Baguio City, A Lesson Learned, and A Tearful Goodbye

On Monday, Ana and I packed up into a van with the five sisters and four older girls. We left at 5 am for Baguio City- the summer capital of the Philippines. It is called the summer capital because it is cooler in Baguio. The city is held within large mountains. To get to the city, you have to drive up a mountain through windy roads. We passed many natural rain falls and the views of the mountains were breathtaking. We went up one mountain to find that a landslide was blocking the road to Baguio. So, we went all the way back down that mountain and up another. This second mountain was foggy. The fog became so dense at parts that it was hard to see the car in front of us. Visibility was low, but this did not stop our driver from passing a truck in front of us by going into the lane with oncoming traffic! It is safe to say that I said more than one Hail Mary, praying we got up that second mountain safely.

After finally arriving in Baguio, we went to see “The Mansion” which is the summer home of the President of the Philippines.

Next stop was mines view park where we got to dress in traditional Igorot clothing, ride a pink pony, and look at wonderful views of the city. Igorot in Tagalog means “mountaineer”. The Igorot people are a native tribe of people that inhabit the mountains of Luzon.

 

Our next stop was a visit to the sisters of the good shepherd. With the help of college aged students, the sisters make assorted goods. They are known for their strawberry jam and peanut and cashew brittle. I bought so much peanut brittle to share with the staff at Bethany and to bring some home! Wait till you guys at home try it! Hopefully there will still be some left…

 

We visited the famous strawberry farms of Baguio. The strawberries were already harvested by the time we got there, but we got to try some delicious strawberry taho and fresh strawberry ice cream.

Strawberry Taho

 

Our last stop was a grotto to Our Lady of Lourdes that was built by the Jesuits. You have to climb 250 plus steps to reach the top of the grotto. Maybe it was just the sky that day, but the grotto looked as if it was right there in the clouds and the wooden chapel beside the grotto looked just as breathtaking in the clouds.

Walking our way down from the grotto

The whole day was marked by laughter. There wasn’t a time when we were not laughing and joking with each other. Even our sing -a -longs in the long van ride (It takes about 5 hours to get to Baguio) ended in us all laughing. What I loved most about the day was that I had no idea what was going on. Now, let me explain what I mean. I knew we were going to Baguio and I had heard the sisters talk about what we might do there, but I really did not know the plan for the day. I did not know where we were going first or last. I did not know where we were going to eat or what we were going to do about the rain. I really did not know how we were going to make it up that second foggy mountain alive or back down. At one point I tried to find out what the plan for the day was, but the language barrier and God, I think, did not make that possible. I just went with the day, whatever it brought, and I am so happy that I did.

At home, it easy for me to spend a whole day trying to plan the rest of it or trying to plan the next day that I lose the moment I am presently in. I have only been in the Philippines for seven weeks so this may be a stretch, but the people here do not do that. There is something so beautiful about the culture here and it is it’s simplicity. In my time here, I haven’t not seen or heard of any of the sisters getting worried that we are an hour late to a party, which happened often. I haven’t seen one of the staff people stress about the work they needed to get done or a deadline they had to make. In fact, if I needed help with something, they all dropped what they were doing to help me. If food or snacks were ever brought out, everypne stopped what they were doing to eat and chat for a little bit, even if it was there fourth “merienda” of the day.

And it is not just something that I have observed with the adults here, but with the children too. The children leave at 6:45 to get to school for 7:00. One morning, I left my room at 6:30 thinking that most of the children would be ready to go by then. When I walked into the dining area, some of the girls still had not finished breakfast and most were not dressed for school. One little girl, in particular, Rosevhil, was being very slow. Inside my head,  I went into mom mode or panic mode, whatever you want to call it. I went to the girl’s room and helped those who were getting ready, but Rosevhil now was still in the kitchen washing her plate, very thoroughly. No one was rushing her along, saying she was going to be late. I got her uniform together and her shoes so that when she finally did come into the room, she could get dressed quickly and get to the car service. I think she might have washed her plate for seven or ten minutes. Inside, I was again getting frustrated and worried. She was going to be late! When she walked into the room, I handed her her uniform, her shoes, her backpack, her snack and her lunch bag. She looked at me like I was crazy. She was not worried at all. She would get to school, so why rush? And she would be on time, because the bus service wouldn’t leave without her. As I sat on the steps and waved at the bus as the children left for school, I laughed at myself. Rosevhil would have made that bus whether I was there to hand her uniform and backpack or not. She was not worried about it and neither was anyone else. It is amazing and I can’t believe I am going to say this, but life here happens and no one worries or stresses out about it happening. It is the most beautiful thing and it is sad that life at home is not like that for some people. I know, at times, it is not like that for me.

The simplicity of life, the pure joy of just being and enjoy the company of whoever is around is something that I am going to keep with me and remember from my time here in the Philippines.

I will be leaving Bethany in a few hours to start my journey home. It will be a sad day and I am sure there will be many tears on my part. This is definitely not my last visit to the Philippines. I have made a place in my heart for all the children, babies, sisters, nanays, tatays, and all the people I have met here. The Philippines is beautiful and so are it’s people.

Last night, I tried Balut with the sisters. Sr. Analyn describes it as an “aborted chick” and that is exactly what it is. It is a delicacy here in the Philippines and is supposed to be very good for you, but you can only eat one or two eggs, more than that is not good for you.

First you have to sip the “juice” out of the egg

Then you peel back the shell to find the baby chick and the yolk

After dinner, I was surprised with a little gathering of the children. They sang one of their favorite songs to me, “Let it go” from the movie Frozen and they presented me with flowers. “Let it go”. The perfect way to end my stay here in the Philippines because if there is one thing I have learned here it is to “let it go”. Let go of your worries, let go of your fears and anxieties, let it go- whatever it is that you are holding on to. Let it go and give it to Him who can handle all things.

