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Living in the Bukid

Bukid actually translates as farm, but is usually used to mean "out in the sticks". Steve spent the week living in the bukid at the home of Walter, a language coach and yard worker of ours. Since the usual picture-taker (me) was not there, I'm afraid there aren't many pics of the experience, but there a few for you to see. This is Walter and his sister.

Steve standing in front of their small home. It was actually raining for a lot of the time he was there so they spent a lot of time inside talking. It was great language practice, and Steve made a LOT of progress in the one week there.
He slept on the floor in Walter's room - no bigger than a typical closet - on a little mattress he brought with. The toughest part of the week for him was the headaches he kept getting as a result of their lights (home-made kerosene lantern type things that emit strong fumes) and the large amounts of MSG they use in their cooking. But all in all it was a good experience, and we are both thrilled with the language process he made this week.
Our family is certainly glad to have daddy home now, and we are looking forward to doing some things together this weekend. Daddy and Mikayla are actually out on a date right now as I write this. I hope to get one with him later this weekend - or next - as well. :)

A little red in the face

No, I am not referring to a language or cultural faux paux that emabarrassed us (though there have been plenty of those. Maybe I will have to dedicate a post to those...) See, Steve is living with a friend this week out in the barrio in a little hut in the middle of nowhere. No electricity or running water - the way I spent my whole childhood. :) He is doing it to get in some good language practice and learn some more about the culture too. While I am thrilled about this great experience for him and excellent opportunity for language acquisition, it makes life exciting for me holding down the fort with our 3 little ones in our new country. Well, this evening I was surprised when the kids played together nicely upstairs with their toys for quite some time. So I was a more than a little surprised when they came down to get ready for bed and I saw this...

It ended up being from a can of that confetti spray in a can that had been left in the closet with their toys. It was an oily, greasy nightmare to get off - for both me and poor Ben! He had the stuff down IN his ear canals, not to mention every other crevice.

Hopefully we'll be able to post some pics from Steve's adventure this week later. Until then, please pray for our whole family this week! Thanks!

Public Transportation

I thought you may enjoy some pictures of various ways for getting around town. Public transportation is huge here because it is not that common to own your own vehicle. While you can find taxis in the city, jeepneys and tricycles are the way to go here in Lipa. Tricyles actually seem to be the most common of all here in Lipa, and these tiny motorcycle with sidecars heavily loaded with people and goods overwhelm the little streets.

Here you can see both tricycles (trikes) and pedicabs as well. Pedicabs are the variation of trikes that involve a lot more effort from the driver. They are usually cheaper, but they take longer too.
Another common form of transportation here in Lipa is the motocycle. While these vehicles are privately owned, the owner usually ends up giving rides to several people at once. Seeing whole families or groups of office mates on a single motorcycle is a common occurrence.

Jeepneys have become the icon in the Philippines. There were some US army Jeeps left over here after the war that the nationals transformed into what are now called Jeepneys. The style was so popular that manufacturing companies sprang up everywhere. These brightly-colored and loud (think musical horns blared often) vehicles are the common way to travel longer distances in the Philippines. It is unbelievable how many people they can squeeze into one Jeepney! The kids all absolutely love to ride on any public transportation here. Steve and I don't mind it, but would rather ride in our own vehicle with adequate head and feet room when we have the chance. Steve seems to think that the trikes were not designed with the height of an average American in mind...

The Coronation Ball - and a stampede!

Steve and I were invited by our neighbor to THE event in Lipa - The Coronation Ball for the Mutya (Princess) of Lipa 2006. It was a formal event, and Steve got to wear his formal Filipino shirt. It is called a Barong Tagalog, and it is the equivalent of a suit or tux here in the Philippines. Since I did not have a traditional Filipina dress, I wore a dress I had in my closet - after I took it to the seamstress 4 hours before the event to have it taken in (which cost $1). As you can tell, our helper had her first experience taking a picture here - it's just a little crooked.

This was the belle of the ball - the Mutya of Lipa 2006.

A group of dancers performed several beautiful cultural dances for all of us.After the coronation, all the elite of the city of Lipa were called out to participate in a cultural group dance. All the men were wearing Barong Tagalogs, and the women were wearing the cultural dress for women that has puffed sleeves that flatten at the top. They love bright colors, so it was a colorful parade.

After the processional, they all amassed in a large square and proceeded to do what looked like a variation of a very large square dance.

