Seasickness

I woke up the next morning with a headache. NO, I did not drink any tuba which is a kind of wine made from coconuts. But I was on a boat from South Leyte to Cebu, and the rocking of the ship was not what I needed. I think it is the closest I have come to being sea sick! Well, maybe I actually was sea sick. I had planned to see Elmo Siap who invited me to come visit two years ago when he was in Chicago listening to Ester Hana sing. I was about to give up on the plan, but decided I would just call anyway. Elmo was a wonderful host and gave us a tour of downtown Cebu. It is the oldest city in the Philippines and has a cross that was brought here by Magellan. Elmo then took us to the country club where he is a member. I was still not feeling great, but when we went into the lounge there was a wonderful performer named Elly Calinawan. Because there was a wedding at the club, we had him all to ourselves! We started doing requests and ended up singing along with him on several songs although Elmo was doing most of the singing. I was swearing at myself for not bringing my flute. When we were about to finish, I asked Elly if he had written anything himself and he sang a beautiful song in Visayan. I hope you are reading this Danny! Next summer we have to get together with Elmo and Elly.
Bohol

The next morning Glory and Jay Ar got me to the fast craft that goes from Cebu to Bohol. Glory, Jay Ar and Christian were truly great hosts, and I can not say Daghan Salamat enough!

I was still feeling a little sick when I got to Bohol, but seeing Sterling's two sisters Belit and Clar and their mother helped so much. They are a great family, and Bohol is a wonderful island. After taking a nap I felt so much better and juggling, playing music and running with Sterling's many nieces and nephews was magical. Where they live is way out in the country, it is a simple but really beautiful place! BJ at eight is the oldest of the relatives, and they spent their time teaching me Cebuano. The next morning at 4:30 a.m. the roosters wake me up and the little kids followed half an hour later.

By 8:30 Sterling, Flor and Kaye were there, and we set off for a jeepney ride to the white sand beaches in Tagbilarin. It must sound like am wealthy to say that I rented a jeepney for a day for all the relatives, but it wasn't. The beaches here are just incredibly beautiful, and after an afternoon in the sun I looked brown except for my right arm. I had forgotten to put sun block on it so I had one sun burned arm. Ha ha.