Photos from Eco House!

Here are some photos from our visit to the Archival Eco House in Cebu!  This was a highlight for many of us and EVERYONE learned a lot!  Visiting the Philippines, not only the Eco House, has made all of us realize how much we all waste.  But, Nester is trying to open peoples eyes to even small things you can do to reduce what goes in the landfill.

Owner, Nester Archival, telling us about his place

The goats.  They sell them to local people for food.  Nester only eats raw fruits, veggies, and nuts.

Workers sorting through garbage.  The edible waste is fed to some animals, the leftover waste is put into compost and plastics are used in the making of stepping stones for the property.  Nothing goes to waste.

Compost area

Finished product: beautiful dark, rich soil.

A "green house" with vertical edible garden on the roof.  The home was made of recycled and renewable materials.

Nester's shake he basically lives off of...I may be switching to this diet when I leave the Philippines!

Our amazing group, Rotarian Allan Limas, his wife Jill, Colleen, Tiffanie, Rae, Jim, Nester, Alexis, and Bading

Pretty exciting evening. Just ate two baluts. No crunchy things. Just a little added attraction.

Exciting past several days. Toured an eco house in Cebu that was breath taking. All electricity was self produced, food was produced in a very small area (of course, you had to put up with chickens, ducks, goats, etc. and lots of plants.) The materials were mostly salvaged from the land fill and managed with lots of creativity. Amazing. Some pictures will appear magically here soon.

We left Cebu and arrived in General Santos City, on another island, but our bags didn't. Well, fiddle. But as Tiffanie points out, don't sweat cause ya can't change it. So we went to a Valentines party in our travel clothes. Just another day on the road. The welcoming party had a 20 foot banner announcing our arrival. Goodness! The warmth of the welcome was bigger than the banner. What lovely people. We had a meeting with the mayor. Dynamic woman. Quick witted. Looks about 22, isn't . covered lots of topics. Poverty, lives of children, education, food production. Interesting half hour.

Today was a day of work and visitation. Visited the Mindanao U. Dept of Fisheries, including their lab ponds. The work is training the students in aquaculture, fish processing and marketing. Looks like the goal is to create entrepreneurs whose goal will be to help feed the nation. Visited a Rotary project (in a hurry) where mangrove trees were planted to help with food, water and erosion. Saw a museum tracing the life of General Santos. Made the name make sense to this poor ol American mind.

Managed a home visit with "Manny" Pacquiam (sp) pro boxer that won 8 titles in different weight classes. Nice guy. My host had taught him how to scuba dive. What a trip. Celebrity comes with a cost.

One of our members visited a school. The kids were, apparently wonderful. Learning materials were very short. There is a need for ''story books." Something to think about. The mind is starting to run over with information. The trip is a challenge but great fun and a terrific experience. The hospitality of the people is overwhelming.

We Heart Cebu!!

Cebu has been amazing!! We are sad to leave tomorrow, but we have so many amazing things to look forward to.  Good thing is, we will see all of our new friends at the District Conference in Davao at the end of our trip!

The people of Cebu are so welcoming! The ladies are staying with Ricky and his family.  Their house is amazing!! We are being treated like royalty.  The family and all the staff are so wonderful, thank you!!!

As Jim said, our welcome dinner was wonderful! We had our first Lechon at our welcome dinner.  Lechon is roasted pig and is a Filipino specialty...sooooo delicious!! Jim did a great job as a leader for our team during our introduction. Here are some pics, since Jim has put us ladies in charge of photography.

Lechon numero UNO

Another amazing Filipino Buffet

Jim, our fearless leader

Cebu Rotarians, Tina, Me'Anne, and Dick

We spent our rest day on Sunday at the Crimson Resort... as you may know from Jim mentioning getting tossed off of the jet ski (soooo wish we had pics of all this!).  Our host Ricky's company built the resort and it is beautiful!  We spent the day with Ricky's brother, Pet, who is also a Rotarian and his friends Javi, a rotarian, and Kaye, a former GSE participant.  We ate yet another amazing buffet and LECHON # 2!  It was a great day of playing in the water and relaxing.  They also took us to the Shan Gri La resort to sit on the water and try the Filipino rum, Tanduay.  The day was much needed, so thank you all for spending the day with us!  The evening ended with a great dinner hosted by Ricky and his family and the Cebu Rotarians. 

