more pictures of our trip

This is a darian fruit. I don't known if I spelled that right. We called it stinky fruit. It has a very strong odor. They seem to love them there, but it's hard to get pass the smell in order to taste it with an open mind. You crack the hard pointy shell open and inside are huge seeds. On these huge seeds is a mushy orange creamy stuff. this is what you eat. They sort of suck it off the seeds.


these are the shells with the fruit already removed. Talk about the smells Martha. I kept imagining this smell long after I left the Philippines.
These types of stands are all over the streets. They are either selling snacks, drinks, roasted chicken or pork fat. (at least it looked like just fat)
Here is a jeepney. This one is a nicer one. They are often stuffed with people. They have 2 long bench seats along the sides. Everyone just squishes in, shoulder to shoulder.
As bad as the driving is, no one wears seat belts and I never once saw a car seat, not even the missionary's. The vans hold lots of people. they have the 2 front seats, then a regular back bench seat that you squeeze 3 on (the vans are not near as wide as ours) Then in the back it had 2 bench seats facing each other. So if you really wanted to squish you could fit 11 I think in a small van.
Baskets house on the sea.
the trees are all full of these coconuts
really neat tree.
strange flowering plant.

Here are more of the basket houses on the sea

These kids spoke good English. they were part of a sports team. They were very happy to have us pay attention to them. All Filipinos love having their picture taken. It was a sure way of getting beautiful smiles.


This is where the Badjoe Indians live. They are the lowest tribe here, being boat people. They live in boats or basket houses held up in the air on stilts. They are very poor .

I'll quote from Sherry here:

"Birth for them is something to be feared. They are very concerned about the mother bleeding to death. After the baby is born, they leave it off to the side and try to keep the mom from bleeding too much. The floor is made of reeds with cracks and the blood is pushed down into the water. It is hard to know how much a mom lost that way! Anyway, the birth process is quite amazing. The birth mom is covered head to toe with blankets. The birth granny goes under the blankets to help with the birth. The mother of the birth mom actually bites her daughter’s ears and pulls her hair, while she is trying to push, in an effort to get her to get all riled up to push harder. They had invited Toinette (midwife) to the birth in case the mom bled too much, maybe she could help. After the fact???"

The sand is black here. It's hard to tell in the picture, but Monica brought a bit home.