Pensandolo Bien / Thinking About It

And on the 7th day he rested

2009-10-11T18:24:00.002-04:00

I think that all of the traveling finally caught up with me. My feet are swollen (and I’ve never seen them like that!!!), I’m tired, I have a headache, and I just don’t feel good. So today I am just staying around the mission house in Fang resting.
(I have to say something here, and I can only hope y’all understand. Mass this morning was an hour-and-a-half and I did not understand a single word. I now love my mother even more because through all these years of my world travels she would sit through Masses in languages she didn’t understand without even a small complaint. I know that Mass is Mass, but when it is in Thai and you don’t speak a single word of it, it is so hard to stay focused and feel prayerful for the whole time. Mom – I love you!! And now I understand what it must have been like for you!)

Kengtung, Myanmar to Fang, Thailand

2009-10-10T23:43:00.002-04:00

This morning Fr. John Bosco picked us up at 7:30am and we once again went to the Bishop’s House and celebrated a private Mass in his private chapel. (I think I had forgotten to mention earlier that we do NOT have permission – nor would they give it to us – to celebrate Mass publicly. And to do so without permission might cause problems for the Bishop and priests of this Diocese.)

After Mass (Happy Birthday Dad) and breakfast we had an audience with the bishop (His Excellency Peter Louis Caku) and then we were back on the road for the three-hour drive back to the Maynamar-Thai border (a drive which wound up taking over 5 hours because of extremely heavy rainstorms.

But we finally made it, the Myanmar authorities gave us our passports, and we once again crossed back into Thailand. After two more hours by car, we were back at Fang for a good night’s rest.

Kengtung: Children, Lepers, and Performers

2009-10-09T22:15:00.017-04:00

What a glorious night of sleep last night! The hotel clerk had warned us that occasionally the government turns off the power in the city “to protect us”, but God is good because last night we had AC all through the night. And it would have been quite humid without it.

The Bishop’s procurator, Fr. John Bosco, came to pick us up at our hotel at 7a.m. this morning. A priest of Shan descent, he is one of the fruits of PIME’s work in Kengtung. He was our driver for the rest of our stay in Myanmar, and I have to say that he was extremely helpful in all things. He really was a nice guy and he had such a happy spirit.

Let me just mention something about Kengtung. It is one of the big “cities” of Myanmar, but it seems worse than anywhere I have ever been. The roads are only poorly paved if at all, there are soldiers and policemen everywhere, there isn’t 24 hour electricity in the whole downtown area, and foreigners are closely controlled. However, with the natural spring lake in the middle it really is gorgeous. Really, from a distance it looks like paradise, but then when you get up close… Myanmar is an officially Buddhist country and the government makes sure that the Buddhists are taken care of. Here is a picture taken from the compound of the Diocesan offices. A couple of years ago the government confiscated some land from the Diocese (which they are allowed to do to anyone at any time) and built a Buddhist monastery right next to the Cathedral. To show just a little bit more disrespect, do you notice which side is facing the Diocesan compound?!
We celebrated Mass in the Bishop’s chapel, had some breakfast, and then we had a meeting with several of the priests in the Diocese. It gave them a chance to talk about their difficulties and ask PIME about potential funding (as well as continued funding) of some of their projects. A very interesting fact came out of the meeting: did you know that PIME in the United States were the very first ones in the world to begin doing long-distance adoptions? ! And it was to support these little ones of Myanmar (formerly Burma).

Afterwards, Fr. John Bosco took us to the Catholic cemetery which is located outside of the city proper. (You can imagine why – the Buddhists don’t want cemeteries in their cities for the same reason the Romans didn’t over 2000 years ago.) We were disheartened to see that the tombs of all of the foreigners (except for the nuns!) and many of the people had been vandalized. “Everyone tells us that the soldiers did it,” Fr. John Bosco told us, “probably to get the iron out of the crosses to sell it.” Here is the tomb of Kengtung’s first martyr, Fr. Stephen Vong.

The diocese is working very hard to build up the youth involvement in his diocese, so he spends a lot of time with that. While we were meeting with them, I taught them the same song that I taught in Thailand and the Philippines: Chickaboom, Chickaboom. Again, they loved it! So Fr. Claudio had me do it almost everywhere else we went, too!
We spent the rest of the morning visiting the activities of the different parishes and convents in Kengtung. Everywhere that we went they presented us with something to drink and several songs. The sisters had even taught one group to sing in Italian! Anyway, here is one song that I enjoyed – do you recognize it? How appropriate considering where we are… it even brought tears to my eyes.

What is your favorite breakfast food? For one of these boarding houses, the children were all in agreement: Guinea Pig! Or rabbit if the Guinea Pigs are all gone. IF you’re lucky enough to raise them like they do at this convent, then you can always have fresh meat at a low maintenance cost!

We had lunch with the Sisters of the Infant Jesus (Gesu Bambino); this is a congregation that is biug in Italy and very well known and respected throughout the world. Among the delicacies they served: Centennial Eggs and caterpillars (although I think they’re really grubs). Have you ever tried them? The caterpillars are easy: you just drop them live into a vat of boiling oil and they straighten out like French fries. The centennial eggs are another creature.

First, let me tell you the Burmese way of preparing them: they take the egg and wrap it in a mixture of lime (such as you would use at a construction site) and then bury it in the ground for several months. Now the Thai way: they take the egg and carefully cover it with a concoction made of horse urine and a little bit of lime and they bury it in the ground for several months. Scrumptious!
Have you ever heard of Fr. Cesare Colombo? He is the PIME priest who came to Kengtung and set up a leper colony out in the middle of the jungle. In fact, film producer Bill Deneen shot two incredibly beautiful films about this leper colony entitled, “The Happy City” and “The Touch of His Hand”. If you haven’t seen him, they REALLY are worth watching; here are the links

http://www.archive.org/details/touch_of_his_hand

http://www.archive.org/details/happy_city

Growing up through PIME formation I had always heard about this place and I had seen the films, but nothing prepared me for the impact it would have on me. The colony is still running pretty much like it was some 50 years ago. After watching the movies you will so that so much is exactly the same here! Here are the original Church and the original rectory/office that he built.

And this is the original hospital he built. It even still has a lot of his instruments and the operating table still inside! I should note that a lot of this hospital was built with donors from the United States, and this operating room was built with the help of a family from Detroit – the Bekolays.

We walked through the village, and many people came to their doors to see us, while same had the courage to come up and say hello. This part of the village was for those people who had families – back in those days the practice was to separate them from their families. But Fr. Cesare understood the depression that could come from that so he focused on keeping the family together and teaching them good hygiene so that they wouldn’t get infected.

We also visited the women’s section (for those without family) and the men’s section (for those without family). Notice in the women’s section that there are coffins already made and stored above the porch. And finally, this was (and still is) the children’s boarding section for those children with Hansen's Disease without families, or children left orphans because of the illness. (In the movie it shows Fr. Cesare sitting here with the children.)
And with that, our visit to the leper colony - begun with so much love so many years ago by Fr. Cesare Colombo - came to an end.

After dinner back at the Bishop’s Residence, we PIME Missionaries were invited – along with some other invited guests – to a show of traditional (and modern) dancing. Traditional (and modern) singing. The Bishop gave a nice talk thanking PIME for all they’ve done and for what they are continuing to do.