 

 

Love from the Philippines for the very last time,

Gabrielle

Selfie with the boys

Dancing with the girls for some visitors

Christian! I am going to miss swinging with him!

Ulan

I write this blog as I sit in my bed during my first typhoon here in the Philippines. The rain, “ulan” is very loud against the roof and walls of Bethany House. The wind passes through my windows and I no longer need my fan to keep cool. I have heard that July is the month of rain here, and I believe it. The children stayed home from school today because of the rain. It is funny because at home we crowd around the TV or the computer seeing if school is cancelled because of snow.. but here it is because of rain.

Over this past week, one of the little boys was adopted. His new mom and dad came from Italy to pick him up on Monday. I only had five weeks with JC who is almost 3 years old, but he had been at Bethany House since he was a little baby. He is the sweetest little boy and he loves loves loves candy. If you want him to do anything, the best way is to bribe him with candy. He was a favorite of the sisters and the staff here at Bethany. Watching how happy he was with his new parents, I began to cry. I was thinking about the parents- How they have probably thought about this day for so long. The day that they were to come and pick up their little boy. I was thinking about JC- how he was getting his own family, one in which he will grow up, be loved, learn how to ride a bike, learn how to drive a car, have family dinners, celebrate holidays and graduate highschool and college with. It was a beautiful moment watching him sit so close to his papa and show him pictures of his life here at Bethany House. Each child is made a “life book” which is a collection of photos and memories of their time here at Bethany. It is given to them when it comes time to leave with their new families so that when they get older, they will remember Bethany. JC was sitting between his new mama and papa and saying “look” and “o papa” at all the pictures.  The most beautiful moment was as they were leaving. The mother hung back a bit and before she stepped out of the door, she gave each of the sisters a hug and thanked them with tears in her eyes. Thanked them for caring for and loving the little boy that she was now finally going to take home. When he gave me a hug and kiss goodbye, I squeezed him tight. He probably won’t even remember me in a couple of years, but I shared in a special moment with him, his new parents, and the sisters.

  

Because of a donation I received, I was able to plan an activity for the children. After two cancellations and postponements, I was finally able to bake and decorate cookies with the children on Sunday. And not just any cookies, but my mom’s famous butter lemon cookies that she makes for just about every holiday. I was nervous about how the cookies were going to come out, but they were so delicious and the children loved them. We baked about 150 cookies in an oven where we could only fit about 30 at a time. We had hands helping everywhere, and in the afternoon the children were so excited to decorate with the different color icing and sprinkles. They had a blast! I think the boys might have liked decorating even more than the girls. They were so proud of their work!

     

 

 

Some quality time with Angelo…

 

And these are the two house mothers that I have had many laughs with and spent many afternoons sitting on the stoop waiting for the children to arrive home from school

This is what we usually look like. Nanay Janet being funny, me laughing way too hard, and nanay melinda thinking we are crazy!

Love,

Gabrielle

Mabuti

I am continuing to learn new tagalog words each and every day. The title of this blog is Mabuti, meaning “I’m good”. I use it when everyone here tries to give me more food even after I have eaten my share….

It has been a fun and busy week here at Bethany! Since my last post, I have been joined with my co-Smith Fellow here in the Philippines, Ana! I went with Sr. Analyn on Tuesday morning to pick her up in Pasay City, Manila. I got to see a part of Manila that I have not seen before and we drove right along the coast! We also passed the U.S. embassy here in the Philippines. Home is so close, yet so far away! We stopped by a fruit market on the way home to buy some fruit for the week. It is owned by Sr. Emiliana’s sister. I tried the mangosteen fruit. It is similar to santol in that you eat the white fluffy part of the fruit around the seed. It is very sweet and so delicious!

mangosteen

We received two big packages this week, a new baby girl in the nursery, Leah, who is six months old. She is very tiny and definitely underweight. Her mother came and surrendered her for adoption on Wednesday. She smiles and laughs all day. She is the happiest baby I have ever seen. On Wednesday, we also received the largest donation of food/snacks here at Bethany House Boxes were piled high in the entrance way and the hallway leading to the storage area. The sisters gave all the staff two boxes to take home with them.. and there was still so much left! It made the children so happy and everyone pitched in to help move the boxes to the storage area. The boxes were filled with some saraap (yummy) snacks that the children have for merienda each day. So far, I have tried marshmallows stuffed with chocolate and covered in banana flavored chocolate and chocolate rice krispy cakes.

 

On Thursday, Ana and I accompanied nurse Abby to physical therapy for Angelo who has cerebral palsy. He cried as soon as we started getting him ready to leave because he knew where he was going, and he does not like therapy! Having Ana and I there helped. I did not think that he cried as much as Abby said that he usually does .We were making him laugh on the car ride there and while he was getting his therapy. He received electric muscle stimulation, which he does not like at all. As I was playing with his hands when he was getting his therapy (he likes when you play with his hands and rub them together or clap them), I thought about my grandma Grace. My grandma Grace died this past October. She had suffered for many years from Corticobasal degeneration. This disease made her hands curl into tight fists, the same way that little Angelo’s fists are. As I was holding his hands, memories of holding my grandmother’s hands all the years that she suffered began to flood my mind. Memories of her smiling back at me with tears in her eyes that were telling me that she loved me and that she knew I was there, the same way little Angelo was looking back at me. His face, though wet with some tears, was bright with smiles and laughter. Despite his suffering, Angelo is the happiest little boy. He is full of love and laughter.

