Thanks to everyone for all the prayers in Elder Williams behalf. He survived his first typhoon with some crazy experiences. He has hit the three month mark and one month in the Philippines.
So we got hit with two typhoons this week, I gave a pair of garments to the cause. They are soaked to the most minuscule of fibers with dirty river/rain water. I want you to know that before I continue, everything I'm about to tell you is entirely true, and I am hesitation telling you because its so outrageous:
People say they love the sound of rain on a tin roof because it's comforting and peaceful, which is true, for about the first 12 hours. This week we had 48+ hours straight rain martes-biernes, of intense it destroyed a dike from the dam that is at the base of a mountain (a hill if we were in Idaho) and a huge rainstorm on saturday,. The main road in San Clemente was like a river, up to my waist at the deepest point. And that was in the road. We live in a house that has three big steps leading up to the inside, and we almost had water flood us. We helped a member of our branch push his tricycle (motorcycle with a sidecar), I saw a bunch of guys lead a 600 pound pig across the road, and we helped a bunch of people push a travel bus because the water was so deep it lost all momentum and couldn't move. It was about twice as bad as what we saw at Upper Palisades this summer.
You would not believe the things I've seen this week. I took a bunch of pictures and video of the flood we had, hopefully I can email them or send them in the mail soon. Also, in my apartment, I've seen a small lizard, a cockroach the size of a D-cell battery, a mouse, a frog the size of a small fist, and flies as big as nickels. INSIDE my apartment. This week I also ate cooked Heron eggs. If you're not starving and about to die, I wouldn't recommend it.
We cant wait to get pictures and the video from him to see the destruction. He is having a great time and is learning the language. I am sure everyday is easier than the last. This is from this week's email
I am finally learning the language and figuring out what to say to people. For the first three weeks and even now, I still have a hard time understanding what they say. But it is the same in English, I'm slowly learning that.
I got the dear elder from dad with a bunch of questions last week so here's all the answers:
How and what is the food?
The food in our apartment is typically rice with an ulam (dish), sometimes corned beef, meat loaf, shrimp (real shrimp. They still have legs, the head, eyes, everything. and they are about twice as big and twice as gross looking as anything you'd find in Washington.) We bought the shrimp at the local market. The same lady who handled a fly-infested raw fish still swimming in the drained blood that pooled in the bottom of the container moments before we bought anything was the same lady who gave us our shrimp. Also the same lady who gave us 24 eggs for the week. The eggs were probably not within 2000 feet of a refrigerator. When we eat at members homes, I think its rice and whatever they killed earlier that day. Last week I ate the small intestine of a pig. "It's clean, Eldar. Kain na!" is what the member told me (its clean, elder, eat!) I think i told you about the herring eggs last week. I wouldn't suggest it if you don't have to.
Can you stand to eat it?
I try to. The herring eggs weren't so awful I couldn't eat them, but after about 4 bites of pig intestine I wanted to stop. there is a girl we teach and every day across the street from her home a street vendor tries to persuade me to eat chicken feet and chicken head. She has them cooking over a coal grill, soaked in some sauce of something red or maybe orange. so gross.
How could will winter be there?
I expect winter to be freezing cold, and i expect to see it in roughly 25 or 26 months. They have two seasons here: Rainy (June-December) and Hot (January-May).
Can you spend US cash?
I'm not sure if I can or not, i've never had to worry about it. They gave us a bank card with our support money on it, but we are supposed to pay cash for everything. So every month I withdraw 7,800 pesos and make that last all month (which is actually really easy. Everything here is so cheap.)
How fast is the internet? Do you have to pay?
Generally its slow, but some places its faster. Depending on the area, it costs P12-P16 per hour.
Sorry I haven't sent pictures yet, I always forget to bring something with me to send pictures. But from now on I'll send pictures every week.
Mahal Ko Kayo
Every week we get to spend a little time email "Chatting" with him. He told us how much he is enjoying his time and learning to love the culture
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