This was the funnest – and maybe the funniest – part of the night. These little girls from one of the orphanages we had visited earlier in the day got up and did this great dance number. You have GOT to watch this clip!

Finally the night came to an end. The performance was just incredible, and I thoroughly enjpoed every minute of the evening. Finally, it was back to the hotel for our last night’s sleep in Myanmar. I wonder if my stuff will still be there when I get back to the room… or if they have gone through it.

Thailand Myanmar border... to Kengtung

2009-10-08T22:29:00.000-04:00

We got up At 5:30am this morning, celebrated Mass, had a quick cup of coffee and then we were off. Have you ever been to a walk-across border? Not me. Do you know there is actually a part in the middle that is called “no-man’s land” and it is not under the jurisdiction of either country? Wow. Anyway, we walked across the bridge towards Myanmar, and once we got to immigration there the 45-minute entry process began. I’ll be honest, I had been afraid of what they might do, but it really wasn’t that bad. They just had us fill in some documents, took our picture, had us go from one office to the next for more bureaucratic stuff, took away our passports (which they promised to give back when we will leave the country), and we were done.

Luckily our Myanmar contact – Fr. Angelo Saipiain – had arranged to have a driver for us to take us on the three-hour drive to Kengtung (o Chiayang Thung… or any of the other 30 different ways of writing it). His name was Sai. Lucky for us Sai spoke some English and very good Thai (so he could communicate with Fr. Claudio when we weren’t connecting in English). Also, he had a lot of “friends” along the way, so our passage to Kengtung really went off without a hitch.

You have to understand, Myanmar is a quite corrupt country. I thought it was communist but I was corrected – it is a socialist state. What is the difference you might ask? (I did.) Dictators. Anyway, Sai knew exactly who to pay bribes to along the way so that we wouldn’t get held up or “overly inspected” in any of the 5 checkpoints. No, it’s not a problem. That’s just how “the system” works here.

Like in northern Thailand, Myanmar is comprised of many different cultures, especially hill people of the Lahu, Wa, and Akha tribes. The majority in this part of Myanmar are Shan people.
On our way to Kengtung, we stopped off in Mong Lin. This was one place that Frs. Claudio, Sergio and I had been hoping to be able to visit, but many times the government has the area closed off “for your safety”. Lucky for us, today it was not. This place is very special because one of PIME’s mythical missionaries, Fr. Clemente Vismara, started this mission some 90 years ago. Fr. Clemente wrote many interesting letters, and you can read some of them by going to PIME’s website (below). Anyway, when he arrived Fr. Clemente was looking for land to start a mission complex and this land – which at the time was in the middle of virgin forest land – was given to him by the tribal people because it was believed to be inhabited by the spirits. They figured that the spirits would kill him off. (Which, of course, they didn’t.) He also built a boarding house for abandoned boys here. In fact, many times he would go around the village and BUY the children that parents were trying to sell. They were selling their children to buy more opium. Well, eventually the rumor started that maybe he was eating the children. So when the parents would ask him about this, he would look them squarely in the face and say, “Yes, and then I’m coming back to eat you, too!” This is the original house he built as well as the original Church. Also, notice the beautiful mural with the traditional tribal people from within the Church.

Here I am in front of something that I thought was only a legend… yet here it is. Fr. Clemente didn’t want to be a bother to the people upon his death by forcing them to build a coffin for him (since he was taller than their usual size). So… he built his own! In fact, a couple of times Italian PIME priests would die, so he would give his casket to be used for their burial and build himself another one! This is one of the remaining ones that he built which, obviously, wasn’t used.
Then we went across the compound (about 300 yards I would say) and we came to the compound where the girls stay. It was a welcome fit for a king and I felt quite overwhelmed. As usual, they sang some songs for us.

By the way, the nun on the right in the picture above held my hand and was just so happy that we had “finally come to visit them after all these years”. She was one of the little children of Fr. Vismara who also worked closely with him while she was a nun. In fact, Fr. Vismara died in her very hands. She was just so overjoyed to see us, and oh, the stories she told us. (By the way, I forgot to mention that so many people still speak at least broken English in Myanmar so it was pretty easy for us to communicate.) At any rate, when we were leaving she told me, “I am in paradise to know that you young fathers all knew of Fr. Vismara, and that even with our country being closed for all those years you still love him.”

After quite a long and enjoyable visit, we were once again off to the next parish. You know, one of the things I should mention is that we really only saw another car about every half-hour or so on this long trek; there just aren't that many here... they are either very old or just for the rich! Anyway, we arrived in Mong Phyak, another mission founded by Fr. Vismara. Here the people are mostly Lahu in this area. Again we were greeted with so many smiling children (most of whom are adopted through PIME’s Foster Parent’s Mission Club program), another nice song, and some tasty food.

http://www.pimeusa.org/gettinginvolved.html

Finally we were off once again. We had just a couple of more checkpoints to go through to make it to the once grand kingdom city of Kengtung. We passed quite a few rice fields along the way, as well as water buffalo, goats, dogs, farmers returning from the paddies, and so much beautiful countryside. A lot of scooters, and every now and then a car or a truck.

Just as we were coming over the top of the last mountaintop before descending into the valley of Kengtung, our driver nervously said something to Fr. Claudio in Thai. We were running a bit late and we only had 15 minutes to get to the last checkpoint in order to get our documents stamped and only 25 minutes to get to the police station in Kengtung; the last checkpoint closes at 6pm and nobody is allowed into or out of the city “for your protection”. Luckily, we made it to the last checkpoint with 5 minutes to spare. Unfortunately we were five minutes late to the police station, but no worry – Sai has friends there, too, and with a little “friendship” we were able to make it through ok.

My friends, all this talk about checkpoints and immigration and police stations is really interesting and I’ll have to explain it better one of these days. It is all a mind-control game to scare the people and make them feel unfree. (Socialism!)

We arrived at the bishop’s residence, had a bite to eat with the bishop and the other priests, and then – finally – we arrived at our hotel: The Princess Hotel. Since we are foreigners we are not allowed to stay in any residence, even the Bishop’s; we MUST stay at one of the two hotels in town. There were more bureaucratic mind games there (with control by the government, of course… but I’ll explain that later). But who cares – we were finally in Kengtung, we were able to get a nice hot shower, and our rooms even had air-conditioning! It was time for a good night’s rest.
Before I end for today, I just wanted to explain something. Did you by chance notice in the other pictures that some of the women and children have this yellow “stuff” on their face? It is something that comes from some kind of tree and it supposedly is to give them nicer skin. But sometimes they apply it carefully so that it becomes a thing of beauty. If it is in a circle then you are meant to notice it as something beautiful. I did not see this outside of Myanmar. Interesting tradition.

Fang to Ban Thoet Thai

2009-10-07T22:19:00.002-04:00

Fr. Claudio took us to visit some of the PIME Catholic chapels of the Lahu and Akha around Ban Thoet Thai (the PIME center which belongs to the Fang parish). Some of them are quite simple, even rudimentary, as you can see in these pictures.

We spent the night in the Ban Thoet Thai house so that we would be closer to the border crossing of Mae Sai. In order to get to the house, though, we had to take this suspension bridge across the quickly flowing river below. I’m so glad they put those fences along the side – I’m guessing several people must have fallen in because that bridge sure SWAYS when you walk across it without the right rhythm!
Anyway, our plan is to leave first thing tomorrow morning… this should be interesting!