It was actually after this dance that the official ball was over, but that was when it really got exciting. See, there were around 400 people in attendance at the ball. The guests included all the elite and government officials of the city as well as several middle class. However the ball was held in an open-air plaza, and there was at least 5,000 people watching the proceedings from behind the barriers which were guarded by armed soldiers. We noticed the crowd continued to swell as the evening wore on, and the barriers kept getting closer and closer. Well, at 11:00, the coronation was over and they began to announce the various artists who would perform. When the announced the arrival of some guests who were former houseguests on the Filipino version of Big Brother, the crowd outside the barriers went wild and charged the stage, overrunning the tables and guests at the ball. The stampede was frightening to say the least, and I was afraid of what the armed soldiers may do to "protect" the mayor and senator who were in attendance. To our knowledge, no one was seriously injured (though several fell down) in the stampede. We were shoved around, people climbed up on our table, and pushed us out of our chairs so they could stand on them to see. We got out of there as quickly as we could at that point - the crowd was a little too excited and volatile for our liking. Thankfully, we survived the event and had some great cultural experiences too. But I may think twice before accepting an invitation to attend next year...

Mikayla can read!

Mikayla has learned to read since arriving here in the Philippines. She has several little books that she is able to read now, and she loves it. She will read to anyone who will listen to her, and her little brothers are prime candidates!

Our Time in Cebu

We had a wonderful time in Cebu visiting some dear friends. We went to an overlook over the city and got some cool pics.

Mikayla and Zach both had a wonderful time with Sarah and Nathan. It was the 1st time Zach has had a boy playmate his age, and they had a ball together. While having two 3-year-old boys together (not to mention the other 3 kids) was exciting at times, it was great to watch them having fun and they did very well too.
We got to visit a little zoo while we were there where we got to feed the baby monkeys. Even Mikayla got in on the action!
We also visited a little resort with a great pool. Mikayla perfected her dive, Zach got pretty brave at jumping off things, and Ben got pretty tired with all the action.
We had a wonderful time in Cebu and came back encouraged for our future ministry (we "talked shop" quite a bit). We dove right back into language study today, and we are busy catching up now on all the details of life. Thanks for your continued prayers on our behalf as we continue to press on.

The Ferry

We boarded the Super Ferry the day after Christmas for the 24-hour trip to the island of Cebu with more than a little trepidation. We were unsure of what accomodations we would find and whether or not we would get sick enroute (3 of us get sick in the back seat of a car!). I am happy to report that your prayers on our behalf were answered. Despite the storm we weathered, we did not get sick; and we did not even have to use the potable water, TP, or bathroom disinfectant we brought with because the accomadations were wonderful! And even if there had been a problem, we would not have had to use the lifevests we brought because there were plenty in our cabin. There was plenty of room on the deck for the kids to run and play - and we made sure they stayed far away from the edge because the railing was not very childproof.


There was even an indoor playground that the kids enjoyed. Mom and Dad weren't as crazy about it because of how noisy and crowded it was, but it was still nice to have.
Our cabin was great! Plenty of room and a great view of the passing islands. We had our own private bathroom, refrigerator, and TV (it didn't really work, but we can't complain.) The kids enjoyed using the little table for crafts and snack time too.

The food on board was great and very reasonable too. Mikayla and I even ventured up to the dining area to enjoy a mango shake and admire the view together while the boys napped.

Our Family Christmas

On Christmas Eve, we camped out as a family in the living room under the Christmas tree. The kids all got new p.j.s to wear to bed, we watched a Christmassy movie, ate popcorn, and drank hot cocoa. Ben lost his living room privileges when he could not stay still to sleep (next year maybe?), but we all had a wonderful time. It does make for a very EARLY Christmas morning though...

We continued the Jackson tradition of coffee cake for breakfast on Christmas morning (even used Mom's recipe), and we also continued the Hagen tradition of acting out the Christmas story. Zach loved his new puppy slippers. Don't know when he will use them in this heat, but he loves them all the same.
Ben loved opening presents this year.
Mikayla and Zach both got bikes for Christmas (we had to leave theirs in the States when we left). They have been having a ball driving them around our driveway.
We hope your Christmas was as merry as ours was. It was our first one away from our families, but it was also our first one with just our family. We had fun making new traditions and continuing old ones. God is good.

Team Christmas

On Christmas Eve, we had dinner as a team. We joined together with our colleagues here in our city for a great time of fellowship and food. Steve read the Christmas story, Uncle Kim read the kids a story, and the kids did some crafts.

Mikayla was thrilled with the gift from her friend, Kimberly. They now have 2 matching outfits AND a matching necklace! Mikayla and Kimberly have become good friends and enjoy playing together whenever they get a chance.This is our team. Together, we have the responsibility for planting churches in 2 different provinces. The rest of our team works in this province, and we will be working in the province of Bicol once we finish language study. There are 3 other couples on our team and several kids (most are older and away at school). The baby you see is on loan from a local orphanage for the holidays. She is enroute to her adoptive family in France.