Mansalay = Home

With a little over one week left in our one month vacation here in the Philippines I'm already beginning to feel a bit of sadness about leaving. Most of all I'm going to miss what has become a second home to me, Mansalay. Life in the provinces of the Philippines is a bit like taking a step backwards as far as the everyday things we take for granted in America. Like a fully air conditioned home, public water, hot showers, etc. But you get used to the change. My second home is very inviting, warm with friendship and teeming with life that you don't get back home. It's obvious that most people in the provinces here are very poor, but even when you encounter the poorest residents they greet you with friendly smiles that the you would never find from someone in their situation back in the states. This is a life people here are used to, they know no different and they are content with it. As long as they have food on their tables and health in their families they are happy.

The above photo is of fishing boats on Mansalay Bay getting ready to head out for a night of fishing.


Rush hour in Mansalay shot from the terrace of our house.


Street basketball on a Mansalay backstreet.


Schoolchildren smile for the camera on their way home from school.


The Mansalay fish market in the morning. You'll always find something interesting from the sea in the Mansalay fish market.


Students at Mansalay Catholic High School head for their classes after getting a back-to-school speech from their principal. MCHS is also where Alona attended school.


JR, my nephew, plays with one of the family dogs outside of the billiard hall run by Tatay, my father-in-law.


A Mangyan waits for other members of his family while shopping at the Mansalay Central Market.


Residents of Mansalay wait in line to buy government rice at Mansalay Central Market. There is a huge shortage of rice going on in Asia right now and the prices have inflated tremendously. To stem the price inflation the Philippine government offers rice at a discounted rate once a week to families across the country. Two kilograms a week for each family for .25 cents a kilo.


Mansalay and Mansalay Bay from the Globe cell tower hilltop.

I'm going to miss you Mansalay.

More to come.