What are you thinking?

A few months back a friend sent us the above video. Allan and I find it hysterical. It is very indicative of some of our communication here, not only in Tagalog but often in English as well. Allan always feels a little sheepish when asking Ling to translate a word, only to find out it was an English one.

In the above case, Germans often replace the "th" sound with an "s" sound. In a similar way, in Tagalog v and b are interchangeable. One example-- Allan sees many patients with "TV". Also there are many American movies on "DBD" here. Just outside Valley Golf where the kids school is located is a restaurant called the "Balley Gulp Restaurant and Bar". On the way to school, I pass a subdivision called the "Igorot Bilig" It took me forever to catch on to the fact that "Bilig" is actually Village.

Just in case you think I am not aware of Americans mispronunciations, I am quite aware that a Frenchman would cringe to hear Atlantans talk about driving on Ponce De Leon Ave. If you aren't familiar with the Atlanta area just try dragging it out with a Southern accent and you'll see what I mean. And we won't even touch Al's and my mistakes with Tagalog. We've mentioned those before.

How did that happen?

Since my parents came and we took so many great pictures, I try to keep the camera with me in my purse for interesting pictures. Last Sunday while driving home from church, we came upon the following scene at the top of the hill about 200 yards before the turn to our street. You have to wonder what happened.

In case you are wondering what type of truck this is, it is a water truck. It delivers water to homes and squatter areas. In previous posts I have talked about water tanks on our roof. When we were without water for so long last fall, this type of truck came to fill up our tanks when they ran dry. In the squatter areas, sometimes people build or dig wells to fill with water.

***After posting the above blog, one of our faithful readers sent us the following email. It was too good not to share:

"I loved the photo of the water truck this AM.
I could not resist a few puns.

Perhaps the driver was “tipsy”?
Maybe he was “sloshed”?
Maybe he was “barreling” down the road?
I think he was “tanked up” on something.
Maybe he was “rolling” in the profits from his water business?
I know this accident will cause a “flood” of concerns about safety.

Sorry…….my cup runneth over with puns.

Rob"

Thanks Rob- you made me laugh!

Kung Hei Fat Choi

Today was a day of celebrations for us in the Philippines. First and formost, it is Allan's birthday! After church we had lunch at a local Italian retaurant, Italiannis. Instead of a cake, Allan wanted Krispy Kreme doughnuts. The kids were all for that so we stopped by and picked some up after lunch.

The crowds were out and about today, but it wasn't in celebration of Big Al's birth. Today also happens to be Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the Pig or Boar. Supposedly a lucky year in the Chinese tradition. Chinese New Year is celebrated throughout most Asian countries, but particularly in the Philippines because of the large Chinese population. Just after Christmas decorations came down, the red New Year's decorations were displayed throughout the malls and most stores. Tables filled with Buddas, lots of red fans and papers with chinese sayings and gold good luck charms have been for sale. As well as paper laterns to scare away evil spirits.

In the Philippines, this day is celebrated by lion and dragon dancing, giving of ang pao (red packets of money), and eating misua (wheat noodles) by the Chinese community. But every grocery store, market and street corner stall sells tikoy, a kind of rice cake that is a traditional fare of the celebration eaten or given as gifts by many Filipinos.

The lion dance is used as a symbolic ritual to usher in the New Year as well as to evict bad spirits from the premises. Today at Mega-mall, there were 3 two person lions performing and traveling througout the mall as well as one really long dragon. The kids were quite excited and thrilled by them.

In case, like us, you are unfamiliar with Chinese New Year, below are a few facts and tradtions you might find interesting. Also all these pictures were taken (not by us) at last year's New Years celebration in Manila's Chinatown.

"According to legend, in ancient China, the nian, a man-eating beast from the mountains, could silently infiltrate houses to prey on humans. The people later learned that the nian was sensitive to loud noises and the color red, so they scared it away with explosions, fireworks and the liberal use of the color red. These customs led to the first New Year celebrations. Guò nián, which means to celebrate the new year, literally means the passing of the nian beast." (Wikipedia)

China follows the lunar calendar, therefore Chinese New Year starts on the first day of the new year containing a new moon. So it is on a different day of our calendar every year. Traditionally, it is a 14 day celebration depending on the country, but throughout most of Asia it has been reduced to a 3 day celebration. There are many superstitions and traditions to follow in order to bring good luck to your family. I have listed them below. In case you need to know, poor Will is going to have bead luck this year because I cut his hair today. Good thing we believe in providence and grace.

