comic relief

I actually have a few very serious topics that I've been musing over and want to blog about, but I just couldn't pass this up. Every time we go out, we see signs ranging from the hilarious to the mysterious. We want to start a running list of all the strange things around here that make us laugh. So, I figured I'd make my first installment.


You fill in the blank.

signs of greatness

"A great man
shows his greatness
by how he treats little men."

Geoff and I were making the 10 hour trip back to Davao along winding roads, mountains, and coastlines. We had been driving all day when we came up behind an 18wheeler with messages printed on its mud flaps. Behind the right tires, this statement was printed in large multicolored English. Please...read it again...just to humor me!

"A great man
shows his greatness
by how he treats little men."

My jaw literally dropped and I busted out laughing saying, "Does that...say...what I think...it says?" The other mud flaps were labeled with bible verses about the fruit of the spirit. Wow, I'm hoping something was lost in translation because if this guy really means what he's saying, then he has really missed the point.

hiding place

We are hiding out in our house today. Right now there is a crudely made sign slapped up on our front door that reads:

The Logans
are
NOT AVAILABLE
today.
Texting only!

Here in the Philippines, you are rarely formally invited over to someone's house. It is expected that you will "drop by" anytime. We probably have a minimum of 3 "guests" at different times on our days off, not to mention during the week when practices and meetings are at our house (or the fact that we live in a compound with 10 other people). And it wouldn't be so bad except that it is polite to then invite them to sit down, stay awhile, eat your food, etc. So, yesterday, after this happened and our day off was suddenly turned upside down into a string of impromptu meetings, Geoff and I found ourselves frustrated and arguing. No good. Jesting, Geoff said, "I'm going to put up a sign. People should know better than to bother Americans on their day off!" And up the sign went :) We haven't had a single knock since.

rain

Ahhh... welcome rainy season. Although it was hard to capture on the photo, today it is raining a heavy fat slow rain. Thunder rolls in the distance, but it usually doesn't intrude too loudly on the peaceful sound of big rain drops soaking the earth. The rainy season has officially begun, and it will last until November. At that point, it supposedly transitions to the "cold" season which basically means mild and humid. Until then, our laundry will hang underneath the shed smelling of mildew by the time it is dry, and we will enjoy evenings under the shed with the laundry soaking in the cool air.

kaleidoscope

This week I took Ariel to see the Kadayawan street dancers. Kadayawan is a festival that showcases the arts, crafts, and foods of the tribes living on our island. The street dancing featured dance troupes from each of the tribes competing on a parade route through the city. It was a whirlwind of color, movement, and sound. Absolutely mesmerizing.



You can see more pictures on our photo page at "www.flickr.com/photos/theloganfamily" or just click on the LIFE MOMENTS slideshow on the left of this page.

too much of a good thing

Too much of a good thing is usually bad, right? Take mayonnaise for example. Add a nice thin layer to your BLT, and you've got a tasty treat. Mayonnaise is one of those things that is often necessary, but a little goes a long way. However, the restaurants here seem to ascribe to a different philosophy of condimentation. If you bite into a KFC chicken sandwich, you suddenly find your fingers drenched while your sandwich excretes massive amounts of mayo. Think I'm overexaggerating? The picture is proof. It's supposed to be a club sandwich. But it was more like a mayo pie. Yuck! Condiments are way out of control in Davao. Even Pizza Hut serves up its pizza pie with Thousand Island dressing squirted on top.

one more, please!

Please allow me to make one more post about my beautiful daughter. Yes, I do have other musical, spiritual, and cultural things at hand, but how can one resist! This is a picture of Ariel as a flower girl for the first time (just yesterday). Neither girl had ever done it before, and I somehow got to be the person willing them down the aisle in front of laughing and aaahhhing guests. After several attempts of showing them how to drop the flowers (and Ariel thinking she was supposed to dump the whole bucket right there on the grass!), I finally had them hold hands and pointed to the front saying, "walk there, walk there". Ariel led the way and Angenique quickly followed. They did good.




Notice the crackers in place of the flowers? Yes, the ceremony was at 7am and that would be her last minute breakfast. And, proof that I learned something in 8th grad Home Economics class, those straps would be my first attempt at sewing something by hand in 17 years!