Heading towards Myanmar...

2009-10-07T10:13:00.001-04:00

My dear friends, this morning we are leaving to go to Myanmar in order to visit some of PIME’s old missions that we used to have there, especially in Kengtung. I know that they don’t have internet service there so it will be several days before I will be able to do any postings. Say an extra prayer for me!!! See you soon. Padre Christopher

Chiang Mai to Fang

2009-10-06T23:00:00.006-04:00

This morning Fr. Sergio, Fr. Campagnioli, and I boarded a plane to go from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, the northern part of Thailand where our missionaries work with the hill tribes. Arriving at the airport I was quite happy to see an old friend that I haven’t seen in years: Fr. Claudio Corti (also a PIME Missionary).

After a coffee break, Mass with the other PIME priests present here in the north (including Fr. Rafaele Pavese whom I worked with while in Italy, here pictured), and a nice lunch in a western-style hotel in Chiang Mai, we began the two-and-a-half hour trek north to Fang.
Our first stop wasn’t very far – we went to visit another Buddhist temple. This one was kind of interesting because it was made of wood and pretty old (which in Thailand means about 200 or 300 years old – there isn’t much “ancient” here, really, from the old Siam). In this temple there is also a copy of the emerald Buddha, as in Bangkok.
Fr. Claudio really Is a great driver, especially in navigating all the twists and turns through the hills leading us to Fang. But we arrived safe and sound, and after a bite to eat he treated us to a really nice treat. Have you ever considered – or are you doing? – a PIME long-distance adoption? Well tonight we were able to visit the boarding house where the teenagers – many of whom are adopted through the PIME Foster Parents Mission Program in the USA – live and study. They are predominantly from the Lahu and Akha tribes. And both the boys and girls treated us to a song (which you can hear in the videos here below).

Yes, the boys’ song is in English. Pretty cool, eh? Anyway, in case you were wondering here are the words to the songs each of them sang for us:

They were very welcoming and they even shared some conversational English with us (very simple of course). HOWEVER, I have to say that the girls really did a better job understanding the questions I asked them, as well as asking me questions in English with the correct pronunciation.
To end my visit with the girls, I asked Fr. Claudio if I could teach them a song that Fr. Steve had taught me: Chicka boom chicka boom. They absolutely LOVED it! Anyway, we returned back to the parish house and Fr. Sergio and I talked and asked a lot of questions with both Fr. Claudio and the other great PIME priest here in the mission: Fr. Massimo Bolgan. Today truly was a great day. God is good!!!

Visiting "Downtown" Bangkok

2009-10-05T21:22:00.000-04:00

Today Fr. Sergio and I had the opportunity to visit some of the sites of downtown Bangkok and to visit some of the sites which are important to the Thailand version of Buddhism. If you want to understand the Thai mentality, you have to begin by looking at what makes up their history and their culture… and Buddhism is so intertwined in this culture that it would be difficult to understand it without having at least a working knowledge of Buddhism.

We decided to take a boat bus into the city this morning, and we really made a good decision: it was pretty peaceful and it gave us a chance to see the city and the people from a different angle than would be possible in a taxi. Once we arrived in the city, we moved around using one of the typical local methods of transportation in the city. A tuk-tuk. (As you watch the video, you’ll see other tuk-tuks go by and you’ll have an idea what they look like.)

I have to admit that I was completely surprised by the huge number of Buddhist monasteries all over the place! I knew there would be some, but you can literally see form one monastery to the next in downtown Bangkok! We visited several. Here I am in front of one of the Buddhas. Don’t worry – taking pictures isn’t a problem; people come in and will talk on their cell phones, eat, smoke, etc. in the temple. It is NOT the same idea that we have of Church (as a PIME priest explained to us). And I thought it was really cute that n case you’re not sure that that particular Buddha will bring you the luck then they have several more in the back that you can pray to (and, of course, make a donation to) who might bring you more wealth and happiness. But if you can only choose one, they hope it will be wealth!

An interesting part of the Buddhist prayer ritual is to buy a little piece of gold leaf which you then apply to one of the Buddha statues so that it will bring you good luck, and your generous gift makes Buddha look good and thus happier.

We also visited the Golden Mountain. This was a pretty neat monument, and it is really high. We did climb all the way to the top in order to get a good view of the city, stopping along the way to ring the bells and gongs. (No, I wasn’t making a religious gesture, I just liked the sound of the bells… and especially the gong!)

I wish I had paid more attention, because right now I can’t exactly remember the dimensions. But we also went to visit the “reclining Buddha”. A common mistake is to think that this is Buddha sleeping. No. This is a representation of the precise moment of his enlightenment. Get a good look at this guy, especially his head. (And they say I have a big head!!!!!)

And the bottom of his feet and sandals are comprised of inlaid mother of pearl.

We had hoped to be able to visit the famed Palace compound, but unfortunately it wasn’t possible. Today there were two special ceremonies and for this reason it wasn’t possible to visit: 1) the Buddhists are celebrating the end of a period which the priests are calling “The Buddhist Lent”; 2) the King is sick and in the hospital (and you’ll remember from yesterday’s post how important the king is!) so the queen came to the temple to say prayers for her husband. As Sergio and I were milling around outside waiting, we also saw a lot of very highly decorated military men (generals?) coming and going from the compound. At any rate, I was able to get just this picture of the Palace Temple complex:
**31
With the half-hour rainstorm that Sergio and I had to stand through – as well as the ensuing higher-than-usual-for- Thailand humidity that followed – Sergio and I were both pretty tired after this so we decided to head back home by boat bus going up the river. Again, it was a nice smooth ride. We also happened to pass by the back of those slums which we visited yesterday. Can you notice the satellite dishes?!!!

Returning home we had time for a shower and a nap before Mass. You know, it really is kind of disheartening celelbrating Mass (or maybe it would be better to say “watching” more than celebrating) in a place where you don’t understand the language. But I was impressed by the number of Catholics who were there. After a nice supper with our fellow PIME missionaries, it was off to bed. Tomorrow we will make the flight north the Chiang Mai, where PIME works with the hill tribes in what even the Thai Bishop’s conference calls “the mission diocese”.

Arriving in Thailand

2009-10-04T22:56:00.001-04:00

Asian airline companies seem to have that something a little extra that USA airlines just seem to be missing. Maybe it was that on our “short” 2-and-a-half hour flight from Manila to Bangkok they gave us a meal. Maybe it was the friendly service and extremely clean airplane. (Of course, we have what they are sometimes missing – better aircraft maintenance!)

There were three things in particular that really marked today. The FIRST thing to catch my attention were two ever-present monuments everywhere you go in Thailand. There are pictures of the king and queen EVERYWHERE. On many of the overpasses there is some kind of homage to the royalty of Thailand.

Then there are always little houses erected for the spirits who were the former owners of the land. The idea is that you build this little house at the edge of the property where you are building so that the spirit will inhabit that little, nicer house where people leave gifts and put flowers rather than invading or haunting the new building that they will be putting up. (Or, if it is a field, that they won’t disrupt the tilling, etc. because now they have a nice little house to live in.) This really has nothing to do with Buddhism. (In fact it would be considered more Hindu than anything.)
The SECOND moment that really made today a great day was visiting the children’s homes that Fr. Adrian Pelosin and the other PIME priests run here in Nothamburi. The majority are girls, and many of these children come from homes where the parents had been willing to sell them into the sex trade in order to buy more drugs. Some of them are orphans. They have the opportunity to stay here until they are 18 years old. It was really neat to see them, hear the stories of the teenagers, and play with the littler ones.

