Dear blog,

I’m sorry I’ve been away so long. I just had so much to do, and no internet connection in Manila. Here is a breakdown of my trip to that bustling, polluted, traffic-filled, shopping mall capitol of the Phils:

NUNS

The whole purpose of visiting Manila was picking up my Lola Fely from the airport, the sister of my grandmother, Lola Ofing, and attending the 60th Jubilee Celebration of Lola Dedding/Sister Isidore. WOW WOW WEE! Can you fathom this? 60 years as a nun! That’s an entire lifetime. Lola Dedding is 84 years old; she took her vows at 24 and worked as a cook in the convent, and trained many women after her to cook like she does. If you had any of the polveron she sent home with my dad, you’d know what I’m talking about! Her polveron is for REAL. Anyway, her Jubilee was a huge celebration at St. Joseph’s College in Manila, where there is a huge convent for the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. There were many other celebrants from all over the Philippines, but only two 60th or “Diamond” Jubilee celebrants. I’d go on and on about the mass, but the important thing is that the bishop gave a great homily about the beauty and strength of saying “yes” to God, and consequently, “no” to other good things, and that the celebrating sisters never looked more beautiful to him than on that day they celebrated 25, 40, 50, or 60 years of faithful service. And oh my gosh…my favorite part was the music. Have you ever heard a bunch of nuns sing together? The regular mass songs were beautiful enough, but when they sang the song dedicated to the founder of the order, I cried! Never have I seen as many nuns in one place as I did that day, and they really TRULY sounded like angels. They all stood for the song, and took up half the auditorium. And it was so beautiful, like a renewal of all of their vows and the pride they had in dedicating themselves to religious life. I remembered why I wanted to be a nun as a little girl! I have lots of respect for them.

We spent some more time with the nuns the next evening at dinner. I tell you, nuns know how to have fun, no matter what you might think about them being silent and always in prayer. Well, some orders are like that, contemplative…but not these nuns! They were all so jolly, some quiet, some loud, some sweet, but all easygoing and kind. Sister Josephini, the reverend mother at the convent, was chowing down on fried lechon and crab the whole time, complaining that no one else was eating as much as she was. We were all watching their big arowana fish for a while too, because Sister Aloysious, Aloy for short, fed it live goldfish, like she does every day! They say it knows her voice and is happy when she comes near…how can they tell?! Fish don’t smile…or DO they?

I can’t explain how nice it was to spend time with the sisters. You can just feel the peace of the Holy Spirit when you’re with people like that, you know? And I was so proud of Lola Dedding. What a simple, dedicated woman she is. And what a great cook!

SWIM, SWIM, SWIM

I’m a fish. If I could go swimming every day, I’d go twice. We stayed in my Uncle Ezer’s and Aunt Karen’s condo on Ortigas Blvd, where they live in a condo complex and have a beautiful pool and a clubhouse, where we actually attended mass last Sunday. It’s like resort in the middle of Manila! SO I swam. I swam and swam in the early morning, and I had the place all to myself. In a half hour, from 7:30 to 8 AM, I got tan lines. Heavenly.

COUPLES FOR CHRIST

Cool man. I got to see where the magic happens, the CFC Manila office, right down Ortigas Blvd from the condo. What made it great were two things: seeing friends and going shopping in the FLAME store. I bought SOOO many t-shirts! And I saw Xavy, his FIANCE (aw, wow!), Vania, Ate Bianca…but the others I know were out of the office, shucks. Made me want to extend too, because the CFC 25th Anniversary is June 25th! But I got something better going on the 25th of June. The baptism of my ina anak, Daniel Carlo! I miss you Daniel!!! So it was great to stop by and see how big the place is. Throughout the Philippines, there are 150 Youth for Christ fulltime mission workers. Hard to imagine, huh? There are even more for the other ministries, and something like 25 for Singles for Christ, the ministry that I belong to. Check out my pictures of the place; the mission and vision say everything good about the ministry!

GAWAD KALINGA

It’s finally happened. I got to go to a GK site in Pasig, one of the first ever built in the Philippines. GK, Gawad Kalinga, is to “give care” and is the social ministry work of CFC. They adopt a very poor community and go through a process of profiling, interviewing, building, employment training, and lots more, and when they’re done the residents of the community have brand new homes, running water, a C.R., and community activities to be involved in. I’m not explaining it very well, but you should check it out! I think the website is www.gawadkalinga.com. My visit was good—I asked one of the ftw’s, Iris (ha, I know!), to show Lola Fely and I around. She brought us to the home of the family she stayed with during one of her immersion trainings, and we asked her tons of questions. So, how has my perception of GK changed? I always imagined the sites very particularly. Like, the model that you see if you go to a GK fundraiser is a rectangular plot of land with a basketball court in the middle, with neat rows of colorful homes all around. The colorfulness is true, but the place I saw was built in the middle of the city, so it had a much more urban kind of feel. And I assumed that the livelihood, health, and education programs were universal in GK sites, which they are not. So I was a little bit disappointed, honestly, not to see all of that, but I guess understand that the needs of each community are different. Some communities are in the middle of Manila, and some are in the countryside, some have donated lands, and some do not. Some are more in need of medical services than others, or education and employment. But the good things are that the place is run by a council of original members of the community. They run and govern the villages. And they are not forced to join CFC either…there are even villages in Mindanao, and a fulltime GK worker who is actually Muslim and belongs to a rebel group. So to me, that’s very amazing; it says something about the program, that it can bridge gaps that big. So GK? I need to see more of it. All in all, it was a good visit, especially with the family that we met; it’s always good when you can connect with someone whose life is so different from yours.

OOPS! I’ve made it too long again. I know some of you won’t have made it this far, but thanks for reading if you did! It was a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live in Manila. Sure, the shopping is great and cheap (there are miles and miles of shopping malls I didn’t get to), but I need space and fresh air, nature, and less traffic!

One thing I noticed is that people don’t look twice when they see me there. I guess they’re more used to seeing tall white ladies than they are here in Bayombong?

Cliffhanger: This Sunday I am doing something I am half honored and half embarrassed to do. It involves a white wedding gown, flower girls, and a procession. So is it:

a. my wedding
b. my first communion
c. my turn to be Reyna Elena

Check your answer on Sunday!

Peace ya’ll, and God bless you!

Aleah