alright, beth asked for pictures of food, so this will be fun.

i took these at a despedita on saturday, which is a party we have when a child is adopted. the family comes here to the baby home for several days, and finally we have a party with singing, prayer, and lots of laughing.  everyone goes around the room and speaks blessings about the child, with memories and funny stories of their time at the little children's home, what they love about them, what they will miss most, and even some loving advice, like - he likes to sing itsy bitsy spider before bed, stuff like that and then the new family speaks last.  lots of love and lots of tears.  it is completely beautiful.  the child leaves with a big scrapbook full of photos of their time here.

here is the shoe pile, no shoes in the play room, where everyone sits on the floor for the party.

then there is food!   outside in the play yard.

yeah, i never know what it is, but you can see it does not stop me from filling my plate.

okay, these things . . .

they are rambutan. prn rahm'-boo-tahn.   you just crack off the peel, which looks prickly, but is soft.

and then pop out the fruit.  and pay no attention to the piece of zebra cake that is on the left side of the plate under my hand, heh.

then you remove the nut and eat the fruit.

it's not real sweet, and tastes a little almondy.  weird, right?!

okay, just so you know i really am in the philippines, and so you get a real feel for life here, i want to show you the bathroom in our apartment.

cute enough, right?  okay the sink, water does not come out of it.  you see the red bucket by the toilet? that is what you fill and dump in to flush the toilet.  you notice the shower, yeah it's just right there, and no there is no water heater, so it's cool.  still not bad, eh?

okay, here is the ceiling.  perfect place for the only outlet in here.  and if you're squeamish, don't zoom in on the beady eyed peeping tom up there.  blech.

please pray that we find a social worker for the baby home.  the current worker is having a baby this very day, and the person they hired to replace her did not choose to stay.   so, back to the search.  this position unfilled will result in adoption delays, and extra work for an already over-worked team.  thank you so much!

bye for now!

xoxo jo