the winds of change

Allan and I recently discussed how we think the family is adjusting to living here in the Philippines. Everyone appears to be happy, but if during the current political uprising they were to throw us out, I am not sure there would be many tears. So I was a little surprised yesterday with a comment made by Will. I was trying to catch a few headlines on Fox News. The Fox News channel is a live feed from the US and often there are strange things on during our day (the US night). This was definitely true on Saturday afternoon. The guest of this news interview was the head of a group that would like to form a Christian nation in South Carolina. The words at the bottom of the screen read--"All Christians to move to South Carolina". I know that if Em had been here, she probably would have headed off to pack her suitcase. Thank goodness she was off swimming at a birthday party. During this story though, Will came into the room to chat and after a few minutes noticed these words on the TV. His response--"Awww, do we have to move back to South Carolina? I haven't spent enough time with Lawrence and my new friends yet." I was so surprised that I couldn't even answer him. This wasn't Idaho or Nebraska--places he's never been, but his former home state that he loves. I guess that tells us more than anything else that Will is adjusting to life here. I felt a little torn-- of course I was very happy that he is happy and content a world away from "home", but also a little sad that one day that will no longer be his "home". He will return to the US and long for a place that currently seems to us a little strange and different. I just didn't think it would begin to happen so soon.

Top 10 things to do during a State of Emergency or coup attempt

10. Brush up on your small arms identification skills
9. Drive through roadblocks with a wave and a smile to the guards
8. Learn new Tagalog words for political instability
7. Review your favorite verses in the Bible about God being in control of everything
6. Setup your email to auto-respond with “Yes, we are OK”
5. Write a blog about fun things to do during a coup attempt
4. Make sure you have enough coffee in the house to outlast a coup attempt
3. Pray for your country because real lives and livelihoods are at stake
2. Minister to the poor of metro Manila as always

and the number one thing to do during a State of Emergency or coup attempt . . .
1. Send your kids off to their friends and enjoy a date with your wife

Why can't Tagalog be more like English?

Why can't Tagalog be more like English ? ! . . . Adapting as a missionary means, among other things, learning a new language. For the past few months, this has been our struggle. Learning, trying, misunderstanding, mis-speaking, and often provoking laughter at our expense. This is my first experience learning a new language. What I am learning is that language involves much more than the direct interpretation of the words said - - in my mind, I knew this to be true. I certainly have been told this in our preparation for missionary service. But now . . . now it is more than "in my mind". It is a daily part of life, trying to understand more than what words are being spoken but also what is meant by those words. In the few months of language study, I have gained some grammer skills, a moderate amount of vocabulary, and even some cultural viewpoints. Now, with a basic sentence, I can generally "reverse-engineer" the sentence into an English sentence. Whether that English sentence means the same as the Tagalog sentence is a completely different thing.

Scott tells the story of a fellow missionary who was studying Tagalog at the same time as him. This missionary's favorite quote was "Why can't Tagalog be more like English"? I am learning the answer: Because it simply is not English and sometimes you just can't state the same thought in English terms.
posted by Allan

Are the stars out tonight?

This time last year, the kids and I were studying astonomy during school; in particular stars and constellations. One thing I miss about homeschooling is teaching the Science and Social Studies. I think I always learned more than the kids. Before our space xploration, I could find the little and big dipper, but that was about it.
One cold night in February, we took a family outing to the planetarium at USC in Columbia. While the planetarium show was great, afterwards they opened up the obsevation tower and telescope. It was a clear cold South Carolina night and so we saw all kinds of planets and stars through the telescope. The professor then took us out on the observation deck and showed us how to find different constellations. It was then that I was introduced to a new friend--Orion. There he was in the sky, the mightly hunter. I enjoyed seeing him throughout the spring. Unfortunately, seasons change and Orion moved to his summer home while we moved to the Philippines.
The stars shine in the Philippines too, but with pollution and lights, the stars aren't very visible in Metro Manial. Thankfully we are outside of the city and we have a hill blocking most of the city lights from our house. Often the sky is deep and dark and the stars are bright and beautiful here. Some evenings I enjoy going out onto the balcony or the roof and looking at the stars. It was in late December that I saw my friend again. There in the night sky, bow raised in the hunt was Orion. Being in the northern hemisphere, I shouldn't have been surprised to see him, but I was. I was more than surprised, I was overcome. It made me feel closer to home to think that the same stars lighting up the sky here tonight will soon shine above my parents house in Pine Mountain, GA. So if you find yourself outside on one of these cold winter nights, look up. There is a friend of mine up there. When you see him, pray for us and remember we aren't too far away from you.
Ginger