Like in the Philippines, many of the smaller ones kept coming up to be sure that my belly was really real!! Gotta love em!

The THIRD think which really opened my eyes today was the visit to the slums where Fr. Adrian works. Since it wasn’t possible to build on land anywhere, they began building out over the water on the side of the river. The conditions in these slums is just deplorable; I don’t need to tell you what goes into that water (everything!). This particular slum is one that the government has decided to take over and from which to remove these people (who basically are squatters, but since they’ve been there for some 40 years the government at least tries to take care of them somewhat). The reason? To build another train bridge over the river. So here you can see them dismantling some of the wood in order to sell it… even by jumping into that (sic. Filthy) water.

A very interesting day to say the least. I really have a great respect for the challenges that our missionaries face in this country, especially in their great work with the children and the poorest of the poor. Incredible.

Foundation Day / Dia de Fundacion

2009-10-03T23:16:00.002-04:00

God is good, all the time. And all the time, God is good! This morning brought with it three pieces of good news. 1) The trip from Tagaytay to our parish in Parañaque City – which can take even over two hours – if traffic is heavy wound up taking just a little over an hour. 2) The typhoon which had been threatening us the past few days with mass destruction (especially on the heels of last week’s typhoon, which dumped more rain than Hurricane Katrina did in New Orleans!) decided to move way further north sparing us its angry rod. We experienced a little bit of wind and a little bit of rain, but not much more. 3) My traveling companion for the next leg of this journey – Fr. Sergio Fossati – arrived safe and sound from giving his retreat in Zamboanga at our Euntes Asian Center. Again, because of the retreat we weren’t sure he would make it.
Dios es bueno, siempre. ¡Y siempre, Dios es bueno! Esta mañana mi día empezó con tres cosas buenas: 1) El viaje de Tagaytay para llegar a nuestra parroquia de Parañaque usualmente nos costaría mas de dos horas. Hoy lo hicimos en poco mas de una hora (hubo poco trafico). 2) El tifón que ya desde varios días nos amenazaba con inundaciones y destrucción cambio dirección y se fue al norte. (El tifón de la semana pasada dejo mas lluvia en Manila que todo lo que se cayó en Nueva Orleans durante el huracán Katrina hace unos años.) Hemos visto un poco de viento y lluvia pero nada para preocuparse. 3) Mi compañero para la próxima etapa de mi viaje – padre Sergio – llegó a Manila después de estar en el sur dando en retiro; a causa del tifón no estábamos seguro si iba a llegar o no.

Today in Our Lady Queen of the Apostles Parish is “Foundation Day”. Because of this there were many activities on the parish grounds including a procession from the main church to all the different chapels (they did this while we were driving from Tagaytay to Parañaque), games for children, an especially solemn Mass, and then an evening show… which even I took part in!

Hoy en la parroquia de Nuestra Señora de los Apóstoles (la parroquia del PIME aquí en Parañaque) se celebra “El Día de Fundación”. Por esa razón hicieron una grande fiesta con procesiones, juegos para los niños, una misa bien solemne, y pues un espectáculo en la noche en que ¡ha participado también su siervo!

There were quite a few people and the whole Mass was really a beautiful experience. During the Mass all of those who had some type of ministry or duty in the parish renewed their commitment. This meant everyone from Knights of the Altar (altar servers) all the way up to the catechists, etc. I have to say that the Philippinos (o Pinoy as they call themselves) really do know how to sing quite well. I was extremely impressed with the youth choir (one of twelve), which you can hear in the attached video.
Por la santa misa vinieron muchas personas, y era una de las misas mas bonita que he visto en mi vida. (Claro, pero, que ¡nuestras misas en Todos Los Santos son siempre las mejores!!!!) Durante la misa todos los ministros y personas con cualquier trabajo en la parroquia renovaron su compromiso de servir a las parroquia y al pueblo de Dios: monaguillos, lectores, Caballeros de Colon, catequistas, etc. Y los Pinoi (como los filipinos se llaman a si mismos) cantaron bien bien durante la santa misa, especialmente el coro de los jóvenes (que están en el video que pongo aquí hoy).

They also did two types of liturgical dance during the Mass. The little girls dressed in white are known as the “Lillies of the Altar” and they danced during the “Lord have mercy”, “Glory to God”, “Our Father”…. Basically during the service parts of the Mass. The other group – slightly older, and here dressed in pink – did an interpretive dance after communion.

Hicieron también dos tipos de danza litúrgica durante la Santa Misa. Un grupo que se llaman “Las Flores (lirias) del Altar” se compuso de niñas y danzaba durante el “Señor ten piedad”, “Gloria”, “Padre Nuestro”, etc. El otro grupo – de muchachos preadolescentes (aquí con las muchachas vestidas de rosa) – hicieron una danza “interpretada” después de la comunión.

The Philippinos have a tradition whereby, to show respect especially to elders, they come up to you and reach for your hand. Then they touch your hand to their forehead - it is a sign of blessing. I am not 100% sure, but I think they even were calling it "Amen"! These signs of children and teens and adults coming up to you and showing that kind of repsect in the simple gesture really is quite touching.

Los Filipinos tienen una tradición para demostrar respecto a sus mayores: cuando están en frente de ti, te toman por mano y levantan tu mano hasta su frente. Es para recibir tu bendición. No estoy bien seguro, ¡pero pienso de entender que lo llaman “Amen”! Cuando los niños, los adolescentes, y los adultos vienen para mostrarte el respecto a través de una acción así sencilla de veras te toca el corazón.

After the Mass they had a celebration where there was enough food for everyone (and did you notice how full that church was???!!!). Then the youth group sponsored an event called, “Let’s Chat”. That was kind of interesting because it was really more about singing and dancing and having a good time. As Fr. Steve points out (#6 in his top ten list) teenagers really are pretty much the same the world over.

Después de la santa misa celebraron con una grande fiesta con comida para todos. El grupo de adolescentes y jóvenes patrocinaron un evento llamado “Platicamos”. El nombre era interesante porque no hablaron mucho – ¡más que solo platicar era una celebración y fiesta con muchas danzas y cantos! Y todos se divirtieron mucho mucho. Como dice padre Esteban, los adolescentes son más o menos iguales en todo el mundo – quieren estar felices.

Steve talked me into getting up there with him to do a couple of songs. The first one was “She’ll be coming around the mountain” with all the actions and everything. The other one was “Chicka-boom chicka-boom”. Those were really quite fun and it was evident that the kids all remember Fr. Steve fondly and loved that he was spending the time with them.

Padre Steve me convenció también a mí de subir con él para cantar. Hemos cantado dos canciones divertidas en ingles con movimientos y todo. ¡Qué divertido! Le gustaban también a todos los presentes, especialmente porque padre Esteban era desde años un grande amigo de ellos y estaban bien felices que él estaba pasando tiempo con ellos.
Finally, sitting with Fr. Sergio and Fr. Steve talking and enjoying San Miguel (Filipino) beer, yet another day on this great adventure came to an end. God is good, all the time. Tomorrow we’re off to the land of smile: Thailand.

