Rob and Lauren's Adventures
Saturday, May 17, 2014
Sunday, September 15, 2013
And Now We're Back...
I apologize for the amount of time that it has taken me to post this. We have been back in the US for over a month now (almost two? wow!) and I feel like this is the first day I could totally relax and do things that I needed to do. Rob is currently cleaning our apartment that has only been really cleaned once before when I took a sick half day. It's been a little busy. I will also apologize because most of the pictures here are of me. We used Rob's camera a lot and he is great at catching pictures of me. Most of them are not so pretty but I will spare you those. So without further ado, here is our journey through the Philippines via picture demonstration.
I loved the little markets that they had in the Philippines. Rob was in heaven because it is like a big DI. I was in heaven because there was really good food in the market as well. |
This is one of the way the people in Banaue dry their rice, and it was all over the place. They also just lay the kernels out on a blanket in the street, and buses just drive around them. |
Right where those two mountains meet, in that little dip is where we are headed. It was quite a trip to get out of Batad once you have hiked down to it. |
Rob is a wonderful pack horse :) we did switch off but I think he carried it most of the way. |
The beautiful Banaue Rice Terraces. |
This is the Ballatan family from Santiago City. Rob taught them when he was a missionary, and now Marlon (in the yellow shirt) is the bishop of the Santiago Third Ward. |
Tuguegarao was the largest city that we stayed in. It had a wonderful market and some great people. The tricies are behind me. |
Handsome Rob. |
I kept saying it was a goblin cave so Rob said make a goblin face. I feel like I did a great job. |
This is Rob's goblin. |
I couldn't help it. |
We had to cross a river to get to the caves and these wonderful people were just taking a swim. |
The sky just seemed so beautiful in the Philippines. It might have been because we came from a place where you can never see the sky, but we loved every bit of it. |
This is Marvin Tavares, an old house mate of Rob's from the mission, and his wife and child. |
Rob taught and baptized this young man, Jhoey Cubangbang, who met us at the Manila Temple. |
Sunday, August 4, 2013
Preschool in Taiwan
I just had to post a picture to show how cute these kids are. I loved teaching them every week. |
These were the ladies that worked in the preschool office. The middle one is Fran and I became good friends with her. She is a wonderful person and introduced me to some cultural things. |
Friday, June 7, 2013
National Donut Day
This does not sound like a thing I would normally celebrate or care about at all, but being in Taiwan has made me appreciate anything that I can celebrate. Of course we went out and got a donut and ate it at a little cafe. It was a nice treat for Saturday morning. Last night we bought some sunglasses at the night market and had to show them off today. I look ridiculous in all forms of sunglasses so Rob gave me the excellent advice of buying sunglasses that are ridiculous themselves. This is what I ended up with. Willy Wonka! I actually really like them. Very effective for blocking sun. My grandma has always worn sunglasses like these and I always liked them on her. Rob, as always, looks fantastic even with half a donut eye.
Student/Teacher Date
Weird. I know.
A couple of my students wanted to take me to a vegetarian restaurant they had discovered. These students, Vivian, Alice, and Sophie (who couldn't make it) are very sweet in class and I have gotten along with them well. I am not really familiar with or particularly comfortable with students going anywhere with teachers outside of class. I have had a bunch of students ask, and I usually say no. I am so close to being done (single digits now) though that I felt it was ok to go on this one little adventure.
The students ordered for me. This was pretty interesting. Can you have tofu? No. Can you have egg? No. Can you have noodles? No. "I thought you were just vegetarian. What can you have?" They finally figured it all out and ordered. There was so much food!! I was able to try some really fun new things. The fried carrot cake with sauce was particularly good. Not at all the carrot cake I am used to. Here's a picture that shows just how much food there was.
A couple of my students wanted to take me to a vegetarian restaurant they had discovered. These students, Vivian, Alice, and Sophie (who couldn't make it) are very sweet in class and I have gotten along with them well. I am not really familiar with or particularly comfortable with students going anywhere with teachers outside of class. I have had a bunch of students ask, and I usually say no. I am so close to being done (single digits now) though that I felt it was ok to go on this one little adventure.
The students ordered for me. This was pretty interesting. Can you have tofu? No. Can you have egg? No. Can you have noodles? No. "I thought you were just vegetarian. What can you have?" They finally figured it all out and ordered. There was so much food!! I was able to try some really fun new things. The fried carrot cake with sauce was particularly good. Not at all the carrot cake I am used to. Here's a picture that shows just how much food there was.
We each had our own tray that included rice, soup, salad and a pumpkin sauce for our rice. Alice on the left Vivian on the right. |
Vivian ordered a pizza too. To the right of them is the fried carrot cake with seaweed. So good. |
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
Going to the Dentist
Last week Rob and I finally made a dentist appointment. Sadly, this has been the first dentist appointment we've had since we got married. Yikes! I know. Anyways, we knew that the process here would be easier/less expensive than it would be America. We have the national insurance so it's just a flat rate when you go in. We knew this and we were still pleasantly surprised with just how simple, and inexpensive it was. We were in and out in about a half hour. We only paid $10 for the cleaning. Rob had a tiny cavity filled even. I will really miss the national insurance system they have here. Only a few more weeks.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Cupping
I love the idea of alternative medicine. Rob thinks I'm a little wacky. I probably am, but there is just something wonderful about acupuncture being able to numb a person's body for open heart surgery and them being awake the entire time. You can't tell me that is not cool. Anyways, Asia is very popular for practicing alternative medicine and I decided that I would take advantage of that while living in Taiwan. Cupping is very interesting and I don't really know all of the benefits. I know it is a very old practice that reaches to ancient Chinese, Egyptians and Greeks (1550 BC). That was good enough for me to try it. This is what it looks like
They put little suction cups to your back, legs, arms, stomach, neck, and head. It doesn't hurt and it is actually quite relaxing. At least it was for me. I shouldn't say that's how all experiences are. There is also wet cupping(small puncture wounds that bleed when the suction cup is on) and fire cupping (the suction is created by heating the inside of the cup with fire).
I was happy to hear that they said I was very healthy but that I probably wasn't sleeping very well. They were right. The darker the circle is after the cup is removed the worse it is. The ones on my head and neck were darker than the rest. I am sporting some serious hicky marks all the way down my back and I will spare you a picture of that and just show you this one as an example.
They put little suction cups to your back, legs, arms, stomach, neck, and head. It doesn't hurt and it is actually quite relaxing. At least it was for me. I shouldn't say that's how all experiences are. There is also wet cupping(small puncture wounds that bleed when the suction cup is on) and fire cupping (the suction is created by heating the inside of the cup with fire).
I was happy to hear that they said I was very healthy but that I probably wasn't sleeping very well. They were right. The darker the circle is after the cup is removed the worse it is. The ones on my head and neck were darker than the rest. I am sporting some serious hicky marks all the way down my back and I will spare you a picture of that and just show you this one as an example.
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