Good Luck

• Opening windows and/or doors is considered to 'bring in' the good luck of the new year.


• Switching on the lights for the night is considered good luck to 'scare away' ghosts and spirits of misfortune that may compromise the luck and fortune of the new year.


• Candy is eaten to ensure the consumer a "sweet" year. (do doughnuts count?)

Bad Luck

• Buying a pair of shoes is considered bad luck. The word "shoes" is a homophone for the word for "rough" in Cantonese.


• Buying a pair of pants is considered bad luck. The word "pants" is a homophone for the word for "bitter" in Cantonese. (Although some perceive it to be positive as the word 'pants' in Cantonese could be a homophone for the word for "wealth".)


• A hair-cut is considered bad luck. The word "hair" is a homophone for the word for "prosperity". Thus "cutting hair" could be perceived as "cutting away your prosperity" in Cantonese.


• Sweeping the floor is considered bad luck, as it will sweep away the good fortune and luck for the new year; in the same way that having a bath will wash away the good fortune.


• Talking about death is inappropriate for the first few days of Chinese New Year, as it is considered inauspicious as well.


• Buying books is bad luck because the word for "book" is a homonym to the word "lose".

Each day in the New year celebration has it's own activities and traditions. The second day of the Chinese New Year is for married daughters to visit their birth parents. So Mom and Dad, I'll be there to see you tomorrow! (oh, if only)

Rat Update

For those of you interested in the on going war against rats, the campaign has been somewhat of a success. If you read about the trap that escaped below, you will be happy to know that one of our neighbors found and returned the trap. Allan killed about 5 rats in total inside the house. He found the point of entry and has since closed it off. We keep thinking their is one living behind the stove in the kitchen, but after a week of trying to trap him we no longer see any evidence of him. "Could this be the end of the rats? Tune in next time. Same rat time, same rat channel."

Filipiniana Week Part 2

After Tuesday's successful field trip, the elementary kids left the school campus again on Wednesday to participate in some ministry projects around our area of Manila. Each grade had a different project, but all ended their day by cleaning up trash on the roads leading up to school. The 4th grade planned a beautification project, which consisted of planting trees and landscaping. Will says he personally dug holes and planted 2 trees. I was not in attendance so I am not really sure how big these trees were or if he had help in digging the holes. I guess we will have to go check them out next week.

The week ended today with the annual Elementary Fiesta. Filipinos love to have Fiestas and of course that means lots of traditional food. I was in charge of serving food to 4th and 5th graders, the Faith Academy Filipino staff, and the school van drivers. I served bibinka which is a sticky rice dessert, hot roasted peanuts, and a cruncy corn snack. (just in case you are confused, I didn't make any of this, I only served it.) We also had typical street vendors with Popcorn and ice cream cones. The ice cream flavors this year were chocolate, mango, and ube--a purple root crop.

No Fiesta is complete with out tinikling, the traditional national folk dance of the Phillipines. Tinikling is very similar to jump rope, but instead of a rope, two bamboo poles are used. The poles are held by two people, one pole in each hand. They hit the poles on the floor and then hit the poles together. The person in the middle hops in between, outside, and over the poles as they move together and apart. The cadence of this tends to get faster as you go along. Needless to say some of the kids are much more skilled than others. Here are a couple pictures I took of Will's class dancing the tinikling, followed by a video of some professionals we taped at a cultural show. Keep watching past the first 30 seconds if you want to see some fast footwork! You can really hear the Spanish influence in the Philippines in the traditional tinikling music.

Will taking his turn

Filipiniana week

This week the elementary school is celebrating Filipiniana Week. It is a week to celebrate and embrace the Filipino people, culture and country. The kids learn to do traditional dances, eat traditional food, and learn about customs celebrated not just on the island of Luzon, but throughout the Philippines.

On Tuesday, the entire Elementary school took a field trip to a nearby town called Marikina. Marikina is known as the shoe district. (for more info check out an earlier blog at http://thegilmers.blogspot.com/2006_06_01_archive.html and scroll down to the second entry called "Happy Anniversary") The students got to visit a shoe factory and see shoes being made. Will didn't think this was very interesting though. So if you have kids interested in the shoe industry keep in mind that Will doesn't see much glamour in it.

