7 May 2016

The time is getting short!

Mayon is the name of the perfectly formed volcano on the far left. We have
pictures of this from the other side which is near Buhi where we were
last week.  This picture is taken from the shore east of Goa.  See on the map
below that the road goes along the coast.  We went to where the road turns
straight north to the city of Caramoan.  That is a resort area but too far to
go on a short day.  You can see the mountain Mayon on the map below
in a green circle south of Iriga.  It is outside our mission.

I am starting this post on Saturday but it usually takes me into Sunday afternoon to get it finished. Not that I write for a long time but that there is usually not much to tell about that is different from the past.  This week is a little better. We have been with the Watsons to do some fun things and see some beautiful sights. The rest of the week that I am not going to write about was filled with English tests; piano lessons and meetings; sick missionaries; hospitalized missionaries needing medication, etc.

The mission goes south to about the dotted line near the cities of Iriga and Bato.  On the north it goes clear to the top of the
picture but does not go west.  Lopez on the map is outside our mission.  Buhi is east of Iriga right next to the lake you see on
the map above.  Ibayugen, which we visited a couple of months ago, is on the other side of the lake on the east.  The coast
we are looking at in the picture above is just below that.  See the green circle.  It says Mayon volcano.

The massage therapist is a member in Pasacao.  We didn't
know she did this until just last week.  Elder and Sister
Watson had been once before.

On Tuesday afternoon we were in Pasacao again but not for piano lessons this time.  We were there for some massages.  This lady is a member and she and her brother both do massages.  We didn't opt for a full body massage.

My first time driving a Padyak.  Thank
goodness I didn't go anywhere. 

This is a Padyak.  It is literally a bicycle with a cart attached.  They will haul about 2 people at a time. Sometimes 3.  These things are all over in many of the smaller cities. We really dislike having them on the roads because they are so slow but that is the Philippines.

This is Willy pointing out something to us but it looks like
he is pointing to the volcano Mayon.

Wednesday was a big day for us.  We left at 9 in the morning with the intent to go to Caramoan, a resort area northeast of Naga.  It was supposed to be about a 4 hour drive to get there and we knew ahead of time that we would probably not have time to go all the way.  We took with us, Willy Mayao, who is the security guard at the Mission Home.  He is from Caramoan and was really anxious to go with us. He provided directions on short cuts and all kinds of information about trees and cities and people. We saw some beautiful beaches and some great pictures of the ocean and mountains as shown in the first picture above.

On the way home we saw this truck that was loading Brahma cattle.   Willey told us that the farmers from all around brought their cattle to this point to load on the truck to send to a slaughter house in Manila.  We didn't get a complete understanding of the process but you can see they load some cattle in on a second level.  There is no room for them to stand up. So, of course, it is the smaller/younger ones. They are laying down and then the bottom will be filled with larger cattle.  

If you look close, you can see how they get them up on the second level.  If you get enough men/boys in there, I guess they could lift anything.

Us and the Watsons with Mayon in the background.

Tess Lopez can to teach Sister Hoopes how to make some
Filipino dishes.

This is 2 of the 3 FM group that are our good friends.  Their wives came to lunch with them. The two other faces there are Elders who came to see Sister Hoopes about a medical problem.  Elder Powell on the far right had a bite on his neck which was swelling and he stopped in to have her look at him.  They were just in time for dessert which was Cherry Cheese cake.  Elder Powell said that he thought Cherry Cheese cake could cure anything.

We hope he is doing better today.

That is all for this week.  We have a big week ahead of us.  Activities nearly every day and night. Next Saturday will be the final post from the Philippines.  Take care.  We will be seeing some of you very soon.