Thursday and Friday afternoon were spent making bracelets and drawing with the girls! They love making bracelets with string that Ana brought from home. They each have like four or five bracelets!

 

Friday evening we went to a birthday party for Fr. Sunny’s parents. He is one of the priests that do mass at Bethany and he is close with the sisters here because he works at the seminary which is located next to Bethany House. Driving there, it was high tide. We drove on this one road that was so narrow because the water was coming up and filling the street. It was a little scary, but also beautiful. Filipinos LOVE to celebrate, especially birthdays. There was plenty of food to eat and people to talk to! Fr. Sunny’s family is wealth, so I also got see a little of how the other side, those with money, live here in the Philippines. The house was big and beautiful. It was like stepping into a new world! After the party we went to visit another convent in Venezuela. It was a fun night out with the sisters!

 

Love from the Philippines,

Gabrielle

Wherever you are, Be all there

My prayers were answered, it has barely rained here this week. That means two things: it is unbearably hot and more time to play outside for the kids-Play or take photo shoots..

 

 

 

A lot has happened this week, but I will just focus on some of the big things that stand out.

I took a tour of the garden here at Bethany. They have a beautiful garden filled with different types of vegetables and fruits, among them are string beans, squash, guava, santol, eggplant, jackfruit, mangoes, these things that taste like lemons but they aren’t. And at the back of the garden, through a beautiful pathway lined with trees, is the pigs pen! There are two big female pigs here. One of the sisters asked if I knew how to check if the pig was fertile…

     Jack fruit and eggplant

Trail leading to the..

I have been spending a lot of time in the kitchen in the mornings. I like watching nanay lota cook and prepare the food. It is always fun sitting around and laughing with the staff. Whatever she is cooking or whatever vegetable or fruit she is chopping up she lets me try it. And every once in a while she lets me help out. The other day she made flan. I am not really a fan of flan when I tried it in the states, but nanay lotas’s flan was amazing. Maybe it the eggs here or the milk, but it was delicious. I even took a picture proving that I ate it, because my family at home might not have believed me, especially my mom and older brother John who LOVE flan. I would never eat it when they ordered it in a restaurant. Maybe I’ll make you guys some of nanay lotas’s flan when I get home!

 

I have discovered santol. Santol is a fruit that the gardener keeps giving me bags of! He grows it here in the garden and it is delicious. The seeds are covered in this sweet fluffy part of the fruit, and around the seed the rest of the fruit is very sour, and I love sour things! In the Philippines, they eat santol with salt. I think it is supposed to help with the sour taste. I eat one at least everyday and sometimes the staff laugh at how much I love it. Apparently, santol is known to be a favorite of pregnant women here in the Philippines when they are craving something sour. So they laugh every time they see me eating it, but I have to enjoy it as much as I can before leaving!

On Friday, we got three new children at the orphanage as two siblings left. The two siblings that left were only here temporarily, but they have been here for four years. Their mother came and took them home. It was bittersweet to watch them leave. They were so happy and excited to go home, I don’t think they packed fast enough, but I was sad to think that they may have to return to Bethany or that their mother may not be able to take care of them.

By far the roughest day for me was the day we received the three new siblings-A boy who is 9, a little girl who is 3 and a little boy who is 2. The city social worker dropped them off in the early afternoon. The little girl was crying so much, and when she stopped crying she just sat and starred around, not talking. The older brother would not let leave the side of his younger brother. He would have held his sister too but the boys and girls dormitories are separate. While be checked out by the nurse here at Bethany, it was found out that she has mumps. Her salivary glands were inflamed making her cheeks so puffy and she had a discharge from her ear. She was also running a high fever. She would not eat or talk to anyone all day. I stayed in the pharmacy room with her and some of the older girls trying to get her to eat and take her medicine. It was getting late, we had been in the pharmacy for some time, when I took out my phone. Her eyes went right to it. I sat next to her and started showing her some of the pictures of the children that I have taken and the videos. We sat there for a little bit longer until I walked her back to the girls’ room, my phone in her hand. When we got to her bed, the older girls brought over some noodles and water. They said to her if you want the phone you have to eat. I don’t think she could get the noodles in her mouth fast enough. She ate and drank and took her medicine as we flipped through photos and watched some videos. Then she fell fast asleep. I wanted to stay by her side all night in case she woke up, but that is the job of the older girls and the house mothers. Like I said, the older boy did not leave his little brother’s side. All day they were together, the older boy carrying him and protecting him from the other older boy. Getting toys and giving them to his little brother to play with.

The next day when the children were playing outside, the three of them were laughing and playing together. The little girl was feeling better after she had eaten and slept and started her medication. They were running around after each other and holding hands. Friday afternoon, we had visitors. We were all in the covered area. The kids were running around enjoying the company and playing with their new toys. I was sitting next to the older boy on a bench. He is still shy and was not speaking much to anyone or the other boys. All of a sudden from across the room his little brother started crying and he knew right away it was his cry. He ran over and picked him up and brought him to sit on his lap next to me on the bench. The little girl then came running over saying “kuya, kuya”, which means older brother. She wanted to show and share with them the gifts she had gotten. Watching the three of them together was beautiful and heart breaking. The older brother was trying to keep his little family together here at Bethany.

The three of them also made me think about my two brothers. The ages of the three new siblings almost match how far apart in age my brothers and I are. Watching them made me realize how lucky I am to have grown up with them and have their support and their love. I love you guys.

