JM Day 2 and touring Dumaguete

Dumaguete Belfry - This was used as a pirate warning signal

JM at Rainbow. He and his buddies would have made good pirates.

After an extremely sleepless night without JM, we anxiously arrived at Rainbow Village to reacquaint each other, meet James' caregivers ("Ya-yas"), and make things official before taking JM back with us.  Clearly JM and his buddies have been in the best of care.  Mike and Sheryl, the program directors and missionaries from California, have carved a tiny oasis for these children that makes the best of their situation.  We could not have asked for better people to have cared for JM!

Afterwards, we headed to the center of Dumaguete City to explore. Dumaguete City is now a thriving university town with a bustling marketplace.  We were happy to have Sheryl drive us around as there seems to be no driving rules in Dumaguete: no signs, lights, turn signals, etc. Just a constant stream of motorcycles with passenger sidecars navigating out of sheer instinct and pluck. We walked through the marketplace and checked out the local churches, one dating back to the original Spanish mission church that was originally built in the late 1700s. We found it somewhat interesting that the name "Dumaguete" derives from the local word for kidnapping, as the pirates off the coast would maraud the city and snatch people up.

We brought JM back (without having to resort to marauding) to the hotel and he is adjusting VERY well to his new parents. His caregivers were very clear that JM is one of the most easy-going kids they have had and he has definitely lived up to his reputation.  Though quiet and shy, he will explode into smiles when playing ball or with his new truck. Playing with a ball is his favorite activity and we were surprised by his ability to throw and kick the ball.

A good night

We're happy to report everyone slept well last night. It's around 6 am and we're just hanging out and slowly starting the day. We're also trying to see who draws the short straw on the dirty diaper.

Right now JM is lounging in bed, playing with his car, ball and stuffed panda bear. He is a true boy - seems to enjoy making ramps for the car with the back of a wooden puzzle, stacking and balancing things and kicking the ball (he's quite good, I must say).

Today we're headed a water park of sorts to play and have lunch. Then back to the hotel for naps (yeah!).

JM!

 

Today we met James Matthew - or JM as he is called by some of his caregivers. They tell us he is all boy and very sweet. JM loved the small orange truck we brought for him and Amy's iphone too. He ate an entire piece of chocolate cake while sitting on our laps, so his reputation as a good eater is holding up so far.

We visited with JM today and then had dinner with some of the staff in town. Tomorrow we'll return and then bring him to the hotel with us overnight. Before we leave on Thursday, we'll have a good bye party at the orphanage.

We are exhausted, so we'll keep this short for now. It was a great, great day.

~Keith and Amy

1st Day in Manila

Rolly - our contact here - actually lives 3 hours away from Manila. He has a small room in Manila that he uses during the week, but travels home to be with his family during the weekends. So, after he met us last night (11 pm flight) he drove home to be with his family.

Since he wasn't going to be around today, Rolly wasn't keen on us exploring much of Manila on our own. But we did go over to the shopping center across the street. It was very Western. Many more American restaurants (McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, Kenny Rogers Roasters, Dippin Dots and more). So, although we ate fast food, we did at eat the Filipino chain, Jolibee. Barbecue chicken and rice, pizza, etc. We also watched a youth scrabble tournament - the Luzon qualifying rounds for the World Youth Scrabble tournament - and did a little shopping.

Basically, we're just trying to stay awake today so we're not completely wiped out when we meet James.

Rolly will meet us tonight at 6 pm along with another Pearl S Buck staff member. We'll review our plans for tomorrow (the big day!) and probably have dinner. He'll also travel with us to Dumaguete City. We're very excited and a bit nervous for tomorrow.

More later, hopefully with some photos when we finish uploading them!

p.s. - it is very warm and humid here, but not as much as it's been in Pennsylvania lately.

in Manila

We made it to Manila! We're at the hotel; it's almost 1 am but of course we'll still awake. We saw our first jeepney on the way from the airport http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeepney .

The hotel is nice, so we'll probably relax here and in the area tomorrow; just want to adjust to the time change. Meeting with our contact tomorrow night to go over the plans for Monday.

We'll post more later!

in Seoul

We're currently at the Seoul airport, waiting for our next - and last - flight of the day to Manila. We started by heading to the Philadelphia airport at 4:30 am ET on Friday, July 30. Philly - San Francisco, then San Francisco to Seoul. The last flight was almost 12 hours - a bit much but everything turned out ok.

Our agency's representative, Rolly, in Manila will meet us at the airport. We'll have Sunday to adjust to the time and do a little bit of sight seeing. Then Monday afternoon we're off to Dumaguete City and to meet James. Rolly will be with us during this part of the trip also.

Hopefully the internet will cooperate on all parts of this trip and we'll continue to post here!

Tentative travel plans

We're tentatively scheduled to travel Friday, June 30 and return the following weekend. We will have firm plans by Wednesday.

Yahoo!

We'll post to this blog while we're away, assuming technology cooperates.

Thanks to everyone for your support!

Amy, Keith, Maggie and James