At the end of my last blog, I said that I would be catching up to the present the next time I posted.
So now, ladies and gentlemen:
IT'S
TIME!!!
TIME!!!
(To admit that I was mistaken.)
Those of you who know me best know how fond I am of that, so enjoy it while you can.
At some point, every blog post is going to be about the past, but there's just too much past worth talking about to cram into just one post. So you're gonna have to put up with this framing device a little while longer.
That said:
ONWARD
Guess some things never change. Like corporate ubiquity. Thank God for Mountain Province.
Close Encounters of the British (& British Columbian) Kind: This post and the next post will find themselves full of visitors! (Just like the actual page. Thanks to everyone who checks this out, BTW!)
The first visit was in the form of Fr. Douglas Fenton, Archdeacon of The Diocese of New Westminster, Canada. The DoNW and EDNP (my diocese) have been (and are continuing) exploring the idea of a diocesan partnership between our two diocese...es? No, wait, just diocese. So Archdeacon Fenton came to meet with everyone here and to see life in the diocese live and up close.
This was also the first time I got a feel for how Mountain Province is connected - or at least the sections I'd been to already.
The day also included Fr. Fenton getting to see some of the churches and meeting the people who comprised their congregations. Also, he (and Andrew and I as well) were given the chance to address the congregation in Besao with regards to the formation of the partnership. And of course, what would a trip around Mountain Province be without food and dancing?!
The first visit was in the form of Fr. Douglas Fenton, Archdeacon of The Diocese of New Westminster, Canada. The DoNW and EDNP (my diocese) have been (and are continuing) exploring the idea of a diocesan partnership between our two diocese...es? No, wait, just diocese. So Archdeacon Fenton came to meet with everyone here and to see life in the diocese live and up close.
Mission: Accomplished
This crash course in la vida montañosa included a tour around the surrounding towns near Bontoc - Sagada, Besao, Tadian and Bauko and several of their associated barangay (which, for those Stateside, are like suburbs - only in this area, they used to be the different tribes of the Cordillera. And because of that, instead of being directly connected a town center, there's usually a bit of distance between them. Sometimes a lot of distance. For instance Masla, which you'll see in my next post, and saw in "D.G.B. Part IV", is about 45 minutes from Poblacion, Tadian, but is still part of Tadian. And there's not a whole lot in-between.)
Still in town
The day also included Fr. Fenton getting to see some of the churches and meeting the people who comprised their congregations. Also, he (and Andrew and I as well) were given the chance to address the congregation in Besao with regards to the formation of the partnership. And of course, what would a trip around Mountain Province be without food and dancing?!
That's exactly what it looks like
A little fellowship before the official welcome
Welcoming Committee
"I just flew in from Canada and boy are my arms tired!"
(He didn't actually say that, thank God.)
We had a friend!
The musical stylings of the Besao deanery clergy
Awaiting the start of the native celebration
Just dance!
(Not the original caption - but the day I went to publish this, David Bowie died. RIP)
Native song and dance
Let's be clear: You do not mess with this woman.
From Besao we went on to Tadian and finished up back in Bontoc later that evening. Unfortunately, despite some spectacular opportunities for photographs, my phone battery AND the big camera's battery both died. Sayang!
After Fr. Fenton's departure, it was time to get back to life as usual in Bontoc. Only first it was time for something a little different - my apartment was finally ready for me to move in to! Prior to this point, I had been staying at a Diocesan-run hotel, The Walter Clapp. But now I got to move into my permanent place on the Cathedral Compound. (I can't recall if I've said this on the blog or just to people back home, but America really needs to jump onto this whole Cathedral Compound idea. It's really quite tremendous.)
So, as is tradition, we had a housewarming! And I killed my first chicken. And then a few minutes later my second. Sidenote: turns out chickens are somewhat durable.
The meeting went well and was actually informative on what we're trying to do and where we're trying to go as E-CARE, but Manila still ravaged my lungs and my eyes, so I was more than happy when it was time to go again. Despite the fact that it was crazy early, per usual.
