With our visa status about to expire Melissa and I had to flee the country.. and do so as cheaply and quickly as possible. The cheapest option being the Philippines. Coincidently, the brother that lives in the apartment above us also needed to do his visa run, so we all bought tickets to Manila.
The Philippines has a reputation for being a very poor country, regularly stricken by natural disasters, and not the safest place on Earth, especially for foreigners. The general review given by most people was "Watch your purse... pretty much everyone is looking to rip you off or mug you. Especially the airport employees. And don't go anywhere alone." So, with this in mind Melissa and I were happy that we had Nick to accompany us. Our plan was to spend most of the day at the Philippines Bethel and get a tour, but we weren't able to get through to our contact at the Bethel facility, so we had no address, directions, or apointment. But as it turned out, while we were waiting in line at the airport we ran in to a sister standing in line for our same flight doing her visa run as well. She is a pioneer from Czech Republic who is going to Kaohsiung English Cong. (which is the south end of Taiwan) She was headed to Bethel as well, and the branch had arranged to pick her up from the airport. So we were able to meet the brother that picked her up and get the necessary info. Jehovah came through once again!
We took the red eye Wed. night and arrived in Manila at about 3 am. For the next few hours we hunkered down in a couple restaurants and coffee shops near the airport and watched all the trannys and college kids wind down after what I expect was a long night of partying.
Around 8 a.m. we hopped in a taxi and headed for Quezon City where we would arrive at the Philippines Bethel. The facilities there were very nice, and the tropical surroundings and warm air was much like being back in Hawaii. As soon as we walked through the doors, everyone that we saw came right up to us and talked with us. By the end of the day we felt like we had met the entire branch. The feel of this Bethel was so incredibly warm, friendly and welcoming. And much more laid back than we expected. We got to meet many retired missionaries that had served all over the world, and many sisters who knew our friends in Taiwan. It was so encouraging to talk to all of them and listen to their stories. Then we got to take our tour, we watched a short video introducing the history of the branch which was very interesting. Then toured the facilities. It was really incredible to learn how immense the growth has been in the Philippines, but it seemed like every department we went to we were being gently nudged to come back and serve there. There is a big need for help, with over 7,000 islands, 3,000 congregations just in Manilla, and many languages they have an enormous task. The branch started with 2 bethelites in the 1930's and has grown to almost 500. They have only just completed translating the first volume of the Insight book. And the latest project of the branch is providing literature for deaf people. Because all of the literature had been presented in ASL up till now, they are developing a much more useful FSL (or Filipino Sign Language) system, and congregations are starting to form. There are over 220 deaf publishers in Manila, and more are coming in to the truth every day. We got to meet an awesome deaf brother that worked in the laundry department, and got to see how their sign language differs from ASL. They just released the very first FSL brochure at the last convention, which was a huge triumph for the branch.
We had the privelege of having lunch with the Bethel family (which was delicious!) and afterward a brother and his wife invited us to their room for coffee. We got to visit with them for a while and get to know them a little. They were really cool, they made us feel right at home and we all got to share a lot of laughs. To top it all off, the brothers arranged for us to be picked up by a local Elder who drives a taxi for a living and had him take us on a tour of Manila. He was so sweet, he drove an hour out of the way to pick us up despite the fact that the streets had just flooded from the rain, and then took us all over the place. He spoke a little English which was helpful, so he gave us a little insight into what was going on around us.
Manila is amazing. Picture something like a mix of the poorest parts of Mexico and Jamaica. There are colorful shacks and buildings everywhere, the streets are filthy, the place is total slums. But it's full of life. There are sooo many people. And I thought the roads in Taipei were crazy... this place blows Taiwan out of the water. Imagine driving down a freeway like I-5 with just as many cars, people walking around in the road dodging vehicles and trying to sell you vegetables or bottles of water while you're stopped. The crosswalks are wherever you find a space between rushing cars. It's a lot like an insane game of Frogger. Then there's the Jeepneys, these are like really old-school metal buses that have been customized and gutted and painted all kinds of colors. People who own them are the public transportation system. We would see them pull up on the side of the road and 9 or 10 people would run and cram into the back, some hanging off the back end. Then there are the 'Tricycles' which are either a bicycle or motorcycle with a side car. These are sort of like man-powered taxis. And although the side car is only big enough for about one person to sit in comfortably, I saw some with 7 to 8 people hanging all over them going down the road. These guys would weave between cars and then suddenly turn around and head in to oncoming traffic, then shoot out on to a sidewalk. It is absolutely nuts. There are lines indicating the lanes, but I never saw anyone stay within them for more than about a second.
The brother drove us through some reeeallly shady slums. If you want to see poverty, this is the place to see it. Shacks, which are basically sheets of old rusty aluminum screwed together, are literally stacked on top of one another making this elaborate rats nest of shantys. I would have liked to take more pictures but the Brother warned us that we should keep our doors locked and put our cameras and purses somewhere they wouldn't be seen. So we complied. I'm glad we were in the safety of the vehicle to be honest. As much as I'd have liked to walk around and see more, I'm fairly certain it would have ended in one of us getting mugged.
On the other side of the city though, huge modern buildings and giant shopping malls tower over everything. It's like day and night. We drove through Ft. Santiago and Intramuros which are historical ruins, monuments, cobblestone streets and old Spanish style buildings from pre-war times. Then when we asked the brother to take us to a place where we could eat authentic Filipino food, he drove us to the Mall of Asia and left us at a restaurant in the food court called KKK. It wasn't exactly what we had in mind, but the food was good, and we figure he probably had our best interest in mind by not taking us to any restaurants in the more dangerous parts of town.
After dinner he took us to the airport and we flew back to Taipei. We arrived home about 2 am, making it one LOOONG day. I think I was up for 43 hours straight. But it was well worth it.
Here's some pictures!
Bethel tour: Bara, Melissa, & Nick
Peyton and Shulamite Santiago: Bethelite couple that hosted us.
The Bethel grounds
The infamous Jeepney
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