Little brother tagging along

To get to the title of this post, this morning I was running around with the new little girl, playing barbies and giving her some snacks, making sure she took her medicine on time. I went into the nursery later than I usually do. But, if I had entered the nursery a minute earlier or later, I would have missed it. One of the babies, the new one who came in early June, Christian, has grown to be quite attached to me. He cries if I enter the nursery and do not pick him up and he cries when I leave. Today, when I walked in he was already crying. I picked him up and we played ball for a little bit and I held him up as he tried to walk around,. He is only eight months old, so he cannot walk yet. I sat him down on my lap and I was rocking him back and forth. He fell asleep in about five minutes. I never felt more, in one moment, that I was supposed to be exactly where I was. Looking down at his sleeping little face, I could not help but smile. Divine providence brought me to that exact moment. Yea, it wasn’t a big moment. I did not do much but rock him slightly so he could sleep. But, it was the first time he had fallen asleep in my arms and he looked so at peace sleeping there. I’m not sure how long I sat there and rocked him for, but when I was called for lunch, I did not want to let him go.

“Wherever you are, be all there”. We need to be present in each moment as if we are meant to be there for a reason- there in that particular moment- because, we are.

Love from the Philippines,

Gabrielle

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I cannot believe how time is going by here in the Philippines. Sometimes, the days are slow, but then they pick up. I am looking at my calendar and I cannot believe that I have already been in the wonderful place for four weeks! I have three more weeks to go and I know they will pass as quickly as the past four have.

The rainy season has definitely hit here in the Philippines. It rains everyday for about two hours or so, and sometimes, it rains twice or three times in a day. This morning I woke up to loud thunder and high winds. I was actually cold! I could not bring myself to shut my windows though because I knew later on when the heat hit, I would be begging for those few minutes of cold air again! The rain often leaves everyone here at Bethany House sleepy and at loss for things to do, since going outside is off limits when it is raining. They don’t want the children to get sick from getting wet. I have also noticed that the rain makes the babies particularly fussy, even when there are visitors! So on the rainy days, time is spent watching anime cartoons in Tagalog with the children, or helping them clean up their rooms. Every now and then we play some music and dance around the girls’ room having a little dance party. I love these moments. Just hanging out with them in their room. Chatting about school and friends and boys or playing little games and jokes on each other. These are the times I will probably miss the most when I am home. I enjoy being with the little girls so much and my heart flutters a little every time they call me ate, older sister.

Last Friday, I got to see the city of Malolos with Sr. Yna. The seamstress is making new curtains for the daycare center at Bethany, so her and Sr. Yna needed to go to the fabric market, and it is the cheapest in Malolos. The fabric store at the market was very tight, but it was filled with the most diverse set of fabrics. Right nextdoor was a karaoke place where children were singing and having a good time. I am learning that filipinos LOVE karaoke. Every place I have been to, there has been at least one or two karaoke places. In the end, we decided on a minion fabric for the day care, and the children loved it!

After the fabric store, we drove through Malolos to bring the seamstress to her house. The city of Malolos is the capital of the Bulacan region. It is the place of the writing of the first constitution of the Philippines. It is home to many of the universities in Bulacan, and it was once a great site for the settlement of the Spanish when they began their conquest of the Philippines. The Spanish influence can still be seen in the architecture of the buildings and houses. Some of the streets were very narrow and reminded me just a little bit of the side streets of Madrid. I was surprised our car fight in them! There is a river that runs right along the city. There were men in long boats fishing, and Sr. Yna told me that those boats could take you to a little island not too far away from the shore where there is a church, The church of the Holy Cross. I wish I got to see the city a little more from outside or moving car, but what I did get to see was beautiful.

We also made a stop at the Mother House of the Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph. The mother house is located in Paombong, Bulacan. It is on the same compound as the St. Martin de Porres School, which the sisters run. The grounds of the compound were beautiful. I felt as if I was stepping into a school that was hidden in a jungle, with all of the green earth and plants around me. Some of the students that Sr. Yna taught when she was there came running up to her and jumping all over her! She is quite the celebrity there.

 

  

This weekend was the weekend of Jollibee because every visitor, except one, brought Jollibee for the children to eat. I was happy about it because I have come to love it! On Sunday, it was back to back Jollibee for lunch and dinner. The hamburgers, I realized, taste like hamburgers from my favorite place at home that reminds me of so many trips to Brooklyn as a little kid, White Castle.

My favorite place is between these two little guys!

One group of visitors, the one that did not bring Jollibee, had traditional Filipino food catered! The catering company set up in the dining area and it didn’t even look like itself! This group of visitors was from Meycauayan College. About 40 college students came out to spend their afternoon with the orphans. They had a lot of fun games to play, and put on a dance performance that had the kids starring with their mouths wide open! They were such a fun group and the kids had an amazing time. I got to talk with the college students before they left-their English was great! It was nice to talk to some people my own age here in the Philippines. They were such a friendly and lively group! I am starting to believe that everyone here in the Philippines is so friendly and fun and inviting.

Like I said, the rain makes her a little fussy. And she missed her nap that day.

One of the kittens, a little black kitten that I have come to call Lily, has taken a liking to me. I don’t know why. I am not really a cat person, but she seems to like me. At dinner on Sunday night, she thought it would be fun to crawl on to my lap and take a little nap. I was not too happy, you can probably tell from the picture, but the children were absolutely loving it!

 

Love from the Philippines!

Gabrielle

Mahal Kita

Another week has passed here at Bethany House and just when I think things are slowing down, they pick right back up. I am still learning some Tagalo, the newest phrase I have picked up, “ I love you”, is the title of this post. Looking back over my past two weeks here at Bethany, it has all been about love. This past week I have had some moments with the children here that I know will be in my heart forever.

