Fun in the Philippines

I think once in a while I am going to make a post and show some of the really great things about living in the Philippines. Today, I am going to show you pictures of our "island hopping" adventure. Because the Philippines is made up of thousands of small islands, island hopping is pretty easy to do. We rented a boat for the day that would that took us to 3 of the smaller islands surrounding Cebu. Normally, you go to each island, spend time on the beach, swim, eat, etc. For our adventure, we took off late so by the time we got to the islands it was already low tide and we couldn't pull up to the beach. So, our day was without the beach portion, but we did everything else. We ate, listened to music, layed in the sun, snorkeled, swam and just had a good time. We went with the team that I manage, so it was great to get to know them better and just have fun together. So, fun in the Philippines activity #1 is Island Hopping.

GRANDMA

My Grandmother, Mary Cecil Barrus Johnson, passed away Sunday September 5, 2010. People keep asking me, "was it expected?" and the crazy thing is that I keep answering "kind of" and then I catch myself. My grandma was very healthy, had no severe health problems, no severe pain, nothing that would make you think "she's ready to go any time". She was walking on her own, totally had all of her faculties and there was no indication that she would be leaving us so soon. But, SHE knew. When Ben and I decided to move to the Philippines, Grandma Johnson was NOT pleased. She really didn't want us to go. During that time I was on the phone with her and she said to me "Well, I won't be here when you get back". The way she said it, and then the way she kept saying it over the next few months made me really believe it. So in spite of her health, for me it was sort of expected. When we stopped by her place on the way to the airport, I still don't think I would know that this would be the last time I would see this amazing woman in this life. But I hope that either way I did what I would have done. I talked to her, hugged her, let her know I loved her. She was her normal spunky self asking me if I was SURE this was a good idea? I did get to talk to her on the phone from here, let her know that all was well over here and hear tell her I love her one more time. I remember the seriousness in her voice when she said "I love you Carmen". She had started saying it in a way that you just knew, and if she never talked to you again, she would know she had told you she loved you.

She spent her last days spending time with her family. She went out to eat with one of her sons on Friday night. She spent time with my mom, sister and her daughter, Avery, as well as listening to my sister in law Melissa play the piano on Saturday. She had visitors and people who loved her surrounding her all the way until the end.

If I could use one word to describe my Grandma it would be "spunky". She had attitude, and follow through, and she didn't take any crap. She was loving and as my mom says "fiercely protective of and loyal to her family". When people tell me I am like my Grandma, I take it as a huge compliment. I know I get a lot of who I am from her. There is a streak in the Johnson girls, you can see it with a lot of us, going down to even her great grand daughters and we know we got it from her. We are stubborn and proud to be who we are. Thank you for that Grandma!



I got to spend a lot of time with her over the past three years while we were living in Utah. We always went to my mom and dad's place for Sunday dinners and she was there. She was always so willing to listen to and participate in the family conversations. She always had her keys on a little wrist band that she would wear around and Addy loved to play with. She always let the girls wear her jewelry and was always just happy and content to be there. I am so glad I got to spend that time with her. Ben also had a chance to really get to know and love her and she LOVED him!

She was always so interested in everything we did. When I was single she was the first one to tell me not to worry about it. She had married a little later and my Grandpa was younger than her as well. She loved the house we bought. She was so excited for us when we decided to adopt. She asked lots of questions and kept involved in our lives. If she didn't agree with or understand a decision you were making, she would tell you. She loved my Grandpa and I am sure the past 11 years without him have been difficult. But we are so grateful we had that time to spend with her.

There are so many more memories and things I could share about her, but I am just so grateful to her and to my Grandpa and for the heritage that I have. I know I am a Crisanto now, but I will always be a Johnson, Granddaughter to Mary Cecil and Wally Johnson. Happiness is being a Johnson!



My Grandpa passed away 11 years ago, while I was on my mission. She missed him every day. I can only imagine how happy they are to be together again. She is with family and loved ones that she has been separated from for so long, her brother who she lost in WWII, her parents, her siblings, so many friends that had gone before her. So, although I will miss my Grandma more than I can even express, it would be selfish for me to want to keep her to myself. For now I just will be patient knowing that I will see her again.

EMAIL FAIL!

So, as part of Ben's new job he has been provided a Blackberry with 24 hour access to his email. This is new to him and he is just getting used to having to be ready to send a coherent and professional email at any time, day or night. The below email was sent at 2 AM after his second full night at work.....let's just say he is going to need some practice and we are hoping he doesn't get fired for sexual harrassment...

From: ben@>>>>>>>>>>.com
Date: Sat, 28 Aug 2010 02:09:49
Subject: SUSIE*

Thanks ANNA*. I will keep her in pool of people to mentor and train. So far it is her, Che, and Sean. SUSIE* definitely has a strong upside I look forward into tapping that and turning her into an asset instead of a headache.

