OH - MY - GOODNESS

Saturday pm, March 15
          Spent the last two days on ride-alongs with the Hiatts--no, we haven't had to drive yet. Our first errand of the first day was to return a part-time missionary--a young man who has not received his call yet, who is filling in until another missionary arrives. He lives in an area of Manila called Tondo.  From Wikipedia: One of the most densely populated areas of land in the world, Tondo is located in the northwest portion of the city and is primarily residential-industrial in nature. Tondo is known for being one of the poorest and most underdeveloped areas of the country. Many of the city's slums are found in this area. Those of you who have read The Rent Collector might have a glimmer of an idea of what it is like. We drove down many streets that were only half-again as wide as our van, and we were far from the only vehicles on the street.  The buildings are black and gray with grime and filth, and one wonders how they remain standing and what they must be like in monsoon season. However, the people are clean and smiling, and very entrepreneurial. We can't think of anything that would help them more than the gospel.
          We then picked up the APs who had been on splits, so we had to take one to pick up his companion and leave his split companion, clear across the mission.  We stopped for lunch at a burger place called Army-Navy, built in a look-alike quanset hut as homage to the AMERICAN forces.  The food was very good--sauce different, but no more than many American places trying to switch things up.
           More driving, apartment checking, etc. When I am able to put up pictures, you will be astounded that Elder Northrup is planning on driving in these places! When we returned to the office, Elder Paine took us shopping for some groceries in a mall called A. Venue.  Interesting.
           Today we left at 8 am, and drove back to Tondo to deliver the part-time missionary's suitcase--probably holding ALL of his material possessions--and learned that he had purchased a bag of mangos and left them at the area missionaries to thank us.  We were late but felt that it was imperative to show gratitude for his sacrifice--not only the money to buy the mangos, but, at least, a 2 kilometer-walk to deliver them.
            Because of the traffic, we were an hour late for our appointment on the other side of the mission, where we were to look at a new apartment the sisters had found, since they need to move. We had to check for things like deadbolt, bars and screens on the windows, enough natural light for them to study by, and, of course, room for their furniture and permission to hang whiteboards on the walls. We approved the apartment, and will learn how to write the contracts on Monday.
            Hiatts had a baptism at 3, so they dropped us off at a multi-mall. It covered 3 or 4 square blocks, with the store we went to, S&R, covering an entire block itself.  We purchased some things to make our apartment more homey (we'll show before and after pix) and they picked us up at about 4:30 and we headed home.
            We have been completely exhausted every evening, so much so that Elder had a pb&j and I had a wedge of cheese and a piece of bread, and went to bed at 8:30! i hope some of this will go away when our bodies adjust.
             I should mention our living situation. We are in Tivoli Gardens in Makati City, which is searchable by internet.  We are on the 17th floor of Iris, one of the large towers. The apartment is a very nice one-bedroom with an office, hot water in the shower (only), and water filters in the kitchen. So we must remember to either brush our teeth in the kitchen, or take a cup into the bathroom, as the water is extremely dangerous. We wash all our produce as soon as we get home, then soak it in a clorox solution, then rinse it in filtered water. Jon and Maria are, of course, very familiar with the process, having served in Guyana and the Philippines.
             But when you see our apartment complex, you will think we are in a resort. Two or three swimming pools, beautiful hallways between the apartments, a little grocery store (like a very small 7-11) and a fresh market every Saturday.  I bought an ampalaya today, but of course, was too tired to cook it tonight! We're living out of the cans the Hiatts set us up with!
             Tomorrow will be our first day at church.