Greg's been planning this really big conference for his work. It took a lot of time and extra hours to plan this. It ended today- I'm so glad! He's been gone at the conference all week. Last month, he went to Bohol to check out the location and got to see some fun things. This was some touristy stuff on riverboat cruise that he went on. Greg shot the bow and arrow.

Bohol is where Tarsiers live. They are the smallest primates in the world, and are endangered.  Bohol is one of the only places they live - IN THE ENTIRE WORLD.  Greg went to see them at a Tarsier Sanctuary during his trip.  They are about as big as a human fist.

The Chocolate Hills of Bohol, Philippines.  Greg went and saw them during his trip.  I really want to see them.

So beautiful . . .

Greg had some incredible ice cream on his trip that he raved about. It was made from fruit on the island (exotic fruits like jack fruit, durian, ube, dragon fruit, mango, coconut, etc). I guess it was incredible.

We went to Daranak Falls with some friends a couple weeks ago. It was our first real family outing in the Philippines. It took us 6 months to go somewhere! It feels so defeating to travel because traffic is so unpredictable, you can leave first thing in the morning and USUALLY make it to your destination within the timeframe the map tells you, 2 hours or so- but on the way back that can easily change to 4 hours. And our phones don't work well with internet connections so knowing how to get there or get back home is quite a risk too! But our friends used their driver and we just followed them, so it was a safe get away. Besides Marius crying, it was a fun drive out of the city.  It was neat to see open roads, without bumper to bumper traffic. I forgot that kind of thing existed. It was a neat little walk there. 

This doesn't even capture it. It was streaming down from a lot higher than this picture shows. The water was SO BLUE. It was absolutely beautiful. I've never seen anything like it.

  

It was neat because this was the major spot where there was a big deep pool of water where everyone swam, but just wander off a 20 feet and there are never ending mini pools that never stop. We found a random trail and followed it to more mini pools and started hiking up them and they never seemed to end. I was wishing I was alone with Greg and we could really hike and explore! Greg kept telling me to walk in front and keep an eye out for snakes. That kinda freaked me out! I was thinking- then what are we doing out here? What could I do if suddenly there was a colorful snake at my feet?

There was this cool little cave (background of picture) and I LOVED going under it but it sort of rained under there and the kids freaked when we went under there. It was really really small, but it was still fun. I've never been in anything like that before.

Traveling with kids is always hard. They whine the way there. They whine as it takes an hour to settle in, set up, get dressed, etc. Then they whine because the water is cold, people are around, people are watching them, it's too deep, etc. It was just a never ending battle the first 2 hours it seemed. Then when we found that trail and wandered off, suddenly it started getting fun and I wanted to stay longer.  It got me excited to explore more of the Philippines, but at the same time- those first two hours all I could think was- "This is why we haven't gone anywhere! This is horrible and I never want to do it again!!!" Getting home was quite a to-do with traffic and by the end I was thinking, that was way too much of a hassle for little pay off. But after a few days, I found myself wanting to go back. It was really peaceful when the kids weren't crying.

 We found this little creature in our water.

Horrifyingly, it looked like the skeleton of a teeny tiny fish. Disgusting. And to think one of us could have swallowed it. I shudder to think. Our water guy apparently doesn't sell good water! We've had a few bad bottles but then this one was murky and smelled bad and when we cleaned out the tank this little guy came out and so we decided to switch. I hate to think that we may have drunk really bad water in the past. This whole water fiasco gave me SUCH EMOTIONAL STRESS. It really did me in.

The boys have been OBSESSED with playing with water lately. Especially Marius. They soak themselves and I have to change their clothes at least twice a day, but usually 3 and often more. It is the worst. I love them playing, and being creative and having a childhood, but cleaning them up can be such a process and Brighton will freak out and want me to change him MID- PLAY, before he's finished. So I have to change him twice in 15 minutes and then AGAIN when he's finally all done. 

  

A miracle has happened where Brighton is concerned. His behavior and tantrums had become so extreme we were really worried about him and talking about medication and scheduling with psychiatrists. But on a whim we put him on a Vitamin D supplement and within a week saw improvement that has just continued and THEN we realized he's getting way less sleep than he used to. So to get him to go to bed earlier, I've been doing a special routine just with me, where we read 3 books, I sing to him alone in his bed and stay with him until he falls asleep. THAT has changed him overnight. A completely new kid. Everything that regressed- him needing me to dress him, carry him- not being able to reason- all of this changed overnight and continues to improve. We are SO HAPPY. HE is so happy! Now that he's smiling again, I realize how he almost never smiled before. It makes me cringe to think we almost put him on a pill, but we were just feeling that desperate!!!! We tried everything we could think of and everything just kept getting worse! He stopped eating and we had to buy chocolate granola bars and he would only eat those- even if that meant he starved all day- literally. Now he's eating again and just acting like a normal 3 year old. Occasional meltdowns that will eventually fizzle out and the list would be way too long if I mentioned everything. But it was a crazy stressful 2+ months and suddenly everything feels heavenly. 