After the shoe factory, the school went to the Avilon zoo in Marikina. This is a rather new zoo here in the PI and supposedly one of the best. Will would agree with that statement. He saw lions, and tigers, and bears...oh my. He also saw lots of birds, ducks, alligators, leopards, reptiles, lizards, and bats. The only animal he found lacking was an elephant.

The thing that has impressed him the most though, was the 7 foot long fish. For 30 pesos, you could feed chicken heads to these giant fish. For a 10 year old boy this is quite impressive. Hey, for a 30 something year old mom it would be quite impressive. We have heard lots from Will about these fish. I think we will have to take a trip back for the whole family to see.

On a funny note, one of the animals Will saw caged at the zoo was squirrels. I guess it is like seeing Baboons at the Columbia zoo in South Carolina. When we were in Africa, baboons ran around everywhere like stray dogs, being a nuisance and a pest. But there they are, on display at zoos across America. Squirrels must fall into the same category. My parents spend lots of time and energy trying to keep squirrels out of their yard and bird feeders. I guess, they can start capturing them and sending them to zoos around the world.

Outdoor Ed

Last week while I was in Thailand, Allan and Will were home alone. Emily was off on a trip with the Middle school called Outdoor Ed. Outdoor Ed gives students a chance to take a week off from classes and learn about the country in which we live. Every February, Faith Academy along with 3 other small missionary schools on other islands and homeschooled MKs take a week long trip to one of three different locations: 1.Taal Volcano in Tagaytay with an emphasis on Science 2. Subic Jungle and JEST survival camp with an emphasis on survival skills, and 3. Corregidor Island, a historical South East Asian battle site from World War II and the Bataan Peninsula, from the famous Bataan death march of WWII. Of course this trip's emphasis is history.

This year the trip was to Corregidor and Bataan. Just before Christmas, the middle school was divided into squads. For weeks they have met together to learn and prepare for this trip. Emily was on a squad of 8 6th grade girls, led by her band teacher, Mrs. Johnson. The girls all seemed to bond well and had a great, as well as a cold time. Temps in the PI last 2 weeks were really cool dropping down into the high 60's each night with a stiff breeze. You know it is cold here when the guards at the gate into school have on jackets, stocking hats and gloves each morning (I know for those of you suffering through record snows and lows in the US this is like late spring temps, but this is the Philippines and after 20 months of continuous summer we did feel a little cold.) The kids broke into divisions of squads and traveled around to 3 different sights each night. They slept out under the stars on the island of Corregidor and on the beach at Bataan. One of those nights it began raining and they had to gather their stuff in the middle of the night and sleep in a little open air hut called a Bahay Kubo.

Emily loved Corregidor and exploring old tunnels and ruins from the fort. Her favorite (or at least most impressionable) part of Corregidor was a long hike through a series of dark tunnels where they saw a skeleton. Em says he still had on his dog tags, but she didn't want to get close enough to find out what country he was from. For an 11 year old girl, a real skeleton is a little scary. I think even the 8th grade boys with them were a little uncomfortable.

Emily's favorite part of the whole week was the ministry project they did near a fishing community on the beach near Bataan. Her division passed out shells and gospel tracks in Tagalog among the kids and fishermen living in the village. Em's squad had spent a good bit of time practicing how to say different things in Tagalog. She also had 2 Filipina girls in her squad which helped with communication. Emily, who has never met a stranger, was truly in her element. She met 2 girls about her age that spoke some English and she loved talking to them. Their father takes a boat out to deep water and collects large shells which he then puts a glaze on a sells to tourists. The girls responded to Em's gift with a gift of their own. They gave her a beautiful shell their father had collected. It is quite a prized possession and on prominent display in her room. Emily returned home Friday exhausted, but she had a great time and can't wait to go again next year.

One of the Perks of being a Missionary

There are times when living on the other side of the world is hard and difficult and emotionally draining. There are days when we want to throw in the towel and head home. There are also times when we are inspired and awed by what we see God doing in and through us here and by the people we meet and know. There are also little perks that come with living overseas. One of those perks is the places we get to visit and see. Last week was one of those little perks.

I spent the week in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Northern Thailand is gorgeous with its lush greenery and mountains. Although the day time temps are similar to the Philippines, the evenings and mornings were crisp and cold (low 50s) and it was nice to need long pants and a jacket once again. I was there working with kids at a family education conference for homeschoolers. Having loved homeschooling in the past, I have a passion for homeschooling and those who do it, especially those living in remote areas of Asia. I got to know 16 of the greatest 9 year olds. They were such a great group of kids. I also got to know lots of wonderful people working throughout Asia. It was a busy week, but a wonderful experience.

