Bohol

I have really gotten to like the provinces and small towns much better than the big cities, and my visit to Dalaguete was a nice one. Dalaguete is the home of Ester Hana and her brother Danny Buenconsejo, and their Dalaguete Music Foundation has added to Dalaguete's reputation as a town that develops musicians. My trip this year was short, but I got to meet with Ma'am Judith who is one of the leaders of the organization and then with Danny and Ester's sisters, Edna and Sister Milagros who is a nun. I was glad to see Edna, and it was my first time to meet Mila. She was really great to talk to. She told me about how part of her training to become a nun had involved living in Tondo which was the garbage dump much like Payatas is today. She really reminded me of Ester.

The next day I got on the fast craft for the boat ride to Bohol. This was the fourth time I have been to Bohol, and it is a real gem of a place. I am noticing more and more foreign tourists here, and I am seeing more and more evidence of the people of Bohol developing ecotourism.

I am staying with the Calope family here. Sterling Russell, formerly Sterling Calope, has so many wonderful relatives including nieces and nephews who call me Lolo Zeus. One of the first things I do when I get to Balilihan is go for a thirty minute run with about ten of them. They range from preschoolers to BJ who is in fifth grade, and I have a wonderful hill that takes nearly a minute to race to the top of. I take turns racing the kids, and they form relays so no one has to run all ten times up the hill but this elderly man from America. haha

I have difficulty carrying on many conversations in Cebuano but I realize when I am talking with Sterling's sisters, Clar and Lot Lot, that I have picked up many words along the way. Clar's husband is a seamen, and he is between trips. This is my first time to meet him, and he tells me what it is like traveling on a large ship, then he shows me a video of the ship in the middle of a big storm. Tomorrow I am taking all the kids to the ocean, the dagat in Cebuano, where the beaches are white and the water is turquoise. I am looking forward to it! And all of them are too.

By the way, I have added to my collection of exotic foods. Last year I had adidas which are chicken feet, and this year in Bontoc I watched Eking eat something that tasted like pretzels. Actually, I teased him that we were eating worms, and then he informed me that they were chicken intestines. Well, they had seemed delicious, Lami, before he told me, and I am sure with lots of beer I couild have consumed more, but I am not a beer drinker. haha