Marius LOVES to push a chair up to the sink, turn the water on and play. He soaks himself, the chair he's on and leaves a massive puddle of water on the floor- everyday. For awhile it was 2 times a day or more. I feel like my life is water and sopping wet clothes.

Being naked and playing with water. His two favorite things! 

Scarlet and Brighton playing and talking with their animals. They were just being really cute so I snuck a picture of them. They're such good kids. I love them so much!!!

 My Relief Society took a small retreat an hour out of town to swim, eat food and relax. I had such a good time. Honestly, I was so excited to get away, I was having trouble sleeping the night before. Right when we arrived people were singing Karaoke. It was a small group that grew and grew and before we knew it a bunch of us were dancing and singing along, then someone handed the microphone over to me and everyone was being so crazy so I just went for it. I can't remember the song, but I sang a couple (they told me to keep going) and everyone was cheering. I got pretty into it. It was fun. I had never done it before. It helped that everyone was just dancing and singing along- it was less of a performance and more like we were all just doing it together.

This is a Traditional Boodle Fight Style Meal. I guess they're only for really special occasions. You lay all the food out on banana leaves and everyone eats with their hands. I thought we'd be sitting and enjoying a leisure meal, but it felt more like a fight or race. We were all standing and TOTALLY squished in. We were squeezed in, turned sideways with only one arm in there to grab food, and not everyone fit around the tables!

I didn't have any reservations about eating with my hands, but when we first began, it felt so strange. Lots of hands going into the same pile of rice, not knowing how clean everyone's hands were . . . suddenly it felt strange. And it was so messy, everytime I put some rice in my mouth, it fell all to the sides as well. All the fish were WHOLE, with their tails and faces and someone had already dug into one and put it back and I thought- well here we go! And I grabbed it and tore pieces off and put it back as well. I was trying all these new foods, because I'd never had Filipino food before. By the end it was totally fun and I was having a great time. I didn't think much of it, but some filipinos in my ward were very impressed with me, that I was trying everything. 

This is Alma, my best bud here. She's actually Filipina by race- but raised in Switzerland!

This pic would've been better if you could see how many teeth this woman was missing. She was selling these things comparable to popsicles. I don't know what they're called. They were cheap and sweet. It was basically frozen ice and coconut bits, sugar and milk? I don't know. It was kind of fun to buy and eat another local thing. Filipino food is definitely different than ours. A lot of strong flavors- salty, sweet. To me- it's always too much. Too sweet or too salty. Whatever it is, it's always intense.

So here are Megan's thoughts and experiences about the Philippines-

I love it here. I can't describe the many ways I love living here.

One way is the people. They are nice. Like really nice. They are helpful and smile at you and love our kids. Like LOVE our kids. They are poor. I don't understand how they survive and I always want to ask them about it- but it's pretty personal, so I don't. Recently in a taxi ride the taxi driver was telling me how common it was for people here not to have food to eat. I just didn't know what to say. I still just don't understand it. You can get a meal here for 50 cents. Do they really not have 50 cents to spare? They really don't even have a piece of bread? Do they really not have ANYTHING to eat and go to bed hungry? It makes me really sad to think I just have NO COMPREHENSION of this. And I wonder about the members here. Filipinos don't want dark skin. I see beauty products for skin whitening everywhere and people walk around with umbrellas so they're in the shade and don't get darker. A lot of people have missing teeth. Sometimes, they only have a couple of teeth, but usually they're just missing a couple- right in front. When you get out of the nice parts of the city you see people with towels on their head- to dry up sweat- or tucked in the back of their shirt, coming out up behind the neck. Imagine someone just draping a hand towel on top of their head and walking around. I see it all the time. They men all walk around or sit around with their shirts folded up, so their belly is exposed. It's so silly looking- they should just take their shirts off. It's really normal to tuck a hand towel inside the back of your shirt and have it coming out of the neck in the back. All the local kids do this at the parks and a lot of grown men too- to soak up all the wonderful sweat :)

