Philippines

I have been in the Philippines since Saturday, taking a vacation and visiting my aunt and uncle and cousins who are missionaries here. Anlee came here to Manila with me but she had to go back to Korea yesterday cause she doesn't get as many vacation days as I do. But we had a busy few days while she was here, with my relatives showing us around to several places. I'll post some pictures and write a caption for each to give you an overview of the trip so far.

Anlee and I in the neighborhood in Manila where my relatives, the Weissers, live. This is in the area that got flooded horribly a few months ago, and some houses in this area had water up to the 3rd floor!

These are some dancers showcasing traditional Filipino dances at a market in Manila.

The road in front of my uncle's ministries' office. He runs a ministry called Resources for the Blind (you can see the sign in the pic) that helps the many blind people in the Philippines in a variety of ways. We got to tour the office and then go out to some schools with a blind guy and watch him lead a Bible study. We followed him around, as he walked about a mile, got onto a Jeepney (the form of transportation here), got on a tricycle, then walked down another street. It was amazing. He can get around anywhere with his cane. Bananas! There's so much fresh fruit in this country. It's awesome! And there are smoothie stands everywhere where you can get a smoothie for about a dollar.
This is a pearl market, with over 50 stalls of pearl dealers. Anlee loved it. Supposedly you can buy a salt-water pearl here for $20 that would run for up to $800 in America. Yes!! This is why we came to the Philippines!
This is the view of Manila from Faith Academy, the private school for missionary kids that my cousins go to. It was a really nice school. It had a brand new 900 seat auditorium, a swimming facility, and a nice library that I am currently writing from. I took this picture just 30 minutes ago. It's a beautiful day, around 90 degrees. And back in Korea there's snow on the ground. Can't wait to go back. hmmm....