Besides the conference, I had a day to do a little sight seeing in Chiang Mai. 2 friends from Manila and I took a tour of some of the handicraft workshops. We saw silversmiths, silk production, jade carvings, and other native carfts. It was quite interesting.

Spinning silk from silk worms into thread

weaving silk

Silver Smith

Carving Jade

Visiting the handicrafters wasn't the best part of that day though. After spending some time on this tour, we drove 30 minutes or so out to a rural area to visit an elephant farm. Here I got to spend some time up close and personal with elephants.

We began by feeding the elephants bananas and sugar cane.

We then watched them get a bath in the river

This was followed by a performance put on by the elephants

We got to meet one of the baby elephants

and finally a ride on an elephant

I felt a little bit like an African--or actually in this case an Asia Queen as I was perched on my elephant throne. I had a trainer seated just behind the elephants ears who giuded us on a 45 minute ride through the moutains of Thailand. It was so beautiful, but at times a little scary. When we began our climb I felt uneasy being tipped backwards, but that was nothing compared to the desent down the steep path. I had to use some stong muscles to keep from sliding out. It was quite the work out. I was a little scared at times. Maggie, one of my companions actually lost her purse. It slipped right out. The elephant picked it up for her though. Unfortunately it had fallen into elephant dung--yuck! Elephant dung smells quite stinky! My elephant was named Bowang Thot and she was 37 years old--just like me. She was such a cutie!

On our ride we saw the baby nursery, the elephant feeding area and the elephant showers. Also the elephant houses. These elephants have the freedom to walk around through out the farm. They aren't in cages or even pens. It was a great day, but I was sure tired afterward.

If you ever get a chance to visit Thailand I highly recommend it, especially the elephants. Chiang Mai is beautiful and the people are nice and friendly. My only disappointment in the week was that Will wasn't there to share the elephants with me. He has loved elephants since he was a tiny little boy. He would have had a blast. Maybe one day he can join me.

Happy 10th Birthday Will!

On January 17th our baby turned 10! We no longer have any kids in the single digits. To celebrate Will invited a couple of his fellow Star Wars crazed friends over to spend the night. They spent the afternoon having squirt gun fights and light saber duals in the back yard.

It was a great time.

Dueling in the backyard!

Will builds Lego Boba Fett's Slave 1


Just as a bonus: Here's our Maggie this week at 5 months old.
We've been having a "cold" snap and she has enjoyed curling up in Will's bean bag chair

Our friend, Larry came to visit us last week from the US
and brought Allan and Scott each a high quality Rat Trap
to try and help tackle our recurring rat infestation .

Here are the great hunters the morning after their first try.
Allan caught this one in our office--Yuck!
So far they have caught 2 or 3, but only one inside the house.

****Addendum to rat info: Last night after posting this blog and going to bed, I was awakened by a strange noise outside our window. I went to the window thinking someone might be in our yard. It wasn't a someone, but a something. A cat was absconding with a rat caught in Scott's trap. When I spotted him he was trying to get through the gate. Allan and I jumped up and ran downstairs after him. Unfortunately he got under the gate before we could arrive. Allan tried to chase him down but there was no sight of cat, rat, nor trap.
I hate to lose such a valuable tool in our war on rats.
Isn't this how you always envisioned the exciting life of missionaries?

We're still here!

Some of you were probably thinking that I must have had my hands stitched as well as my foot, since it has been so long since our last blog. Actually, we have just begun the year with a bang along with internet trouble. This trouble stems beyond the borders of the Philippines though. In late December, there was a massive earthquake off the coast of Taiwan. This earthquake damaged two undersea cables. These lines route calls and process Internet traffic for several Asian countries, including the Philippines. Our connections to the rest of the world have had to be re-routed and has led to very slow connections. One of the problems I have had is connecting with this blogger site. So the silence from here is not all my fault.

