Mabuhay 2015: Manila Day 3

This was by far our most successful day in Manila. It was Wednesday and we got to meet Darlene! Darlene is the little Filipino girl that my brother sponsors in the Philippines. They've been sponsoring her for about 2 years and we only found out they had a sponsor child when we moved in December. I thought it was pretty cool when I found out, but never thought that we'd get the chance to meet her. We visited her at the Children International office in Quezon City and brought her all sorts of fun gifts from the United States.

 In front of the office.

This is Darlene and her mother. Aren't they the cutest?

Everyone in the entire office was so impressed with Blake's Tagalog and I think we literally met every person in the office. We liked what we saw so much, that we started sponsoring a little boy in the Philippines through the same office. We hope that we get to meet him next time we go. 

One of the best parts about the visit was when we gave Darlene a Hot Tamale to eat. She eventually spit it out and told us it was not delicious. Filipinos don't have much spice in their cuisine, so it was definitely something foreign to her to have a spicy candy.

We said our goodbyes and left Manila behind and headed to Blake's mission area. On the way I snapped a picture of this woman giving a pedicure. I don't think state board would approve, but it's good to know that I could make a living in the Philippines if we ever lived there!

After Manila, we made our way to Blake's mission area, Angeles. 

We headed straight to the old mission home and took a picture out front. Blake was a little sad to see that it hadn't been maintained as well as when he lived there. It has since moved to another area, but we did find a senior missionary couple that lived in his old apartment. They were so kind and let us sit in their air conditioned apartment and fed us fresh mango. 

Our next stop was Nayong Pilipino. It's basically a mini Philippines amusement park. They have replicas of famous sites in the Philippines, like the Banaue Rice Terraces, which was pretty fun to see since we didn't get a chance to visit the rice terraces in person.

My favorite part was watching these high school students perform native dances and songs. Blake got to participate in the tinikling dance on stage and it as pretty cute.

 On our way to Gapan I noticed some people playing baseball in a field. Blake said while he was on his mission, he NEVER saw so much as a glove, let alone a full on game. We turned around immediately and pulled into a dirt driveway. Within seconds, every single person from the town had heard that a tall white man drove up in a car to play some ball. Everyone gathered around so they could watch Blake hit and it is seriously one of my favorite memories of our time there.

We made it to Gapan and visited with Lyra and her grandmother. Lyra joined the church when she was about 13 and now serves in the Young Women organization as a leader. It was really special to hear them talk about Blake as a missionary and the role that he played in their lives. They even had an old picture of him on their baptism day. (He's the tall one =P ) 

Blake is in his Filipino squat outside one of his old apartments. We stopped at a hotel for the night and visited his beach area the next day. One of my favorite stops.