Ben
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld

*names have been changed

I could NOT stop laughing when I read this. It is a good thing he is working with Filipinos who may speak English, but do not speak American slang and are not familiar with what it means to "tap that"...

CLASSIC!

DRIVING AND SLEEPING....NOT AT THE SAME TIME!

My title to this post might be a little obvious, but anyone who knows me know that sleeping and driving AT THE SAME TIME have been an issue for me in the past, haha

So, what do I mean? Well, let's just say that yesterday/today (all sorts of confusing when I am in a totally different day than most of you reading this and also confusing when I am working in the middle of the night and can't keep my days straight) was my first time really driving and really sleeping since we have been here.

Traffic and the way people drive here in the Philippines is DRASTICALLY different than at home. There are rules and people have to take a test when they get their license, but I am pretty sure that all goes out the window as soon as you get behind the wheel. I was actually just told by one of my co-workers that his wife BOUGHT her license and doesnt actually know how to drive, haha, ya! There aren't really any traffic lights and even when there are, they aren't really paid attention to. People pass each other in the same lane and then into on coming traffic. There are dogs EVERYWHERE on the road and on the sides of the roads. There are even goats and cows on the sides of the roads or in the middle of the road sometimes. People cross in the middle of oncoming traffic. Little children play on the sides of the road (no sidewalk, just inches away from passing vehicles). It is just different. Therefore, I didn't want to drive. I really had no desire to get behind the wheel of a car and try to figure out how to NOT hit another car, or more importantly not hit a dog or a CHILD. Yikes! So, Ben has been driving everywhere and I have been at the mercy of his schedule, etc. So yesterday when I realized that unless I drove him to work, I was going to be stuck at the house with no way to get anywhere I decided I just had to bite the bullet and get behind the wheel. So, I did! Let me tell you....I forgot the freedom that driving provides. I dropped Ben off and realized I could go wherever I wanted. I am starting to know my way around and I could get anywhere I needed to go now. What a crazy feeling! Also more than feeling freedom, driving made me feel like I actually live here, this is home. It was a GREAT feeling. I may sound like such a dork, but it just made everything better.

Ben's first time driving (the first day here, he's a little braver than me). I tried to post a video, but it didn't work. I am not that skilled.

The other part of this post is the other thing that is making me happy today. I actually got some sleep. I am working nights, about 11pm-8am every day. Since we are support for the US office, we work during US work hours. It has been a hard adjustment. The biggest part of the issue has been not having a home to go to during the day and sleep. There is literally karaoke going all hours of the day and night. Also, we have had workers in our house all day almost every day. We have just gotten sleep here and there when we can. Two days ago, when I last blogged, I was going on about 5 hours of sleep in 48 hours and I was dying. My team was nice enough to allow me to leave work at 2am last night to go home and sleep. I slept from 6am-8am which was nice. Then, yesterday evening after dropping Ben off for work, I went home and slept from 5pm-11pm and there was VERY LITTLE karaoke! I woke up feeling rested and ready for the day. What a difference sleep makes!

So, I feel good. I hope it lasts! We are still looking for another place to live, but if we can get some hours of uninterrupted sleep each day we might even be able to stay in our house. It is big and has that gorgeous view so it might be worth it. We will see!

JET LAG AND TERMITES..OH MY!