Besides the slow internet, life has been busy with travel, friends, visitors, school programs, Will's talent night debut, and teaching. We spent the first week of 2007 at a conference for another mission agency. This is our second year to attend. Last year, I was in charge of the elementary kids program and Allan did some medical consulting on the side. This year we returned in strictly a medical capacity. Allan was available for answering medical questions, looking at medical problems and even stitching up a leg torn open in a tough volleyball match. He also taught some medical classes. This group of missionaries lives on the edge of missions. They serve in remote unreached tribal areas of the Philippines, many only accessible by hiking in. Because of this, they often become the medical expert in the tribe as people show up with all manner of problems. Allan taught some classes to help them to be better able to handle some of the things they see, and they see it all. We have gotten many texts, calls, and emails in the last year asking things like... a man showed up today with an arm that was severed 7 days ago, what should I do? Unfortuately some of those are things Allan didn't really learn in med school. What American waits 7 days with an arm half off before going to the doctor? Allan gives great advice though and we enjoy our contact with those living on the missions frontier. We hope to go and visit and work with some of them in the tribe during the next year.

We returned home to welcome back our ministry partners- the Nelsens. It has been good to have them back! Shortly after their arrival, we had 2 other visitors- Steven, who is the son of the doctor we replaced along with a girl from a small town near Greenwood. She is here to help out in the clinic and at a nearby birthing home until March. Steven graduated early so he could spend the final semester of high school with his graduating class.

I have also spent the last few weeks teaching 7th grade English. I filled in until their new teacher arrived from the states and got settled in. While I loved getting back in the classroom, teaching, and "my" students, I decided I really don't like teaching English. I loved the literature part of it, but not reading and grading all the short stories I had them write.

Monday, life will return somewhat back to normal again, but just for a week. Then I am off to Thailand to work in the children's program at a homeschool conference. Hopefully I will get a few pictures of what we have been up to and some more info on the blog before I leave.

Is There a Doctor in the House?

Since Allan began med school in 1998, we have heard stories from other docs, especially missionary docs about stitching people up on their kitchen table. I have been anxiously awaiting the day when we would have our own “kitchen table” story. While we have had a few minor treatments at the house, with the clinic so close, Al takes people with more serious injuries up there. That is until today… We have finally given stitches here at the house, only it wasn’t some friend or neighbor knocking on the door and we didn’t use the kitchen table. It wasn’t even one of our own children. Never did I envision the patient would be….me! This evening when Allan came in from the clinic for dinner, he was carrying a big box filled with some Christmas surprises from some of our wonderful friends in Greenwood. I scooted out the screen door to hold it open for him, but when I came back in the door slammed quickly catching my heel making a deep gash. Since it was so deep and jagged, Allan felt like it needed a few stitches. So instead of the kitchen table where we were about to eat supper, I laid face down on the bed and let Allan stitch me up. Will was our wonderful photographer despite his aversion to all medical procedures. The hardest part was keeping Maggie out. She really wanted to join in the fun.

This comes at the end of a banner week at the Gilmer house. I ended Christmas day with a stomach bug. Two days later, I was bitten in the eye by Maggie. I was lying on the floor near where she was playing and she accidentally took my eye for the new rope toy Emily gave her for Christmas. It really wasn’t bad and in the grand scheme of things it could have been a lot worse. I am a now beautiful sight with one puffy red swollen eye and a limp. At least they are on opposite sides of my body to balance each other out. Otherwise we have had a good week. Will received a Star Wars game for Christmas that is keeping us well entertained. Hope the end of 2006 is better for you!

Maligayang Pasko

Merry Christmas from the Gilmers!

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful Christmas! We are spending Christmas Eve making cookies and going to a Christmas Eve service. Tomorrow, we will spend the day at home as a family. Below is a video I made of some sights in the Philippines set to one of the most famous Filipino Christmas songs. The song is called "Pasko na Sinto Ko" which means It's Christmas now my love. The words in Tagalog are printed below. A lot of the pictures around Manila and Antipolo were taken by my dad when he was here. Interspersed are pictures of Christmas lights here in the PI. I didn't take all of them. I hope you enjoy our Christmas gift!

Allan, Ginger, Emily and Will

Pasko Na Sinta Ko

Pasko na sinta ko,
Hanap-hanap kita
Bakit nagtatampo't nilisan ako.

Kung mawawala ka,
SA piling ko sinta
Paano ang paskongAlay ko sa'yo.

Sayang sinta,
Ang sinumpaan atPagtitinginang tunay;
Nais mo bang kalimutang ganap,
Ang ating suyuan at galak.