Mudslides in the Philippines

The Philippines is plagued with natural disasters in many forms from typhoons to volcanoes to earthquakes, but none seem to be quite as tragic and deadly as the mudslides. Unfortunately in many ways they are a by-product of the other disasters. Yesterday a whole town slid down a mountain into a pile of mud, sludge, and rubble below. Almost all of a town of 2,000 is presumed dead, including all the young children at the local elementary school.

It seems in recent years the world has gone from one natural disaster to another. How many times can we watch destruction in a land far from our own and not become numb to those images? Unfortunately those images in the last 24 hours have been from a land far from the US, but one that has become our home. The faces of women and men being pulled from the mud look like the faces of our neighbors and friends. Although many islands South East of us, it could have just as easily been down the street. As the news moves from the town of Guinsaugon on Leyte island to other parts of the world, please remember to pray for the families who have lost loved ones.

In an aside from the above tragedy, the island of Leyte played a famous role in American history. In 1944, the waters off Leyte island were the scene of the biggest naval battle in history. General Douglas MacArthur fulfilled his promise "I shall return" and defeated Japanese forces occupying the Philippines. You can see more about this at http://www.defenselink.mil/home/features/Leyte/

A whole new language--part 2

Scott reminded me last night that I left off the most obvious addition to our new expressions. I hate to tell you this, but we no longer use the bathroom. Here in the Philippines we go to the CR. In case you are wondering, that stands for comfort room. In a few years, we are going to have to go through some serious adjustments upon re-entry to the US. Can you imagine the looks I would get if I asked the local Greenwood Walmart stockboy where the CR is? Oh well hopefully the American terms will again flow from my mouth. As for now--"When in Rome...."

A whole new language

I find that we have a whole new language here in the Philippines. I am not referring to the obvious Tagalog, but the new English words and expressions we have picked up. Things that sounded strange and a little silly are beginning to come out of my mouth. I heard myself ask Emily this afternoon where my tsinellas were. Tsinellas (pronounced "chi" nillas) is the word for rubber flip flops. It is the shoe of choice for most Filipinos. It was also a word I thought I would never remember when we moved here. The kids and I keep a pair just inside each outside door. Being an Asia country, we almost always remove our shoes when we walk in the door so we keep a pair handy for those quick trips out into the yard or to the Nelsen's. Until recently I would have asked Em where my shoes or flip flops were. She is known to grab mine when hers are missing and she wants to run out--when did her feet get almost as big as mine??? Ok, so I freely admit I have also borrowed hers a time or too.

Besides tsinellas I also find my self referring to air conditioning as "the aircon". As in-- the "aircon" in our car really needs to be fixed before hot season arrives in full force. Hopefully that will be done next week.

The phrase that I have picked up that drives Allan crazy is calling the refrigerator "the ref". I really don't want to call it the ref, but I hear it so often that it just flys out of my mouth with out me having any say so over the matter. I am sure there are other things we have also picked up. There are a few mid-western phrases the Nelsen's use that I am sure to be saying before too long. Of course they may be "fixin' " to pick up a few of our southern-isms as well. Our accents seem to provide much entertainment and comments--not among the Filipinos, but among other missionaries.

Happy Valentines Day!

I hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day. One of the great things about living in the Philippines is that I get to spend a good portion of each day with Allan. After the last 3 years of residency, this is one of the biggest changes in our lives. In was not uncommon during residency to only see Allan for 30-40 minutes during dinner on the days he was on call. But, the very nature of that environment breeds close relationships among the other wives of residents. I still miss all of our friends at Self Regional, alot of whom are now scattered across the US. Most nights we eat dinner with just the 4 of us instead of eating at the hospital with the other families. There are times during the last 3 1/2 years that I thought residency would never end, but that life seems a lot longer ago than the 6 months we've been here.
Most days, I get to spend most of it with Allan. I enjoy helping him in the clinic and eating lunch together. While we dislike the work involved in studying Tagalog, it has bonded us together and created many inside jokes and sayings. So yesterday, we enjoyed a nice lunch with Scott and Cindy for Valentine's Day. It was great to get out and have a fun date at the authentic Filipino restaurant---TGIFridays. Ok so maybe it isn't exactly Filipino, but it was Yummy!
In case your interested in an update on our weather, it seems our "winter" is coming to an end. While the US has been experiencing record snow falls in parts of the Northeast, the temps have returned back to the high 80s with very little breeze. I guess it's time to dig back out the hanky I carry to the clinic to mop the sweat off my face. I have to say, it was hard for me to wrap my mind around summer all year and so I brought a few long sleeved items just in case. While the kids have worn theirs, I have only worn my 3/4 length lightweight cotton shirt once and no long sleeves. As I stuck my favorite pair of sweat pants in a shipping box last year, Allan said that he wanted to see the day I wore them. I guess that day will not be this year. Maybe my blood will thin and by next January I will freeze just a little. I do miss wearing sweats and my twin sweater sets. I still feel like it is August.

It's a Boy!

There is one person who is invaluable to our life here--our Filipina nurse, Ling Ling. She keeps the clinic running, taking care of the day to day details. She also deals with the business/ legal/governmental side of the clinic(often a big headache). She is often a translator for Allan, but one of the most important things she does is give us insight into the Filipino culture. She has an understanding of the mindset of our patients and we love her dearly. Saturday morning, she gave birth to her 3rd child--a boy. Mom and baby are doing well! Kuya (a term of respect for a big brother) Dan Joseph is thrilled to no longer be the baby.






Finally got this picture to upload. Here is the newest addition to the Quisquino family. Hopefully I can let you know the baby's name later when Mom and Dad make their final decision.

Life changing events in the Philippines

Two important life changing events took place this weekend in the Philippines. If you have watched the news this weekend, perhaps you have seen the report of the stampede that took place outside of a Manila stadium Saturday morning. Over 70 people were crushed to death as they waited with over 30,000 others for a gameshow. The gameshow was having its anniversary celebration show. The contestants were to be chosen from the audience; ending with a raffle for a jackpot worth 1,000,000 pesos-- just over $20,000 US. The politicians and media have been reporting that this incident was caused by poverty. That these poor impoverished people were there waiting for a chance to change their lives. While poverty is a huge, horrific problem here, I don't think it is the only reason people showed up--just look at the turn out in the US for American Idol auditions. We all want a chance to get something more, something for nothing. If only these people had known that in a stadium across town, a life changing opportunity was being given for free to everyone who entered the stadium. Franklin Graham is here this weekend for the Franklin Graham Metro Manila Festival. Hope is being offered to this city crushed by poverty --"We want to encourage Filipinos that there is hope, and that hope is in Jesus Christ. It starts with your family and your work, and spreads to the government and then to the nation."(Billy Graham Evangelistic Association)

Happy Cinese New Year!

Did you know last week end was Chinese New Year? I can't say I ever really knew when Chinese New Year came in the states, but we now live in Asia where there are pockets of Chinese everywhere. As soon as the Christmas decorations came down, Chinese lanterns and red and gold decorations came out. Ok so the decorations were not nearly as many as Christmas, but enough that we knew what was coming. Also since our own New Years, we have been made aware by TV and people adn our own kids that this is the year of the dog! IN the US the only time I know what the Chinese year was is when I read it on the placemat at the local chinese restaurant. In case you aren't aware, Chinese New Year is a big deal in Asia.
Yesterday at our clinic lunch we had a Chinese New Year dessert called tikoy. I am not sure if this is traditional in China or just here in the Philippines, but it is a dessert made from sticky rice that looks like a pie made from tofu. Just before eating it is into thin slices, dipped in egg, and seep fried. I thought it was ok, Allan didn't like it. We prefer some of the Filipino sticky rice better--Al's favorite is bico.