Crimson Resort

Lechon numero DOS!

Hunting for treasures!

The beach crew: Jim, Pet, Kaye, Alexis, Javi, Colleen, Rae, and Tiffanie

Here are some pics from our Tour of Cebu given by our wonderful tour guide and Rotarian, Batch!

The National Hero of the Philippines, Lapu-Lapu AKA Coppertone (according to Batch).  He's so buff!  In 1521 during the Battle of Mactan, Lapu Lapu led his warriors and killed Ferdinand Magellan.  

The Philippines oldest and smallest fort

Magellan's Cross.  This cross was a gift from Magellan during the first Roman Catholic Baptisms in Cebu.

Alexis checking out some local delicacies in the market

Our last night in Cebu was the Club Cebu Fuente's meeting and pre-valentine Party!  This was our first powerpoint and it went well!  Here is a pic of the wonderful group!

The ladies and Me'anne Solomon.  She was on the cover of Women's Day, she is an amazing woman and survivor of breast cancer.   

Oops, one thing I forgot. My host is trying to marry me off to a Filipina. Thinks it would be the best thing for me. We laugh. But I think he might be serious.

The adventure continues

Blurry eyes for lack of sleep, jet lag and a whirlwind schedule of events. Had a welcome party with the District officers and got to give our first presentation. The Filipinos are so warm and welcoming that we mostly didn't have any stage fright. The team spoke eloquently about themselves and why they, individually wanted to come on this trip. Our hosts seemed pleased and joined us in singing "Deep in the Heart of Texas." Colleen, a computer wizard managed to get the words and music on the projection screen so all were able to sing along. Although I think our hosts already knew the song better than we did. Great fun!

Yesterday was a day of 'rest.' So we went out on wave runners. Water was a bit rough, maybe 2 to 3 foot swells. Just another day in the Gulf. A new experience for me so I was a passenger while Tiffanie drove. I had no idea she had a mischievous streak. After pounding around for awhile, she seemed to decide it was time for me to get off. Which I did, rather gracefully, I thought, but the laughter from the other vehicles suggested that wasn't the case. Graceful or not, I was still in the water. Warm, but still in the water. Didn't really matter much since the splashing had pretty much soaked everyone anyway. There is a certain pleasure that comes from imagining revenge.

Tonight is our first formal presentation with the powerpoint. Colleen, again, did a nice job. No surprise. Hard to believe but I am a bit concerned that I will talk too long. Just the sort of things I warned students about. Go figure.

WE MADE IT!!

We made it!!! What an interesting trip! It all started by boarding the plane in Corpus Christi and then immediately de-boarding the plane. There was an issue with the plane and this caused us to miss our scheduled flight!  We really didn't want to go back home and leave the next day, so we were redirected through San Francisco.  This new flight also added some "bonus" stops...in Guam and Manila. I have never been to Guam, but from what we saw in the dark from the tarmac is that there is lots of palm trees, a Mobil gas station, Subway and the good ol' Golden Arches!  We had many hours in the Dallas airport, we made the best of it by power walking, shopping, and playing UNO (thanks Colleen!).

Uno and Blue Moons at Dallas Airport!

The South Texas Team made it to the Philippines!!  Here we are VERY tired in Manila.

We made it to Cebu and were greeted by the Cebu Rotary Club, who will be hosting and entertaining us for the next ~4 days.  We relaxed at the hotel and then had a beautiful dinner at the Marco Polo Hotel hosted by Ricky Dakay and his wife, Gina and Son, J.R. and Edgar Chiongbian.

Dinner at the Marco Polo Hotel

The YUMMY Buffet!

Some Duck

After dinner, we enjoyed a tropical drink by the pool and listened to a great band called Kerara Soul.

Kerara Soul rockin' at the Marco Polo pool.

Everyone enjoying a drink, great company, and a great relaxing atmosphere!

Colleen in the Marco Polo lobby, so beautiful!

Over the next few days, we will be meeting the rest of the Cebu Rotary members who have invited us to a nice welcome dinner and heading to the beach.  Stay Tuned!