The Mountains
I think I left off at the film showing Monday night in Sabang so I’ll start after that.
Tuesday we woke up pretty early, ate breakfast in Sabang and then hitched a ride out of the village with the Pastor’s husband. He drove us to the point where the bus dropped us off the day before and where we started hiking. We then waited for the bus there for about 2 hours, again, time in this country just isn’t the same as America. We waited at Art’s brother-in-law’s house and watched as they tried to fit a new axle onto a vegetable truck. It was pretty incredible to see how they were doing this with meager tools. Andy Sandberg pounding on the engine with a hammer in Hot Rod anyone?
In Sabang
We ended up hooking up with the bus and then I participated in the single worst vehicle ride of my entire life I think. I know I’ve already said that before but it just keeps getting worse. I now understand completely why they put me at the front of the bus before because this time we were stuck in the back. The front of the bus is bad enough going down and up hills of rocks but the back is ten times worse. I literally braced myself and had tense muscles for the entirety of the 2 hour drive. It was more exhausting than a two hour hike. I bounced and almost hit my head on the ceiling multiple times. It didn’t help at all that I had my computer along in my back pack which I held on my lap the whole time trying to keep level. As much as possible I am not taking my computer anywhere remote anymore, its just not worth the risk.
More Tinoc pictures:
We got back to Tinoc and rested for about an hour waiting for our ride to take us to Tawagan (I think thats how you spell it). That drive wasn’t nearly as bad, although I was pretty terrified at certain parts because it was raining and we literally had to drive through flooded rivers to get to the other side of the road and the water was pretty deep. We made it alright though, obviously, and went to the house we were staying at for the night. We really didn’t have an agenda so we just sat around with the family and talked. There was a volleyball sitting in the house so I started kicking it around for fun and ended up playing some games with the 2 and 4 year old. They had another smaller wicker ball and I would spin that really fast like a top and then they would throw the volleyball at it and the smaller wicker ball would go flying. They thought this was hysterical and laughed really hard the whole time, up until I accidentally hit the little guy in the face with the volleyball…not my fault though, I promise. He was fine when it hit him at first then like all little kids, he realized he was hurt and started crying, I felt bad. We ate dinner and pretty much went to bed after that, another day full of travel.
I know I’m probably going to take some crap for this, but I think its funny and worth mentioning. So apparently Art thinks I’m from Indiana, Tennessee. I originally told him that I’m from Tennessee but I go to school in Indiana. He didn’t follow the line of thought that they are two different places, so every time he introduces me now he says I’m Sam from “Indiana, Tennessee”. I think its pretty funny. Also, it took a bit to explain that Indiana does not mean the country of India.
I understand the concept of time differs in foreign countries, but it really hasn’t been more apparent to me now and more specifically because of something that I have noticed about the buildings here. I notice that literally every single building I go into (house, church, store) has at least 2 calendars on the walls. It took me a little longer to notice as well that there are never any clocks on the walls too. I think this is very telling of the culture. Now, it may just be because the calendars are free propaganda for politicians and clocks use batteries or electricity so they cost money, but I think it is a sign of a culture not dominated by time. In American we measure minutes and hours and here they measure days and weeks. You can tell that they a lot days, not hours, for things to happen and take place. Realizing this is going a long way in understanding some of our travel plans and why its difficult for them to give me a set definite itinerary with specific times listed on it.
We woke up in Tawagan Wednesday morning, ate breakfast, and then Art and I wandered around the town in the morning. The kids were all gathering to go the school and all stared at me. I’ve gotten used to this though, literally everywhere I go the children always just stare at me and sometimes, if they are brave enough, they’ll sneak up and touch me. Its entertaining actually. We ended having to walk down to the school because none of the kids were going there. Art said they needed to get down there and apparently the only way they would was if I went down there.
After that we left, probably around 9 am, and started the hike back to Tinoc. The mornings here are sunny and warm and the afternoons are full of rain and a little cooler. We hiked in the morning and while it was beautiful and provided a beautiful view, it was hot and I had to keep my rain jacket on the whole time because I forgot my sunscreen. It was an amazing hike though. You know those old, rickety bridges that dangle over precipices in the movies? Well I crossed two of those today, they weren’t made of wood and they weren’t necessarily over “precipices”, but it was the exact same concept with metal. It was high enough off the ground to get my heart racing too, a really neat experience. I got some good pictures and Jerry took video so I’ll be sure to put those up as soon as I get fast enough internet. The hike wasn’t really all that bad, it would have been quite enjoyable had I not had my back pack, but despite that I did have fun. We got back to Tinoc and ate lunch and I pretty much had the rest of the day to myself to rest. I’ve been up in my room watching movies and playing solitaire. It was a great rest, especially with another day filled with travel tomorrow.
I am currently sitting in a hotel room in Bayonbong. We traveled roughly 8 hours in a bus today and still have another 2 to go tomorrow to get to Ambaguio, the place of the medical mission on Saturday. Much to my surprise the hotel has wireless internet. Its not terribly fast but by no means am I complaining. Its nice to have. Hopefully I’ll get to connect with my family and Krista here. We are no longer in the mountains, though so its very hot and muggy now, especially since its been raining all afternoon. Tomorrow I think we are ascending back into the mountains, but I’m not completely sure.
Thanks for your prayers and support, they are greatly appreciated!
Sam
