Ikoy and Imelda

Yesterday morning we left Manila for Tacloban where we met up with the Niez family--Glory, Jay-Ar, and Christian. Before we left Manila airport one of the security guards asked me if I realized I looked like Chuck Norris, and I laughed since the day before someone had yelled out, "Jesus". I don't want Asa's parents to know who he is really traveling with so I won't say anymore.

Tacloban is a really nice city. Hey, everything looks nice when you have been in the streets of Payatas. The air is clean and there are more pedicabs and more people riding habel-habel which means you have three or four people on a motorcycle. The houses are much more spacious. The provinces are beautifully green and scenic.

This area of Leyte is noted for being the place where Imelda Marcos was born, and we saw evidence of her everywhere. We walked half the length of the San Juacinto Bridge which is the longest bridge in Asia (2 kilometers), we stayed in the Leyte Hotel, and we visited a museum where Imelda had once lived. All of these have plaques showing how Imelda had taken a part in their construction. You may have to wait to see the picture of Elliot playing the piano in Imelda's ballroom, or Asa sitting in Imelda's bath, or Jay-Ar sitting in Ferdinand Marco's place at the head of the table in the banquet hall. The immense wealth that went into this "palace" is obvious, and it takes a while to realize how this extravagance exists at the same time the great kids we taught are living in tiny cinder block homes. The kids we taught were poor materially, but they were so creative and talented and interesting that it is hard to think of them as poor.

Ikoy, a kid we met at the spot where MaCarthur returned, really did seem poor. He was selling balot which is duck eggs with the duck about to hatch. I had taken a picture of him with Christian while Christian ate some balot. The balot sells for 12 pesos and Ikoy had his container of eggs with him. He looked pretty sad, and when we talked to him he had a sort of glazed look about him. I guessed that he was about eight. After buying several cups of mango shakes, I decided that Ikoy needed more sales so I decided to buy some balot myself. Well, the balot tasted pretty much like a hard boiled egg with vinegar and salt. Everyone is impressed if a foreigner can eat balot so I did my best to impress people. Ha ha. We started to talk to Ikoy. Although he was in fourth grade, he was not eight but twelve, "dose" he said. I gave him a large bill and told him to keep the change, and although I didn't notice it, Glory pointed out that he was very happy.

The kids we have been teaching are poor, but they realize the importance of education, and most of them look like they have a chance. Ikoy looks like a kid who doesn't have much of a chance. I wonder what will become of him and if there is a chance he will happy in life.

By the way, I hear that Chicago is up in the mid 90's. We have nice cool weather here with light rainfall each day. Everyone should come to the Philippines in August for relief from the hot humid conditions of the midwest.