Linda Hall

Leilani invited all the students and teachers to her family’s house in Batangas.  It is Fiesta time in honour of the patron saint, Santa Clara.  She is the patron saint of the childless.

Every community (barangay) here have their own patron saint that they worship and are honoured during the festival. The history of Santa Clara (Saint Claire) is interesting as she was originally deemed the saint of good weather because of her name, which in Spanish means “the clearing of the skies after the rain.” Many Filipinos still believe to this day that offering eggs at the feet of St. Claire is an effective prayer to ask for the stormy weather to be fair. She’s been offered with eggs because the name “Claire” also means egg white (albumen) in Spanish (”claro”).

The Spanish Franciscan missionaries’ introduction of St. Claire as a replacement for the pagan gods of the ancient Filipinos caused transformation of an old ritual into the offering of the fandango or dance for St. Claire to prevent women from becoming barren. This transformation from pagan rituals to Christian ceremonies enhanced the conversion of Filipinos to Catholicism.

Eventually, St. Claire became the pilgrim’s patron saint of an individual who would like to request for a mate and bear children, female babies in particular.  The ritual involves dancing and often accompanied by the offering of eggs so that the prayers will be heard and woman will become pregnant.

The age old question has finally been answered:  “How many men does it take to put air into a tyre?”

Finally after ‘false start’ we pile back into the car and head off to Batangas.  It was around 1 and a half hours before we arrived at Leilani’s relatives house.  There was lots of food and one of the first things on the agenda was eating.  Food is very important during the Fiesta and people will be cooking and preparing for days before hand.

Leilani’s house.

After this they took us to a friend’s house where we had to eat again and then back here for dessert. If you visit during the Fiesta you can expect to go to many homes with your host and eat many times during the day.  It is good to pace yourself. My apologies for not mentioning that to the students beforehand.  Whoops!

Yes your eyes are not playing tricks on you.  It is a karaoke machine.  They hired it for the day as Filipinos love to sing and it doesn’t even have to be in tune.  The louder it is, the better.

The church where they come to worship and make requests to Santa Clara.

Santa Clara the patron saint of the childless.

Nice look Wendel.

Leilani with her mother and sister in law.

Just the girls.

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Or should I say Princess’ third birthday?  I believe that Bronte now goes by the name of Princess and she sure looked the part of her special day.  It is all about friends, food and lots of presents and oh! did I mention food.  Princess is the ultimate party girl.

You can call me Princess!

Cakes with my friends.

More cake.

Of course there has to be presents.

Looking good.

Dad with his little princess.

Yep you guessed it.  Another birthday cake but I am three so it only seems right.  Three cakes for my third birthday.

All that partying has worn me out.  Nothing like a nice relaxing bath at the end of the day.

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Anna’s friend Lucy was passing through Manila for a couple of days, so we decided to take her to a beach and stay overnight in a resort.  Of course it is monsoon season so it was not unexpected when it rained but it was nice to get to know Lucy and to just get out of Manila.  It is always good to get out of Manila and see green and trees and of course the beach.  Not something you see here unless you get down to the Manila Bay but that isn’t always very pleasant.

Having lunch in the restaurant after arriving.  Anna with Lucy behind her and Werner and I on the other side.

Anna and Lucy inside our room.

Yep!  That’s the beach.  Did I mention it RAINED?

Early Sunday morning it was nice but then just after this, you guessed it, it rained.

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Wow! At the rate that students are graduating there will soon be no students left in school studying. It is a great problem to have though because this is the start of a new chapter in the lives of the missionaries here in the Philippines. After completing language study, they are looking to the Lord for their future ministry. That is exactly what Alina and Anja, our latest graduates are doing. Anja completed her last month of language study while being the Guest house manager here in Manila. She will continue with this ministry at least until the beginning of next year and then see what the Lord has next for her. Alina is seeking the Lord’s direction as she is looking to join a tribal ministry on Palawan. Language study is hard work and it is a relief for the students when they finish the course and pass their final assessment. Well done ladies!

Alina and Anja with their teachers. From left: Ate Lourdes, Beth, Anja, Alina, Leilani and Ate Honie. Wendel and I are sitting on the floor.

Anja receiving her certificate from Leilani.

Alina receiving her certificate from Beth.

The Chairman addresses the graduates.

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Alaina, Anna, Werner, Danny, Philippa and I made the trip to the recently opened aquarium on Manila Bay.  We had a nice day together looking at the fish and then eating fish for lunch, having a coffee and getting caught in rain storm.

Tragedy!  Starbucks wasn’t open so it had to be Mrs Fields for breakfast.

Main Foyer.

Entrance into the aquarium.

At the Touch Pool.  Don’t pick up the shark.

Can you find Nemo?

Eating Nemo’s family for lunch.

Just the girls: Alaina, Philippa, Anna and Me.

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