The children had off from school last Friday because it was Independence Day here in the Philippines. I was looking forward to some fun when the rain hit. It rained pretty much all weekend here. Friday morning was spent at dance practice with the girls (I must not be getting any better because they still laugh at my white girl moves). Friday afternoon was spent in the covered area with visitors who put on a show for the children and bought yummy (masarap) food. The babies in the nursery also crashed the party…

     Best seat in the house

Time for ate to dance

  Gifts, gifts, gifts Quick photo shoot after dance practice

Friday afternoon, I was feeding the new baby his bottle in the nursery. He had been really fussy and wouldn’t go down to sleep and at first he wouldn’t even take the bottle. He was just crying and seemed to be really annoyed or angry or just irritable. I finally got him to take the bottle, and as I was rocking him in my arms, there was a moment when his big beautiful brown eyes looked right into mine. He still had some tears drying up on his face and the corners of his eyes, but he looked right into my eyes. Mahal Kita, he seemed to be saying and I was saying it right back. I felt myself hoping and praying that there was going to be more in this baby’s future than Bethany House. Yes, it is loving here and caring. The children are very well taken care of, but there is nothing like the love that one feels growing up in a home with a loving family. Even in those few short minutes of me rocking and feeding him, and in the short six weeks that I am here at Bethany, I hope to give these children as much love as I can.

Those eyes

On Saturday, there was more rain. The morning was spent watching some tv, which the children try to translate so I could keep up with the show. Saturday evening, because of the rain, the children were not allowed to take out the bikes. At first, I thought they should be allowed since it wasn’t actually raining yet, but this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I got to show off my basketball skills…

 

 

I think its safe to say that the older boys have finally warmed up to me. At first as I walked onto the court, they were a little shy and some laughed. But they put me on a team, I tried my hardest, and we won! I, of course, had them laughing the whole time (I think that’s why the other team did poorly, they were busy laughing at me trying to play!) Sunday evening, I was asked back to play basketball with the older boys. I think they realized that (for once in my life) my height was a bit of an advantage, since I was the tallest one playing.

Sunday brought the most interesting visitors yet to Bethany House. I was sitting in the covered area talking to the girls with my back faced toward the entrance way. I turned around a few moments later to find Filipino biker-men pilling in. I don’t exactly know what to call them, other than a motorcycle gang. And they had all ridden their motorcycles to Bethany, 67 motorcycles were parked all over the front of the Orphanage. Some bikers had ridden two to a bike, so I am not even sure how many biker dudes there were. They all looked identical in their biker uniforms. The boys had a blast trying to climb on the bikes and get them to start. And, to add to the stress of Sr. Analyn, who was the only sister at Bethany on Sunday, they would not leave! Three more parties of visitors had arrived with no where to park, and no one to entertain them while the children were trying to be round up and sister was trying to kick the bikers out! I got the job of entertaining them, which I was happy to do since they spoke English.

 

This weekend, one of the baby boys in the orphanage had surgery to fix his cleft pallet. It was sad saying goodbye to him, but it was even worse seeing him in the hospital when I visited with Sr. Emiliana. There was an international agency there called “Smile”. It was teams of doctors, nurses, and volunteers who travel and set up in hospitals around the world for a couple weeks to do cleft lip and cleft pallet surgery. The staff seemed all very nice, and some even spoke English. But the hospital was nothing like I had seen before. It was very small and dirty. The room was no bigger than any normal size bedroom, maybe even a bit smaller, but there were six patients in that one room plus one family member each. And there were only five beds. Our baby was sharing his bed with another baby. As I peered into other rooms, it seemed as if every room was like that. IVs hanging from a rusty hook in the ceiling. No sink or soap or hand sanitizer to wash your hands before entering and exiting the room. No privacy. I am pretty sure as we walked through one of the hallways there was a mini procedure going on right in the hallway because there was a crowd of nurses and a doctor around one of the beds, and they were all talking and trying to hand the doctors supplies. I could not wait in the room for sister to visit, so I waited outside with the social worker of Bethany. The waiting area and check in area for the hospital was outside. So, at first we were sitting and waiting in the hot Filipino sun, but more and more patients began to arrive so we gave up our seats so a family could sit.

Being a biology major and having had an internship in a hospital, I was taken aback by the state of the hospital. I did not even want to know what that hospital’s infection rate was- or if they even kept a record of it. I spent last summer at a hospital working with the vice president of quality. She made sure the hospital was compliant on every level. She made sure falls were low, infection rates were low, and so many other things that go into a hospital getting accredited. I was sad that that long line of people was going to wait outside in the heat only to get inside to be jammed into a room with ten other people. Oh, and I forgot to mention, there was no air conditioning in the hospital. The patients had to bring their own fans if they wanted one. That is why we went to the hospital in the first place, the caretaker and our baby boy did not know that and spent a night and a day in the hospital without a fan. It is funny because on the car ride home all Sr. Analyn talked about was how clean and how ordered the hospital was. She said it was one of the nicer hospitals because it did not have a bad smell. I will give it that, this hospital did not have any bad smells. But, it was nothing like what we have at home and what we are used to. I had never experienced healthcare, clinics, or hospitals in another country besides the U.S., before Monday afternoon. I had never felt so lucky to have grown up where I did.

The rest of the day and the ride home, I just kept thinking about our little boy in that jammed room after his surgery. I was so happy when he came home on Tuesday. He is doing good after his surgery. He looks very happy, and he tries to sneak around the nursery sticking things in his mouth and drinking from the other babies’ bottles, but we all have a good eye on him.

Perhaps my favorite moment through out the week, was holding the baby boy with cerebral palsy for the first time. At first, I was nervous to hold him because his body movements are fast and I did not want to hurt him. I asked the nurse to show me how to properly pick him up and lay him back down. I am so happy I asked because I cherish my time in the mornings with him. He loves to get picked up and held as if he is walking around the nursery. And he loves when his tummy gets tickled! There is nothing better than seeing a smile brighten up his face.

