New Years Day

Fireworks and karaoke characterise most celebrations in the Philippines, and none more so than at new year. Most nights there have been both in evidence, but on new year's eve there was renewed enthusiasm! 

But not by us. We were tired and were anticipating an early start next morning. So amid the bangs we slept until midnight. Then it was impossible to ignore the fusillade that was unleashed so we gainfully got up for a while and watched from the balcony. 

In the morning we were of to Pampange, some 3 hours by bus, so when Evangeline's brother Roger said he would give us a lift, we readily accepted. It is 1 1/2 hours by car. And so we arrived in light traffic just after 9am at brother Roger's in-laws. The pictures are from there. 

The purple dish is obi-cake and the colour is natural. It tastes like rice cake with sprinkled nuts. The house is brick built but no internal ceilings, at least in the part we were in that consisted of a kitchen/dining room and a bedroom off to one side. But there was much more house beyond my view that I did not see. 

Tradition has it that an abundance of food should be served on new year's day so that there would be prosperity for the rest of the year. So loads of food was laid before us for breakfast. The family had been up until 3am celebrating and had only just got up. 

There were 4 generations in the house. Roger's wife, her mum and gran and their child. In the picture with Roger are the 3 older generations. Incidently, Evangeline consistently called her brother "manon" and when I asked why it appears this means "older brother", and if younger, it sounds like the English for "add in". 

The situation looked a little rough, but all were healthy, especially gran who shuffled around in a spirited manner, and who insisted in giving us each a warm and affectionate hug as we left. Later on we called on the other daughter, Roger's sister-in-law who was living in a makeshift house beside the main road. The call was brief but from the outside you could tell that things were poor and I was told that health here was an issue. We left some "Christmas money" before we drove off. 

Today it rained. We were so glad of the car! 

Terence Westoby

terrywestoby@gmail.com

+33 6 75 91 87 71

Sent from Samsung tablet

Church Christmas Party on the Beach

The party started with some of the baptisms needed for the many people who have become new Christians. There were 17 candidates, a few of woke were youngsters who had asked to be baptised and who had the permission of their parents and pastor. We baptised in the sea which was a little difficult because of the frequent large waves although out was not really rough. This was followed by presentations of songs by groups of all ages. 

Then we took communion, a rare feature being the French wine. Wine is not common in the Philippines, so usually grape juice is used. It was as we started the service that we discovered we did not own a corkscrew! (Amazing what you can do with an emergency tool kit). The baptism candidates gave their testimonies but I have no idea what they said in Tagalog.

The rest of the day was taken up with games and eating. The idea was to have fun but also ensure everyone, as far as possible, went home with something. For the children it was often a fluffy toy, for the adults, packets of rice, or spaghetti and sauce were keenly contested. These latter items were aimed at ensuring families had a decent meal over the holiday period. 

Photos are shared here but also a link to the many images on OneDrive. Once there, if you sort the pictures in name order by clicking on the up and down arrow icon, then the images will be in the correct order with title pages in between. 

https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=D01A6E47041CD911!446&authkey=!AB_iiHb_iMONmIg&ithint=folder%2cpng 

Terry

terrywestoby@gmail.com

+33 6 75 91 87 71

Sent from Samsung tablet

Lunch on the run

A couple of days ago, lunch for the party was delivered. It was "securely" tired to a tree, but later in the night, at about bedtime, the dogs alerted us to something. So we looked outside. 

"Lunch" had slipped her rope and was busy digging up the garden. 

It is true that the dogs made a great fuss from the start, but soon only the younger dog needed to be silenced. So their alert was something we needed to take notice of. 

A pig is difficult to tie up when you don't know the method. We tied her as best we could after which she was more controllable. I recalled a joke of my father's, and it is true that a stick at the rear encourages forward motion. So at last she was limited to a circuit round the tree, always at full stretch, where she created hollows for herself to lie in. 

Today 4 men arrived and she is now being roasted over an open fire. Yes it is dark, but this was always going to be a long process. 

The party is tomorrow. 

