearing flipflops and so when I was told to walk fast, as you do when in Carbon, my feet slipped all over. You see, the faster you walk the less likely you are to be hounded by kids or pick-pocketed. They were black when I got home. The streets are lined with anything you can possible think of, and it's all for sale. There are movies, cell phones, CD's. There are power tools, and hedge trimmers. There are shoes of every variety, and foods...some of which looked ok. There are vegetables, fruits, and fresh caught fish. And then there's s0mething I was totally not expecting to see...pets. You can purchase aquarium fish, birds, turtles, lizards, and a few guniea pigs. RANDOM!!!
We had no problems with the locals, they seemed to notice we weren't alone. There was this one boy arond 15 who followed me for a bit saying "Hey! Hey! Hungry!" But he was at work, and even if I'd had money, he wasn't that attractive.
We spent some time in the bead store, one of many, and as it started to get dark we tried to catch a taxi...yeah right. Remember how I said it was raining? When it rains all of the taxis fill up instantly and you're out of luck. So we walked all around Carbon to try and get to a good spot for the off chance there was a taxi. Joy and Jappie were sweethearts, and we walked as a human double stuffed oreo. Since the rain was still coming down we jumped on a jeepney. We rode it to a small shopping center, hoping for more taxis. We got off in the middle of the street and stood in the rain until a friend came with her taxi to pick us up. Oh! And when Michelle had to text, we all guarded her so that her phone wouldn't attract attention.
We ended our adventure as Americans, eating Greek food, in the Philippines. Man I'm all multi-cultural these days.
The married ladies, so everyone but me, removed their wedding rings and all other jewelry. We all zipped up our purses and held them in front of our bodies. Our pockets were double checked to make sure they were empty. The taxi dropped us up on the street and our adventure began.
The streets are a nondescript gray, as are most of the streets here. It was raining, as it does most days, and so there were puddles all over. I was wearing flipflops and so when I was told to walk fast, as you do when in Carbon, my feet slipped all over. You see, the faster you walk the less likely you are to be hounded by kids or pick-pocketed. They were black when I got home. The streets are lined with anything you can possible think of, and it's all for sale. There are movies, cell phones, CD's. There are power tools, and hedge trimmers. There are shoes of every variety, and foods...some of which looked ok. There are vegetables, fruits, and fresh caught fish. And then there's s0mething I was totally not expecting to see...pets. You can purchase aquarium fish, birds, turtles, lizards, and a few guniea pigs. RANDOM!!!
We had no problems with the locals, they seemed to notice we weren't alone. There was this one boy arond 15 who followed me for a bit saying "Hey! Hey! Hungry!" But he was at work, and even if I'd had money, he wasn't that attractive.
We spent some time in the bead store, one of many, and as it started to get dark we tried to catch a taxi...yeah right. Remember how I said it was raining? When it rains all of the taxis fill up instantly and you're out of luck. So we walked all around Carbon to try and get to a good spot for the off chance there was a taxi. Joy and Jappie were sweethearts, and we walked as a human double stuffed oreo. Since the rain was still coming down we jumped on a jeepney. We rode it to a small shopping center, hoping for more taxis. We got off in the middle of the street and stood in the rain until a friend came with her taxi to pick us up. Oh! And when Michelle had to text, we all guarded her so that her phone wouldn't attract attention.
We ended our adventure as Americans, eating Greek food, in the Philippines. Man I'm all multi-cultural these days.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
The Island Lost It's Mind!!!!
So, if you read my previous post you'll see that we spent our New Year's Eve safe inside our cement wall community. But, we still had some fun!
Once again, we went swimming! The pool was cleaned 2 days before, insuring the lack of dead slug and live frog slime. So we took advantage of it.
Side note, can you imagine being a slug or a frog? Just going about your life, hopping or sliming your way along and all of the sudden you find yourself falling into a giant pool?! How much do you want to bet you would have peed your little frog/slug undies?! I know I would have. The slug was dead, and his slimy little body stayed in the pool for a few days. The frog on the other hand, was so not dead! Even though when Michelle checked on it it appeared to be. When we went to show the kids it was very much alive! It was trying it's hardest to evade the boys poking it with sticks! Apparently chlorine isn't as deadly to frogs. Well, I felt bad for the poor little guy, he just kept swimming laps, trying to get out. And so I rescued him...Filipino frogs are much more slimey than bumpy, in case you ever asked yourself that question. But stupid, stupid me, I didn't kiss him. Now I'll never know what could have been.
Back to our celebration. After we swam and ate we decided to implement a few of the Filipino traditions. But by 8:00 the kids were lagging. So, we had our celebration around 9:00. We turned on all of the lights, and drank pineapple soda out of goblets. We put coins in our pockets and banged on pans, to insure wealth in the coming year. The kids jumped up and down to insure they'd grow taller in the next year, we ate round fruits (mentos) also to increase wealth. It was super fun! And, so as not to forget American traditions, we kissed Brycen. (Todd was asleep).
