Corregidor Island

On Monday, the Micronesian group joined the US group for a tour of Corregidor Island.  (For military/WWII buffs, this was an island that housed US military...including families....along with some Filipino military. It was destroyed by the Japanese just a few weeks after Pearl Harbor was bombed. Three years later, the US military was able to capture it back and eventually return it to the Filipino government. Today it is just a tourist site as the buildings stand as they were left after the 1941 bombings.  Quite fascinating...look it up!)

We were not overly happy of a 5am departure to the port after a week of no sleep, but in the end it was completely worth it. We had a one and a half hour ferry ride to get to the island.  

Once we arrived, everyone had been assigned trolleys for the tour. The trolleys took you around stopping at various buildings and sites for pictures.  

This building housed the single American soldiers.

This building was the mile long barracks (but in reality only 3/4 mile long). It had stores, barber,  indoor pool, etc.

This building was the theater. Soon after bombing started, it was used as a hospital.

Officers housing included more pools, golf course, dance halls, etc.  This has truly been a paradise military facility. Of course, you can't have a military grounds without guns...

oops

Here is the lighthouse. (My Micronesia girls are waving from the top.) The foundation was built in the late 1800s.  This is the are where we had our buffet lunch.

Several memorials are present.  Here is the US memorial.  The museum nearby had lots of pictures of the days the island was vibrant.

The island was full of tunnels.  Various legs of the tunnels held ammo or hospitals, etc.  The US used these to regain control from the Japanese by pouring gasoline in the vents.  

This was an incredible tour that Perry and I both enjoyed. I would love to do it again! There is one hotel that tourists can stay. It would be awesome to stay there and get to spend time exploring the ruins.  It was so much like Tinian on a much, MUCH larger level.

Sometimes, you just break the rules. :)

Very Tall Hotel

After a week at "camp for big kids," Perry and I stayed in a VERY tall hotel in Manila for three nights.  We were on floor 43 (and we had friends on floor 51).  Here are some of the shots of the view.  (Well, the best shots one can take through a dirty window. I'm guessing the window washers aren't too keen on climbing that high!)

The night view.

The usual view: SMOG.

The rare view....no smog after the rain. (And there are mountains back there! Who knew!?)

So. Many. Buildings.

NYI Convention--After the Fact

Between crummy internet and no sleep (mostly the no sleep part), I couldn't ever post again. So here is the "after the fact" report.  

I forgot to mention earlier that the campground houses the largest free spinning top in the world.  The director has a great ministry in sharing the gospel through spinning tops.  A few years ago (since I had been previously), they made the largest top!  It is pretty awesome to watch spin. 

So what happened at my conference?  Lots of awesome music....an incredible culture presentation where we dressed in traditional clothes of our culture..... 

Three of the Micronesia delegates in Chuukese dresses. 

and presented songs or dance...and workshops. I had the honor or teaching a games workshop.  I assumed it would be one time for one hour.  It was presented twice and each one was TWO hours!  But there were lots of laughs and I hope the various counties now have new games.  It even seems some of the countries want me to come present in their country....that could be fun.  We had lots of awesome church services with great (but LOUD) music.  I also learned some new silly songs...and a couple I can do with my elementary music kids. 

Catching up with my friends from the 2007 trip to South Africa!  

Here is my breakout group for the week.  Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, Korea, and Micronesia are represented. 

I don't think I ever had four consecutive hours of sleep in one day...and usually that was all I got. :( Needless to say, I was exhausted (and cranky) by the end. It was tough having five girls in a room (me on a TOP bunk)....with the room being about the size of my office back home. We also all had big suitcases...and some two or three.  (I also caught way too many sunrises for my liking.)

Perry and I got to hit the pool a few times. I was at a campground which is a beautiful facility about a two hour drive from Metro Manila.  They have a great swimming pool with a water slide. It was a blast watching the different countries and their approach to water slides.  The Filipinos are masters in big splashes at the end.  BIG SPLASHES! The delegates from Paupa New Guinea were all laughs as well. :)

We enjoyed exploring the campground too....

That is a very high rope bridge.

It was unusually cool in the evening.  It is rainy season in the Philippines, and "Mother Nature" has taken full advantage of that. Lots of rain...and crazy cool temperatures. I'm was actually "cold" at night (which was mostly due to the heat of Saipan/Guam). But when the sun came out...it was HOT!

I was grateful to again get to represent the Micronesia District Church of the Nazarene at the Manila site.  Hopefully I will be back in four more years (or sooner)!