Here I am to Worship

Last week, I had the opportunity to teach 6 year olds at a conference for homeschooling families living in Asia. So, I left Allan and the kids behind and traveled with 5 other ladies from Manila to Chiang Mai, Thailand. We had the weekend before the conference started to get prepared and do a little sightseeing. Chiang Mai is beautiful and there are wonderful things to see and do there.
For those of you who are not familiar with Thailand and the Thai people, they have been a kingdom since the 13th century and are proud of the fact that they have never been ruled by a western power. Chiang Mai itself is a 700 year old city complete with a moat around the old city with portions of the old city wall still intact. The architecture is ornate and the temples are golden. To be Thai is to be Buddhist and there has been great resistance to the gospel. Only 1.62% of the population is Christian. In a country of 65 million that is less than 1 million Christians. Often those who chose to follow Christ risk rejection, abandonment and ridicule from their families.
The Sunday we were in Chiang Mai, we had the privilege of worshipping at a Christian orphanage. The purpose of this orphanage is not to adopt out the kids, but...... "to provide spiritual development based on the Bible, basic education, primary health care and the utmost moral guidance as they grow. We believe the Lord has called us to raise up an army for His Kingdom in Thailand, and to be a beacon for the Lord wherever we are. We are committed to establish the careers of these children by creating jobs and micro enterprises and to train them into "tentmakers" and full-time servants for the ministry." This orphanage houses nearly 100 kids, many of whom have accepted Jesus as their Savior. We had a wonderful time of praise as we joined in the singing of many familiar choruses. It was very cool to be singing in English along with the children and teenagers singing in Thai.

It soon became obvious that the women I was with were taken with the worship of one 8 year old girl. She had her arms lifted in praise as she sang the words from her heart. We had the joy of hearing her share her testimony later in the service. Her mother had died when she was 4, her father, sick himself, left her with her grandmother before they too both died. She had come to the orphanage when she was 6. She was thankful that God had brought her here, for it was here that she learned of His love. When she finished her emotional story, there wasn't a dry eye among us. There are more Christians in this humble place than in a nearby city of 100,000. I Pray that these kids and teenagers will rise up and change Thailand for Christ. I know my relationship with the Lord was deepen that day through their honest, heartfelt worship.

Wish You Were Here!

Today was an almost perfect day in the Philippine Islands! There was a great breeze with temps in the upper 70s, and the sun sparkling all around. The air was so clear and free of pollution that we could see the mountains on the other side of Manila. It felt like a day in mid May in Georgia. We decided to spend the afternoon at the new pool at the kids school. A Korean businessman donated the money for the pool and it just opened up this week. I know we will enjoy it in the months to come! So while you are bundled up tight against winter's chill, we are enjoying the great outdoors. As wonderful as today was, summer is coming--well actually it's always here and it is just soon going to get worse. So, we won't want to hear about your weather come April and May--that is hot season.

A view of Metro Manila from the pool at Faith Academy.
These buildings can actually disappear some days due to smog.

