Market Day in Carigara: Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Enia, Luz, Maribeth, Adrienne and I went to the market to shop for some souvenirs and food. Each town has a market day each week when a large number of vendors come to town to sell their wares. You can find virtually anything there - from tools to all sorts of fresh food. We spent several hours at the market. Above are a few pictures taken there.

Carigara Elementary and High School: Tuesday, August 9, 2005

Today Enia, Adrienne, Chris and Christopher Romero visited the Carigara Elementary School and High School, which is about a half a block from our house. There are several other public and private schools in Carigara. The two schools are on the same campus. The elementary school is in the front of the campus. It has more than 700 students in grades 1-6. The high school is an annex behind the elementary campus. It has more than 600 students in it. Class sizes are quite different from what we have in Brewster or Eastchester. Elementary classes have between 30 and 40 students in them; high school classes have 70 to 80 students. The first picture is of path leading to the high school, which is located behind the elementary school. The second picture is of Adrienne and Chris posing with the grade 6 math class of Mrs. Teresita F. Sonon. Pictures 3-6 are of the elementary school, the final two are of the high school.

Notre Dame of Jaro, Leyte: Tuesday, August 9, 2005

We visited Enia's former high school. We received a tour of the school by the former principal, Sister Casaria (shown in the first picture with Enia), who was principal when Enia attended the school. Above are some photos taken during the tour, including one taken in the school library of some of its charming and bright students, together with Enia, the school librarian and its current principal, Sister Joy.

Meantime, work continues on the house...

Carigara Beach Resort: Saturday, August 6, 2005

Our family and relatives gathered at the house in the morning and then went to a nearby beach for an afternoon of food, swimming and volleyball. Besides the usual dishes (rice, chicken and fish), we also had roast pig. The day was great and we were treated to an afternoon rainshower. Chris especially enjoyed since he was able to go there and back via motorcycle, thanks to his Uncle Danny's friend Jonathan.

Jaro, Leyte: Friday, August 5, 2005

Enia and I traveled to a nearby town, Jaro, for a visit with her former classmates from Notre Dame High School. Enia's friend Barbara hosted the get-together at her parents' house.

Tacloban City: Tuesday and Wednesday, August 2-3, 2005

We spent much of the day in downtown Tacloban, running some errands to get things for our house in Carigara and taking care of a real estate transaction for Enia's sister Luz. Tacloban is a busy, congested city. There are a lot of vehicles, many of them using diesel fuel, so the there is noticeable air pollution. However, the "pulse" and activity of the city is interesting, especially after the relaxed pace of Carigara, so it is worth a visit. Enia has friends and relatives who live there. Her classmate from years ago, Barbara, was kind enough to take us around the city to see its sights and run our errands. One night we went to dinner at the home of Enia's cousins from Connecticut, Jun and Tessie, who were visiting the Philippines with their daughter Terry. While there, we met Elsa and her family.

Leyte Park Hotel: Monday - Wednesday, August 1-3, 2005

We went to Tacloban, the capital city of Leyte for a few days. Essentially there are two hotels in Tacloban that cater to tourists such as ourselves. They are the MacArthur Beach Resort and Leyte Park Resort. We stayed in Leyte Park. Right now, if you stay here, don't expect the quality of room or service that you can get (for significantly less money) at the Marriott Cebu City. Leyte Park Resort is in a great location, with views of the bay and the islands beyond, but unfortunately, it has not been maintained and some of the staff do not understand how to take care of their guests. Our room, one of the villas near the pool had a bathroom that was "worn" and not clean. However, because there are limited places to stay in Tacloban, it was late and MacArthur Park didn't look much better, we elected to "stick it out." We found the front desk staff, particularly a clerk named Ruth very inflexible and of little help. On our last day, we wanted to have lunch before leaving by bus for Carigara, so we asked if the hotel could store our luggage (just a few carryon bags) for a couple of hours while we had lunch nearby. Ruth insisted that it couldn't be done because the bags would be there after their 2:00 pm late checkout. So we had to carry our bags down the hill to the nearby San Pedro restaurant (in which we had a great lunch). While at the desk we had requested the name of the person in charge of the hotel so we could register a complaint about the condition of the room (for its cost) and about the service. Coincidently, while we were doing so, a consultant (to the owner) named Roger Landry, hired to get things in shape, overheard our discussion with the front desk staff. He pursued us down the hill apologized for our treatment and the condition of the room. He called for the hotel transportation to take our luggage back to the hotel to store for us and he treated us to lunch. Based on his what he told us and did for us, I would guess that within 6 months to a year, he will have Leyte Park shaped up. My suggestion is that if you are dissatisfied with either the condition of your accommodations or the service you get at Leyte Park, you should ask to speak with Roger. As the accompanying pictures show, the resort is in a great location, so there is a lot of potential. They need to fix it up and retain staff who understand how to take care of their guests. Roger and the owner might want to send their staff over to the Marriott in Cebu City to see how it should be done.

Tolosa and Burauen: Thursday, August 4, 2005

We hired a car with a driver to take all of us to the beachside home of Jun's sister in Tolosa. It is an interesting and beautiful two-hour drive through the countryside from Carigara to Tolosa; on the way you pass rice fields, coconut groves and small towns. There are high, cloud-shrouded mountains on either side.

Jun's sister's home is situated on a large (1 hectare) piece of property right on the beach. It is still under construction. There is a main house, a guest house, a pavillion and a large tower with a statue. We arrived about lunch time, so we first had lunch in the pavillion. As we did so, we watched fishermen on the beach launch their boats and pull in nets with their catch. After lunch, we went for a swim in the water. Like many beaches in the Philippines, the sand on this beach was black. The water was really warm and the saltiest I have ever been in. My eyes actually stung from the salt. We spent several hours in the water and then had a quick snack before leaving for a short visit to Jun and Tessie's house in Burauen. From there we headed back to Carigara. We all had a great day at the beach and were also able to see other parts of Leyte.

Brgy. Borseth: Sunday, July 31, 2005

Our motorcycle ride through the countryside ended at Brgy. Borseth, home to Enia's brother Antonio and his family. Today and Monday are the days when the village fiesta is held. While we were visiting with Antonio at his house, the first of a number of parades passed by.

While we were in Borseth we escorted on a walking tour of the Brgy. by Antonio's daughter, Angie Rose, who is a Counselor for the Brgy. I seemed to create quite the stir and attracted a small crowd of children who followed us on the walk. I took a picture of some of them. Interestingly enough, during our walk I met the first other American I have seen while on Leyte. He is from Illinois and his wife is from Borseth. They were on vacation at their home in Borseth.

After several hours, we made a rather hasty exit from Borseth. It was getting dark and there seemed to be some concern about all of us travelling the distance to Carigara after dark. Danny made arrangements for his friends with the motorcycles to come to Borseth to pick us up and take us to the highway so we could catch the bus from Carigara.

Just after they arrived, one of the motorcycles got a flat and had to be taken to the repair shop to have the tire patched. When this was done and both motorcycles were at Antonio's house, we mounted up (four to a bike). Chris sat on the tank in front of the driver. I sat behind the driver, Enia was behind me and Adrienne was last. Just as we were leaving, it began raining. We traveled through the now dark countryside until we arrived at the bus stop on the highway about 30 minutes later. Chris was throughly drenched, the driver (Jonathan) and I were very wet as well. Enia and Adrienne were fairly dry. Needless to say the kids found this part of the trip very exciting. Chris has been asking to go back on a motorcycle ever since.