Philippines: Midnight Meal. :)

Due to our crazy schedule, we have an interesting eating schedule.  This includes MIDNIGHT meal!
 
Since this is my third time for this particular conference, I know that this is dangerous. (Especially this is buffet style with amazing food....fresh fruit, amazing homemade pastries, etc .) I made rules.

Rule #1. You do not have to eat every meal. (I am allowed only three meals a day.)
Rule #2. You are not allowed to purchase anything from the snack bar. (But those mango shakes for 50pesos look so amazing.)
Rule #3. You do not need to eat rice at every meal. You may only have rice at one meal. (Portion for rice is to be American size, small, NOT Asian rice portion, super-duper big)

With these new rules, I hope to keep weight gain to 5lbs.

Philippines!

I. My blog tool is all in Tagalog! Good think I know a little Taglish. :)
II. If I didn't give it away, Perry and I are in the Philippines. We arrived on Monday night at about 9pm.  We are here for a convention that happens every four years in the Church of the Nazarene.  The "main" site for the conference is in Indiana.  But since the US visa laws aren't always country friendly, in 2009 the church decided to have satellite sites.  I am here with 180 people from countries all over the Asia Pacific. Some I can share like the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, many of the island countries (like me...Micronesia) and others I cannot share due to sensitivity to their identities.  3 of the days are business...voting on resolutions, electing officers, etc.  Some days are workshops, church services, games, and very little sleep.

I. My blog tool is all in Tagalog! Good think I know a little Taglish. :)

II. If I didn't give it away, Perry and I are in the Philippines. We arrived on Monday night at about 9pm.  We are here for a convention that happens every four years in the Church of the Nazarene.  The "main" site for the conference is in Indiana.  But since the US visa laws aren't always country friendly, in 2009 the church decided to have satellite sites.  I am here with 180 people from countries all over the Asia Pacific. Some I can share like the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, many of the island countries (like me...Micronesia) and others I cannot share due to sensitivity to their identities.  3 of the days are business...voting on resolutions, electing officers, etc.  Some days are workshops, church services, games, and very little sleep. Since the main part of this particular conference is in the US, Manila is 12 hours difference. So we have the theme, "Up All Night." When the US has a session at 1pm, we are meeting at 1am.  So....we don't conclude until 5am.  HOWEVER, when I was here 8 years ago at this particular location there was no air con in our sleeping quarters.  Hallelujah they now have that so we can actually sleep in the day when it is so hot.  (Sort of)

With that said, I may not report in so often due to just catching a nap here and there.  This kind of schedule is hard on this old lady. I am also struggling to post on websites due to a weak internet connection. I do have pics, but they will have to come later. This is no way they are going to be posted while I am here. (Also, my posts may be separated in more than one part.)

VBS Year 12 is in the Books, Almost

Aside for the Sunday program, Perry and I have survived another year of VBS.  It seems the kids had a really great week.  The teens probably had just as much fun.  (And I would dare to say, that I even saw the adults smile a little too.)  We were blessed with enough workers and plenty of food!

As kids gathered on Friday night, I looked up to see a rainbow over my old apartment. (Bottom left).

Today, Perry and I had a little pool time as we gazed at the ocean.  It's always nice to prepare for my programs and lessons with that kind of view.  I wonder if I could build that kind of view in Byng as I prepare for band and elementary music programs? OR...maybe I should take a trip to the beach before every event!

Tonight, I left my camera again.  I got to celebrate big time with a trip to Outback.  (The preacher's daughter  had a birthday this week and that was her restaurant of choice.  I was happy to oblige!)  The prices are marked up about 50% to what they would be in a menu back home. That is ridiculous.  I did enjoy my meal.  A couple from church (that happens to own a business or two on island) was dining there as well. They sent us an appetizer as a gift, so that was fun.  Then we came back to the parsonage to celebrate with a peanut butter cup ice cream cake.  Now that I'm five pounds heavier than when I got up.....

Still VBSn

Perry is still hanging out at VBS. As you can see, he is a big hit with some of the kids!!

And my view from VBS snacks is better than your view. :)  I do love my island (and Oklahoma) sunsets!

Another Day, Another Robbery

If you have followed my blog since the old days (Mom & Susan), you will recall several robbery stories.  There's the time they broke in to the parsonage and stole a bunch of jewelry, computer, and Ben's car.  There's the time my neighbor caught a guy trying to break in to my window. (I was sleeping at my cousin's that night.) There's the time the stole my stuff at the beach (including Ben's car keys...poor Ben).  There's the time the broke in the parsonage when the preacher went to turn on the air cons for Sunday church and his wife was in the shower.  They got the TV and laptop in just those few minutes.