Finalmente padres Esteban, Sergio y yo terminamos el día hablando, riendo, y tomando una buena cerveza llamada San Miguel (de producción Filipina). Dios es bueno, siempre. Mañana ya vamos a viajar hasta la Tierra de las Sonrisas: la Tailandia.

PIME Tagaytay

2009-10-02T22:15:00.004-04:00

We arrived in Tagaytay – about 30 miles or so south of Manila – Thursday afternoon. The building in and of itself is nothing extraordinary, but it was neat to visit the place I had heard so much about. Hemos llegado en Tagaytay a nuestro seminario – más o menos 30 millas al sur de Manila – el Jueves por la tarde. El edificio aquí no es extraordinario, pero para mi era un momento feliz porque finalmente estaba visitando este lugar de que había oído mucho hablar.

I was given the honor of celebrating Mass for the seminarians on Thursday evening, and the saint of the day was St. Theresa of the Child Jesus; I spoke about her desire for martyrdom and what that means to us today. Mi lo dieron a mi el honor de celebrar la Santa Misa por los seminaristas el Jueves por la tarde. El santo del día era Santa Teresa del Niño Jesús; yo hablé sobre el deseo que ella tenía para ser mártir, y sobre lo que significa para nosotros vivir este martirio día tras día en todas las circunstancias de la vida.

Friday – since the seminarians had classes – Fr. Steve showed me around Tagaytay. Because of the typhoon heading our way, the skies were pretty gray all day, but I was still able to make out the lake with the volcano in the middle. We also visited the SVD seminary where our theology students study. Viernes - puesto que los seminaristas tenían clases – padre Esteban me enseñó la ciudad (pueblo) de Tagaytay. Debido al tifón que se dirigía hacia nosotros, los cielos eran bastante grises todo el día, pero todavía podía ver apenas el lago con el volcán en el centro. Visitamos también el seminario de los misioneros SVD en donde estudian nuestros seminaristas de la teología.

On our way to “The People’s Park” (one of Marcos’ monuments to richness and self indulgence) we passed by a place that offered zip-line rides. Fr. Steve and I looked at each other and decided, “why not?!”. So we buckled up and enjoyed the zip line ride. It was an exhilarating ride as you can see in the video here below… just over WAY too quick. Luckily we had purchased a round-trip ticket, so we got to do it once again! Habíamos decidió ir a visitar “El Parque de la Gente” (un monumento del Presidente Marcos (el dictador para muchos años aquí en las Filipinas) a la riqueza y a la indulgencia). Pero pues pasamos por un lugar que ofrecía un “zip-line”. Padre Esteban y yo nos mirábamos el uno al otro y decidimos, ¿“por qué no?!”. Después de que nos prepararon, ¡ padre Esteban y yo hemos gozado del pasaje sobre la barranca! Era un viaje bien exhilarante como pueden ver ustedes mismos en el video aquí. ¡Desafortunadamente duró bien poco y terminó demasiado de prisa! ¡Afortunadamente Habíamos comprado un boleto ida-vuelta, así que conseguimos hacerlo de nuevo!

After Mass this evening – in which the deacon shared with us the history of angels as well as

their presence in the Bible, I was invited to give a talk about my priesthood and my mission. So, of course, I put together some of the great pictures I have of All Saints. I spoke for about an hour, but I very easily could have gone on for two. Después de la Santa Misa esta tarde – en la cual el diácono nos habló sobre la historia de los ángeles así como su presencia en la Biblia – me invitaron a compartir sobre mi sacerdocio y mi misión. Así pues, por supuesto, preparé algunas de las fotografías que tengo de Todos los Santos y hablé sobre la situación de los hispanos, de los indocumentados, de las familias separadas, y de las tradiciones grandes e importantes en las tradiciones hispanas. Hablé por más de una hora, ¡pero habría podido continuar hablando muy fácilmente para dos o tres horas sobre nuestra parroquia!

Today is extremely humid and there is some more rain. They’re not yet quite sure where the typhoon is going to hit. So we decided that right after breakfast tomorrow morning we are going to head back to Parañaque (Manila). Hoy hay mucha humedad y hay más lluvia. Los expertos todavía no son absolutamente seguros donde el tifón va a golpear. Por eso hemos decidió que mañana después de las oraciones y un desayuno rápido vamos a irnos de Tagaytay dirigiéndonos de nuevo a Parañaque (Manila).

I have to say that I have so thoroughly enjoyed meeting the seminarians here at the PIME Seminary in Tagaytay. They are fine young men and I look forward – if God so wills it – to working with them wherever in the world God will lead me. It is refreshing for me to see the future of PIME in their faces, and gives me hope that we will continue to survive even the downturn in vocations. It was also nice to meet Fr. Urbani (the spiritual director) and to see Fr. Steve "in action". Tengo que decir que de veras desfrute hasta el fondo mi tiempo aquí en Tagaytay, especialmente el tiempo pasado con padre Esteban y los momentos compartidos con los seminaristas. Son hombres buenos y yo estaré bien feliz un día – si lo quiere Dios – de servir con ellos sea donde sea y sea donde Dios nos indica. Me hace feliz ver el futuro del PIME en sus caras, y me da esperanza que continuaremos sobreviviendo incluso en medio de esta crisis de vocaciones.

God is good… all the time! Here below is a short video I took during our zipline crossing. Enjoy it!!!¡Dios es bueno… siempre! Aquí está el video: ¡disfruten!

Purok 1B – CAA

2009-10-01T16:41:00.008-04:00

Fr. Steve was pastor here in our parish in Manila for several years, so I asked him to show me around and help me to understand the working of this mission parish. According to Fr. Steve there are some 120,000 people in the parish! (Can you imagine?!) Padre Esteban era párroco aquí en nuestra parroquia en Manila (Parañaque) por varios años, así que pedí que él me enseñara los barrios de la parroquia y que me ayudara a entender el funcionamiento de esta parroquia de la misión. Según Padre Esteban hay más de 120.000 personas en el territorio la parroquia! (¿Puede imaginar una parroquia con así mucha gente?!)

We began by walking around visiting the various buildings of the campus. The Church (in which I had the honor of being the main celebrant for Mass last night) is a circular open-air church which allows the wind to blow through (if there ever is any – I sweat as usual during Mass last night). It is dedicated to Mary Queen of the Apostles, also the patron of the PIME Missionaries. One of the things which struck me in the Church is the crucifix, painted by one of our PIME missionaries. At the bottom is a depiction of some Filipino men helping to move a house. This is the idea of solidarity where everyone needs to work together and help each other. Powerful. Fr. Tulio Favali – PIME Missionary killed in the 1980’s in southern Philippines (Kidapawan) is also depicted on the crucifix.

Comenzamos caminando por las varias partes del campus de la Iglesia, visitando sus edificios. La iglesia (en la cual me dieron el honor de ser el celebrante principal para la Santa Misa en Ingles de ayer) es una iglesia circular al aire libre que permite que el viento pasa (¡si haya! Yo estaba sudando como usual durante la misa anoche.) La Iglesia es dedicada a María la reina de los Apóstoles. (Ella es también la patrona de los misionarios de PIME.) Una de las cosas en la Iglesia que me tocó en el corazón era el crucifijo pintado por uno de nuestros misionarios de PIME. En el fondo está una pintura de algunos hombres filipinos que se ayudan para mover una casa. Ésta es la idea de la solidaridad donde cada persona ayudar a su prójimo y no pensar solo en si mismo. Que poder tiene esa imagen. También viene representado en el crucifijo el Padre Tulio Favali – un misionero del PIME matado durante los años 80 en las Filipinas meridionales (Kidapawan).

