ECC Church Anniversary, June 26, 2005

About 6:30 Friday morning, June 24, 2005, I hailed a bus, climbed aboard, and found myself in front of a sea of eyes. I felt like I was in front of an audience because everyone one the bus seemed to be staring at me. The bus took me near to the Victory Liner bus station, which is where I go when I travel north. After around seven hours of bumping along on winding roads, I got off the bus at the Caltex gas station in Bambang where a friend was supposed to be waiting for me. Not seeing my friend, I walked inside to look, only to find myself in a rather barren looking place with just some supplies on one wall, a table with a chair in the center of the room, and a woman sitting behind a counter on the side. The lady asked me if I needed something. I explained that I was waiting for a friend to meet me. She told me to take my seat, and then helped me to watch. After my friend arrived and took me to where I was going (the CFM center), I told some friends there about why I had been waiting inside. They said, "Oh, they would never have let a Filipino wait inside." Then I got to thinking that people must not be allowed to go into gas stations here. And I just walked in like I owned the place! Filipino's are very gracious people!

On Saturday, I spent time with my friend and visited the provincial capital of Nueva Vizcaya, Solano. On Sunday, I went to the ECC church anniversary, and feasted on tons of delicious Filipino food. Then on Monday, I took the bus home in time to be able to go to my first class, which started at 6pm.

The following eight pictures are some that I took when I was in the north this weekend.

Here is an illustration of Filipino humor: Walter Mart! They also have a Red Ribbon restaurant in the Philippines. Sorry, the bus windows were dirty. I took this picture just outside of Manila.

I waited for a bus back to Manila at this rattan craft shop, which is owned by the mayor's wife. I met both of them there, and they were very kind. Unfortunately for them, people take advantage of them by always stopping at their house to eat. It must get quite expensive to always be feeding unexpected visitors.

I'm fascinated by the streets here. I took this picture from Chow King in Solano, the capitol of Nueva Vizcaya.

This is another kind of vehicle that appears to be used for public transportation.

This is the at the church anniversary that I went to in the province of Nueva Vizcaya.

There's always tons of food at a celebration in the Philippines. Notice the children scraping up the frosting after the cake had all been eaten.

When someone has a birthday in the Philippines, they usually invite some of their relatives over for dinner. It can be extremely expensive because Filipino families are large, and second and third cousins are almost as important as first cousins and siblings. Of course, if they don't want to go in debt for their birthday, they don't have to invite everyone. This is a small birthday celebration that I went to in Bambang.

I was in the northern Philippines again this weekend for a church anniversary. I was riding an a jeepney when I spotted the sign "SPOKANE USA" on the back of another jeepney! I was very excited and shocked because Spokane is my hometown!

Here I am in the famous Rizal Park in Manila.

Chinese Garden in Rizal Park, Manila

Sleeping in the Chinese Garden in Rizal Park, Manila.

Here's a group of people riding with some pigs that are probably on their way to the market. I took this from the jeepney headed towards Kiangan.

I took this from the jeepney we took part of the way to the Bible dedication in Kiangan.

Breakfast with Bong, Tim, and Bob in Kiangan before going to the Bible dedication. The food here is typical Filipino food: rice, vegetables (squash leaves and tomatoes), a little meat, and some soup broth on the side. Notice the sign on the wall behind us that reads, "CR (comfort room=rest room) THIS WAY."

Upon arriving in Kiangan for the Bible dedication, I found out that my name is "U" because several people called out "hey, you" when they saw me. Filipino's often greet foreigners when they see them. To a white guy, they'll say, "Hi, Joe!" To a girl, they might say "Hi, ma'am," "Hi, sister, where are you going?" "Hi, you," or whatever else they happen to say.

Many people danced and sang at the Bible dedication. These are children performing a traditional dance.

dancers in traditional clothing

dancing

dancing

Many people spoke at the Bible dedication. Most of them spoke in English. The mayor is speaking in this picture.

This is at the Tuwali Bible dedication. There were Bibles ready to be sold for only 100 pesos (less than 2 USD) primarily because of donations received from a church in Hong Kong. You can also see my friend Mark from CanIL that I ran into in this picture.

They had to butcher twelve pigs to feed all the people who showed up for the Bible dedication, and especially those who showed up after the dedication to eat the food. They even served the lungs and liver (or was it the stomach?).

The people who live in this town must have been shocked to see so many foreigners trudging down the street after the Bible dedication.

This town was the location for the Tuwali Bible dedication.

On our way to Kiangan Shrine.

Kiangan Shrine. We went here after the Bible dedication on June 4, 2005.

Kiangan Shrine in Ifugao.

View from Kiangan Shrine in Ifugao.

View from Kiangan Shrine.

View from Kiangan Shrine.

Left to Right: Bong, Bob, me, Jean (also a mother tongue translator who is studying applied linguistics at AGS), Tim, and a Korean couple with their two kids on top of Kiangan Shrine.

On the left is Bob, and on the right is Tim who came from Vietnam to study at AGS. That's me in the middle. We're standing on top of Kiangan Shrine in Ifugao.

I took this on the bus back to Manila. Maybe it was part of Santa Fe.

That's Tim from Vietnam in the stocking cap that he wore all day even though it was very hot, Bob trying on a visor (not something I've ever seen him use any other time), and me riding with them on a jeepney. The plastic tarp behind us is down because it was raining.

View from the bus between Bagabag and Bambang.

Street in Bambang.

View from Jolibees in Solano.

Eating Halo Halo with Sarah (Bob took this picture).

In a tricycle.

Here's a couple of kids in the river behind CFM in Bambang.

As I stood outside at the market in Bamgang waiting for my good friend Bob to finish buying the food, people kept staring at me with wide eyes. It was quite amusing.

The market in Bambang.

In Bombang.

Two kids I met at CFM in Bamgang in front of a mango tree.

A street in Bambang.

The hut. Sometimes we ate lunch here because this was the coolest place to sit, and we almost always ate outside.

Hanging from a mango tree at CFM in Bambang.

These are the people I stayed with at the CFM (missions) center in Nueva Vizcaya. From the left, the white guy was the missionary to the village Nansiakan. He was visiting for several weeks. Beside him is Daphney, one of the Mother Tongue Translators from a different village (she happened to be visiting), and also one of my classmates in the applied linguistics program at AGS. Next is Bong and his wife M. S, who is sitting across from Margie, is also B's niece. Then there's my good friend B. M, S, and B are working on finishing the translation of the Old Testament into their language, Kalanguya. In this picture, were at a restaurant eating for less than $1.00 USD per plate. The whole order, including the Pancit and the two liters of pop came to about $9.00 USD for all 7 of us!

A view from the road to the village.

Here's a view from the road to Nansiakan.