   

Love from the Philippines,

Gabrielle

p.s. Bethany House got six new children this week. Four new boys and two new girls!

Laundry, Colds, and New Face…

I attempted to wash my clothes for the first time being here on Monday. They wash all the clothes by hand here and hang them to dry. One of the housemothers, “nanay”, showed me how to do the first step- soak and scrub the clothes. It took me, by myself, about an hour to do only the first step. When I told nanay that I was ready for the second step, she just kind of laughed and said, “ no, no, now I will help”. I stepped aside, and she finished everything else in about 15 minutes, if I had to time her. I couldn’t believe how fast she did it! And she couldn’t believe how long it took me to do only the first step! Nanay is very sweet. I told her I wanted to learn how to do it, so that is why she let me do the first step on my own. I wanted to actually do something. A lot of my time at the orphanage is spent with the children or the babies either playing, chatting, helping them with some homework, or eating with them. I sometimes feel as if I am not doing enough for them. I know that they appreciate my presence and me just being there, but sometimes I like to be a little more hands on. So, I thought by doing my own laundry I would be helping myself and nanay, but it just did not live up to nanay’s standards. She gave me a schedule of doing laundry Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays so it does not build up. Maybe with some practice, I will get as good as she is!

Monday morning was spent meeting most of the rest of the congregation of the Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph. It was one of the sister’s silver jubilee, and the mass and little reception after was held at Bethany. It was a beautiful ceremony followed by a lunch filled with laughter as all of the sisters thought that I was here to become one of them! Sr. Analyn said that if my laundry did not work out, they always have some extra habits I could wear for a day. The sisters here are always joking around. They are all so fun and loving.

On Tuesday morning, I went into Manila with Sr. Analyn. I did not get to see much of the city, just from the car window, but afterwards we went to SM city mall north. I was amazed by how big this mall was, and sister told me that this wasn’t even the biggest one. Sister had to pick up a gift for one of the priests, and I treated the sisters to J.CO donuts, which are famous in the Philippines.

Picture of a Jeep I got driving in Manila

It was Tuesday morning that I noticed that most of the babies in the nursery had a little cold. And then Tuesday evening, I noticed that most of the children had one too. Needless to say, Wednesday morning I woke up with the same cold. The sisters tell me to rest all day so it will get better, but I couldn’t rest with a new face in the nursery!

On Wednesday, I was supposed to do my laundry again. I wasn’t feeling well so I rested in the morning and then ran some errands with Sr. Analyn. I went to do my laundry in the afternoon, but nanay had done it! I told her that morning not to do it for me! She said it would have taken me all day…

Later on in the day on Wednesday, a mother came to the orphanage with three of her children, a little boy, a little girl, and a baby boy. She cannot take care of all of them, so she asked the sisters to put the baby in the orphanage temporarily. The sisters asked her if she wanted to keep her other children here temporarily also. At this, the mother began to cry a little bit. She tried keeping the little girl and little boy at Bethany, but she could not leave them. She did leave the baby boy a Bethany for a temporary stay. The sisters said though that sometimes the mothers say it is temporary, but they never come back or can be contacted. This puts the sisters in a tough position because the child cannot be authorized for adoption since there is no contact with the birth parent, so they end up staying in the orphanage for a long time. On his first day, the little boy, 7 months, cried a lot. I got to hold him for a little bit while he was eating. But if he wasn’t eating or sleeping, he was crying. On Thursday, he started to warm up to the new faces of the housemothers and the helpers in the nursery. He was crawling around with the other babies and playing with some toys. And when I changed his diaper, he didn’t cry. Hopefully, he will get adjusted soon. It was difficult to see the mother part with her baby boy, but it must be good to know that he is in good hands at Bethany. And I could only imagine what the little boy and little girl thought about their brother being left behind. On there way out, one of the sisters said she heard the little boy say, “Mom, did you sell him?”. It was very hard to see this beautiful baby get separated from his family. I think it was the most difficult thing to see so far at Bethany. He is so very “bogi” (handsome in tagalo) and everyone loves him already.

          

On Thursday, we celebrated all the baby June birthdays in the nursery. The celebration consisted of a photo shoot and the babies attacking the cake…

           The nursery crew 

Love from the Philippines,

Gabrielle

Bisitas, Bisitas, and more Bisitas

It was a busy weekend at the orphanage and this post is going to cover all of it! So get ready!

“Bisitas” in Tagalo means “visitors”. I got to experience what it is like when visitors come to celebrate their birthdays at Bethany House. At around 4:00 I was outside trying to speak and learn tagalo with some of the workers, when the cars began piling into the orphanage. Car loads of people and children began arriving. The children arrived home from school around 5:00 and I joined them in the covered area for the festivities. There was a magician who put on a show and gave the kids a bunch of gifts and prizes. There was also a traditional candy grabbing game, somewhat like a piñata except that the bags of candy were hanging from a bar and the kids had to jump up and grab a bag. The taller children were the best at this game, but they shared their candies with the little ones. The magician made the children dance and then freeze in certain positions. I was laughing so hard with the sisters, especially at Jeremy who is a terrific dancer. The whole time little Jerome was holding my heavy water bottle around. I don’t know why he loves it so much.

