Blood Letting Drive Scheduled

Elder and Sister DeMars, the only other senior couple in the Laoag Philippines Mission came from Vigan to attend a two-day meeting.  They stayed with us on Friday night.  Your dad and Elder DeMars went together to the meetings on both Friday night and Saturday morning.....leaving Sister DeMars and myself to our own devices. So what do any real women do on a Saturday morning when left without men folk? Of course....go shopping!

President Odgers, Sister Odgers, (who are the ex-mission president and wife),  Sister DeMars, and Elder DeMars



It became my responsibility to lead out and get Sister DeMars and myself to Laoag's shopping area.  What a nose bleed! (Filipino expression meaning "stressful".) For the past 2 1/2 months I have relied on Elder Eddington for almost everything.  I am so comfortable sitting back while your dad finds his way to places both in Laoag as well as outlying towns.  I am so used to your dad paying for everything. It is also very comfortable having your dad as my sole companion, pretty much knowing how he will respond to any given situation.  So I was very anemic by the end of the morning!

Nose bleed number one.  Sister DeMars and I hadn't even walked twenty feet past our apartment gate, when a young girl came speeding past us on her bike.  Behind her ran a little crying boy, trying to catch up with Girl-On-Bike.  He was naked as the day he was born, large rock in hand.  My instinct was to ignore the whole situation for two reasons. The main reason was: Naked boy! The second reason was, "I don't want no trouble, Man!" Not Sister DeMars!  With hands on hips, she kept yelling at Girl-On-Bike:  "Hey! Come back here!" The girl stopped pedaling, but didn't return.  By now the whole neighborhood was staring at the spectical. That didn't deter Sister DeMars.  Meanwhile while counseling with Naked Boy to put his rock down, a third child ran to Bike Girl, grabbed a plastic basket from her sidecar, and delivered it to Naked Boy. Everyone was then happy, and we walked on to hail a tricycle.

Not the same Girl-On-Bike as in story, but a similar bike

Nose bleed number two. We hailed a tricycle, stuffed ourselves into the sidecar, told the driver, "Enrico's", and off we went. With hair blowing out of control and much bouncing, I kept trying to recognize and count out the amount of pesos I thought we needed to pay for the tricycle ride.  I don't know a peso from a centavo during the best of times, much less during a wild tricycle ride.

Enrico's: the best import grocery store in Laoag. The only store that sells molasses. Notice the artistic sidewalk. It is made of small rocks set in cement.

                                                             
Nose bleed number three. We finished shopping at Enrico's.  Panic quickly set in while standing on the curb outside the store.  At that point I realized it was up to me to find all the other stores in which Sister DeMars wanted to shop.  But I didn't do too badly.  I was able to find all the stores that filled Sister DeMars' needs.  We only had to backtrack one time during the whole shopping expedition.

Nose bleed number four. A few hours of shopping later, and my being only five pesos poorer, (about 12.5 cents) it started to rain, so we decided to call the trip.  Finding a tricycle was no problem, but staying dry during the trip was.  We arrived back at the apartment literally dripping wet.

Nose bleed number five.  After changing into dry clothes and recurling my hair, I realized I needed to venture out into the world....ALONE!  Elder Eddington hadn't returned from his morning meeting yet.  He was my ride to the stake center where I was to give piano lessons.  GULP! Leaving Sister DeMars and a homemade pot of chicken noodle soup, I rode in a tricycle ALL ALONE to the stake center. It felt so very strange being in a foreign country, traveling down a busy road....did I mention, ALL ALONE?

No more nose bleeds the rest of the day....except when we arrived in Bacarra for Glydel's baptism later that afternoon....without a camera....again!  We attended her ward today so we could take an after-the-fact picture.  So instead of a baptism picture, it's a confirmation picture.  Just as good!

Another darling young lady joins the Ranks!

By the way: When the Filipinos announce they're having a "blood letting", they're announcing a "blood drive".


Love, Elder and Sister Eddington