Edmund Rice Philippine Mission Diary - 4
1st October 2007
Well now that we are officially a new Province I want to first congratulations all on this momentous time. Our first birthday is now a year away. We marked the occasion here with a special prayer evening. Even though we belong to different clusters I think it’s OK to continue our little diary sessions. We wish Pat all the best in his new role. Tony Hempenstall is our cluster leader.
We are now well into our fifth week and still making steady progress. The only real problem is when to stop trying to speak Cebuano. I needed a hair cut but was told I was putting the wrong affix in my verbal sentence and the consequence could be serious as there is little difference between a full scalp cut and a partial cut. I resorted to English to prevent any disaster. One of the MJ told the story against himself when he used the affix to cut incorrectly. (on instead of an) when directing the workman to clip the tree. He came back half an hour later to find the whole tree gone. (Kanan – partial vs. Kanon – all) A simple mistake but can you imagine what I would have looked like if I had made the same mistake. Yak! Joan, our director and my gramma teacher as well as being a grand mother of three, is often amused when I get my sentences mixed up which is very easy to do as in Cebuano language sentences are constructed backwards.
Enough of gramma as it can be a little intimidating on some days but it does cause a lot of mirth, which is just as well. Carl is walking a lot as he has been having tummy problems, and fortunately things are starting move nicely at last. Frank is well and got the all clear from his doctor regarding his monthly blood test. Our 2 hour religious experience last Sunday nearly had him undone though as he felt quite dizzy and had to take himself outside for a breath of fresh air. One again the prompt action did the trick. I myself am still dangerously well thank God. The weather here is hot and humid but not oppressively so. Carl and I went to a swimming pool in a Davao and it was most enjoyable. The Bishop also has a pool so we are going to try his next Sunday.
The DSL, which I put so much time into, went down yesterday so I had to take the router back into the shop to have it replaced. You can be unlucky. It means this diary might be a little late.
Just quick run down on how life flows for us each day.
- Up at 5.30 for our cold shower and prayers
- Breakfast at 7.00 followed by email check
- School starts promptly at 8 am each morning (Program in 2 nd Diary)
- Classes till 4pm when we make our way home (Walk)
- Merianda and recovery time which usually involves AT & another cold shower and rest.
- Prayers then tea at 7 pm
- Study and retire
- Weekends are our own mostly. ( Saturday Shopping - Sunday outing of sorts)
We have Eucharist at the school twice a week and join in at the local parish where we can at other times. The people sing well and big crowds seem to attend most churches even on week days the crowd are reasonably big. The devotion and reverence is quite marked here in the Philippines. We witnessed a School procession while we were doing our dialog, which comprised of the whole school body marching around the streets in time with the school band. The people are very good at celebrating saints feast days and I guess we would say “they get carried away a little”. The devotion to Mary as Mother is just wonderful. I am surprised Mary has not visited here like she has in so many other places around the world. Maybe she has and I just don’t know about it yet.
I would like to finish on a very moving note as we have had plenty of experience now of what the people call “Man – Po” The custom of young children coming up and taking your hand ever so gently and putting it their forehead in a gesture of respect and its not just to Bishops, Priests and Brothers, it is specially for grand parents and the elderly in general. On the way home yesterday three 12 year olds greeted us in this manner and it was quite moving. It is also a kind of blessing for them too.
My mode of transport & it is not a golf cart.
Bye till next time. Peter T
