Biyernes

Happy Pioneer Day back home . . .

We went to Iloilo yesterday and met the Elders in San Joaquin (finally found out how to spell the name of the town). We checked the apartments, except for some of the office Elders. We took our Zone Leader guides to MacDonalds . . . weird. It is a highlight place here. Never thought I'd see the day when MacDonalds was a highlight for anything.

I have had diarrhea for two weeks. I am thinking it is part of the ceiliac disease and I am starting a different, more strenuous, carbohydrate specific diet to help heal my stomach. I am up about every 30 minutes all night and go through a roll of toilet paper a day. I am pretty good during the day, but now and then I have a bit of an emergency. We carry paper and wipes all the time.

Walked this morning for the first time in a week. It only drizzled slightly. The forecast is for more rain today, but it sort of comes later in the day and really pours. I am going to get the truck washed this morning. That sounds stupid, but going through the mountains really messes up the truck and I want to get the top layers of mud off.

Anyway . . . not much on the agenda for today.

3:08 pm here, about 1:15 am in Idaho. I went to get some medicine at one of the drug stores that I frequent. They had some pills, but I asked, "May Pepto Bismol?" The lady looked at me sort of funny and told me, "Only  . . . ." whatever it is.

I went to get the truck washed and they were pretty busy, so I went to buy some floor mats for the front seat area. The ones that were in it were shot. I took the floor mat up to the windows with me and asked, "May floor mats?" They all said no. I asked, "Diin find ako?" I was told Gold Hill, an upgraded auto parts store, but they didn't have any either. I tried my question and they told me to go to the upholstery shop over by the church it turned out.

I took the mat in with me and asked again, "May floor mats?", holding the mat up. The man took it from me and started looking for woolen materials. I watched, not really understanding what he was up to, but by looking around, it was obvious that there were no floor mats for autos there. He started repairing the mat. He found the material he wanted, cut a new mat using the old one as a pattern, chose a material to finish off the edges and started in.

Long story short, I had him do both mats and they look brand new. He charged me 450 pesos each, about $10 each. I gave him 50 pesos each for a tip. He did a really good job.

I got the car washed after and went to the market to buy some stuff. I bought some marbles . . . It will be fun next Wednesday to show up at school with marbles. I also bought some bananas, but I tried one at the car wash and it stank. I threw the bunch in the garbage. I bought 2 kilos of clams (brown shells). And, I bought some Monggo beans to try to make a soup later.

I tried to cook up the clams when I got home, steaming them open. They had almost no taste and I think they are fresh water. I added salt to some butter and dipped them, but they were still a little poor. Looking for new things to eat with this lousy diet. I have been on the diet for about 5 hours and it already sucks.  All around, a pretty good day.

The Elders stopped by this morning and lined us out to help with a csp (church service project) in the morning. They need the truck to haul gravel/sand from the seashore and they will use the bags to build a walk across some low muddy areas for a sister in the branch; actually it will benefit the whole barangay. I'll add pictures of the project and baptisms tomorrow.