Is that a term? I think it is! We did something we haven’t ever really had the opportunity to do before on our mission. We had a turnover of donation (mostly just the MOA legal document signing) with the Opthamalogical Foundation. They have connections with some of the best eye surgeons in Manila who volunteer to do eye surgery for those who can’t afford it. The foundation determined that we would have the signing at a fancy hotel in Makati- probably because the president and vice president of the board live in Makati. The members of the board are obviously very well to do and have had successful careers. They were older gentlemen and they loved to talk! And we loved to listen! It was so interesting to hear their perspective on life here in the Philippines and to hear about economic and social issues here. And the food was outstanding! All in all it was a grand afternoon. The only downside was that we spent so much time there that we got back to the office just after 5- the Cinderella hour when your car is “coded”. Our car is coded on Wednesdays, which means we can’t drive in the metro area after 7 am and not from 5 pm to 8 pm. We started to drive home anyway, but then Lennie got nervous about getting stopped by police (it’s a big hassle) so he dropped me off close to the intersection with the police, then turned around and drove back to the office, then walked home. I had to walk about 1 Km in my most uncomfortable Sunday shoes, but we all survived. Then we had to walk back to the office in the morning to get our car. Such is the life!

The next day, we had to drive over to one of our vendor’s warehouses to do inventory on all of our literacy materials. It was interesting to note just how much space is taken up by LDS-Charities goods! The many, many boxes you see happen to be wheelchairs they are storing for us. Since the warehouse wasn’t far from the Mall of Asia, we went over there to attend the International Book Fair. So this is where all the books in the Philippines are hiding out! It was amazing! So many publishers displayed and sold books here. Schools (especially private schools) were there buying for their schools and many other people. We didn’t really find what we were hoping to find, which is phonics readers, or leveled readers. But it was interesting! The last picture is our boat ride across the river with our friends, the Meyers, to take a walk through the barangay across the river.