When In Rome

Well, I know it's been a long time since I posted...But I've been waiting for something awesome to share. Our days are pretty much the same during the week. Wake up early, go to school all day, come home, eat, do homework, play with the kids, and then we have some dinner. We have a cook now, so no more failed dinner attempts. This is an example...my first real fish! Sweet-n-Sour fish made with Lapu-Lapu. Yup that is the whole fish there, teeth and all. We eat it with rice of course, thus making it a meal instead of a snack. If you eat without rice, it's just a snack.






We went to Mango Square, which is another shopping mall, to get a full body scrub/massage. But we had to wait, so we went to a little restaurant and tried some new food. I tried crab for the first time and actually enjoyed it. I almost kept the claw from my "Crab Pincher" but then decided a picture would work just as well!



We had Shomai? Yeah, I couldn't read, let alone spell what I ate. It was a pork and carrot thing with a breading and you can dip it in either a spicy sauce or a sour sauce. I prefer the sour sauce, cuz it's vinegar based, and it's delicious. And those are the "Crab Pinchers". We also had some kind of bread thing stuffed with sausage, pork, mushrooms, and eggs. It was strange, but awesome. I believe it was called "Showpow". But who knows?

This is us with our awesome "snack". Our friend Khen ordered for us. It was awesome.

This is Halo-Halo, it means Mix-Mix. And it is a mix of strangeness. Upe (a Filipino fruit), ice cream, jello (called jelly here), shaved ice, cream, coconut, jack fruit (or any kind of fruit really), and this one had beans. Weird? Yes, but good.

We also went to a restaurant, way up in the mountains. This is where we learned about spider fighting. Elementary aged kids buy and sell spiders then they find the perfect stick and watch, make bets, and cheer on their spider. Our friends have repeatedly assured us that the spiders here are NOT poisonous. But I guess I'm still under Utah spider programming, and I believe they should all die. But we're going to soon host our own spider fight. I can't wait.

The restaurant is called "La Tegola" a outdoor Italian restaurant. It was delicious. But the food couldn't compete with the view. It sits on top of a mountain in the middle of the island. We looked out on the entire city, and ate to the sounds of the jungle. There were geckos crawling everywhere. And our Father in Heaven blessed us with a lightening storm over the ocean! The pictures will never be able to capture the beauty of that night.

My hair grows into a monster after every shower. And I can't even capture the dome of fuzz on my camera. So when I say it's big...You should just believe me. The only time it really looks good is right after I dry it, before the sweat and humidity get a swing at it!

Life is still rough at times, but greatly improved from those first few days, and even weeks. It's hard to believe that we've been here for a month! It seems like it's been forever. I am beginning to enjoy the culture, even the eyebrow raise that translates into "yes" is becoming part of my brain storage. I am learning new words...most of which I can't remember. And trying fabulous food I would never eat at home. I find myself becoming a better person, and a better American. I now know that I will miss this place when I do go home. But that is a bridge I will cross when I come to it. And it's a bridge paved in gratitude.

No worries, I'll post about my scrub and massage experience very soon...the mouse running across my foot in the shower in the spa is where the new motto "when in rome" was first uttered, by Michelle. And, just to keep you in suspense, I'll be posting about my near death flight across the jungle too!