There is no word for "War" in the Mangyan language.

Well well well. I hope you enjoyed my little poem there. Of course, I miss many people (and Gracie dogs) much more than salsa, but the poem came to me the other night (Wrote the whole thing in my head! ; ) ) and I thought I'd share it with you faithful folks.
Well what have I been doin? Gosh, the weeks are just goin by faster and faster and I can't seem to keep up. But I think where I left I was talking of how we're going to the hospital next week and all. Well, we did our Ob/GYN classes with a lovely little doctor lady named Dr. Lotus. She was good, and probably the best spoken of our teachers so far.
Anyway, on Thursday after class, we went to the Provincial Hospital where we'll be working next week. Man, oh, man. If you're prayin people, please do pray for strength and steadiness of mind, spirit, and body for me next week. I uploaded the pictures I took from our visit onto my flickr, so you can get a feel for my much needed strength in the week to come. The hospital is in a very old, musty building. There are beds in the hallways and crammed into the few rooms, and the labor and delivery room looks more like where they do autopsies. It's going to be... interesting. I guess it will be a good first hospital experience if I do ever work in a remote foreign hospital again. The hours are also going to be a little different that what I was told originally. We will work two at a time during either and afternoon shift from 3pm-11pm, or an overnight shift from 11pm-7am. I'm going to try and grin and bear for at least 1 overnighter, so, again, Strength! Cause I will still have to be awake for our classes the next day (8am-2pm for next week.)

On a lighter note, we had our second medical outreach this past Friday. It went very well. We didn't have as many patients as the first time, but that gave us time to really learn and help out in diagnosing. I was able to hear asthma and stridor with my stethiscope on 2 children, and emphysema on an older gentleman. I hung out with Dr. Ryan for the most part, whose been our teacher for about the past 2 weeks. He's very funny and talkative and really wants us to learn. He has a big heart for people, too, so it was nice to talk with him. Here's a picture of myself, my team mate (and room mate), Emily, and Dr. Ryan when we had a little downtime.

He went back to Manila on Friday night, so we had a little dinner that night at Deborah's house (She's the woman on my team who is also a missionary here with her husbad.) There was spaghetti, chips, salsa, cheese, pancit, and salad! Man alive, I've never been happier to see chopped lettuce, cucumber and tomato. I have not eaten a fresh, non-cooked vegetable since I left, and I had certainly noticed. Also, despite the tortilla chips being quite a bit on the stale side, I've never been happier to eat chips and salsa. The cheese and chips they had to get from Manila, since they don't sell those items here in Calapan, and the salsa was freshly made (minus cilantro, but you gotta be thankful for whatcha got.) I learned recently that Mindoro is one of the most "remote" of the popluated islands in the Philippines, so basically we're living in the boonies. At least it's pretty.

Speaking of Calapan City, last night was it's 58th anniversary, so there was a big 'ol party downtown. Emily, Jen and I left after lunch to do some shopping at a little outside craft market that was going on in the parking lot of the post office. There wasn't too much there, so we walked into town and stopped into little shops along the way. I got my first official "nurse's watch", as I like to call it. It's huge, cheap, colorful, and has a second had, and is therefore a nurse's watch. I just remember all the nurses at the doctor's office I went to growing up having the silliest watches. So anyway, I now have something to accurately take pusle and respiratory rates with.
We hung around town all afternoon while people set up for the festivities, and after a while in the internet cafe, we went out and walked thru the closed off street. Emily and I found a Schwarma vendor, which we happily took part in. Meat, tomato, and cucumber doused with a tahini sauce and hot sauce and wrapped in a warm, soft, pita-type bread. Mmmmm, mmm! I was in heaven.




We then walked to the stage area and stood around waiting for the show to start. There was a gated off area around the stage with tables and chairs, which were very appealing to us since we'd been walking around all day. We figured it was expensive to get in, so we just stood around some more, but at last I figured we might as well at least ask how much it was. So, we went over and asked and it turned out with was 50pesos a person (us$1.02), PLUS you got a free beer.
Beer + chair '/. $1 = AWESOME

So we each chose our local beer (all of which pretty much tasted like Budweiser or Bud light, or whatever your crappy beer of choice may be.) Emily and I chose San Miguel, which boasted on the side of the can that it is "the only beer that nourishes the Filipino friendship." So we got our beers and went and got a table to enjoy the show. Enjoy it we did. There was a fireworks display to the city's anthem, a flame-juggler/dancer dude, and not 1, but 2 terrible bands, which the announcer kept referring to as "Our Local Talent!!!" The first band actually wasn't too bad. They ended their set with "You give love a bad name" and "Sweet Child of Mine" and a good, good laugh was had all around. The second band... well, they were pretty bad. So bad that we left after their terrible version of "Santaria" by Sublime. A song, which, if you haven't heard, you shouldn't go to the trouble. But I will say, 'Thanks a lot, Long Beach." (That's where they hail from.)
I have video of both, and if I can ever upload things faster than the snail's pace things have been uploading, hopefully some of you can get a good laugh.
Today I went to the small church that Deborah and her husband, Ray attend here in Calapan. The pastor gave a sermon using the passage where Jesus says "It is easier for a camel to fit through the eye of a needle than it is for the rich man to enter the Kingdom of God." A passage which you'd never hear in any church in Orange County. It was refreshing.
Afterwards our whole group went to a restaurant on the beach with a beautiful view of some little islands. It was a beautiful setting, and very relaxing. I took it all in since I know the next week won't be relaxing in the least.
I'll try a new way to end it today. I started The Brothers Karamazov last week, and in a certain passage, The old Father Zossima said something to a woman that reminded me of one of my favorite quotes, which has been sitting with me all week, perhaps in preparation for my mind and heart for the week ahead. It is from Dorothy Day, a very interesting and inspiring woman, indeed; she became known for her social justice campaigns in defense of the poor, forsaken, hungry and homeless, and founded the Catholic Worker Movement. I've since found that she was quite fond of The Bro's K. Anyways, the quote goes,

"Love is a harsh and dreadful thing to ask of us, but it is the only answer."

Be well, friends.