Eating out

Sunday as we were leaving church, a woman handed Will a red envelope filled with McDonald's coupons. In case you are thinking this is a strange thing to be handing out in church let me explain that our church building is not what you would consider a "church". Being a city of over 12 million people who live close together, land in Manila is not abundant. Therefore many churches meet in non-traditional (at least non-American traditional) buildings. It is not uncommon for churches to meet in a movie theatre, an open air building, the atrium of a mall, or an unused floor in a building. The church we attend meets on the unused 4th floor of a kind of mall. It is actually a tiangge (pronounced chan-gay) which is a bunch of small cubicles that sell different types of things from clothes, shoes, pearls(a Filipino specialty) and jewelry, to home decor, toys, and well just stuff. It kind of reminds me of walking through booths at the homeschool convention I went to in Atlanta a few years back. So if you have been to a convention or a fair where there are different people set up selling things then you have the idea. Each Sunday we hike up to the 4th floor for services. There is one elevator, but there is always a line so we choose to walk(Allan makes us) . "It's good for us!" When church is over the tiangge is just opening up and so we leave through the mall. So now you see why Will got McDonald's coupons at church.
The purpose in telling you all of this is not about the mall and churches though that may be interesting, but to tell you about some of the restaurants we have here. We have many chains from the US that you would know, like Mickey d's, but we also have some restaurants that flopped in the US, but are thriving abroad. Remember Kenny Rodger's Roasters? We had one of those in Atlanta about 10 years ago. Also Shakey's Pizza is alive and well here too. We had one of those in Virginia when I was a kid growing up. We do have restaurants that you might find yourself eating at in your hometown: Wendy's (Will's favorite), Pizza Hut, KFC, and of course McDonald's. Also there is an Outback, a TGIFridays, and a Chili's. The fast food joints tend to be cheaper here than in the US, while the others are comparable in price--making them expensive here. If you think you will walk into Wendy's and order your favorite combo meal from the States, you would be right, but there are also more choices to appeal to the Filipino taste. Every restaurant offers rice. You can even get some combos with rice as opposed to fries. At most restaurants you can get your pizza or burger with a side of Spaghetti. Some of the things we have tried and liked are--Shrimp sandwiches at Wendys and the Grilled shrimp and mango salad at Pizza Hut--while the taste of this salad is great we have since eliminated this from our diet. Twice it has caused a little stomach upset we think due to the washing of the salad greens. We actually choose to rarely eat salads out for this reason.
One big adjustment for us has been the lack of free refills at most places. Some restaurants will allow you to pay an extra fee for a "bottomless" drink, but most do not. Below you can see a few of the coupons in Will's package and also the Pizza Hut ad for Spam pizza. By the way on a humorous note, the phone # for Pizza Hut is 911-11-11. Will thinks it is truly an emergency #. It saves him from having to eat rice!


Yummy Spam Pizza! Available with Chicken, and Spaghetti

















"Would you like some rice with that?"



Also the bottom one proves there are normal combo meals


Click on them to see them larger

Another Christmas Story

I know Christmas is long past, but I wanted to share this picture over the holidays and just never did. On Thursday mornings at the clinic, our Filipina nurse, Ling Ling leads a ladies bible study. She leads and disciples ladies from the nearby squatter settlement. Ling can minister to these women in ways I can never understand. She understands their culture, values and needs in a way a white American can not. The distance from their lives to mine is too great. They have a sister group though. One of the supporters of our ministry has a similar ladies Bible Study in Springfield, Il.--Ok so it's not composed of women from the local housing project, just ladies. This Springfield Bible Study has "adopted" the clinic ladies group and at Christmas they sent money to help make Christmas for these familes. Ling used the money to give each of them Christmas dinner. Each lady recieved a ham and other "fixin's" for their family. These are just a few of "Ling's Ladies" and their kids as they came to Ling's on Christmas Eve to celebrate the season.

New Tribes Conference!