People are begging and selling everywhere. They wear shoes about half the time. It's strange, because I will see the same kids in my neighborhood and sometimes they wear shoes, sometimes they don't. And I wonder why they don't always wear their shoes? I only have to walk 1 minute from my front door to be confronted by children begging. It can be really exhausting sometimes and it's weird. At first, you're overcome and you want to help. Then you realize, it all goes to their drug using parents (or whoever's care they're in), so you don't WANT to give to them. Then you see their sad faces when you tell them no and you keep walking filled with regret. Is that kid gonna eat tonight? Are they going to be beaten for coming up short today? Back and forth my emotions go. I can't even tell you how many times they just take the food or money and leave without a thank you or smile. Some of the kids look SO DIRTY and there is one little girl particular- when I see her mom smiling and dressed nice, talking on her phone and she sends her 2 year old FILTHY to beg and it ticks me OFF. I mean like dirt smudges on her adorable little face and I want to give her money! But I just can't give it to her horrible Mom that purposefully dirties her 2 yr old and teaches her to beg while she enjoys talking on the phone. And her Mom is ALWAYS smiling and I just want to glare at her and tell her what a piece of crap she is. Greg saw her punch some kid right in the face and OH HOW I WANTED to beat her face when he told me that. It's so frustrating there's nothing you can do. 

One time Greg and I were trying to get a taxi and we have our hands up the way to get one- and this couple comes and stands in front of us, doing the same thing and I am thinking, "Is he trying to get us a taxi for us or himself- what is he doing?" So when the taxi comes he asks for money and I was just thinking, "You've got to be kidding me. No!" It's so annoying. People pester and are so persistent! Like the kids will get right in your path, so you literally have to stop walking, because you'll literally step on their feet if you keep going. Sometimes it's a CROWD of kids. Then it can get really overwhelming. We've gone back and forth saying we'll give them food, not money- but it's not so convenient to keep bananas in your purse. Now we just give to them, and the "sin be on their heads" wherever the money ends up going. I wonder so much about the kids here. What their situation is. 

One girl we always see told me her parents were dead, but that was all we could communicate. Then the other day I asked her her name and she asked for toys. We actually have a TON wrapped and prepared to give away so I excitedly ran home and filled a bag. I packed the nicest things we had. A bag of wooden and felt play food, a princess dress, stuffed teddybear, a really nice toy sword- everything was in such good condition and they were all my favorite items and I thought it would be really special. I brought it out (she's always around the corner from our house) and couldn't find her. I approached the other beggars (can you believe it?) asking for the girl and they were yelling all around trying to find her. It was quite the effort to get her to me and when I finally saw her, everything seemed weird and I wondered if the woman that found her beat her or something for not being outside at the right time. Things just felt off. So I excitedly open the bag to show her and she doesn't even look up at me, takes the bag without looking inside and mumbles "thank you" and walks off. I was pretty surprised. The adults around snipped at her and told her to thank me, so she did again and I left feeling so defeated and strange. I was wishing I took it all to an orphanage where I knew kids would love it. I wondered if it would all be stolen from her anyway. Who knows. Who knows anything. I hate the whole situation and I confront it every other day.

So Greg and I live in a really convenient place where we can walk almost anywhere. But because we have to walk past all these beggars- we get to walk through a lot of URINE. There is this one spot in particular that is a "good place to pee" and it happens to be on a hill so the pee just flows on down down down and SO MANY PEOPLE PEE in this one spot, that it has STAINED the sidewalk! Even when it is dry the smell is SO POTENT your mind gets overwhelmed and can think nothing but, "Oh my gosh, I can't breathe this anymore! Get me out of here! I'm not going to survive this!" I'm not kidding. It is so overwhelming. But it's literally the only path we can walk to get to everything else, so it's just the way it is. And after 6 months, I can finally handle it, not that I look forward to it- I just can focus on other things when the urine fills the air and I get to breathe it all in. 

Driving is pretty crazy but I kinda like it. You have to be really aggressive to get through traffic and I feel like I've gotten pretty good at it. There are a LOT of people on motorcycles just weaving in and all around on the road. It can be a little nerve racking. There aren't really rules on the road. You just drive. That's what I like. You can kinda just do whatever. Most women have drivers and are shocked that I drive myself, and I feel really awesome that I can do it here. The traffic is insane, of course and SO UNPREDICTABLE. For instance, I got to the temple in 20 minutes or so, but it took me 2 hours to get back. It's really easy to get confused and make a wrong turn- but instead of pulling off the road and turning around- the way the roads are set up, you might not be able to turn around for 30 minutes and then you have to back track all that time AGAIN to get right back where you started. It is really frustrating. That's the part I hate about driving- not knowing where I am and whether or not to take an exit or not. Also, traffic is so packed and so that you'll be just a foot behind a GIANT BUS that blocks your ENTIRE VIEW your entire journey so you don't even SEE you exit until it is RIGHT UPON you, but sometimes you're 3 lanes away and you can't cut across in that moment so you add 30 minutes to your trip instantly.