After Fr. Fenton's departure, it was time to get back to life as usual in Bontoc. Only first it was time for something a little different - my apartment was finally ready for me to move in to! Prior to this point, I had been staying at a Diocesan-run hotel, The Walter Clapp. But now I got to move into my permanent place on the Cathedral Compound. (I can't recall if I've said this on the blog or just to people back home, but America really needs to jump onto this whole Cathedral Compound idea. It's really quite tremendous.)
So, as is tradition, we had a housewarming! And I killed my first chicken. And then a few minutes later my second. Sidenote: turns out chickens are somewhat durable.
Did I mention that my apartment is unnecessarily large? 'Cause it is.
That said, it doubles as the E-CARE Guest House, so it kind of has to be.
Bishop giving a blessing.
Photo credit: Demery
Photo credit: Demery
Never going to lack for food during my year, that's for sure
As you may have guessed by the title of this post however, I didn't get to stay in my new digs for long. It was time to get on the road for the National E-CARE meeting at Cathedral Heights in Manila! But first, we had a stopover for the blessing of the E-CARE Marketing Center in Atok, outside of Baguio. So off we went onto the beautiful Halsema Highway.
Emphasis on the "high"
More bars in more places
View from the top
Okay, so there was more mountain behind us, but the top of the road...
Okay, so there was more mountain behind us, but the top of the road...
Coming along!
Catherine starts us off with the first reading of the blessing
This is the same room from "Days Gone By - Part I" - looks much improved these days!
Pure beauty
Oh wait, that last caption was meant for this picture. (Joke lang, girls :P)
This is the view I was unable to share with you last time I was here due to the clouds rolling in
This is the view I was unable to share with you last time I was here due to the clouds rolling in
Before we went all the way down to Manila - a 12-hour trip, despite only being 70 miles further than the distance from Dallas to Austin (those winding mountain roads really ramp up the time) - we decided to rest the night in Baguio City, Baguio!
Despite the fact that it had only been 6 weeks since I had found myself in the middle of a town larger than 20,000 people (Tabuk doesn't count since I was only at the edge of town), I was wholly unprepared for how time away like that would would wipe out my tolerance to city life. 15 years of living in cities approaching or well over a million people gone in practically no time. I simply wasn't ready to have as many people in one field of view as I'd seen in 6 weeks combined! That said, I got over it pretty quickly and resumed my former city slicker-ness, but it was a rough bit there at the beginning.
Still a mountain town. Just a much BIGGER mountain town
"Ooh, you know what I miss? TRAFFIC."
A McDonald's in a city that doesn't believe in stocking bathrooms with toilet paper.
This is God's idea of a cruel joke.
But Catherine did get a bear in her coffee, so...that was nice.
Alright, it's been great being back in a city with a hot shower and pizza like I'm used to, and Baguio truly is very beautiful (something I'll explore more in a later post) but it's time to move on. Oh wait, crap, I forgot - we're moving on to MANILA. I've made a huge mistake! Let's stay!!!
Nope. No such luck. Back on the road we went.
God is Good all the Time 2:
The Reckoning
Is...is that a Pepsi water tower??
When you sit at the end of the table, you get put on group selfie duty...
Aw, SO close to the 'Horns
The meeting went well and was actually informative on what we're trying to do and where we're trying to go as E-CARE, but Manila still ravaged my lungs and my eyes, so I was more than happy when it was time to go again. Despite the fact that it was crazy early, per usual.
I think Quisky was okay with leaving too
Picture, picture!
Back in glorious Mountain Province
The E-CARE crew
And a glorious mountain man...
For about 8 more days. But that's for next time.
Ah.
Back in Bontoc.
Gawis t'ay inmali takoh. And just in time, because it was time for more visitors! But that will be for next time as well. I can't promise it will conclude this series (it won't) but I can promise it will arrive more expediently than this entry.
Happy new year! I will see you all out somewhere on the Wild Wild World Wide Webternetsphere.
Peace.
On the road. Again. :)
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