The Holidays are over and we have settled back into normal routine. The weather is great though. We are having very cool evenings and mornings and the temps are not too hot during the afternoons with a nice breeze all day.
Last week we enjoyed a nice conference with New Tribes Mission in the Philippines. Allan and I led the conference for the Elementary School kids. We enjoyed getting to know the kids and other missionaries. New Tribes Missionaries are on the front lines of missions. The vision of New Tribes Mission is to plant tribal churches to reach people who have never had a single opportunity to hear the Gospel. These missionaries go to the far reaches of the world to live among and minister to unreached groups of people. They live out among the tribes in very basic conditions often with sporadic power and water. 12 of our 17 kids at the conference live out among tribal people and are homeschooled. I don't know what I expected from kids who live in the far reaches of the Philippines, but surprisingly they seemed to be well adapted to their environments.
Allan got to do a little doctoring and trouble shooting for some of the missionaries and even removed an ingrown toenail, performing before a crowd of missionaries who wanted to watch. These missionaries often have to take on the role of doctor out in the tribe just by the presence of their white skin. Scott and Larry Holmes and now Allan provide a valuable resource to the missionaries who need medical help and advice through email, phone and even in person.
During the week we heard many stories of what life is like out in the tribes and what ministry is going on there. Some places are harder to reach than others. Some groups are unreceptive to the gospel and conditions are dangerous, often due to Muslim influence. But we heard many stories where the people are embracing the gospel and communities are being changed. One couple we met have lived in the northern region on the island of Mindanao for the last 22 years. They moved there in 1983 and their partners moved there in '81. This was the first entrance of a white man into this culture. The religion there was animistic requiring frequent sacrifices of animals and even young children. Unwanted babies or those with birth defects were often buried alive. These 2 families, and later a 3rd, moved into this area and began learning the language. Relationships developed and after a few years they began to share the message of hope that we have in Christ. The church in this area is now self sufficient. The original 2 couples remain to finish the translation of the Bible and developing some Bible teaching. They hope to completely move out of this area in the next few years. That is the goal of church planting missionaries--to work themselves out of a job. To see the Church become self reliant and begin to stand on it's own. Our week was encouraging and relaxing and we loved it. If you would like to see more pictures of the kids we spent the week with you can go to a new page in our website and click on the New Tribes conference picture. We hope to be adding even more pictures there in the next few weeks of our life here.
The photos are at http://www.philippinemission.com/FamilyFun.html

Happy New Year!

New Years Eve is probably the biggest night of the year in the Philippines. There is a party everywhere. Fireworks have been for sale for the last month and have gone off here and there with loud pops, but this left us unprepared for what the night would bring. They must add something to the fireworks here to make them 3 times as loud as in the States. We have often wondered if we were caught in the middle of a gun fight. We knew this would escalate as New Years Eve drew near. We had been told that the place to be New Year's Eve was the kid's school-Faith Academy. Faith is about 15 minutes from our house and also outside the metro Manila area. Metro Manila is a city of 14 million people in an area smaller than Los Angeles county. It is the most densely populated city in the world. It is shaped somewhat like a basin surrounded by hills and "mountains". We live outside of the Metro area, up in the first set of hills. Our house looks over Laguna de Bay and the city of Alabang, but Faith looks out over Metro Manila.
Our view upon arrival was of a beautiful city at night. The lights of the buildings shimmered in the distance and there was the occasional firework to light up the sky. By 10 o'clock the sky was aglow with fireworks big and small filling the air here and there. Some as close as the soccer field below us and 1/4 mile away, and some tiny pinpricks in the distance. As we moved closer to midnight, the number of fireworks grew and grew. Explosions lighting up the night sky. By 11:45 the lights of the city had disappeared due to the smoke and all we were left with was an amazing display. You can not imagine this scene. There can be nothing like this in the states. Mainly because what densely populated US city would let people shoot off that many fireworks. The final 10 minutes of 2005 and the first few minutes of 2006 were welcomed with bright colors exploding all around us. Being first timers, we were amazed, but sales of fireworks this year was down and our Filipino friends have told us this was nothing compared to years past. Disappointing it may have been for them, but we were thrilled. Words cannot adequately describe this event so we would love for you to come experience this with us next year.

So we have begun a new year in a new country. Allan made the comment New Years Day that we will most likely not see the US during the year 2006. It was a depressing thought so we won't think about it. We will be leaving tomorrow to go to a conference for New Tribes Missionaries. Allan and I are leading the Elementary Children's program. We are excited for a few days away. We have spent everynight for the last 5 months in the same beds. I think that has to be a record for our family. It will be great to breathe some cleaner air.

Our Christmas!

