Philipines Month Six

Well, it's October 1st, which means many things to many people.  To the Morris family, it means six months that my dad, Papa Joe, has been a resident of the Philippines.  We continue to miss him very much, but we have managed to stay in touch.  We talk, email, and even have video chatted.  Today he sent out an update to some of his loved ones, and I don't think he would mind if I shared with all of you.  He sent some photos in another email, but I scattered them throughout his letter.  Here he is in his own words:

Hello all

 

Today is Oct. 1st and marks 6 months since I have been in the Philippines. It has passed

pretty quickly for me much to my surprise. I have changed some as we all do from time to time. When I left Pell City I tipped the scales at 227 lbs. Now fully dressed I was at 202 lbs.  I am not on a diet and still very healthy just a change in climate and lot more exercise. I have spent the first 6 months in Davao City but later this week I'm moving to Cebu. It is a larger city with an international airport where I landed when I first came here in April. There are a lot more things to do there and it is one island farther north from the Muslim concentration in the area where I live now.

I know football season is in high gear in the US and I keep up with the scores on my laptop. There is a site that does play by play on a football field background but it is slow and gets boring watching the little lines. Sometimes after a long delay there will be 3 or 4 plays posted back to back. So I switch from game to game to keep up with what's happening. 

my all time favorite coffee mug made in China bought in USA

Thanks again to my sister Joyce I can make phone calls using a Magic Jack but it is not 100% reliable.  However when it is working correctly it is like calling on a local line. Maybe I haven't called everyone like I plan to yet. If you have not gotten a call maybe I don't have your number, so email me the correct number if you would like to hear from me.  



old man only 70, little English, rides-lives-sleeps-collects anything on his 3 wheel trike

Some things I have written about before so if I repeat myself it might be because I turned 67 back in June. It was a non event here and like any other day. The custom here is for the person having the birthday to give the party and provide the meal and goodies. I did not go along with that custom and celebrated with a trip to Manila.


going up to slide down water slide at pool

For all of you that think Christmas comes early in the US. well in Sept. around the 20th all the stores here had their trees up and some stores were even playing Christmas carols. It's gonna be a long season as much as I like Christmas.

bus rest area on top of mountain to water the engine and brakes to cool off -- I was riding for 8 hours -- no air conditioner but very pretty ride along the coast for most of the way

[Editor's note: does it strike anyone else funny that this bus is called "Bachelor Express"?]

Closing now before you all get too bored. I hope all the sickness and ailments are less and less painful and stressful. God is good and He is coming soon.

 

"hey Joe", your daddy, granddaddy, brother, uncle, great uncle, great-great uncle, friend, and brother in Christ

 

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Another quick story:  He signed off on his email by using all of the monikers to which he answers.  He is a father, grandfather, etc.  But he told me a funny little tidbit about Philippine customs:  The locals will call any expat, Yankee, traveler "Hey Joe" just as a courtesy I-don't-know-your-name-and-may-not-care-to.  So when people started calling him "Hey Joe" he thought he had suddenly become very infamous until he figured out what was going on.  Hahaha.