Kung mawawala ka,
SA piling ko sinta
Paano ang paskong
Alay ko sa'yo

Kung mawawala ka,
SA piling ko sinta
Paano ang paskong
Alay ko sa'yo...

Sayang sinta,
Ang sinumpaan atPagtitinginang tunay;
Nais mo bang kalimutang ganap,
Ang ating suyuan at galak

Kung mawawala ka,
SA piling ko sinta
Paano ang paskong
Alay ko sa'yo...

My How They've Grown!

I was looking at some pictures tonight and I happened to look at the Christmas picture we sent out last year. I decided to compare it to this years' Christmas card photo and Wow! Will looks like a tiny boy in last years' shot. They sure have grown a lot in the last year. Emily is now 5 feet tall with hair halfway down her back. Look at the difference:

2005

2006

Wet Dry Market

With my parents visit and the busyness of the Christmas season, I haven’t been able to blog about all the things I have in my head. I am aware that I never finished the tour of the clinic that we began last summer. Hopefully I will get back to that in the New Year.

Today, I thought I would share some pictures from my trip with Pop to the wet dry Market here in Antipolo. I don’t do a whole lot of shopping here because the fish smell about does me in. Emily and Will hate the smell and also seeing all the meat hanging. I am more comfortable shopping at the local grocery store, Shopwise. It is similar to grocery stores in the states. So boring missionary that I am, I stick with the familiar. If you are ever out our way though and want to take a trip to the market, I will be glad to take you there. You, like Pop, may decide that the grocery store is the place for us! By the way, my Mom opted to stay home and get some things done at the house.

Approaching the Wet Dry Market from the street

Fish anyone?

A man hawking his fish

Pork

Want some chicken feet?

How about some chicken heads?

Ahh, this is more like it... eggs

Beautiful fruit

Pop shopping for dalandans--a native orange that's green

of course we have rice!

Em's Christmas play

The last week of my parent's visit, they got to see Emily in a play. Emily joined the 6th grade drama club this year and they performed a Christmas play during chapel. Emily had one of the major roles as Angel #2 in "The Angels were Watching". They all did such a great job. She has some great little actors in her class. I look forward to their next play!

The Angels

(My Mom helped me make the angels halos)

The Stable Scene

Christmas Parties

As Christmas draws nearer, we are in the midst of parties and school programs. This has been a particularly busy week for us. I guess this way we don’t have time to miss Mimi and Pop. Wednesday, we had our annual Clinic Christmas party at our regular Wednesday lunch. I decided to order lunch from a restaurant called Max’s. It was a true Filipino party meal. We had fried chicken (don’t picture the kind grandma used to make or the kind KFC sells), stir fried vegetables, lumpia – this is the Filipino version of egg rolls, pancit- a Filipino noodle dish with veggies, shrimp, chicken livers, and fish balls served on special occasions like birthdays and Christmas. We also had a creamed asperagus soup, and of course ----plain rice. For dessert I ordered a chocolate cake from a bakery called Red Ribbon. The staff seemed pleased with my choices—I couldn’t go wrong since it was a set party meal from Max's. Ling Ling, our nurse, kept saying it was “talagang Christmas party”. Which means it was really a Christmas party. While the food was good and "abundant" and we had a good time, it wasn’t nearly the party we went to at Ling’s house on Thursday.

Thursday, Ling had a Christmas party and lunch for her ladies bible study group. She has 16 ladies from the nearby squatter area that she ministers to and disciples every Thursday morning. They began with a time of Thanksgiving. Each woman got up and thanked God for what He had done in her life this year. It was an emotional time as many of them have had a tough year. Many of the families are with out work and income. There is the mother of 6 whose husband is out of work. She supports her family by cooking and cleaning for $2 a day. There were quite a few women who had lost husbands this past year. One of whom was found dead in our neighbors' yard. Another, whose husband died, is supporting her family by selling food out of their home. She makes barely enough to survive. There were hard times that the ladies were thankful they had gotten through, but also joyful times. One of the ladies had been battered by her husband for years. The Bible Study began to pray for a change in him and the situation turned around. Allan gave our Christmas greetings and thanks in Tagalog and spoke for just a minute about the hope we have in Christ. It was so beautiful and perfect for the situation. There weren’t many dry eyes in the room when he was done. These women truly know what it is like to rely on the hope we have in Christ.

