Final thoughts

(funny- I didn't even know Seth took this picture until he posted it on Facebook)

I've been mulling over how to put all these things down over the last couple of days and decided to just post it as a random conglomerate of thoughts.

Before we left, I spent some time with Judy, the wife of Reysen (more on Reysen later). She was telling me about how much good Tyler was able to do for the people while he was there. Not only was the temple such a blessing, but she told me stories of many of the employees- from the lady who cleaned the apartment to the guys on-site. She explained what she would do with the mattresses, furniture, etc. that we were leaving and talked to me about what it is like to be the Relief Society president there. I asked her, "Is there something I can do for you?" She answered, "Yes! I want to come to the United States so much. We have tried so many times to come to conventions for Reysen's business or to come to General Conference. Could you send me an invitiation?" I was amazed. Can you imagine? They have plenty of money for a plane ticket, but their government won't let them come. They are truly slaves to the government.

One night, Tyler and I left out of the front gates of the temple and a few minutes later found our employees around the front after walking out of the back gate and all the way around. We asked them why they hadn't just come out of the front, like us, and they explained that only officials were allowed out of the front. Since we weren't exactly "officials," I guess that also meant white people. We made it a point to bring them out the front with us after that. Speaking of that- there were guards at each gate and door, writing down who passed. Since they never asked me my name, we've giggled about what they must have written each time I passed. White woman? (I only ever saw two other white women: one who was there doing some wallpaper for a couple of days and was from Australia, and one from Salt Lake City helping her husband install some seating for a couple of days). Maybe "red hair." They seemed to have a fascination with that.

The last day that I was there, I was looking for the interior designer who we were supposed to meet with at noon. Tyler was downstairs working and every other person in the temple was at lunch. It was completely silent and I walked from room to room, looking at Tyler's work and being in awe. I wish I could walk each one of you through and show you why Tyler did each thing, what it meant and how amazing it is. Before that time, I was focusing a lot on the work we had been doing- seeing the flaws and being almost too tired to appreciate it. I was so glad I had that moment to myself to just be overcome. What struck me the most was the "big-ness" of it all. I don't know how to describe it. I just had this overwhelming feeling of the power of God. That despite our weakness and inadequacies, he has a master plan that we cannot even imagine- but of which we all play a part.

For example, when Tyler started planning this, he had so many ideas that just felt so "right," but he had no idea how to implement them. He got to Cebu with a general idea, but quickly after arriving was able to meet a man named Reysen. With Reysen, he was able to figure out all of the details- everything from getting employees to using our vinyl cutter. Obviously he was part of the plan for building that temple, and we had never met him. I have to believe, as well, that God had been preparing him for that moment long before. It isn't often that you find someone running a successful sign business there. You kind of have to try running a business in the Philippines to understand just how backwards it is, but he was there- at the right spot for Tyler to meet him, and looking for a way to be part of the temple project. He had been given the calling of being a "temple historian" early in the project but was unable to set foot on the property because he was not an employee.

I also felt impressed that our work isn't done. Yes, Tyler will have to return to finish in a couple of weeks- but it was more than that. A responsibility and an opportunity that we have to try to fulfill. It hasn't been easy. We've learned some things over these past couple of months that I wish we hadn't had to. But it's a journey and I'm honored to have a small part.

Here is most of the Philippine crew (plus Tyler and Seth- one of our Utah employees)

The whole crew.
standing in the very back- Cris (who we are trying to get over here to work for us in the U.S.)
standing (from left to right)- Reysen, Wendel, Anthony, J.B., Allan
kneeling (from left to right)- Boy, Seth, Jigger

The Food

One of the things I was most worried about with this trip was the food. I heard such conflicting stories. Tyler said it was awful, other people said it was great. If I wasn't already confused enough, here is the conversation I had with the lady at the airline as I checked in.

