Well that was fun….

Fun: The other day I decided to go to they gym.  It was starting to drizzle as I left my place so I grabbed my umbrella.  I have a cheap umbrella that I purchased in Thailand that doesn’t work very well but is better than nothing.  It takes about 5 minutes for me to walk from my place to the main road.  As I walked, the light drizzle picked up and came down harded and harder until it was a complete downpour.  I jumped onto the first jeepney I could get and told the driver I wanted dropped off at F Torres (the street the gym is on).  By this time, the rain was coming down so hard, I couldn’t see where we were.  So when the driver pulled over and said we were at F Torres, I took his word for it.  I jumped off, looked around, and had no idea where I was.  The one thing I knew was that this wasn’t F Torres or anywhere near it.  I stood there for a minute or so, trying to decide what to do while my half-functioning umbrella only marginally protected me from the rain.  I finally decided to give up, so I crossed the street, at times walking through water that was up past my ankle. I hailed a jeepney going back home.  By this time, I was completely soaked, head to toe.  This time I wasn’t going to rely on the jeepney driver.  When I saw the road to where I live, I hopped off.  Except I was mistaken.  I got off too soon.  So I waited, getting even wetter and hailed another jeepney.  This time I got off at the right place and started the five minute walk back, getting even wetter on the way back, and sloshing through flooded streets.  I think this was the wettest I’ve been in my entire life!

Getting blessed:  One thing parents have their young children do here is to bless adults.  The child takes your hand and presses it against their forehead.  I’ve been blessed several times already.

Kuya Ed: Kuya Ed is what the kids in the playroom call me.  I’m pretty sure that Kuya means older brother.  And today I discovered a restaurant called Kuya Ed.

Vegetarian Food:  Filipino food might be the most un-vegetarian friendly food in the world.  So far I’ve only found one or two traditional filipino dishes that are vegetarian.  Even if you order something like vegetables and rice, they tend to put little pieces of meat in it.  There is one vegetarian restaurant in Davao though the food is Chinese. I went there today with a friend and we ordered 8 different bowls of food, 2 plates of rice, a couple of buns/rolls, and a liter of pepsi.  Cost…$4.50.  That’s total, not each.  The meal did end on a sad note.  As we were walking away from the table, I noticed a girl, about 10 years old, with a little plastic bag.  She want over to our table and began scooping our leftovers into her plastic bag.  I’m glad that she’s resourceful and that the restaurant let her do that; but still sad that that’s what she needs to do to eat.