Terry

terrywestoby@gmail.com

+33 6 75 91 87 71

Sent from Samsung tablet

<photo - the pig in happier times>

Photos for the previous blog

Having real trouble communicating at the moment. Everything is new or different. We have just noticed that there are no pictures in the last blog and there are reasons for that that I will try and avoid in future blogs. 

On top of that, I  cannot directly edit the blog from here. 

So assuming that I succeed, here are the photos you should have seen.

Terry Westoby
terrywestoby@gmail.com
+33 6 75 91 87 71

Sent from Samsung tablet

After the garlands, Bible school

I have just arrived, or it feels like it. With the slight delays, mainly in
the Manila traffic, I got to bed at 3am. Still, since that was like 8pm, I
was sleepy mainly due to the travelling. It was clearly worse for the
normal house residents!

We made the effort to go to the annual town celebration that evening. There
were lots of speaches and presentations. In English, but I still had some
trouble understanding. What was clear was that many ordinary people were
singled out and honored for their hard work and service- including
fishermen and nurses. 10 were presented, one from each category.

And those overseas were honoured too. Including an Englishman and his wife.
There were named seats in the front row of our district and we were called
forward to be photographed and presented with garlands.

Perhaps the highlight, or at least it was for me, was the folk dancing
competition. There was a hat dance, with the gentlemen wearing coloured
hats, a light dance, tea-lights in hand, but also later on heads or in red
paper pockets, and a couple of bamboo pole dances. The poles represent a
rickety bridge and the dancers nimbly dance between the polls as they click
together. (Photos)

We did not stop to see the decision on who were winners, I had made up my
mind that the second bamboo pole dancers were best!  As it was already very
late we returned to rest before the Bible school in the morning.

So this morning was up early to go to a village nearby where many children
gathered under the shade of a thatched home (picture). The adults were just
outside too but this was for the children. As well as Bible studies, there
were biscuits and squash, and as a special treat, little chocolates in
honour of the visitor from overseas.

And since the location was right next to the beach, we took a walk along
the deserted sands afterwards. It proved to be just a little too hot to
stay for long.

Terry

terrywestoby@gmail.com

+33 6 75 91 87 71

Sent from Samsung tablet

Animal flying friends

Dubai. I am transferring to my next flight but there is a 4hr gap. It's 11:30pm for me but in Dubai, 2:30am.

At last the gate shows our flight but there is no one there to 'process' us. Then a stewardess arrives and busies herself behind the counter.

The crowd grow restless.

Like animals at feeding time, they approach the keeper. They prowl, they wait. Instinctively they know they cannot hurry her. Like a troop of baboons they mill around together. Slowly a hierarchy emerges with the dominant animals to the front.

Other animals, not of this breed, pass by unconcerned. Then an ambulance vehicle passes with injured animals aboard. One of them, apparently female, is wrapped in black bandages, only her eyes showing.

The keeper brings out the food. She brings order expertly to the baboon troop who queue to receive their ration. The keeper has a uniform, but the rest are just natural.

I join the queue. I am just one of the animals.

The photo, by the way, has nothing to do with this.

I hope you can see a plane, the black shape of which is outlined by the lights as it comes into land. How did I take this picture?

There is a tail camera on my plane into Dubai, an A380, and this is the view on my screen. You can watch yourself land! If you can see the front of the plane, my seat is just a little back on the left. I got a glimpse into the cockpit before we set off, a bewildering array of lights and displays. It was easier to fly using the tail camera.

And now I wait for the second flight. If it too has internet, I will send this off to you today.

Terry


Envoyé de mon iPhone

A very Massy Christmas

Ok, it is not a pine tree, but it does stand out. Someone has spent a lot of time, and used a lot of bulbs, to make every branch shine. 

You can see it for miles (except for the built up area). What you can't see is the constantly changing colours, nor the flashes of the sprinkling of blinking bulbs. 

The picture gives you an idea, but it looks better than that! 

Terence Westoby

terrywestoby@gmail.com

+33 6 75 91 87 71

Sent from Samsung tablet