Her-"Cebu? Oh, I LOVE Cebu. I went there for my job a couple of years ago. I'm so jealous. The food is fantastic."
Me- "Really? Where did you eat, because my husband says it is awful."
Her- "Well, actually I lost a lot of weight while I was there. There is a great restaurant over by the call center. I can't remember the name of it. But, anyway, the mangoes there are just fantastic."

Are you as confused as me? I was immediately glad that I had packed several bags of beef jerky, dried fruit, and pecans. After I got there, I got a little more of the full story. I guess a few days after Tyler got there, he was served rotten fish at a restaurant. Not a little off or a little fishy- seriously rotten. When he asked the waiter to take it away, he admitted that he thought it "didn't smell good" when he served it to Tyler. You know how after you have the stomach flu it can be hard to eat something you had just before you got sick? I think that is what happened to Tyler- only it generalized to all of the available food there.

As I've said before, the grocery stores smell awful. Several of the malls have grocery stores in their basement. I could hardly stand to stay in the same building to shop. I only went into the grocery store a handful of times and wish it had been less. I did find one place that I really loved to eat called "Bread Talk." I saw more fat people there than any other place in the Philippines. I especially like the "Ube Bundle." It was a roll filled with "ube"- some kind of bright purple sweet potato baked in a banana leaf. Other than that, I didn't like most of the bread. I don't know what they do with the flour there, but things just don't taste right. I'm going to sound paranoid like Tyler, but it tastes a little rotten.

I asked one of Tyler's employees where he liked to eat. He told me he didn't know because he ate all over the place. I pushed for him to get specific and finally he said, "Anywhere that is comfortable to eat is a good place to eat." Interesting how what's available changes perspective.

Another place I enjoyed eating was called "Sinagag". I asked one of the employees what the name meant and he said it was the type of rice they served. It means taking leftover rice and frying it with garlic and other spices. Funnily enough, later that morning (this was a day we began work at 12 a.m. and took our first break for breakfast) when we went to Sinagag, he ordered regular rice. When I asked him why he didn't get "sinagag", he said, "It is yesterdays." Somehow I just assumed all Filipinos would like it.

When we left, we tried to give a lot of food to the lady that cleaned the apartment. She wasn't interested because she "didn't know how to eat that kind of food." Even canned beans. I'm not sure what they eat although, judging from the size of them, not much. I figured that since all of them were the same height as me, I might be able to find a decent pair of pants that I wouldn't have to hem. Very discouraging to find that even size "large" often didn't fit.

On the plane ride back, the snack reminded me of one of "Chef Oliver's" concoctions.


It was a chocolate wafer cookie sandwiched between two saltine crackers. The "greaseless peanuts" were heavily flavored with garlic, but it doesn't even mention that- garlic is such a common ingredient in everything. Anyway- overall I'd say the food was not good, with the exception of the mangoes. They were fantastic. But I did lose 4 pounds in two weeks, so I'm not complaining.

Getting around in Cebu

The jeepneys are a fun way to get around town. Here's a fun bit of trivia. After WWII, the U.S. had tons of surplus jeeps that they sold to Filipinos. They stripped them down, added metal roofs and stuff and painted them really bright colors. Some are nicer than others, but the type above are pretty common.
There aren't really any specific stops, you just stand by the side of the road and they pull over when they see someone waiting. I don't really understand how you know which one to take, but Tyler has it figured out. Some of them seem to have numbers or words on them, or a guy hanging on the back yelling where they are headed. It costs 7 pesos a person to ride (about 15 cents). There aren't any designated stopping places either. They stop when someone taps on the bars inside that you hold onto with a peso, or when someone hits the top, or-my favorite- when someone makes "kissy" noises at the driver. Aren't other cultures fun?!

Work, work and more work

We've been working from about 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. for the last two days. Tonight (or this morning, I guess) we'll be going to work at 12 a.m. and working until 9 p.m. Monday night. I'm definitely going to need a vacation after this "vacation," but at least I get to spend some time with Tyler.