There is also a medical clinic and dental clinic which the parish

runs. Although it is especially for the children, others are also allowed to come to receive free service. In this picture, Fr. Steve is getting ready for a dental inspection by the pastor of the parish, Fr. Gianni Sandolo. Hay también una clínica médica y una clínica dental que ofrece la parroquia a los pobres de estos barios. Aunque está especialmente para los niños, permiten también a otros a venir para recibir un servicio libre. En esta fotografía, Padre Esteban está preparándose para una inspección dental a las manos del párroco de la parroquia, el Padre Gianni Sandolo.

We then went to drive around and visit the different neighborhoods of the parish. There is one part in particular – Purok1B (also known as the CAA) that really struck me. It is an area of squatters. Through the years they have just started building up housing there and eventually some of them went from quite disposable structures to something which could even be considered more permanent. The government does tolerate them and even tries to do things to help them out. However, if the government should ever need the land these people do not have title to it. Después fuimos a visitar los diversos barrios de la parroquia. Hay un barrio en particular – Purok1B (también conocido como el “CAA”) que de veras me tocó el corazón y me hizo pensar. Es un barrio de ocupantes ilegales. Durante los años llegaron allí, empezaron a construir “casas”, y seguían viviendo uno sobre el otro como sardinos. Pues unos decidieron construir casas mas “solidas” y mas “permanentes”. El gobierno tolera su presencia, y a veces hace lo posible para ayudarlos. Sin embargo, si el gobierno necesitara de la tierra donde vive esta gente, tienen que irse porque no tienen ni título ni derecho a ella.

Of course, there are children everywhere, and it was such a joy. Being the big white guy I am, they all came up to see me. A couple of them even touched my belly to see if it was real! I would say “hello” and they would say the two or three words they knew in English. They would also mimic every word I would say – that was kind of fun! (All schooling in Manila is done in Tagalog. They may learn some English in school, but they don’t really start using it until college studies and/or beyond.) Por supuesto, hay niños por todas las partes, y para mi verlos tan alegres ¡me hizo alegre también a mí! Siendo el individuo blanco y grande (¡y gordo!) que soy, ellos venían de todas las partes para verme. ¡Un par de ellos incluso tocó mi barriga para asegurarse que si era verdadera! Yo les diría “hola” y pues ellos dirían las dos o tres palabras que sabían en inglés. ¡También repitieron cada palabra que yo decía - que divertido! (Las escuelas en Manila enseñan en tagalo. Aprenden un poco de inglés en la escuela, pero realmente no lo usan hasta que empiezan los estudios de la universidad.)

Here we are in front of a tricycle – one of the common means of public transportation in the Philippines. Aquí estamos delante de un triciclo - uno de los medios comunes del transporte público en las Filipinas.

Fresh bananas for sale. I also saw some fresh pineapple and even grilled corn! Plátanos frescos para la venta. ¡También vi un poco de piña fresca e incluso maíz preparado como hacen los mexicanos!

I guess they really don’t want people messing around with the electric meters. But… how do they read them? Estos son los indicadores del uso de la luz… pero… ¿Cómo los pueden leer para enviar el recibo?!

This is the sewer which just runs along the side of the street even in these cramped quarters. “You don’t want to fall in there,” Fr. Steve told me. Uh… right. Ésta es la alcantarilla que se encuentra apenas al lado de la calle, incluso en estos rincones mas estrechos. “Christopher, confíate de mi: absolutamente no quieres caerte adentro allí,” Padre Esteban me aconsejó. Uh… buen idea.

Children, everywhere children. “There are really a quite happy people,” Fr. Steve told me. And just look at these smiles. Everywhere! Niños, por todas las partes niños. “Es un pueblo que de veras está absolutamente feliz,” me dijo Padre Esteban. Y pues miren ustedes a esta sonrisas. ¡Por todas la partes!

Fr. Steve also took me to one of the nicer “gated” communities that our parish serves. Here is a “black water” canal (I think that means sewage canal?) that runs next to our chapel. The flooding from last week’s typhoon completely filled this canal and overflowed. The people were saying that the flood level was just about up to their necks at the spot where I was standing to take this picture! Can you imagine? Padre Esteban también me llevó a una de las comunidades “cerradas” más agradables que hace parte de nuestra parroquia. Aquí hay un canal de “agua negra” (pienso que el canal sea de las aguas residuales de los medios?) al lado de nuestra capilla. La inundación del tifón de la semana pasada llenó totalmente este canal y pues se desbordó. ¡La gente decía que el nivel de la inundación era justo sobre los hombros y hasta sus cuellos en el punto (en el lugar donde saqué esta fotografía). Wow. ¿Pueden imaginárselo?

We ate at the PIME house with the other PIME fathers and then it was off to the PIME Seminary in Tagaytay. Hemos cenado en la casa de PIME con los otros padres misioneros del PIME y pues nos pusimos en camino para llegar al seminario del PIME en la ciudad de Tagaytay.

Visiting Manila / Visitando Manila

2009-09-30T18:00:00.002-04:00

It is amazing how busy I have been since I got here! There was a change in plans (or at least the way I had understood them); so, since we stayed in Manila today and Fr. Steve took me around to show me some of the sights. I will eventually get around to writing more, but I wanted to be sure to share the pictures with you right now.

¡De veras estoy bien ocupando desde mi primer momento aquí! Había un cambio en planes (o por lo menos según cuanto había yo entendido antes de venir); por eso hemos permanecidos en Manila hoy y padre Esteban me llevó para Manila para ensenarme unos lugares interesantes. Eventualmente encontraré el tiempo para escribir mas, pero no quería esperar aquel momento para compartir estas fotos con ustedes.

This is one of the main rivers that goes through Manila. (And that is Fr. Steve standing in front of the river with Manila in the background.) Many people make their living picking the garbage for things they can sell… in this case whatever happens to be floating down the river.
Este es uno de los ríos principales que pasa por Manila. (Y él es padre Esteban en frente al rio con los edificios de Manila a la otra orilla.) Muchos aquí sobreviven vendiendo cuanto encuentran en la basura… en este caso lo que está en el rio.

Father Steve also took me to visit Fort Santiago, a very old Spanish-era (colonial times) fort. Here is also the place where they killed a great Filipino patriot: Jose Rizal.
Padre Steve me enseno también el Forte Santiago (de tiempos coloniales bajo los españoles). Es el lugar donde mataron a un grande patriota filipino: Jose Rizal.

For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Rizal

Para mas información: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jos%C3%A9_Rizal

We also visited a church where the pipe organ is constructed almost entirely of bamboo!
Y también visitamos a una iglesia donde hay un órgano construido casi todo de bambú!

Welcome to Manila / Bienvenidos a Manila

2009-09-30T01:30:00.003-04:00

According to my watch we touched down at Nimoy Aquino International Airport at 12:40am, on Wednesday, September 30, 2009. However, since the Philippines is one hour behind Japan, it is still Tuesday 11:40pm.

