The big trip

Oops, I have let the blogging slide abit since leaving the Philippines. I didn't really have much of a chance in Singapore, there were a few cafes dotted about but there was alot to see aswell as catching up with Mark after not seeing him for three weeks!

I am surprised that it is so difficult to find internet cafe in New Zealand, this is only the 2nd one I have seen after being here over a week. It was so easy to find internet cafes in the Philippines and I assumed it would be that easy everywhere. I am going to catch up with all the missing entries at a later date as I forgot to bring my diary!

We have nearly finished our New Zealand exploration part of our trip, even though we only had the North Island do, it feels like we have just seen a fraction of it all. But what we have seen has been fab...

It was no joke - we set our alarm for 4:30am and when we went downstairs at 5am, quite a few people were there, even Nanay Marlyn's sister with a guitar! Then there was cake - I'm not one to turn down food but I struggled to eat that early! We went back to bed at 5:45am when most people left.

So, it is our last full day today. We are writing our last blog entries from the Philippines before going downtown for the last time and then to the orphanage for the last time. Then it is our farewell dinner tonight. It feels like we have only been here a week!

I don't think it has quite sunk in yet but I think it will when we leave the orphanage for the last time later... In hindsight, it would have been nice to stay for longer as we have enjoyed both our homestay and our work placement but then it would have been even harder to leave.

I am really sad to be leaving here but I am really, really looking forward to seeing Mark, I meet him off the plane in Singapore on Saturday at 7:45am (local time). This has been the longest we have been apart in 11 years and I've missed him!

Last day working at the orphanage today. We are going to pop in on Thursday (our day off) to say goodbye but I think we are just delaying the inevitable as I reckon there will be tears and not just from the kids. We took easter themed colouring sheets and sweets for them.

We asked if we could take some photos of the kids as it was our last day and Matt (the other volunteer who works there) thought that they would agree but the head nun said no. We were really disappointed as we just want some pictures to remember them by. It might be an idea to get Matts email address in case he has more luck than we do and manages to get some.

Went to Bo's again for a couple of hours and then back to the house so Joy could have her afternoon nap!

It is Nanay Marlyns birthday tomorrow and we got her a little gift of a glass candle holder which we had to wrap in bubble wrap and brown tape as we didn't think to get any paper. Also found out that is tradition to get up at 5am to sing 'happy birthday' - I thought it was a joke!

Still no sign of Albert at work - it is sad to think I might not see him again but visiting him in the hospital would be upsetting to him I think, especially when we have to leave him there. No classes this week due to Holy Week (the run up to Easter) so it is just one long playtime with the kids, kinda nice for our last few days.

Went downtown afterwards and sat in Bo's Coffee shop for hours, it was great place to chill out (literally) because the water is ice cold, it is airconditioned and there are magazines to read.

A house mother at the orphanage had asked us to buy some floor cleaner as it is quite expensive so we bought that today as well as some other baby bits - doesn't feel like a very exciting donation but if they need it, it's good.

Happy anniversary Mum and Dad! 30th wedding anniversary today :o)

Worked this morning and we got in as the kids were finishing their prayers. Got loads of hugs when they were finished which makes me sad knowing its our last week. Also found out Albert has gone to hospital as he was vomiting blood, I hope he is OK, might try to find out where so I can visit. Or will this just upset him? I don't know.

No classes for the kids this week as it is holidays but playing is more exhausting than teaching!

Joy and and I went for lunch with the doctor that goes to the orphanage today to his sisters fast food restuarent - Joy ate a whole chicken practically! He seemed nice and friendly and also managed to get himself invited to our leaving dinner by Nanay Marlyn when he dropped us off!

Also - discovered that I have a hyper-sensitivity to mosquito bites -hurrah! Got 8 new bites in the last 24 hrs (in addition to the 15ish I already had) and (stop reading if you are eating or drinking!) now they have started to blister and a ridiculously large area around each one has gone bright, bright red! Yep, this is even though I am using repellant that is meant to be extra strong. Man, my legs look gross...

