In the middle of the night...

Many of you know that Russ and I both served as missionaries in the Philippines. Eleven years later we finally got to go back. Pictures and details will be coming, I just want to share one quick experience.

At 2:30 a.m. I woke up to someone coming into our dark room. I had been in a very deep sleep and when I heard this person talk, I didn’t know who she was or where I was. She approached Russ on his side of the bed and with the little light coming from our bedroom window I could only discern that she had long hair. She was short and I thought perhaps she had a form of dwarfism. What she was saying didn’t make sense, something about a noise and that she was worried. Her words were all jumbled. Russ spoke to her and said, “Wala ‘ko kadungog.” (Meaning, “I didn’t hear anything.”) I was glad he spoke to her in Visayan, because her English was so confusing and I was sure that we would better be able to understand this Filipina if we just spoke in Visayan. However, this only upset her and she couldn't understand.

Finally it came to me that this was our daughter! I just didn’t know which one and I was relieved when Russ identified her as Savannah. With a weak voice I called her over to me. She came and I was just about to let her climb into bed with me when I realized that we were home and instead of the hard floors in the Philippines there was carpet and she could bring her bedding into our room and sleep next to us. When I suggested that Russ protested. I knew what he was thinking and explained, “There’s carpet on the floor,” and he replied, “Oh, we’re home.” After she got settled, I laid awake and reviewed the event in my mind, the parallel thought processes between husband and wife, and my dwarfism assumption. I laughed off and on for almost ten minutes, for some reason things are even funnier to me in the middle of the night. Russ did not laugh, he was trying to go back to sleep.

Philippines - Day 1

On June 9th we kissed our kids goodbye and left them in the good hands of their loving grandparents. Our first flight took us from Salt Lake to Los Angeles. It was supposed to be short and easy, but Russ had a serious migraine. Thankfully the migraine subsided and after a short layover we flew to Seoul on Korean Air.

We sat next to a lovely Korean girl that giggled about everything and taught us how to mix up our lunch, bibimbap. We watched Invictis, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and Extreme Measures. Sure, we had our own personal screens, but we crossed over the international dateline and it was suddenly our anniversary so it was only fitting that we synchronize our screens and watch movies together, read at the same time and try to nap at the same time.

The Seoul airport (which is actually in Incheon) is immaculate, much better than the old one I flew into in 1998. We landed and tried to find some kimchee to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We had a hard time communicating with the hostess and waiter at the airport restaurant, but the menu abbreviated English translations sufficed. They brought out a pot of pork stew with kimchee. It boiled and boiled in the little cast iron pot. I wondered if it would ever cool enough for me to eat it. It did cool. However, the fiery spices did not. Russ finished it and I ate the other items that came with. One was a boiled potato and the other side dishes, while unrecognizable, were still both chewable and swallowable. Our bill came to 11,000 wan. I know airport food is expensive, but three zeros on any receipt is frightening. Oh well, it was our anniversary and we weren't going to eat Subway while in Korea. (Turns out that was less than $10, phew!)

Our flight left that evening around 6:00 pm and we flew directly to Cebu City in the Philippines. The contrast between the Cebu airport and Incheon airport is like comparing Nordstroms with your local 7-11. As it turns out we like the 7-11 better and we were so excited to be back! In a way it was like coming home after a very long absence. We funneled through the terminal with a throng of Koreans. I believe Koreans migrate to the Philippines with the same frequency that New Yorkers migrate to Florida.

We went through customs in the foreigner line. Russ was unsure which of the forms he should keep and which one would stay with the customs official. He asked the official, "Akoa ba 'ni?" (Is this one for me?) The official slowly turned his head over his left and right shoulder, trying to figure out who had spoken to him. When the official saw no one he looked a bit bewildered, even a bit spooked. Russ repeated the question, and the man looked at him, dumbfounded, while his female co-worker burst into a hearty laugh. That was the beginning of many such experiences. It's not just surprising to Filipinos when Caucasians can speak Cebuano - it's really funny!

While waiting for our luggage we noticed two American men dressed in suits. We suspected they were in Cebu for the same reason we were, (for the temple dedication) and struck up a conversation. One was Elder William Walker of the Quorum of the Seventy and the other was Tom Coburn, who manages the temple department for the Church. They introduced us to the Elder Walker's wife, Vicki, and we also met Ralph and Lee Cottrell (they served as mission presidents in Cebu from '90 -'93.)

The clock approached midnight and we were anxious to get settled. We checked into the Golden Prince Hotel and after a couple mango shakes we slept soundly.