Nevermind the introductions here's CSC/Cebu

Day 1 :: 11.28.09 [Sat]

My internal alarm clock was apparently enabled, as I woke up to my first morning in Cebu by 6am [a mere 4.5 hours later].  The sun was already blindingly bright and streaming through my little window.  And it was hot [moreso than the previous night's 81degrees].. and humid [still don't miss it].  I got up, showered, then took a deep breath and braved my way upstairs to where the children await.  Immediately, I was greeted with huge smiles & hugs and, "Hi Auntie Arlie!" [the female staff are called 'Auntie' and the male staff are 'Uncle'].  It was so sweet [slightly overwhelming, but very sweet].  They were told about my arrival and apparently had tried to stay up to greet me the night before, but we didn't arrive at the Shelter [aka: CSC - Children's Shelter of Cebu] until 1:00a.  They excitedly pulled me into the dining hall and informed me it was time for breakfast [guess no one told them I don't eat breakfast..].  On the menu: fresh Guadalupe mango [DELISH!  The best mangos in the Philippines], juice [aka: Tang - it's loaded with vitamin C, dontcha know], and bread w/peanut butter [not really your typical Filipino fanfare, but the cook didn't know what the American would want to eat].  They stood around the table and introduced themselves [still working on getting their names straight], and asked me all about my life [where do you live? who are your parents? where do they live? who are your sisters/brothers? where do they live?].  They've seen many kids come and go and move to far away places, but many stay in contact even after the adoption, and so they are very geographically-aware.

Once I finished breakfast, it was time to play!  Saturday's at CSC are laid back.  The kids brought me out to the yard that is shared by the 3 different homes of the 'campus' [Duterte Home, Eicher Home, and Cherne Home].  One of the House Fathers made me a welcome sign:  (these are only a small handful of the children who are at the Shelter now)

Duterte Home

Some of the girls w/ a Koala that a recent CSC adoptive family from Australia brought [one for each] while visiting

A game they like to play called "Water-Water" [haven't the slightest idea how it was played, but they enjoyed it]

RoShamBo is a universal game!

Some of the lil' darlings

The rest of the morning was spent meeting the children, being pulled from one location to the next, and being asked a million questions.  The children are all so sweet! 

Sandy and Marlys came to pick me up late morning/early afternoon to meet some other CSC staff for lunch.  My first Filipino cuisine in the Philippines!  I had Bistek [a clear noodle dish w/ chicken and chicken livers - needless to say, the livers remained on the plate]. 

Our first lunch together since 26 years ago!

After lunch, I was in for a treat.  The Cebu Inmate Dancers!  You may have heard of them.  I recorded a few of their routines, but I can't figure out how to download videos onto this computer yet.  Aside from waiting at City Hall for a bus for 1.5hrs in HOT humid weather, it was fun [one of those 'glad I did it, but probably won't do it again' type activities].  The drive up the 'mountain' gave me a glimpse into their world.. and man, it is a whole different world out here. 

Waiting for the next bus [L->R: me, Ruth, Mitch, Tammy, Andrew, Sandy, Marlys, Michelle]

 

Finally on a Jeepney! ..a crowded one at that. 

I wish I took more pictures of everything we drove by/through, but I was holding on for dear life!

Inmates' home away from home

Getting in position [this is just a small handful of the prisoners].  The fence provided a false sense of security, as the inmates had easy access to all exits leading to the outside world.

A very typical hillside view [only slightly more colorful]

The rest of the night was dinner w/ more CSC staff at the new TGIFriday's at the nearby outdoor mall - for a nanosecond, I felt like I was back in the states again.