Once you stop at the light, beggars come right up to your window. I mean like PRESS THEIR FOREHEADS on your window and stare right at you for a full on minute before they give up. It is uncomfortable. I have to hit the window a few times and they somehow take that as a message to go.  

Men direct traffic at intersections EVERYWHERE. And the hand motion to tell you to go is flipping their hand back and forth as if they're saying, "go away, shoo" in America. It was SO CONFUSING when I first arrived. I'd think, "Why are they telling me to go away?" but they were really annoyed that I wasn't driving like they were telling me. 

We ordered a bike for me online and I'm excited to start biking here. We live in such a beautiful neighborhood and there are a few places that would be really nice to bike to, but a pain to drive to. I was a little afraid at first, to ride in traffic, but I went out on Greg's bike and went through traffic like the motorcycles and at every red light, we'd weave through the cars and all collect at the front of the intersection. I'd be surrounded by a bunch of Filipino guys on their motorcycles looking at me with looks of, "What is that white girl doing on that bike?" I got totally lost on my way home. I took one wrong turn and just kept going, assuming I'd find the street I was looking for. It made me realize how comfortable I am here, now. There were some roads I went down that were more "off beaten" and NO FOREIGNERS and I just know 6 months ago I would have been FREAKING OUT, but it was fine. I just rode through and eventually stopped to ask some women for directions and they were really nice. It will be nice to have a bike that actually fits my body. Greg's is sort of difficult to ride sometimes, because it's too tall. 

Filipinos confuse HE with SHE. Our babysitter constantly refers to Marius as a SHE. It took me a few months to get the hang of it. I'd get so confused when she'd say "She woke up from her nap . . . she did this, she did that" and I'd think- Scarlet? She doesn't take naps, that doesn't sound like her, why is she telling me about Scarlet? I asked about Marius. And Filipinos always call Greg "Mam Sir". They call me Mam, but Greg is Mam Sir.

Filipinos always say yes. If they know the answer is NO, then they'll say so. But if they DON'T KNOW or they just have no idea what you're saying, they tell you "yes, mam". Every time. It is so confusing. You can never trust anything they say. They just say "yes mam".

Greg feels like we blend in so much and are surrounded by foreigners. I couldn't feel more opposite here. I stand out so much. Everywhere I go, people look. Most places I go, I am the tall white girl with glasses, surrounded by Filipinas that don't come past my shoulders. When I am in crowds, like a bathroom or in a store, waiting for something and we're all squished together- I really feel like a giant. I joined Gold's Gym and 99.9% of the time I am the ONLY FOREIGNER in the WHOLE GYM. And it's CROWDED. I worry when people see me they think I'm weird- like "what is that white girl doing here?" Maybe they don't, but I feel awkward often because I'm the only non-filippino around. It's also awkward because I'm so obviously not from here- I feel so responsible for representing AMERICANS. Like in my zumba classes, I like to be front and center and I'm not afraid to push my way to the front- but I don't want to be the "rude foreigner that thinks they're entitled"- but I want to be in front! Things like that. I don't want to put someone off and give a bad impression for Americans. Every man I pass on the street smiles at me and says, "Hi Mam," and I know it's because I'm a tall somewhat thin foreigner and it gives me this "edge". I used to think this happened to everyone and Filipinos are just super duper friendly- now I realize it's just 'cause I'm not from here. It even happens after my Zumba class when I'm disgusting and red faced. Someone even said "Hi Mam, you are beautiful." That's when I realized it's not a friendly thing.  

I kill bugs everyday. It's no big deal to squish flies in the bathrooms with my hands, we're constantly chasing mosquitos- clapping in the air, and the ants- we just live with them. I've gotten to the point where if they live in a cupboard- I've given up. I let them just crawl on my things and when I take something out of the cupboard, I see them all there and just grab what I need and close the cupboard. There is literally no point in fighting them anymore. One time there was a dollop of something on the counter that needed to be wiped up and the ants were swarming and Greg and I were too lazy to wipe it up. A couple hours later and it was GONE. They had taken it ALL!!!! That was pretty mind blowing. At a friend's house there was a dead lizard in a cupboard and it was COVERED in ants. I mean like I wouldn't have known it was a lizard except they told me. GROSS!!!! They said it happens all the time and it happens so fast. The ants here are CRAZY!!!!