Anyway, I arrived safe and sound and there was just a little bit of turbulence on the flight. The 50-something American woman sitting next to me got very angry with the flight attendant because he didn’t have red wine on the cart; he told her he would be back in a few minutes with it, but that wasn’t good enough for her. She made a big scene about it. “Just because you’re an alcoholic doesn’t mean you shouldn’t serve wine for the rest of us that want it.” He kindly replied, “Mam, I’m not an alcoholic, but I’ll be right back with a glass of wine for you!” She just kept complaining and complaining, so I tried to ignore her. When he came by a little bit later I just told him “Thanks for all the great service, you really are doing a fine job.” If looks could kill! That lady looked at me and said, “I’m glad you think his service is so great, but I am writing a letter to get him fired.” Over a glass of wine?

Getting into the airport I passed through immigration and customs no problem, and I was very thrilled that my luggage arrived at the same time I did! I was even more thrilled to see a happy and familiar face – Fr. Steve Baumbusch – a great friend and the PIME priest who was my mentor for many years and is still my model of what it means to be a good priest – was there to pick me up.

He brought me back o the PIME parish house in Parañaque City (part of Metro-Manila). We had a San Miguel beer, talked a little bit, and then I came upstairs to go to bed. All went well and here I am. I do have to say, though, that I feel a little cheated by the whole time game: it is already 1:30am Wednesday morning; I left on Monday and now it is Wednesday? What’s up with that?

Según mi reloj llegamos al Aeropuerto Internacional Nimoy Aquino (Manila) a las 12:40 a.m. en el día miércoles, 30 de Septiembre de 2009. Pero las Filipinas son una hora ATRÁS de Japón, por eso todavía aquí es miércoles, 11:40pm.

Llegamos sin grande problemas pero hubo un poco de turbulencia en el vuelo. La señora norteamericana sentada a mi lado – que tenia más o menos 50 años de edad – se enojó bien fuerte con el asistente de vuelo porque él no tenia consigo vino tinto para darle en aquel mismo momento en que lo quería ella; él había prometido de regresar con vino tinto entre unos minutos, pero ella no lo quería escuchar. Ella causó una grande conmoción y decía “solo porque TU eres un alcohólico no significa no deberías servir vino a nosotros que lo queremos.” Él contestó: “Señora, yo no soy alcohólico, y regresaré de inmediato con tu vaso de vino.” Ella seguía quejándose de todo y yo hice lo mejor para no darle caso. Cuando el asistente de vuelo pasó de nuevo poco después, le decía a él: “Gracias por todo tu servicio bueno durante este vuelo. De veras estás haciendo lo mejor posible y lo agradezco.” ¡Si fuera posible matarme con sus ojos lo habría hecho aquella señora! Ella me miró y me dijo: Estoy feliz que tú piensas que el servicio sea bueno, pero yo voy a escribir una carta para que despidan a él.” ¿Por un vaso de vino???

Llegando en el aeropuerto pase todas las cosas normales (inmigración, aduana, etc.) sin problemas. Yo estaba bien feliz ver que mi equipaje llegó también… y estaba súper mas feliz a ver una cara amiga – la de padre Esteban Baumbusch – un grande amigo y padre del PIME que vino para recogerme en el aeropuerto. Por años era mi mentor y todavía es un modelo para mí de lo que significa ser un bueno sacerdote.

Regresamos a la casa parroquial del PIME in Parañaque City (en las afueras de Manila). Hablamos mientras tomábamos una buena cerveza San Miguel y pues decidí acostarme para dormir. Todo salió bien y aquí estoy. Tengo que admitir, pero, que mi siento un poco engañado por todo esto cambio de horario: ya es Miércoles aquí. Yo salí de los estados unidos el lunes y ¿ya son miércoles? ¿Donde está la justicia en cortarme un día así???!!!

Still in Tokyo / Todavia esperando en Tokio

2009-09-29T19:30:00.002-04:00

The captain just came over the intercom and told us that there would be about a one-hour delay before take off because there was a typhoon still clearing out of southeast Asia which hit a couple of days ago (the Philippines, in fact), and there is another one on the way. For that reason there is only a narrow corridor for all flights northbound and southbound for southeast Asia, and we need to wait our turn to get into that flight corridor. Interesting. Good thing I brought along some reading material!

El piloto apenas nos hizo un anuncio: vamos a necesitar esperar una hora más antes de empezar nuestro vuelo porque hay un huracano que todavía está causando problemas en el sureste de Asia (que toco tierra en las Filipinas hace unos días) y pues hay un otro huracano que está llegando. Por esa razón, hay solo una “zona” pequeña donde pueden volar los vuelos en dirección norte y sur para llegar en el sureste de Asia, y necesitamos esperar nuestro turno para entrar en este “zona de vuelo”. Interesante. ¡Gracias a Dios que lleve conmigo bastante para leer!

Tokyo Airport / Aeropuerto de Tokio

2009-09-29T18:00:00.002-04:00

I made it here to Tokyo after a pretty turbulent flight. We were about an hour delayed leaving Detroit because of the bad weather and because they were waiting for people to make their connecting flights. The person sitting next to me on the flight was from Beijing, China, and she had been in the USA on a business trip. She was good company and knew decent conversational English so we talked a little bit about our families and our jobs. She was kind of amazed to hear I was a priest. We talked about what that meant for a while. She is "non-religion".

You know, I brought snacks with me for the flight because I was concerned that there might not be enough food – airlines aren’t famous for making you feel full! But I was surprised – not only was the food scrumptious but the portions were also very generous.

After a good meal – no caffeine or alcohol as several parishioners suggested to me in order to beat the jetlag – I started watching “Valkyrie” with Tom Cruise, but soon fell asleep. I slept for at least half that flight! I was surprised. And I must not have been snoring too loud because nobody woke me up. (Or maybe it is just that the nice Chinese lady decided to let me sleep!)
Valkyrie was a pretty good movie, and show about true patriotism for a good cause. I won’t give it away for you, but unfortunately the good guys don’t succeed. I also watched “Knowing” with Nicholas Cage. That was a pretty good movie, and the line that really strikes me is one the dad says to his son who finally comes home – “This isn’t the end you know”. Again, I won’t give away why he says that… but it sure meant a lot.

We got into Tokyo Narita and now that I am sitting at my gate waiting for my flight to Manila I am charging up my batteries. Detroit to Tokyo was 13 hours. Tokyo to Manila is supposed to be 3 hours 40 minutes. The good news is that I will have a happy face waiting for me once I get to Manila. God is good!

Llegué aquí en Tokio después de un vuelo con mucha turbulencia. Hemos tardado una hora saliendo de Detroit a causa del tiempo feo, y también porque querían esperar pasajeros que estaban llegando tarde por este vuelo. La Señora sentada a mi lado durante el vuelo era de Beijing, China, e había visitado en los Estados Unidos por negocios. Ella era buena compañía durante el viaje y habló ingles bastante bien; hablábamos sobre nuestras familias y trabajos. Ella estaba maravillada escuchar que soy sacerdote porque nunca había hablado con un sacerdote católico… por esa razón… hemos hablado sobre mis 11 años de sacerdocio. Ella, me dijo, está “sin religión”.

Antes del vuelo yo estaba preocupado que no nos iban a dar bastante comida para satisfacerme durante el vuelo, y por eso había llevado conmigo snacks (botanas) - las líneas aéreas no son famosas por dar mucha comida. Pero fui sorprendido - no sólo estaba el alimento bien rico pero las porciones eran también muy abundantes.

