Delays, Entrees, and Island Getaways

 This weekend was a whirlwind however; it was a great break that I'm glad i had the opportunity to take. I left for the airport around noon on Friday and Uncle Joe dropped me off at about one thirty and picked up Calvin and a friend for Kenny's birthday party. My flight didn't leave until quarter to five so i had plenty of time to sit down for lunch. I went into a pizza place in the mall and got a salad and chicken. It was alright, but what I was most excited about was the Shirley Temple I ordered. That was nice to have a little taste of home. At 3:30 i went through security and got to my gate with nearly an hour to spare. After finding a place on the floor, the attendant came on the speaker to announce that my flight was another hour late. So i decided to get up and go find the little Gelato place i passed on the way to my gate. I got chocolate and mango and although it was good, it was nothing like the gelato that Bella's used to have. Any ways, the fight finally arrived and we were all told to board. I waited until everyone else went through because i don’t like standing in line as people are putting away their luggage. However, when i went through the gate i realized that people were being loaded into the beltway. Not the plane. The plane was not yet ready. They must have needed the chairs everyone was in. we waited for a half hour in the beltway but finally boarded the plane. Anyways, got to Tacloban airport an hour late and laughed out loud. I’ve never been in such a tiny airport. The pictures tell all.

I had a great time with Brian and Dona, we went out to a little café when I first got there for dinner and began a game called “Who got the best meal”(Brian got the best this time). For the rest of the weekend, everywhere we went someone got a cruddy meal and someone got a great one. When we got back to their house I gave them all their prizes. Dona was thrilled with all the fabric and Brian was excited about the camera. They both immediately wanted to watch the new seasons of NCIS that I brought and are excited for those.

On Saturday we went to see the McArthur landing and then on to this resort that they had taken Joe and Tanny to.  It was lovely, we swam played Catan(Brian cheated) and ate lunch (Dona got the best meal). We headed back at about three and got home about four thirty. The rest of the evening was relaxing and we watched some more NCIS.

Sunday morning Brian was really not feeling well and so he and Dona went to the hospital to see if they could get some test done. It was closed so he just came back and slept. This seemed to help a little. Dona and I went to the mall and got a piece of tubing to extend from their washer to the drain so the floor doesn’t have to be wet all the time anymore and also a rug for in front of the outside kitchen. They really need a couch and I think they are going to look for one this week sometime. We went to church at five and it was quite nice. Big church. After we went to dinner at a Japanese place in the mall and I think I got the best meal.

Monday I went to school with them while they had a professional development day. That was interesting but I felt really tired afterwards. I can see why Brian and Donna are so stressed. We drove straight from there to a beautiful property called Rafael’s Farm. It’s a restaurant right now but they are hoping to make in a conference center. This was the first place we all had amazing food! Also Donna was desperate for a Buko Shake(young coconut). The waitress said they didn’t have any but Brian called the owner who happened to be a good friend of his. He told him that his sister came all the way from the United states to try the best Buko in the world. The owner laughed and had some people climb a tree to get the coconuts for the shake!!!!! I told Brian that I had to put that in the blog. It was too funny. The owner didn’t even charge us for them so Brian left him a big tip. I’m sure the wait staff is happy. Then we went right back to the airport.

All in all it was a great weekend. I didn’t understand a word of what anyone was saying but then again neither did Brian or Dona. They speak Waray not Tagolog so we were all clueless. Sorry for the novel again!!! Love you all and miss you. Brian and Dona send their love. 

(pictures to follow)