How many things can you pack in a day?
The last week has been exhausting. Starting last Wednesday when my friend Jasmin and me set out to buy things for the restaurant in Surigao which is a three hour boat ride and many more sacrifices away. The day started early then cause the boat leaves at 5 in the morning and the pier where it starts is also another 30 mins away from where I live. Well, we had good seats which is great already. the boat ride can be cramped with hundreds of people on a very small boat sometimes. Elmo was with us cause he needed to get his last vaccination!
On arrival in Surigao we left Elmo at the vet where he could stay the whole day and also during the night thanks to the nice doctor there!
Jasmin and I decided we need to have breakfast before starting our hunt for stuff we need. So we got some sweet bread from the bakery which we had along with a good coffee in the local coffee shop.
Being energized we looked for the palma store that has all the things we wanted to get. It took us a couple of hours to sort out what we wanted but thanks to the helpful staff they have we managed to get everything we looked for and got it readily packed for our departure the next day, already. They even offered us to bring it to the peer. What a good deal!
Our heads were spinning after that...Lunch was a good idea. The we decided to check out our little pension where we would spent the night. Entering the room that reminded us of those on military bases, we thought: well, that´s why it´s cheap! The bathroom was yucky but we decided we could handle it for one night and just leave shoes on at all times.
Since a couple of weeks I have had boils on my skin. In my face, on my arm, on my leg and now on my neck. They were quite nasty. Locals call them hubak! they start like pimples but are much more painful and fill themselves up with a lot of pas. It is very painful to have them and it takes long for them to fully develop and then burst. The one on my neck was just growing and getting infected. When I showed it to Jasmin she told me to go to the doctor cause she found the size and the look alarming. I went, since I knew that on my island I wouldn´t have a proper way to take of it. I had tried in the local health center but they even ran out of plaster...waiting for the doctor was an experience with many, many people waiting as well! Because I´m a foreigner the people working at the doctor were concerned to get me taken care of quick. I told them I could wait and I don´t need a special treatment there but anyway they still did their best and wouldn´t listen to me. So I was taken to doctor who had a look at my neck and decided that I would need an operation right away. I thought I would need to stay in a hospital and all that but he was talking about a small operation with local anesthesia. So, i was taken to the operation room and the doctor set injections right into my boil. The pain was terrible. tears ran down my cheeks but I was relieved to know that after times of suffering the pain on my neck would finally disappear and I would be able to sleep again! While he was getting out the dirt and pas he showed me what came out of my wound. It was terrible. But I left the clinic equipped with things to clean my wound, some antibacterial medicine and the feeling that I would be OK now!
So, Jasmin and I could continue our things. We still had to find some things. After finishing that we visited a friend in hospital. she had lost her baby and was now finally taken care of after she had experienced some struggles with doctors already. The walk to her room which she shared with a lot of people lead along many other rooms and people who just slept in their beds on the corridors. There were so many people! The hospital itself reminded me more of a garage.
When the day came to an end, we had dinner at Jollybee which is a local fast food restaurant. Then we entered our lovely accommodation, took quick showers, started watching a movie and slept soon. For a while I could still hear the noisy music from the bar downstairs which belonged to the our pension. Outside you could read: Stay where the party never ends. Gwapo!
For the next morning we had a plan how to organize things for departure. But sometimes plans can be good and still not work. So it was that morning. When we got to the peer we were told that our boat is not going cause something was broken. So now we had to take a bigger boat which also meant more hassle for us cause on that one you need to claim the stuff that you ought, pay taxes for it and go to many different offices to arrange everything. We went back to the shop to inform them about the change and luckily they offered us their help now to arrange what was necessary. Thank you so much! We put the things on a van and were taken to the peer. After two hours it was all sorted out. We could now pick up Elmo and then enter the boat which was packed with people, rice sacks and shopping already. When we got back from the vet we saw how three massive waterbuffaloswheatherconditions were fine so we did not have huge waves like on other boat rides before. The only unpleasant thins was that Elmo needed to go to the toilet after just one hour of the trip and so he was struggling on my lap for two hours, scratching my legs and keeping me busy to hold him still.
But we did it. We got back safe and were picked up by our friends in Dapa. They had already arranged a jeepney for our transport.
I spent the rest of the day eating bratwurst and drinking beer in Siargao Inn.
Friday and Saturday I headed out with friends to the game fishing competition in Pilar where people set out to catch blue marlins.
Visitors from England
On Sunday I started my day very relaxed and not knowing what will be ahead of me. But that morning I felt lonely and uneasy about where I was at. I was complaining about my situation and I did not feel happy. I wanted to go to town to get some breakfast and then I met the son of the friend who i had visited in hospital. he told me she was back home and in church right now. That morning I did not plan to go to church but I changed my mind now and went. Getting there I met a couple of people from England who were running the service today. I was reminded of an email from a friend who had suggested to go on outreaches with this group of people to some of the villages around the island. I thought about it many times and kept forgetting to reply. But now, being in the service, experiencing the joy and the passion of those people I knew I was meant to come along with them. I was inspired by just who they were and the way they smiled and my mood changed for the better!
So I went with them on little mini outreaches on two days of the week and found myself happy. I had good talks with Heather, a lovely young lady. I enjoyed to see the faces of happy kids playing games with us and sharing food they were given. I am especially thankful for some precious moments I shared with a very tiny boy who was already four years old but was the size of a two year old. He seemed shy at first but throughout the day we made contact and became friends and in the end he played with me in a very open and expressive way and showed me his wild way of dancing!
The team from England will be here until Monday and I´m looking forward to spent more time with them.
Some more things to share...
In between being busy with my everyday stuff and those outreaches I am taking Elmo and kids from the neighbourhood to the beach for some playful times. That is always fun. Also, I´m still doing gardening, taking pictures and much more.
I´ve been missing my family and friends a lot lately. I miss Bielefeld and Brockdorf and everything that belongs to it. Some of my university friends are already moving on to other places, too. It´s strange to not witness that from up close. I wish I could be closer sometimes than just sharing live on the internet. So I´m looking forward to visit Germany in September and be with people there again.
Something that definitely belongs to my downs are the parasites that I have got now. I have had lice for a while already but I think I will get rid of them soon by letting people check my scalp and crack them! Oh, and I think I have worms, too. But they will hopefully die soon cause I took a deworming tablet today!
Another unpleasant thing is the rain that drops on my head during the night and keeps me from having good sleep. But the sun will come out soon anyway and I´ll be alright then.
Well, that´s it for today. Thank you God, for ups and downs and for always knowing what is best for us and having good plans.
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