March 5: So the wonders of being in a different country. We were awakened early this morning by loud preaching and singing from the nearby chapel; it is Ash Wednesday in a country that is about 85%-90% Catholic. (I would say that they may be considering sleep as another item to give up but activity starts early here as the morning is still cool-I think many people are up before the roosters as the birds start crowing at 4am due to something waking them and it sure wasn’t the sun) So, possibly with all the additional activities for Ash Wednesday, we had a brown out for several hours—time to sit out on our back porch with a bottle of Pepsi in the shade and wait for the electricity to come back on.. Also, since most transactions still are done in cash only, we usually try to hit the ATM’s often to keep up with all the cash demands. But now all the ATM’s are shut down across the island-repair time unknown. Thank goodness it is Ash Wednesday and work is slowed. (Our ATM card does work in large city stores and motels though) Also thank goodness for cell phones because our landline goes dead every once in awhile but then, with all lines, phone and electrical, draped about the countryside we should be happy it works as often as it does. Another item of interest. One of our workers got a stomach ache so he took a tricycle to the nearby clinic. They treated him but then would not let him go until the bill was paid. His helper had to come to humbly ask for a small advance so that his father could be released from the clinic. Life in a small town in the Philippines.
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 08:15:53 +0000