Other things I've learned...
I was mentioning to Tyler how strange it was that the stores sold everything in small sizes- almost like the samples you get in magazines- for things like shampoo. He explained to me that is because the people are so poor, they often can't afford to buy anything more. Never thought of that.

Last night, as we were walking home, we saw a little boy asleep on the sidewalk. So sad. Especially sad because it is so hard to know what to do in that situation. You don't want to just give money- that perpetuates the problem, but it's hard to walk by and do nothing. Early in the trip, Tyler let some of the homeless kids come and "clean" his apartment. The guard downstairs was NOT pleased that he was bringing them into the building. Seth bought one of the kids some shoes- but by the next day, they were gone. He told Seth he sold them because they were "expensive." They cost a little over a dollar.

Everything here is written in English. I guess, if you are educated enough read, you speak English. It makes it easy to find your way around and such. Almost everyone speaks English fairly well. That's a relief, but it still feels very "foreign" here. More so than Mexico, for some reason. Tyler says it felt much more so in Vietnam where no one spoke English.

Well, I'm off to get a little rest so I can get some work done tomorrow.

Learning every day...

Let's see... things I have learned so far.
I've been on a lot of scaffolds, but never any that were this high. I didn't realize I was afraid of heights. It's getting better every day. Tyler took this picture. It doesn't really give a perspective of just how high they are, but believe me- they are high!!

I'm getting to know the employees a little better. Unfortunately one of them got expelled for 3 days for peeing in the Bride's room. I don't blame him, really. It's FAR to go to the bathroom and there is a perfectly good toilet (although not hooked up) right there! =) Boy is our senior citizen employee that I spend a bit of time with since I'm not particularly useful. He spends his day on his feet, picking up trash, handing up brushes, moving scaffolding and just helping everybody move forward. Jigger's name means "your father is a drunk." Don't know if that just isn't offensive or if his mother just wanted to make sure everyone knew.

At McDonald's, you have a choice of fries or rice with your meal. The rice is quite good.

Yesterday we ate at a place on the street was pretty tasty. The temple is in an unusually poor area. Yesterday the carpet carver was discussing it with us. Of all the temples he has worked on, this is the worst area he has ever seen a temple. We think maybe it is the only place that they could get enough land since it also has an enormous stake center, mission president's home, temple president's home, and temple patron housing. Hopefully having the temple there will help improve the situation.

Grocery stores here smell very bad. It is kind of a mixture of dirty diapers and rotten fruit. Not sure what the root is- maybe the way they display/store their meat? In the grocery store it is sitting on a stainless steel table (didn't get close enough to see if the table is actually kept cold). I have seen it on the street just sitting out.

The people here are very friendly, but aren't very used to white people. I am greeted everywhere with "Hello, ma'am," "Need help, ma'am?" That is, when I'm not walking by myself when I usually hear, "Hey, red hair!" I don't know what that's about.

I met Tyler's favorite little street beggar. Maybe I'll take a picture of him next time I see him. He was very proud to tell Tyler, "School today." That is the first time Tyler has seen him in a uniform, so maybe his mom is being able to make a little more money. School isn't free- almost, but people have a lot of kids and seem to think that if they can't send them all, they just won't send any of them. One thing I can't figure out, some of the kids bring these huge suitcases on wheels to school. Their fathers' usually roll them to school.

Well, I'm off to get back to the temple. More later.

Welcome to Cebu!

I won't make any promises about how much I'm going to blog since I'm not sure what my schedule will be like yet, but I'll try to write a little here and there. I left on Friday night and got here at about 5 p.m. on Sunday. Very disorienting! On the first flight, the stewardess announced, "We've arrived in L.A., however we have had an incident and police officers must enter the aircraft. You won't be released until they give us permission." They came in and escorted this guy off the plane that was sitting about 5 rows in front of me. I couldn't hear what they were asking him, but after they took him off, they were getting a written statement from the girl sitting behind him. Very odd.