There was one particular cockroach that got flipped on it's back and was just chilling on our living room carpet. The kids discovered him. So Greg was going to grab it with a paper towel and as he's slowly going to it, it grabs onto the paper towel and crawls up over it to where Greg's hand is. Greg is, of course startled, and lets out a little yelp and I see it crawling fast and SCREAM, then Scarlet and Brighton scream and it's coming to me and I think we try to kill it and keep missing and we're all just screaming like maniacs. And poor Marius is looking around like, "Why are we screaming?" and then, poor thing, suddenly panics- because we all are- and starts screaming like he's terrorized. And then one of us stomps on him and it's all over. It really was crazy. Like from a movie. I felt really bad for Marius, he didn't know what was going on. Thankfully the roaches have hardly been around- but they're around enough to when you step on something unexpectedly you think "Oh my gosh it's a cockroach!" and you think out inside, but it's a toy.

There are these tiny jumping spiders all the time in our house. They are really hard to get! And in our favorite fruit, if you get a bad one . . . there are these little JUMPING WORMS inside. Seriously- worms that are teeny tiny and JUMP really high for how small they are. It is shocking, and freaky and we both worry we have eaten them unknowingly. I really hope not.

Bugs get in all our food. We have to freeze everything. We bought special containers to seal it all up, but are still finding bugs so we're gonna put EVERYTHING in the freezer- flours, cornstarch, rice, etc. When I make rice I have to rinse it out and move it around in water so these little black bugs float up and I pick them out- for MINUTES and then I cook it. For awhile I just kept throwing the rice out, but after talking to a bunch of people I realize it's just the way it is here. If you freeze it right away it betters your chances. 

Luxuries are incredibly cheap here. We live a 2 minute walk away from a nail and massage place and I can get a mediocre pedicure for $5 and an incredible hour massage for $7. They will even come to your house and do it at no extra charge! We have gotten in the habit of getting massages after dinner for our dates. I have to say it's pretty stinkin' nice.

Food here isn't super cheap. The local stuff is dirt cheap so I'm trying to learn how to cook it, but it's a little hard to figure out on your own. I keep meaning to google it all. I think I will get there eventually. You can't get a small container of greek yogurt for under 10 bucks. A small container of strawberries is $10 so we've only gotten those ONCE because we bought them on the street for $7. Grapes are too expensive, so we've only had THOSE a couple times.  Everything else is sort of normal USA prices. Good chocolate chips are impossible to find. I may have to start making my own. Things sell out and are unpredictable in the stores. Like when we see frozen mango or pizza in the stores- we will literally buy 10 giant bags of frozen mangoes and pizza. We will just clean them out because who knows the next time they'll have them. We baked our last pizza tonight! I can't believe we're out. Such a bummer.

 Floss here sucks. Can you believe I need to ship some in from America? It's just that bad. Pollution here is pretty nasty. Lately I've been contemplating wearing a surgical mask when I walk places because it's just so gross. Most people don't, but some people do and I always thought it was so weird, but now I'm seriously thinking about doing it myself.

Besides all the things I mentioned- I couldn't be happier here. There are SO MANY wonderful people here. I love that the kids can play outside everyday. I love that most people speak english. People here are SO NICE. They help you. They smile at you. They are all Christians and have no problem expressing it. People LOVE KIDS. When we go to restaurants the waitresses just can't get enough of our kids and are always trying to play with them and are so nice when our kids make a horrible disaster with spills and messes. We love our ward. It is SO WONDERFUL to have a ward here. We have good friends. It's so nice to have friends! It's normal here! We can buy clothes! We can go to the movies! We can eat really good food here. These are all wonderful things that we have come to really appreciate. I love how exposed to the world our kids have been. I love that they understand there are different countries, languages and ways of being. I love that they understand there are poor people and kids that "don't have toys". I love how I have such an opportunity to teach them these things. I love my own opportunity to understand these things and be reminded again and again how grateful I need to be. When I think of my life, I almost get a stomach ache thinking of how filthy rich I am, compared to others who live in a shack and often go to sleep hungry. It makes me feel sick. 

We just got back from Cambodia and I can't WAIT to show everyone our pictures! It was simply amazing. Seriously cool place. Love you guys! Bye!