That basically summarizes what our week has been like. As each problem was solved, it seemed as though three more grew in it's place. The good news is that they are now all solved and it doesn't appear as though too many more will appear in the upcoming week.
Monday and Tuesday were both holidays here in the Philippines. Tuesday being a holiday to honor the dead. Everyone goes to the cemeteries to visit their loved ones. We were advised to be extra careful and safe and to avoid cemeteries. This is somewhat difficult to do in San Jose A as the center of our area consists of three large cemeteries that are all right next to each other. In addition to this, all of our appointments for Tuesday happened to be in the center of our area. We spent the afternoon walking through all the back paths and woods in order to avoid walking past the cemetery. Despite this, the path to nearly all of our appointments was blocked by large parties, celebration, and drunk men. After a great deal of frustration, we decided the safest thing for two American girls to do with the population of drunk men so high was to go home before it got dark. So this is what we did, and we enjoyed the evening by getting stuff done around the house and talking.
This is where the unfortunate-ness starts: My companion grabbed two towels she bought the day before to wash them out so she could use them. These towels happened to be red, and they turned the water bright orange. So we started another rinse, and then another, and determined that the water (and our skin) was just getting more orange with each wash. The other sisters came home and mentioned how it seemed "sabad" had gotten into our stuff again. Sabad is the nickname of an obnoxious dog who likes to get into our yard and mess with our stuff. (Sabad=annoying). The week before we asked the owner to fix the hole in the fence that the dog had been getting through, and we thought she had, but apparently we thought wrong. We went outside to see what happened to discover that the dog had eaten two shoes (from different pairs of course), a hammock, and a pillow- my companions special, feather-down, hypoallergenic pillow. Another lovely problem to solve.
The week was spent talking to the owner, getting things replaced, fixing holes in fences, and trying to return the die-filled towels. (the stores return policy is within 7 days, so we couldn't wait till the next p-day). None of these activities were easy or short in time span. Over all, it was a very stressful week. Fortunately, the tag-iya (filipino for owner) agreed to giving us money so a new pillow could be sent to my companion, the towels have been returned, and the holes are no longer in the fences. No more obnoxious dogs eating our stuff and hopefully no more problems to deal with.
On a happier note: On Thursday we meet a really cool guy named Jeornel (pronounced like journal). His wife is a member and he said that he sometimes thought about going to church but was embarrassed because he didn't have nice clothing. We told him that the dress code at our church was only to where your best and whatever that was, it would be good enough. He continued to express some concern, but said he would do his best to be there. Sunday, he actually came to church! It's true, he wasn't in black slacks and a tie like many men at church where, but I'm certain that he found his best to wear and he looked great. He even said that he would come again next week and wants to learn more about the church. I always feel so blessed when Heavenly Father lets us meet those individuals who are ready for the Gospel and recognize that the Gospel is what we have to offer them.
Love you all!
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