We were invited to join in all the festivities, but we decided only to drop by for a little while. Since Allan is the doc, we, including Ling, decided the women wouldn’t feel able to “cut loose”. I don’t think it would have mattered though. When we left there was an intense game going on. The women were paired up in 2s and “dancing” with a tomato between their foreheads. They had to keep the tomato from dropping. There was much laughter and merriment. I think they might have gotten a kick out of Al joining in. Ling had many games and prizes for the winners. I think next year she will have to organize the entertainment for our clinic staff party.

Today, I am off to the Elementary school’s Christmas program. It should be very entertaining. Will is excited because he only has to go to school a half day (much to em’s dismay since she has to go all day) and his friend Sam is coming home with him. Tomorrow night Emily will go to her first Middle School Christmas Banquet. She can’t wait. I have made her a long skirt out of Christmas fabric to go with a sleeveless red shirt she has. In the States, we have always had many Christmas clothes--sweaters, dresses, and sweatshirts, but she just didn't have any Christmas clothes suitable for the tropics.

Creepy Crawlies

Well we have experienced another aspect of missionary life in the last few weeks. In an earlier blog, I mentioned Will has been sick. After a week or so of being ill, we had an x-ray and some blood work done. He had worms. This is common here and some missionaries de-worm their kids twice a year just for good measure. The worms were causing him to lose a lot of weight and he became anemic. After de-worming and taking iron and vitamins, he is finally back to his old self. We de-wormed Emily, ourselves and the Brewer kids just in case. Mimi and Pop decided to forgo the worm treatment since they hadn't been here very long and hadn't walked outside barefoot.

No sooner had the worm problem been conquered, then we had an infestation of a different sort that is also common here. Friday morning, a friend called me to let me know her daughter had lice and since she and Em had been together I might be on the look out. Emily walked in the door after school scratching her head and sure enough there was lice. This is so common among the Filipino kids and MKs that they don't even stay home from school. I had the privilege of combing lice out of Em's hair Friday night. Mimi and Pop, while not concerned, really didn't want to have the honor of de-lousing their granddaughter. Em didn't have too many and no eggs that I could see so hopefully I got it all. No one else has shown any signs, but I did feel the urge to scratch my head Friday night.

I always like to have a picture with the blog, but even if I had a picture of the lice or the worms I don't think you would want to see it. I am including a picture my mom took of our precious Maggie looking over the Christmas greenery on our stairs. She is so cute, but she is really enjoying the Christmas decorations too much!

Time for Goodbye

Well today we said "Goodbye" to Mimi and Pop. This morning before church we dropped them off at the airport for an early flight. Their time here went so fast. It didn't seem like 4 weeks to us. We had a great time and we will really miss them. There were no tears at the airport. They were held in reserve for later. In an ironic twist, my parents arrived as a small typhoon was passing through and they also left during one. It was south of Manila and has only provided lots of rain and cool temps today in the PI. After a long hug, the kids (OK and me too) hung out the car window waving goodbye as we drove off. We arrived at church as it was beginning, just in time to sing one of my favorite hymns-- "Great is Thy Faithfulness" in both English and Tagalog. I was reminded how faithful and good the Lord has been to us and what a blessing the parents He gave to me have been. I have to admit I did get a little teary then.

After church, we made a little stop at Starbucks with some friends while we waited for the mall to open. We enjoyed chatching up with them. At the mall, we accomplished some errands and found the Christmas presents for the clinic staff. We then headed off to meet 2 other families for lunch. We had a great time visiting and chatting. Emily's PE teacher was one of our lunch companions and he brought us a special gift....Krispy Kreme Doughnuts! Just this month the first Krispy Kreme doughnut shop has opened in the Philippines. It is down in Makati, the business district, near where he goes to church. Ahh, how the Gilmers love Krispy Kreme! It was a wonderful surprise and helped soothe a couple of down kids! Thanks Tom!

After lunch, we decided to go to the movies. We went to see The Nativity. We really enjoyed it. If you haven’t seen it I recommend it for your holiday viewing. After buying some dog food and bread we finally made it back home about 5:30. What a busy full day! We needed it. We took this picture just outside the movie theater. Everything was so festive and nice for Christmas!

After a snack supper, Emily finally broke down and the tears began to fall. We snuggled up together and I just let her cry it out. Will joined us and we talked about how wonderful our time together had been. Our day ended on a happy note. Thankfully, the next few weeks are busy as we finish out the school quarter and get ready for Christmas.