We were all exhausted and decided to just go to bed around 10:00. But, the fireworks and guns made it hard to want to go to sleep, who wants to sleep when the whole island's freaking out?! So, I was just sitting on my bed, watching Star Trek and eating nerds...slighlty sad that I couldn't see past the cement wall behind my room. Then Michelle came in and told me to come to their room. We went out on the balcony at 11:59 and watched the whole island lose it's mind, literally lose it's mind. I've never seen so many fireworks in my life! It was like the 4th of July on crack! The sky was a huge cloud of haze and smoke and you could see fireworks everywhere! On the ground, on the hills, in the jungle covered mountains! Just when you thought it was over they'd set more off. We were out there for quite some time and they were still going strong! It was amazing! The machine gun going off outside my bedroom was a bit unsettling, but awesome! If the year comes in with such a bang, how can it not be amazing! This will forever be one of the most memorable New Year's in my life!
Once again, we went swimming! The pool was cleaned 2 days before, insuring the lack of dead slug and live frog slime. So we took advantage of it.
Side note, can you imagine being a slug or a frog? Just going about your life, hopping or sliming your way along and all of the sudden you find yourself falling into a giant pool?! How much do you want to bet you would have peed your little frog/slug undies?! I know I would have. The slug was dead, and his slimy little body stayed in the pool for a few days. The frog on the other hand, was so not dead! Even though when Michelle checked on it it appeared to be. When we went to show the kids it was very much alive! It was trying it's hardest to evade the boys poking it with sticks! Apparently chlorine isn't as deadly to frogs. Well, I felt bad for the poor little guy, he just kept swimming laps, trying to get out. And so I rescued him...Filipino frogs are much more slimey than bumpy, in case you ever asked yourself that question. But stupid, stupid me, I didn't kiss him. Now I'll never know what could have been.
Back to our celebration. After we swam and ate we decided to implement a few of the Filipino traditions. But by 8:00 the kids were lagging. So, we had our celebration around 9:00. We turned on all of the lights, and drank pineapple soda out of goblets. We put coins in our pockets and banged on pans, to insure wealth in the coming year. The kids jumped up and down to insure they'd grow taller in the next year, we ate round fruits (mentos) also to increase wealth. It was super fun! And, so as not to forget American traditions, we kissed Brycen. (Todd was asleep).
We were all exhausted and decided to just go to bed around 10:00. But, the fireworks and guns made it hard to want to go to sleep, who wants to sleep when the whole island's freaking out?! So, I was just sitting on my bed, watching Star Trek and eating nerds...slighlty sad that I couldn't see past the cement wall behind my room. Then Michelle came in and told me to come to their room. We went out on the balcony at 11:59 and watched the whole island lose it's mind, literally lose it's mind. I've never seen so many fireworks in my life! It was like the 4th of July on crack! The sky was a huge cloud of haze and smoke and you could see fireworks everywhere! On the ground, on the hills, in the jungle covered mountains! Just when you thought it was over they'd set more off. We were out there for quite some time and they were still going strong! It was amazing! The machine gun going off outside my bedroom was a bit unsettling, but awesome! If the year comes in with such a bang, how can it not be amazing! This will forever be one of the most memorable New Year's in my life!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Christmas Over Seas
First of all, I need to vent. I'm not really sure how, perhaps a little problem with the wattage difference, perhaps water from the maid mopping the floor, either way, my laptop charger is fried and I can no longer charge or use my laptop. So, tie to home #1=Dead! Heaven bless the inventors of the iPhone. If it weren't for you and your lack of a social life and nerd-like tendencies, I may have lost my mind by now. But that should explain the lack of posts lately, and the lack of pictures in the future. But I'm still cool, so read anyway.
Well, we had quite the entertaining Christmas. How weird is it too say Christmas over seas and actually mean it? Pretty freaking weird I'll tell you what! Margie, our awesome cook, insisted on making us a fancy dinner on Christmas Eve. So, that pretty much rocked my world! But first of all, I should explain that we were instructed not to leave our house on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, or New Year's Day. You see, these days are a big party here, and parties mean a huge population of drunk people. Add the fact that the majority of the island own guns and you can see why it's not safe. The Filipinos also really like fireworks, and it takes a trained ear to hear the difference between fireworks, and gun shots.