Another day off and I miss those kids. What am I going to be like when we leave?

We got up late and had breakfast at around 10:30am. Decided to say farewell to Stefan before going downtown but we all ended up going for lunch at a Filipino/Indian restaurant. As I had just eaten breakfast, I just had ice-cream! We then went to the airport to see him off and Joy and I were both thinking - it's us next :o(

Had another ice-cream stop on the way home!

Popped downtown to get some bits, screwdriver for the bubble gun and batteries for the camera as we had found out that the nuns sometimes allow photos to be taken of the kids and we wanted to make sure the battery didn't die for this...

Today we went to a beach that I can't remember the name of! I know we went through Tacloban Golf course and another house that Imeda Marcos built was there though! Anyway, it was a day out with our 'sponsored kids', these are mainly local children. We had met ours around the centre a few times and asked if a few of their friends could come too and also a few of the volunteers came along. The beach was lovely and the sea was beautiful to swim in, the waves weren't as rough as the last beach we went too. Joy was determined to get a tan but ended up going a little pink after falling asleep in the sun (she has gone brown now luckily!).

My cough still felt pretty bad and it was stopping me from sleeping but I hoped the day out would help. (OK I just wanted to go to the beach!) Also started to get earache everytime I coughed or swallowed - I'm falling apart!

In the evening, we went to watch Shay-Shay and Salvie (who are in the family we stay with) in their school show. Then we made a late entrance to Stefans (a Dutch volunteer who lives in Japan) leaving dinner and drunk some tuba - it is good but not without coke!

The VFV organised an excursion for us on the 31st and as we would usually work on that day, we made up the hours today and worked ALL day! Don't laugh - but we were knackered! Got there at 7:30am and had usual class etc and then we went downtown for lunch to Matts 2nd home - Shakeys. We hadn't been there before which was good and the pizza was yummy! Back to work for 2pm and there was a doctor there visiting the kids. We got talking and he invited all three of us to lunch at his sisters fast food joint the following Monday.

A new kid arrived at the orphanage this week - Albert who is about 3 years old. He is really worried looking and I picked him up this morning as he was crying. I couldn't put him down for the rest of the day as he would start crying again so I spent all day with him, even when he saw the doctor, he wouldn't let go of my hand. I tried to get him to play with the other kids which he did but always came back to see me every few minutes. About 1/2 hr before leaving for the day, I put him in his cot and he literally screamed the place down. I had to hide round the corner to avoid upsetting him even more when he saw me. I know I should have put him down sooner really so he didn't get used to me but it is so hard when they are upset. Sometimes it feels like you are making things worse when you leave a kid crying. I want to add him to the list of kids to take home.

I never thought I would say that staying in bed til 8am is a lie-in but compared to 6am, it is! It was our day off today so we just mooched around in the morning, then went downtown for shopping and internet cafe etc. Decided to go to the cinema, only Ghost Rider was showing but neither of us had seen it which was cool and it was just 25pesos each which is about 25p! Bumped into another volunteer in town so he came with us. Made the mistake of sitting too near the air con so couldn't hear that much of the sound during the non-action parts but still enjoyed it on the whole! Bumped into a couple more volunteers afterwards in Dunkin Donuts...and found out that one of them had Ghost Rider on DVD! Never mind.

There are 6 volunteers from the VFV in Bliss at the moment and judging by the huge pile of welcome packs that we helped sort, the org is getting more well known which is good.

We also bought some DVDs for the family and ended up watching Cars in the evening. The kids fell asleep but we enjoyed it!

We were due to watch a dance competition today as some of the local girls were going to enter and they are really good - but unfortunately we found out this had been cancelled at the last minute. As we had re-arranged to go into work in the afternoon instead of the morning, we spent the morning in one of the local internet cafes, catching up with our emails and blogs. This seemed to make the day go fast...

Slept really well after sea air last night but it is still a struggle to get up at 6am. But even Nanay Marlyn got up at 4am instead of 3am as usual so I don't feel too bad!