Después de una buena comida - ningún cafeína o alcohol como varios feligreses sugirieron a mí para batir el jetlag - comencé a mirar “Valkyrie”, una película con Tom Cruise, pero pronto me caí dormido. ¡Dormí por lo menos mitad de ese vuelo! Fui sorprendido. Y no debo haber roncado demasiado ruidosamente porque nadie me despertó. (¡O es quizá porque la señora china agradable había decidido dejarme dormir!)

“Valkyrie” es una película bastante buena, y trata el tema del patriotismo verdadero. No les voy a decir todo (en el caso que lo quisiera ver por su propia cuenta), pero desafortunadamente las personas buenas y justas no tienen buena suerte en esta película. También miré la película “Saber” (Knowing) con Nicholas Cage. Es una película bastante buena, y hay una frase en la película que me tocó el corazón: cuando el papá dice a su hijo que estaba lejos por mucho tiempo y que finalmente viene a casa - “éste no es el fin sabes.”. Una vez más no quiero quitar la sorpresa de la película diciéndoles porque lo dice… pero entenderán cuando la vean.

Lleguemos en Tokio Narita y ahora estoy sentado aquí esperando que nos llaman para subir en el avión… y estoy cargando la batería de mi computadora. El vuelo Detroit a Tokio era de 13 horas. Tokio a Manila se supone para ser 3 horas 40 minutos. Las buenas noticias son que tendré una cara feliz esperándome cuando llegaré a Manila. ¡Dios es bueno!

at the airport / en el aeropuerto

2009-09-28T13:45:00.000-04:00

It is now about 1:45pm on Monday. I stayed up all night doing laundry, packing, finishing up All Saints parish stuff, and then straightening my room. (I hate coming home to a messy room and office… and since I’m not married I guess I have to do it myself!!!) I did manage to take a two-hour nap during the night, and I feel good.

I went to the PIME house to leave my car there, and to have one last home-cooked American meal before leaving the country. The cook, Liz, is really a great person… and an excellent cook. But she didn’t realize that I would be traveling for the next 20 hours in close proximity to several hundred persons. I say this because she made CHILI!!!!! She really makes some of the best chili I’ve ever tasted, but I couldn’t eat it out of respect for those I’d be traveling with!!! So we looked in the back of the refrigerator and found some focaccia pizza. Together with some fruit I had a pretty good meal.

Then… it was off to the airport! My superior, Fr. Ken, who spent quite a few years as a missionary in Japan, took me. And after an extremely smooth check-in (I’ve never seen the airport with this few people in it) here I am blogging to all of you. I am scheduled to leave at 3:20pm local time for the 13-hour flight to Tokyo. After a 2hour 15 minute layover I board another plane for the 3hour 40 minute flight to Manila. I’ll get in at about 11:10pm local time.

I’ve downloaded some movies from Amazon unbox to watch during my flight. I’ll critique them and let you know what I think of them. “17 Again” looked pretty funny.

It’s kind of rainy and winds are gusting outside. I hope the flight goes well! See you in Tokyo!!!!

Ahora es la 1:45pm el lunes. Yo estaba despierto toda la noche lavando mis ropas, preparando mis equipajes, terminando las tareas de oficina para la parroquia de Todos Los Santos, y poniendo todas mis cosas en su lugar en mi recamara y oficina. (Odio encontrar desorden cuando regreso a casa después de unas vacaciones… y no tengo esposa por eso tengo que hacer toda la limpieza por mi propia cuanta!!!) Gracias a Dios hice una siesta por dos horas durante la noche, y ya me siento bien.

Pues fui a la casa del PIME para que me revisen mi Jeep… y también para comer una ultima cena “de casa” antes de salir de los Estados Unidos. Nuestra cocinera, Liz, sabe cocinar bien bien. Pero pienso que no sabía que yo iba a viajar por las próximas 20 horas bien pegados a como 300 personas porque me preparo’ CHILI (un caldo con frijoles y chilis picantes)! Decidí no comerlo por respecto a los demás pasajeros que voy a encontrar en el avión!!! Pero hemos encontrado unos pedacitos de pizza y los comí. Pizza y fruta – Buena comida antes de viajar.

Pues – al aeropuerto!!! Mi superior, padre Ken Mazur (que pasó varios años como misionero en Japón) me llevó. Hice el check-in sin problemas, porque el aeropuerto parece casi vacio! Y aquí estoy, escribiendo a todos ustedes. El avión va a salir a las 3:20pm (tiempo Detroit) para el vuelo de 13 horas hacia Tokio. Pues tengo 2 horas para el transbordo y un otro vuelo de 3 horas y 0 minutos. Llegare’ en Manila, Filipinas, a las 11pm tiempo local.

Me he preparado para el vuelo con unas películas que voy a mirar… pues les hago saber se a mi me gustaron o no. “De Nuevo 17” me parecía bien cómica.

Afuera hay lluvia y tira mucho el viento. Espero que salga todo bien. Nos vemos en Tokio!!!

Are we ready yet? Ya estamos listos?

2009-09-27T22:36:00.001-04:00

Right now it is Sunday evening 10:35pm here in Detroit, and would you believe that I still have to pack for my trip? Today was busy with Masses, communion visits, and then doing last minute shopping for our missionaries from overseas. I suppose that I won't sleep much tonight, but I guess that means I will hopefully sleep during the flight. (Those poor people... I snore!)

One of my young parishioners, Danielle, gave me this cute bear which you see here. Isn't it just the best! It even has its own little travel suitcase and passport. That was an extremely thoughtful gift, and believe it or not he is going to accompany me on this trip!!! You'll see him in the Philippines and Thailand for sure. Myanmar... we'll have to see. (It's so nice I would hate for them to confiscate it!)

OK. That's enough - I have to pack!!! Talk to you soon.

Ahora es Domingo, 10:35pm aquí en Detroit… y ¡todavía tengo que EMPEZAR a preparar mis equipajes! Hoy era un día bien lleno – con misas, llevando comunión, haciendo compras para nuestros misioneros, etc. Imagino que yo no vaya a dormir mucho esta noche, pero ojala signifique que dormiré durante el vuelo. (Pobrecitos los demás pasajeros… ¡yo ronco fuerte!!!)

Una de mis feligreses mas jóvenes, Daniele, me dio este oso que vean aquí. ¡Que bonito! El oso tiene también su equipaje chiquito y su pasaporte. Se ve que esta muchacha pensó mucho en que regalo hacer, y por eso ya decidí que ¡ese oso me va a acompañar en mis viajes! Lo van a ver en la Filipinas y en Tailandia; tengo que ver si será posible que entre en Myanmar (Birmania); ¡no quiero que me lo confisquen en la frontera!

OK. Ya basta. Tengo que preparar mi equipaje. ¡Hablamos a rato!

Just three days away

2009-09-25T14:09:00.000-04:00

Well, I am just three days away from a pretty big adventure. I have set up this blog so that we may continue to communiate and so that I may let you know how my trip is going.

Ijole! Aqui estoy, y faltan solo tres dias antes de que empiezo una aventura bien grande. He preparado este "blog" para permitirnos a comunicar y tambien para que puedo hacerle saber como va mi viaje.