Michelle and I were determined to make it a little like home, and so we tried. Christmas Eve, my personal favorite day of the year, dawned hot and humid. So, while we sweated, Michelle made Getman pancakes. We were able to find powdered sugar and crazy expensive imported lemons...man they were good! New tradtion #1 added to my heart. We needed to make treats for Santa, and so we made some no-bakes cookies, it seemed like a nice alternative to having the oven on for hours! But, having lived in a desert our whole lives we soon found out that no-bakes don't like to set up in hot and humid conditions, even if you put a fan on them. But they do taste pretty awesome when frozen. Then we went swimming, because when else can we go swimming outside on Christmas Eve and not run the risk of hypothermia?
After our excursion in the pool we got all dressed up, and had a wonderful dinner. We ate on a beautifully set table, complete with folded napkins and goblets. We had all sorts of awesome food, including ham ball, and a yummy pork dish I can't pronounce. Tradition #2, fancy Christmas Eve dinner. Then we read the scriptures, opened pajamas (mine were from my closet, stuff doesn't fit my luscious shape out here) and watched Home Alone. So fun! The kids were as exited as ever, and had no doubts that Santa knew where we were.
Noche Buena is a tradtion out here. Everyone wakes up at midnight and has a huge feast! The fireworks and gun shots began to shake our house at about 11, and lasted until long after we were asleep. We did our best to take part in this new tradition, minus the kids of course (some traditions like Santa just can't be sacrificed), and we ate queso and cookies and were asleep by 2. Hey, don't judge! It's hard to be awake out here.
At lunch on Christmas Eve Kaitlyn asked Heavenly Father to let her wake up when everyone was still asleep so she could see Santa and tell him Merry Christmas! So we slept with a mattress in front of the stairs. We openend presents with our families! That was the most amazing little miracle! We had 2 laptops running, the Bailey family on one and the Beck family on the other. So fun, even if we are still waiting for most of the packages they were assured would be here by Christmas!
We spent the day in our pajamas...with the air on! Our Christmas present to ourselves. We all got some sweet presents, including Tangled (who loves Asia? Oh that's right, me). But he most amazing part of the holiday of miracles was to talk to and see our family! There may be an ocean between us, but the miracles of technology made it feel like a small puddle!
Well, we had quite the entertaining Christmas. How weird is it too say Christmas over seas and actually mean it? Pretty freaking weird I'll tell you what! Margie, our awesome cook, insisted on making us a fancy dinner on Christmas Eve. So, that pretty much rocked my world! But first of all, I should explain that we were instructed not to leave our house on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, or New Year's Day. You see, these days are a big party here, and parties mean a huge population of drunk people. Add the fact that the majority of the island own guns and you can see why it's not safe. The Filipinos also really like fireworks, and it takes a trained ear to hear the difference between fireworks, and gun shots.
Michelle and I were determined to make it a little like home, and so we tried. Christmas Eve, my personal favorite day of the year, dawned hot and humid. So, while we sweated, Michelle made Getman pancakes. We were able to find powdered sugar and crazy expensive imported lemons...man they were good! New tradtion #1 added to my heart. We needed to make treats for Santa, and so we made some no-bakes cookies, it seemed like a nice alternative to having the oven on for hours! But, having lived in a desert our whole lives we soon found out that no-bakes don't like to set up in hot and humid conditions, even if you put a fan on them. But they do taste pretty awesome when frozen. Then we went swimming, because when else can we go swimming outside on Christmas Eve and not run the risk of hypothermia?
After our excursion in the pool we got all dressed up, and had a wonderful dinner. We ate on a beautifully set table, complete with folded napkins and goblets. We had all sorts of awesome food, including ham ball, and a yummy pork dish I can't pronounce. Tradition #2, fancy Christmas Eve dinner. Then we read the scriptures, opened pajamas (mine were from my closet, stuff doesn't fit my luscious shape out here) and watched Home Alone. So fun! The kids were as exited as ever, and had no doubts that Santa knew where we were.
Noche Buena is a tradtion out here. Everyone wakes up at midnight and has a huge feast! The fireworks and gun shots began to shake our house at about 11, and lasted until long after we were asleep. We did our best to take part in this new tradition, minus the kids of course (some traditions like Santa just can't be sacrificed), and we ate queso and cookies and were asleep by 2. Hey, don't judge! It's hard to be awake out here.
At lunch on Christmas Eve Kaitlyn asked Heavenly Father to let her wake up when everyone was still asleep so she could see Santa and tell him Merry Christmas! So we slept with a mattress in front of the stairs. We openend presents with our families! That was the most amazing little miracle! We had 2 laptops running, the Bailey family on one and the Beck family on the other. So fun, even if we are still waiting for most of the packages they were assured would be here by Christmas!
We spent the day in our pajamas...with the air on! Our Christmas present to ourselves. We all got some sweet presents, including Tangled (who loves Asia? Oh that's right, me). But he most amazing part of the holiday of miracles was to talk to and see our family! There may be an ocean between us, but the miracles of technology made it feel like a small puddle!
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