Splish, Splash, Sizzle

After our hikes through Maligcong several days earlier and to Anabel the day before, we were blessed when the YWAM Baguio DTS team offered to treat our family to a day at the Mainit Hot Springs.

Unfortunately, the place was having problems with the hot water from the springs, but we still had a great time swimming and relaxing in the water. (Which by the way, was still much warmer than Lake Michigan.)

Lunch was also a treat. The team had brought pork chops and fish to grill. They were basted with a salsa that was delicious. There was also rice, fresh papaya, and fruit salad. All of it was good, but my personal favorite was definitely the pork chops.

Gretchen taking care of business at the grill.

Afterwards, Johanna (one of the team members) took us on a hike into the village of Mainit. She grew up there and it was the first time she had been back for 5 years.

Of course, being in the land of slides, our first challenge was to cross a slide that covered the path.

At the spring, hot water boiled up from the ground like in many other places around the village. Behind me as I took the picture below, is a school that was abandoned because the floor was getting hot. People have been seriously injured and killed when hot springs erupted through the floors of homes in the village.

As we returned to the jeepney, we met many children who were transporting rice to their homes. They would carry their bags across the slide to their homes and hurry back for another load.

Lola & Lolo are Here!

There has been so much that has happened in the past week. Hopefully the collection of pictures below will give you an idea of what we have been doing.Mom, Dad, and my niece, Jordan, arrived Tuesday evening to lots of excited hugs. We were all glad to finally be in Bontoc! The bus ride was long, bumpy, and tiring. (Dad was missing his easy chair.)

The kids have enjoyed playing the new game Grandma brought with her, Bananagrams.

Annalise read Grandpa a book or two.
We visited the Bontoc Museum and explored the interactive, outdoor exhibits.

Mom learned a little bit about pounding rice.I think they now appreciate grocery stores much more. Jordan had no interest in looking through the meat market - not even for a picture!
Everybody loved the beauty of the mountains and the Maligcong Rice Terraces - 8th Wonder of the World.



Because Independence Day was Friday, we held our YWAM Health Clinic on Thursday. Mom and Dad enjoyed talking with the people who visited.
Of course, we had to see the parade!
This is a picture of Mom and Irish. Irish is one of the students in our Student Sponsorship Ministry. Because she lives by the University of Notre Dame, Mom was able to get a number of buttons with "Irish" themes: Kiss Me I'm Irish, Luck of the Irish, and such. She brought them along so she could give them to Irish when they met.
Also at Fun Night, the staff and students performed some of the traditional gong music and dancing. Jordan was a little embarrassed at being so close to handsome young men wearing g-strings.
Saturday was a beautiful day for enjoying the Mainit Hot Springs.
Dad and Jordan both gave their testimonies at church on Sunday. I loved hearing my Dad share some of the stories of his life's journey. There were a couple he shared that I had never heard before.
We had just left this souvenir shop when these two ladies were walking by. They excitedly ushered Jordan back into the store. There they grabbed one item after another until she was all dressed up Igorot-style. It was really cute. They spoke no English and our limited Ilocano only helped us to find that their names were Margarita and Concepcion. Margarita kept trying to get Jordan to dance, but she was a little overwhelmed already. I was curious how Jordan would have reacted if they had tried to put a snake vertebrae headband on her.
Monday morning, Dad and I attended the Municipal Government Flag Ceremony. Afterward, Dad took my place as speaker for the Moral Recovery Program. Having been a government employee for his career he was able to share insights from his career. It was very well received.
Mom also brought the game, Water Works, from home. It is a game I remember from my childhood. We have enjoyed playing it and just being together.

Today, Alayna and Annalise celebrated their birthdays a little early. Their grandparents and cousin brought their birthday gifts. Rather than waiting until August, the girls were delighted to discover the gifts beneath the wrapping paper.

We are blessed that our family has been able to travel to our side of the world and get a small taste of our ministry and our lives as we spend some precious time together.

Grace,
Thomas

Semester Break Celebration

In order to celebrate the semester break for the SSM students, the students and YWAM families traveled to Mainit to enjoy a day at the hot springs. The weather was beautiful, the pools were full (a first for us), and the food was delicious.

In keeping with our adage that life is school and school is life, the girls had an anatomy lesson provided by the young boys that are family of the pool owners.
Adriana and Thomas enjoyed the views provided from the top of the jeepney on the ride home.

It was a great day!

Staff Outing

Today we took a day off and had a staff outing. Before we left Bontoc to drive to Mainit to enjoy a day at the hot springs, it was cool and overcast.

As we drove up the mountain, we passed through the cloud layer and it was beautiful.
I always enjoy seeing the people as well as the scenery. The mountain people are strong and work hard.
A couple kilometers from our destination, our journey ran into a snag. An oncoming jeepney was broken down, blocking the road. I don't claim to know much about vehicles and I did not expect that one more person staring at it would be much help, so I left it to the professionals.
But since the road was blocked, we had to leave our vehicles behind and hike the rest of the way. (There are no pictures of Lisa and the girls because they got way ahead of me. Funny how you can move so much faster when not carrying several bags. - Yes, that was a pathetic little jab.)
But the day was beautiful for a hike.
So was the scenery.
Getting close now...
We made it!
Here are the cottages, by the way. We did not plan to stay the night. But in case you are making your vacation plans, I thought you might like to see the accomodations.

Alexie and Taya were nearly inseparable, as always.
Joshua and Walter having fun.
The ladies cooling off.

(You may notice that the pool seems really shallow. They drained it yesterday and are in the process of refilling it. A similar situation occurred when we visited a place nearby last year when we were here. But we had a lot of fun anyway.)

Some of the staff kids.
(I think those are some really cute girls, but I might be a bit biased.)

Okay, I know I am biased. But I am also extremely blessed!

Grace,

Tom