Today, we were robbed. Again.  The new pastor and his wife have been doing a huge kitchen remodel.  They totally gutted the parsonage kitchen and started from scratch. Now they are ripping up the carpet in the house and laying tile.  It is going to be amazing when they finish.  This afternoon the pastor called the gas company to say they were ready to hook up the stove. (Though we could have done this, they are wanting to use a new line from the tank outside to the house...or something.)  When he was on the phone, they wanted to know how far it would be.  The pastor said, "Well, it is 5 feet from the house to outside and let me look to see how far it outside."  Pastor goes outside.  Long pause. "Well, if the tank was still here, it would be another 3 feet."  THEY STOLE THE TANK!  The line has been unhooked for more than a week.  Not sure when it disappeared.  But seriously? Who does that?

And though the kitchen is back together, we can't get a new gas tank until at least next Monday, so still no cooking.  Perry is on guard duty tonight. I'm sleeping because I'm past the point of exhaustion!

VBS Day 2

Remember yesterday's braids?  Well, here is what it looked like after I took out the braids.  Love the 80s look! :)

And here are a few fun pics from VBS Day 2.

VBS 2017!

There's one way to know that VBS has kicked off....my hair is back in braids!

Tonight I laughed because before the kids were allowed in, I was asked, "Miss, did you bring your platypus."  Perry is well loved at VBS and as you can see, he had the best seat in the house.

Perry & I Failed You

Perry and I had grand plans for some photo ops today.  But that requires remembering a camera.

First I was going to get a great picture of Perry posing by all the work we accomplished on building our VBS set (a cave).  However, I didn't have my camera. And since the pastor had the keys, it would have been awkward to ask him for the keys to get into the house to grab a camera so that you can take a picture of your platypus while he's preaching a sermon.  (Yes, I know that was a run-on sentence.)

After that missed opportunity, Perry and I FINALLY had a chance to go enjoy the island after three very intense days of either decorating or ministry. We headed to one of my all time favorite spots...the Nikko.  BUT, I also forgot my camera.  (You can find this spot in previous blogs.)

After too long in the sun, we thought we'd play tourist for a while. And by tourist I mean....go to the stores that have free samples.  (But again, NO camera.)  We wandered through the Galleria sampling coffee, chocolate, cookies, and dried fruit while reading the names on the store fronts to familiarize ourselves with high-end brand names (so I won't look like an idiot when someone is talking about Prada and I think it is a species of a turtle or something).  While in the Galleria, I remember that they started carrying Dole Whip last year.  And score...it is still there!

After I felt like I wore out my welcome in the store where I wasn't going to drop $1000 for a purse, we went across the road to JP Superstore.  (It's more affordable.  One would know this because there is also a McDonald's in it.  And since there was a McDonald's, I wanted to see if they carry cherry limeades out here. Nope.  I guess it is just a regional product.  Bummer.)  JP Superstore also has samples, but they were out of all the candy and left me only the cookies to sample.

When I got back to the house, they were setting up the tent for VBS snacks this week.  What a process!  I'm so thankful to the Cutamora family and all the have done to help out me or the church over the years.  The wife is Chuukese and she is married to a Filipino.  They have seven kids from age (almost) seven to mid-20s.  I have known the for 11 years and first met them when they were living in Chuuk.

Today I was talking with Gabriel, the youngest.  He was quite impressed that I knew so many of his family.  His dad told him that I had been a part of the family longer than he had. ha ha   But here's the highlight of our conversation...
Gabe: Do you speak Chuukese?
Me: No
Gabe: But you said you've been to Chuuk.
Me:  Well, do you speak Chuukese?
Gabe: No because I'm not Chuukese
Me: Yes you are.
Gabe: No I'm not
Me: You're half Chuukese and half Filipino
Gabe: No, I'm English!  (Insert much laughter from all of us!)

Perry and I have spent the rest of the evening in the house getting to know the new pastor and his family.

VBS kicks off tomorrow. I will try to have my camera. :)

Sweet Life Cafe: Guam

Today was the Guam ladies retreat.  What an awesome time!  I ate way too much food.  (Lots of fruit and pastries for breakfast, Jamaican Grill catered lunch, and I might have had a cupcake or two or three along the way.)  We had haole (white), Filipina, Palauan, and Chuukese women represented.  We had a lot of laughing and some tears shed along the way.  Everyone said it was just what they needed!