The family brought traditional Filipino food for the children to eat for dinner. They brought cake, ice cream, and tons of candy. They also donated two bikes. I could not believe the generosity of this family. I was talking with one of the workers and she said that the family is a very wealthy family, but they are here to spread and share their wealth with the children. She also said that this type of thing happens often in the orphanage. I was just so amazed that this whole family and extended family would spend a lot of money on their birthday to celebrate it with the children at Bethany House. It was beautiful, and the children loved every moment of it. That night, they snacked on all their new candies as we continues watching “Nathaniel” the Filipino show about a little boy who is an angel and is sent on missions.

And, Sr. Analyn brought me home pizza when she went into town today. It was pretty good. I was expecting not to have pizza until I returned.

Adventure with Sr. Emiliana

On Saturday morning, Sr. Analyn told the other sisters that I mentioned I wanted to ride in a jeep. In the Philippines, a jeep is an 18-20 seater. It is there version of a bus. The seats are on the side, kind of like benches. And instead of windows, the sides of the bus are open. I will try and get a photo so you guys can actually see what I am talking about. Well, that set off a morning of adventures with Sr. Emilianna because she happen to be going to one of the other convents that day AND she was going to be taking a jeep which the orphanage uses that her cousin drives. My first ride in the jeep was exciting. I sat in the front middle so I got to see all of the crazy driving. I don’t think I would ever be able to drive in the Philippines. For those of you who know my driving well, you know that sometimes I get a little road rage/inpatient. Cars, jeeps, motor bikes, flood bikes, and regular bikes all share the same road in the Philippines!!!!!! So, if you get stuck behind a bike, you have to stick it out, or go into oncoming traffic to pass them (which also happens often).

My view from the front middle seat of the Jeep

Arriving at the convent safely, I met four other sisters who are all apart of the larger congregation of the Dominican Sisters of St. Joseph. I learned that the sisters run three orphanages and five schools, but only one of the schools they actually own. I sat in the kitchen of the convent and talked with mother (one of the elder sisters) over sweet rice cake, which I am beginning to love, and rice pudding with coconut. The sweets are not like the sweets I would eat in the U.S., and you all know I love my sweets, but I am starting to like them! On the ride back to Bethany House, we stopped at a dunkin donuts. The donuts were good, but not exactly the same as home.

   Sweet rice cake      DD

I got back to Bethany in the afternoon to find these guys playing dress up…

                                  

And running around the nursery… Who let the babies out..

On Sunday, I attended mass with the sisters and the children at the Carmelite monastery. It was in the little chapel, where we attend mass each morning during the week. Luckily, we got seats inside with the fans! The mass was completely in tagalo, so I could not understand most of it. I kept dozing off during the homily, but I looked around and so was one of the sisters so I didn’t feel so bad!

Sunday was a party all day. The children had visitors in the morning. They hired Jollitown to come, which is a spin off of one of their fast food places, Jollibee. The children loved playing games and winning prizes. For lunch, the family brought Jollibee, which I got to taste for the first time! Fried chicken, a hamburger, and of course, rice. The babies came to the party too and little gab fell asleep in my arms during the loud party! It was way past his nap time. A quick nap time and rest before more visitors came in the afternoon. Apparently some of them were from Filipino tv shows that the children knew so they were all excited. The children did some dance routines that they had rehearsed and knew well. After a good Filipino dinner and ice cream brought by the visitors, the girls tried to teach me their dances. Tried, being the most important word. A lot of the girls are great dancers and they have their routine down. They laughed at me trying to dance with them. They want me to practice, so who knows, maybe I will come home with some dance moves.

The Jollibee himself

The “covered area” all decorated for one of the parties

                 

Babies take the bisitas

Jollibee, Jollibee, Jollibee

Love from the Philippines,

Gabrielle

“Salamat”

Salamat is one of the first Tagalo words I learned here, and the only one I know how to say correctly. It means “thank you”.

This morning I woke up early enough to attend mass with the sisters at the Carmelite monastery down the road from the orphanage. The mass was in English and Tagalo so I could follow what was going on. We had mass in the chapel of a Carmelite monastery which is on the same grounds as a seminary. After mass, we arrived back at the orphanage and had breakfast. Breakfast every morning is at 7:30 for the sisters so I take it with them. The children have breakfast before school which they leave for by 6:30. The schedule at the orphanage is a little confusing so I am going to take a second to explain it:

The children go to school from 6:30 until around 11:30, when they come home for lunch. They leave the orphanage again at 1:00 and return around 4:30. The children then change and wash their uniforms and get ready for dinner, which is served at 6:00. Then the children pray the rosary in either the chapel or the “covered area”, which is another room in the orphanage. If it is too hot to have the rosary in the chapel, then it is said in the covered area. Some children, three siblings, Gina, Jenny, and Jonathan, go to school at a different time because Gina and Jonathan are going to be attending a school in Manila and Jenny is in high school which runs from 12:00-6:00. After the rosary, the children do their assignments until they are finished and if they have some free time before bed the sisters allow them to watch some tv. I got to watch some tv with them tonight, it was a filipino soap opera. Although it was in Tagalo, I could still follow along and make sense of what was going on (I was always a sucker for soap operas). During the commercials, the children would try to translate the tagalo into english for me.

This morning, after mass and breakfast, I hung out in the nursery again. Today, the babies got to roam free and walk around the nursery with all the doors shut. They love my sandals and my water bottle and try to put them in their mouths when I am not looking. The babies get bathed at least three times a day because of the heat. In between bath times, they eat and sleep. Oh, the life of a baby. While the other babies napped today, I was sitting next to Angelo and I found his tickle spot!! When I tickled the bottom of his feet, his face brightened up with a big smile. I took a picture of it and I hope I can get that to post too.