Otherwise, it was pretty uneventful. I flew on Korean Airlines. I loved the outfits of the flight attendants, but wasn't so keen on the "traditional Korean meals." I think they were disappointed and kept saying, "Are you sure you wouldn't like to try a traditional Korean meal?" In spite of my weak stomach, I like to try lots of different foods- but I just can't do Korean food. Ever since we lived in Student Housing next to the family that ate a lot of kim chee. Anyway- so far I haven't eaten much of anything except the food I brought with me and this is going WAY too quickly.

When I looked at my plane ticket, I could see that I had quite a long layover in Manila before I took the one hour flight to Cebu. I was thinking- there is no way that Tyler is going to wait that long. He'll be at Manila waiting for me. And of course, he was! I think he was a little disappointed I wasn't more surprise, but I was actually looking for him. He said, "So it actually would have been more surprising for me to wait?" Yep. Guess that's what being together for almost half our life does to us- not many surprise. I love that. He looks great, but is so tired! As we were waiting for our flight to Cebu, he fell asleep (above picture). Lots of long hours, and it's not over yet!

I met our Filipino employees today. They told me I look like Gloria Estefan because of my hair. Haven't ever heard that one before. Everything looks amazing! I've never seen a temple done quite like this and it is gorgeous. I know I'm probably more than a little bit biased, but it truly is incredible. When I saw the sealing rooms, it made me hope that someday Tyler can do a temple that our kids can get married in. Wouldn't that be fantastic?

We're feeling a little discouraged today since the guy from Salt Lake was here and added even more work. We had hoped to have a few days to have a little fun, but now are just hoping that Tyler will be able to return with me. Keep us in your prayers!

Sneaky Snake

I've wanted to post this for about a week now, but I had to make sure I had the problem resolved lest those who have volunteered to help me while I am in Cebu would want to back out!!

Emmaline saved her money and bought a snake about a month ago. Originally she and Savannah were saving for a cat like their cousin Isabel. For some reason, they thought if they saved $900, I would let them buy a cat. Hmmm... after I put that delusion to rest, Emmaline decided a snake would do just as well.

Why do I let my kids have so many pets? I have no idea. I wouldn't describe myself as an "animal lover," really. I love dogs and can't really imagine life without one and I guess it is just natural for a girl who spent every summer on the ranch. But mostly I blame John and his crazy collection of pets. It seemed like we always had some sort of creepy, crawly thing around the house.

Anyway, since Oliver poked holes in the screen on the top of the aquarium, we've had trouble keeping the snake contained. In fact, it slithered away the first night we got it and about every couple of nights since. It got to be pretty commonplace for Emmaline to show up for breakfast with a forlorn look on her face and tell us that her snake got loose again. Just as common was Oliver running upstairs in the evening with the snake in hand. No matter what we did, we just couldn't keep that little guy in the aquarium.

One evening, some of the kids were upstairs and some were down- including Tucker. He suddenly came racing up the stars. He runs to me, hands outstretched and begins an animated conversation. I couldn't identify a single word he was saying, but his hands smelled awful. We hurried downstairs to figure out what he had picked up, but couldn't find anything. I quickly put him in the tub and didn't think much about it... until the next night. Oliver came upstairs, "Emmaline, I found your snake!" Suddenly, it hit me and I asked if the snake smelled. Yep, it did. Tucker was telling me that he caught the snake. He was so excited about it that he couldn't even use real words to tell me. Well, that- and he can't pronounce "s"s.

Anyway, for those dear souls that will help with my kids in the coming week- the problem has been solved. The snake has a new cage and hasn't even tried to get out. Now if we can just keep hold of our root-beer! =) (Judy and LaVar sent us this song about a sneaky snake and stealing root-beer. Thanks- it's been more appropriate than you even knew!)