Well I've been sick the last few days with the flu. Rea and her parents are the only ones who have escaped so far. I spent the time relaxing at the house and trying to get better so we can make the long 13-hour trip back to Manila. We leave today at noon.

Day 9:


Today we went to Rea's favorite place and I soon found out why it is her favorite. The spot is called crystal springs and costs about 40 cents to get in. Every Sunday they drain the pool and clean it the following morning. Then for the next three days the pool fills up with cold, clean spring water. By Friday it is open again and ready for business. The pool was created by the local government and then turned over to the town for some income. I'm continually amazed by some of the governments practices here. Many of them really seem to benefit the local people. The pool has a slide that drops roungly 20 feet dropping you into the shallow end of the pool. If you are ever in Irosin, Philippines you have to stop by Crystal Springs.

Day 7:
It's been so long since I've been to a beach where you can eat coconuts and burn your skin in roughly 15 minutes. Today we traveled 20 minutes from the Fortes' country home to a small beach-plot owned by Mr. Fortes' sister. It is quite simple with two small bungalows and an outhouse with a hose for showering. The beach was beautiful though and I immediately ran out and dove into the warm Pacific Ocean - what a difference from the majestic, rocky Oregon cost where the Pacific is 40 degrees in the Summer. I spent most of the morning swimming around with Rea's sister and brother looking for fish. I found a black and yellow sea snake right where I had been walking around just a few minutes earlier - kinda made me thing before putting my feet down again. We also caught a small colorful fish and kept it in a quickly constructed aquarium for a few hours. We had BBQ chicken and pork for lunch and coconut milk to drink. Now I'm burnt but it was well worth it.

Day 6: We traveled up into the hills to go swimming. The first place we visited had many people swimming in it so we turned around and drove back down to a natural spring-fed pool. We paid roughly 50c for the entrance fee.


The pool is carved out of the rock and dirt on the side of the volcano. One end of the pool has a natural spring that you can drink from and the other has a small opening where the water can flow out so they can keep the pool clean. There are no chemicals and the water is a beautiful greenish-blue. Surrounding the pool are a variety of trees and beautiful wildlife(haha).








Isn't she beautiful!



We then traveled back home and had some BBQ from a street vendor. Tomorrow we head to the beach for a day in the sun.

Day 5:


Wow! This place is really breath-taking.

Day 3:

Sometimes I forget how hot it is because of the small air conditioner located in each of the bedrooms. We turn them on only at night so we can save electricity. In the morning you step out your door and are hit by a wall of hot and humid air that has been begging to sneak in all night.
We piled into the car around 9AM and drove through Manila to Rea's grandma's house. Her grandma lives in the "squatter's" with three of her children and her sister. The lot contains a garden with Mango, guava, paupia, coconut, and custard apple trees. It's actually fixed up really nicely.
This is a picture of Rei and Mr. Fortes in the garden.


We were greeted with Chicken Adobo, fresh pineapple, spring rolls, and Rea's grandmother who hugged each of us. I was offered a San Miguel, the local brew. I was actually impressed compared with Kenya's Tusker. Then her Grandmother brought a container of ube out of the fridge and we all enjoyed the cold delicacy.


We then spent the remainder of the afternoon talking with Rea's relatives and hanging out. They were all so kind.

Day 2:
We visited Faith Academy today, the school my mom almost worked at and the school that Rea graduated from. Unfortunately I forgot the camera so I couldn't capture the beautiful campus. Faith sits up on a hill above the city providing a panoramic view of the smoggy city. The large city stretches as far as you can see with pockets of skyscrapers popping up in seemingly random locations. It really reminds me of Cairo, Egypt where the size of the city makes Portland or Buffalo look like a village.
After leaving faith we stopped by Nature's Camp for a quick dip in a small swimming pool.

Well, we made the quick trip to the Philippines. The total journey was only 16 hours and the first 10 was on a new Airbus 360 with our own personal TVs. The farther we traveled from Portland it became more difficult to find other Caucasians. I realized that most of the time when I've traveled to other countries I've been with other Caucasian friends and so I began to feel a little awkward on as the journey progressed.
We arrived in Manila at 11pm and stepped out of the airport into 98 degree weather. It felt like stepping into an oven. The Manila traffic was still congested and at one point we had to take a detour because of a fire. After an hour of driving we pulled into the Fortes driveway and Rea and I were greeted with a huge feast of Adobo, chicken soup, mangoes, and pineapple. I forgot how tasty mangoes got. Anya I wish I could bring back a whole box of them for you.
We woke up early in the morning to 98 degree weather. Rea got a manicure and now we are about to go eat breakfast. I hope I can adjust to the weather - it reminds me of southern Sudan.

???Church???
I just came from Imago Dei after leaving in the middle of the service. I can't help but be critical of how we conduct out worship in "community" form. Imago constantly brags about the church community but what is Sunday morning. The congregations starts out by singing songs that were pre-picked out by a "worship" team that may or may not have anything to do with the current situations/struggles/growth that the people in the church may be having. Why not go to my room by myself and play some worship music of my own....how would that be any different? Then we are asked to sit down and face the front in our rows of cold hard benches. Then the "leader" stands in front...this is a man that the people have deemed capable of consistently teaching 1000+- individual lives. Why couldn't I read one of the thousands of Christian books each with their own topics to teach and instruct me while sitting at home? Then the rest of the week I can spend my time hanging out with friends and family and going about my activities.
I have spent roughly 6 months, 24 hours a day in similar Christian services in my 21 years of life. I can come close to guessing what the preacher/teacher is going to be talking about once he has informed us of the passage. I'm not sure if I'm just missing the concept of community in modern churches or does it really not exists. I think I have roughly the same amount of community in my college. Something seems wrong.