Angelo smiling

The “manganda” marcar. “manganda” means beautiful

John Paul and Gabriel take the iphone

I took lunch with the sisters and got to meet Sr. Yna, who has been at the hospital taking care of one of the other sisters. She is very nice at young and speaks fluent English. She said she became fluent by watch shows like CSI and law & order. After lunch from 1:00-3:00 the sisters have their “rest”, which is basically nap time for the sisters. During this time, I will probably either sleep, write a post, or read. Everyone else at the orphanage is usually taking a break at this time too.

I spent the afternoon talking to the workers and the other “ates” of the orphanage. They were teaching me Tagalo and asking me about my family and friends in New York. They have this expression in the Philippines, “nose bleed”. It is used when a filipino is speaking English but messes up or forgets how to say something. At first, I thought they were saying that they were actually going to have a nose bleed, so I went to go get some tissues! And then they all laughed at me. One of the workers gave me a bracelet that she had made. F there is time she said she would teach me how to make them.

Dinner was special today since it was Sr, Yna’s mother’s birthday. Her family came and brought food for the children to have for dinner. I tried some authentic Filipino food. I do not remember the names of anything but it was all delicious! There was a noodle dish, which I am learning is a staple in the Philippines, rice, a sweet rice cake with coconut and jack fruit on top, and cake with coffee flavored icing. Sr. Yna’s family also brought coconut juice which the children loved. I was told that this happens often at the orphanage. People want to celebrate their birthday’s with the children so they come and bring food.

It was a lot cooler today, which I was thankful for. Last night it thunder stormed, which made it cooler. And as I sit in bed writing this now, I hear thunder again. I am beginning to think it might thunder storm every night here. I don’t mind, as long as it makes the next day cool.

And I will close with my favorite part of the day. While I was helping the boys with their homework, some of the girls followed over. We were reading an English book and I began to cough (I have developed a little bit of a cough since being here. Everyone is saying it is from the climate. A couple of the children have a cough too). One of the girls, I don’t know how to spell her name so I am not going to try, began rubbing my back and the top of my chest, saying “ate gabby, cough”. She would stop, probably when her hands got tired, but then when I would cough again she would rub my back again. She continued this until she went to sleep. Sr. Analyn came in and saw this and she thought it was the cutest thing.

Also, I will only have wifi for about 30 mins each morning starting at 8:30 am here (so that is 8:30pm for those of you at home)

Love,

Ate Gabby

Arrival at Bethany House

After my 14 hour flight to South Korea, my three hour lay over and my three hour flight to Manila, I finally made it. Sr. Analyn, another sister, and Leslie, one of the children, picked me up from the airport. Who knew the arrival section of the airport where Sr. Analyn was waiting for me was outside?! I found myself in a sea of people looking for Sr. Analyn’s white robes! I finally found her and we safely made our way to the orphanage, which was an hour and a half from Manila. We stopped on the way for KFC (instead of fries or a biscuit as your side.. you got rice!)

I could feel the Filipino heat as soon as I got off my plane. And the heat never left. My first day was the hottest day this season. Everyone at the orphanage was complaining, which I was a little happy about because one, it meant it might cool up a little, and two, I wasn’t the crazy American complaining about the heat.

I spent my first morning trying to get over my jet lag (trying being the key word, because I am still trying). I got up and had breakfast with the Sister Analyn, Sister Vikki and Sister Emilyann. The children were already at school by the time I was awake, so the orphanage was empty besides the nursery and the preschool. So of course, I spent a majority of my morning in the nursery. I got to meet Marcar (whose first birthday it was!), Eugene, John Paul, Gabriel, Angelo, and Jerome. Marcar was the birthday princess all day today changing after each wash into a beautiful new summer dress. She is the queen of the nursery since she is the only girl. Eugene loves to place face games. I make a face and he copies it. He makes a face and I copy it. Gabriel and Eugene play off of each other. During afternoon naptime, neither wanted to nap so they stood up in their cribs and talked to each other across the nursery. Angelo has cerebral palsy. He lies on the floor during the day because it is easier for the workers to take care of him that way. I spent a lot of time just sitting next to him on the floor and rubbing his tummy. Every once in a while, I think I saw a smile!

After the nursery, I took a tour around the rest of the orphanage, exploring all of the gardens and grounds. I spent some time in the chapel, which is beautiful and airy. I ate lunch with the sisters, they complain that I am too skinny and that I need to eat more, but I think its just my body adjusting to life here.

In the afternoon, I got to meet and talk with some of the staff. Two women run the day care center that is held on the orphanage grounds. Another woman is a social worker. I got to sit and chat with them in the only air conditioned room in the orphanage( yes yes yes!) I shared snack time with them and a couple of other staff members in the back garden, where I tried some mango fresh from the mango tree and jack fruit. Jack fruit is a very sweet type of melon. It was delicious! It is a little difficult at times because I do not speak Tagalo. Most of the workers here do speak some English, but they are shy and are more comfortable speaking in Tagalo. I am beginning to learn some words like thank you, “salamat”.

FINALLY, the children arrived home from school around 4:30. When they arrived I met them in their room as they changed and washed up for dinner. They call me “ate”, I have no idea if I am spelling that right, but it means “older sister” in Tagalo. Some of the children were more shy than others. It is a little hard to understand some of them, but I think that will get easier as I talk to them more. I took dinner with the children and sat at the preschool boy table with the handsome JC, who played with his food more than ate it. After dinner, the children had rosary with the sisters, which I accompanied them to and then they started on their assignments for school the next day. I sat with them outside and tried to help them with some of their English assignments. Not long into that the workers kept saying I looked so tired and to go to bed! So I took their advice and went to bed a little earlier than the children.

Thankfully, the maintenance crew had put up my mosquito net so I sit under it tonight writing to all of you! I’m hoping it will be much easier to sleep with less mosquitoes getting to me!