Most of you know us well enough to know that we love being outdoors and find rejuvenation from time in nature. That has been hard to come by here in our urban setting. We hoped to find a park nearby where we could walk, but that isn’t the case. The closest place we have found is the Marikina River Walk. We have been here two other times, but last Saturday, we decided to rent bikes and bike the path. It wasn’t as long as we hoped, but for 50p it was worth it! We just went on both sides of the river and saw interesting things, like beautiful gardens and ground golfing.

Yesterday, we went back to the University of the Philippines Diliman Campus. Immediately when we got out of the car, we breathed a deep breath and were immersed in a cool, green paradise. We love this campus! This time, we really walked all around and were amazed at how many science buildings they have there. Separate buildings for physics, chemistry, and many many more. At the end, we decided to go back to the art museum on campus to use the restroom and they were having an event. We went to part of a discussion on a new art installation . The artist is from Croatia and she was explaining her exhibit regarding a women’s prison in Yugoslavia. It was quite interesting and just felt so good to listen to these amazing women talking about art, history, etc. It’s so magical to be on a University campus! We were invited to stay for their lunch (which we were happy to oblige) and hopefully we will have a meeting within the next week or so to talk about educational and economic issues here in the Philippines. Serendipity pays off!!! And yes, they really did have sheep on campus!

Today, we attended church about an hour away so we could be part of a fireside put on by an amazing couple who is involved in Start Your Own Business self-reliance classes and mentoring the members who are starting their own businesses. They handle the digital marketing part and have been so instrumental in helping people find success and become self reliant. In their ward in Angeles, they have helped around 30 people get off the fast offering funds and instead are now tithe payers and are helping others! They have online meetings every night while they are getting started and really spend the time with each person. The vision for this program is their amazing stake president. We are hoping this will spread to other areas of the Philippines. After church, we stopped off at an eco park for another dose of nature.