Talking to Bella at the orphanage and she asked if I wanted to adopt a child - not sure if it was said lightheartedly or not but I have to admit it had crossed my mind! Some of the kids go home to their families after they are healthy again which is great. Still unsure about whether it would be right to take a kid away from their country but if they have no family here would that make it OK? It is very confusing and quite emotional thinking about leaving some of the kids....

Felt rough today, my cough isn’t getting better and I had a sore throat and couldn’t breathe very well – just generally felt exhausted.

Work was hard this morning, we hadn’t prepared any worksheets and just had colouring sheets but the pencils and crayons we brought in last week had all gone walkies – I think some of the kids take them and hide them which is understandable I suppose as they are not used to having stuff.

Should have given blood today but the 1 year tattoo rule is still in force over here unlike at home where only have to wait 6 months – I felt really disappointed as Bella had specifically as me to give some as the orphanage are getting low on supplies… It was the first time I’d regretted getting it done as it meant I couldn’t help.

After tea, we went for a family walk to the Astrodome which is near the sea, the breeze was gorgeous and I could’ve fallen asleep there and then on a bench as I was so tired…

We had an excursion arranged by the VFV org today, to see some of the local sights and go to the beach - hooray! It was an early start at 8:30am but we had lots to fit in...There were 5 of us volunteers, some of the families we are staying with and people from the VFV and we had a jeepney at our disposal for the day...

1st stop was a shrine built by Imelda Marcos (Santo Nino Shrine) between 1979-81, with many guest rooms, all themed. It was all very elaborate and a little indulgent considering she never actually stayed there. Interesting to look at though.

Next we went to a mountain (OK - a hill – but it was very steep!) that had different representations (about 7) of Jesus leading up to the crucifixion all the way up. At the top, was a 17ft high statue (approx) and a great view of the City and the sea beyond - typically our camera battery ran out here!

We then drove to and out on the San Juanico Bridge, which connects different islands - Tacloban City (Leyte side) and Sta. Rita town (Samar side). Managed to revive the camera here luckily as the views were fab.

Then we went back to Bliss to pick up the food for the afternoon and made our way to the beach. On the way, we saw Macarthur Landing Memorial - the spot where General Douglas MacArthur landed with the American Liberation Forces in 1944. The statues of the liberators stand in a lagoon, 1.5 times bigger than lifesize. It is also the site of the 50th Leyte Landing Anniversary Commemorative Rock Garden of Peace. (I copied that last bit from http://www.wowphilippines.com.ph as I couldn’t remember the details!)

After all this sight seeing we were ready to eat! As usual Nanay Marlyn had cooked up a feast and we ate well! Then I had a glass of tuba before going in the sea for hours! The sea was really was as you would expect but some of the waves were enough to knock you over! I was trying to help Twinkle to swim but it was difficult with all the waves…

By the time we went home, everyone was falling asleep in the jeepney and I reckon we all slept well that night!

Saturday morning at the orphanage – no classes and just playing outside, this was fun but very hot! I spent most of the morning looking after a baby called Mary Joy, less than a year old I think but she is quite small. Feeding her was slow work as she has a cleft palate but she really need to put on weight. I think she must have got used to the comfort of having someone there as she cried quite a lot when I put her down.

It was Nanay Marlyn and her husband John’s 32nd wedding anniversary today. To celebrate, loads of food was cooked and everyone was invited to the house. The party had already started when we got home from work at about 1:30pm! We tried two new things today: tuba (local alcohol) and karaoke! We had heard about tuba all week and finally got a chance to try it, mixed with coke – not bad at all and definitely got better the more you drunk! Good job there was plenty of food too or I might have got drunk quite quickly! And yes, we actually sang on the karaoke machine. It is really popular here and it really is easier to sing than say no! Joy was quite up for it though – I didn’t sing any on my own but once she got going, there was no stopping her and I have photos to prove it! Party went on till 9:30/10pm, not late by any means but you try eating, drinking and singing for 8 hours in this heat!

All I can remember about today is that we went to work in the morning! Neither Joy or I can remember what else we did.

I do know that I need to remember to take some photos and upload them soon though...