Well Christmas Day has come and gone. It wasn't as bad as I had thought it was going to be. Allan and Emily tried to predict what time the tears would start for me, but they both lost because they never came. Our Christmas morning was interspersed with opening a few gifts then talking to family on the Vonage phone. We had great fun being silly with my nieces who were a little envious that Emily and Will were opening gifts. In Georgia it was still Christmas Eve and they wouldn't be opening gifts until after church the next day. It was a little weird that Christmas was over and our kids in bed before most of the US even awoke.
So if you celebrated Christmas in the Philippines what would your day have been like? Well, Christmas celebrations begin Christmas Eve. Families stay up until midnight and welcome in Christmas with a few fireworks and a feast. It is a time for family reunions. Families gather together for a midnight meal and stay up most of the night, returning home in the wee hours to sleep most of Christmas Day. ( **Spoiler Warning for those who read our blog to their young kids)For most Filipinos Santa is just a decoration like snowmen and elves. Santa does not visit most children in the Philippines. Kids are given a few small things from their lola and lolo(grandma & grandpa) and aunts and Uncles. Christmas is more about gathering with family and eating than gifts. (***end of spoiler) So if you were a Filipino what would you eat on this night? Of course no meal is complete without rice, but added to that are ham, and queso de bola which is literally a ball of edam cheese that comes in thick red wax. A special treat is fruit cocktail which seems strange with all the wonderful fresh fruit available here, but they use this for many treats including halo halo(described in an earlier blog). Another treat is to also have spaghetti. So did we Gilmers follow Filipino tradition?.... Well no, we mostly stuck to our own family's traditions. The kids opened one present on Christmas eve and after a supper of lasagna we gathered for a final time around the advent wreath to light the Christ candle, pray and sing some carols. It was very nice. The kids were then bundled off to bed with visions of Star Wars in Will's head. God gave us a wonderful gift as the temperature reached the lowest it has been since we've been here--68.4. On Christmas morning we lit the advent wreath candles again and ate the same breakfast casserole that I have eaten on Christmas morning since I was a kid. If you had been at our Christmas Dinner it might have strayed a little from tradition, but our family has never been locked into a specific meal on Christmas. We opted not to have the Filipino ham. It is not what my kids call "real ham" and I wasn't sure we would like the taste. Instead we had a crown pork roast. I remember my gourmet Aunt Lynn had that one year when Allan and I were first married and when I saw it in the supermarket I knew it would be a fun display! We also had macaroni and cheese for Will, twiced baked potatoes, some of our stash of greenbeans sent from the US, carrot souffle, and rolls. Of course for dessert we had some Christmas cookies and treats.
Will was thrilled with the Star Wars legos he received from the US. I wish our parents could have seen how excited he was with his Star Wars gifts. Perhaps this picture gives them a glimpse! Hope your Christmas was as Merry as ours was!






Dont forget Emily who was thrilled with things to "pamper" herself and a new 220V CD player to replace the 110V one we left at Mimi and Pop's!

Merry Christmas from the Gilmers!

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Remember the old peanuts Christmas special and the sad little tree Charlie Brown buys for the Christmas play. This year we can relate a little to those disappointed kids. Christmas trees in the Philippines have come a long way in recent years so our tree is actually very nice looking. Artifical trees are the only option and we were told to buy early to get what we wanted. So back in September Allan and I bought our new Christmas tree. We of course needed new lights since we left our 110V lights back in the US. When we opened our packages of lights we discovered that the cheap lights sold at Wlamart are high quality compared to what we have available here. Some of our strings were so dim that they barely glowed. We had not purchased enough lights to cover the tree so Thanksgiving weekend we attempted to buy a couple more strands of clear lights. Unfortunately (or maybe not) all of the stores seemed to be out of clear lights until we came to one hardware store. They had a more expensive strand still available. We bought 2 and came home to finish decorating the tree. These lights were much better quality and brighter than the others. Everything was fine though until the last few days. It seems the cheap strands are dropping like flies. Every day another stand goes out. It looks like the bulbs are all burned. Tonight we are down to only the 2 more expensive strands. As portions of our tree have slowly gone dark, we can do nothing, but laugh about it. It seems somewhat typical of quality control here. This picture was taken before the bottom strands went dark. I guess the old saying is true --"you get what you pay for" and as my mom says we will have to just "chalk this up to experience". I guess next year we will have to invest in new lights and I can tell you which ones we wont buy. If only Snoopys dog house was here so we could take the lights from it! Merry Christmas!