We arrived in Cebu on Saturday, August 14th at about noon. We were greeted by my co-workers with signs that said "CARMEN" with our company name right below. We felt special. They had brought a van to take all of our stuff as well as the company car that we would be using until we buy our own. All was going well. We drove straight to our house, the one on the beach, with the amazing view. Ya, pretty awesome! Well, once we arrived at the house, things kind of weren't as awesome. There were things that the owner had confirmed that had been done...such as getting rid of the termite infestation, fixing the locks on the doors so we were safe, and a few other important things, had not been done. Also, I think we forgot to realize that moving into our house we would need a few things that we just didn't have.....bedding, towels, water to drink, etc etc. We were also completed warn out from the flight and traveling so we decided to go to a hotel which was a great idea and exactly what we needed to at least get our bearings and get some rest. We checked into the Marriott and stayed there for 2 nights. We were able to get a good night's sleep and attend church in the new chapel behind the new Cebu Temple. Church is always a great experience in a foreign country because it feels so familiar. It's a little piece of home away from home.
So, things started to get taken care of with the house, but slowly. I am not sure the termites will ever really be taken care of. What I had not accounted for was the fact that everything just seems to take longer in the Philippines. And when I say longer, I mean that it has now been almost 2 weeks and we still have fix it guys in our house almost daily trying to get everything ready. Seeing as my schedule is to work at night and sleep during the day, you can imagine my frustration with having people in my house all day. Ya...it isn't working very well. The other thing that is preventing us from sleeping......we are surrounded by Karaoke bars. It is kind of a funny thing to realize that we have this beautiful house with a beautiful view and no way to really enjoy it. We literally have been woken up at times from 6am-midnight-2am to people singing karaoke. It is going non-stop all day and all night long. So, getting over jet lag and getting in to a good sleeping schedule has just not happened. Today I actually went to the Shangri La resort (that place is going to SAVE me) and slept on a beach chair for as long as I could so that I would have some sleep before coming to work. I feel like a homeless person.
TheMy co-worker and his wife, we will call them Juligan, and their little boy arrived which is so great! We were so happy to see them and really so grateful to have them here with us. We see them on almost a daily basis and it's just so nice to have people here to relate to what we are dealing with, plus they have let Ben crash in the spare bedroom since they dont have to deal with Karaoke in their neighborhood. We know it has not even been two weeks, and we are trying to be patient, but things have definitely been harder than we expected. We are actually doing our best to get out of the lease from our house. It's really frustrating to know that we have paid the landlord 3 months worth of rent and have not even been able to live there. We are looking for a new place, praying that we will find something in Juligan's neighborhood. It would be nice to carpool to work and just to be closer to each other. We need somewhere quiet, closer to work and not filled with problems. That house is kind of like the money pit and even the view just isn't worth it (and the view is amazing!).
For the good stuff, Ben got a great job just a few days after we arrived here, which is HUGE! He actually just started today. We are excited for that and I am proud of him for getting out there and making it happen. We are going to be on the same schedule at some point which is a huge blessing, but for the next 30 days he is working from 4pm-1am. My schedule is 11pm-8am so I am not sure how we are going to get around it. But, we will! We went to the Temple on Tuesday and are hopefully going to get the chance to be Temple workers. We are excited for that. We have a great ward. The bishop served in Ben's mission with him and seems to be really on top of things. We have friends here and plenty of things to keep us entertained.
Some things that keep the Philippines exciting:
1. Jeepnies everywhere
2. Trikes everywhere
3. Dogs EVERYWHERE!
4. Goats everywhere
5. Garbage everywhere
6. Malls....big malls everywhere
7. Bugs everywhere
8. Men that dress like women....everywhere

Actually, on that note I will tell you one funny story and then let you go. Last week on Thursday I was have a VERY bad day. Up until that point I felt I had been pretty patient with the house and the lack of sleep and such but I kind of just lost it that day. I just felt like nothing was getting done and I had a little breakdown. I told Ben we needed to leave and go to a movie or something. As we are driving down the main street I am crying and complained and expressing my frustration and all the sudden I look out the window and bust up laughing. What did I see you ask? Well, I saw a "woman" wearing a kind of frumpy sundress a headband in her hair and what do you know but "she" has a 5 o'clock shadow! I could not help but laugh and laugh and laugh. You would think that if you want to look feminine the shaving of the beard would come first before the dressing and doing your hair like a woman. Anyway, it was pretty amusing.

I really don't mean to be negative and I will spend the next 2 years blogging about both good and bad things about this experience, but I didn't want to fluff it up either. It's been a hard few weeks but we know it will only get better.

We miss home and most especially we miss our family and friends. We miss seeing the kids. We miss Sunday dinner. We miss our house. Ben REALLY misses his TV and his PS3.

We are trying to keep in touch with everyone through calling and facebook. Please keep in touch with us as well, loved ones make a big difference.

Our last picture taken in the U.S.A:)

The malls here are huge. SM in Cebu has a bowling alley and movie theater on the top floor

Ben drinking a "LARGE" soda....ya, not really my 44oz Diet Mt. Dew (which I also really miss!)

A Jeepny! Jess...take a look at the sign the guy is making....look familiar? I guess Ben wasn't lying!

Ben looking hot getting ready to go out into the rain. It is "rainy season" and let me just say that when it rains it POURS. The first night we slept at our house we woke up because the rain was so loud.

Some of the EXTREMELY odd offerings at Pizza Hut...yes people, the crust is stuffed with a "3 foot long juicy and delicious sausage"....um..what?

Another example of a "large drink"

Ben ate this hot dog...I couldn't bring myself to do it...it's bright red on the outside.

Ah, just taking a nap while riding on the back of a motorcycle with mom.

The newly built and opened Cebu Temple. So happy to have this building here!

NEW YORK CITY DAY 4

Our last day in New York City was the only day there was even a smidge of rain. The best part was, it only started raining when we were leaving so it didn't ruin any of our plans. On Friday morning we got up and went to see the Manhatten Temple. We didn't do a session because Ben forgot to bring church clothes, haha. Nice. It is a gorgeous building.

Ben HAD to go to Madison Square Garden but we missed the tour, too bad:(.

The Shake Shack was another food place that we were told, by my good friend Becca, to go to. Um, ya....SO yummy! Glad we didn't decide to skip the line. We did have to run home through the rain but it was worth it!


Off we went to the airport. Our 3 City trip was over and we were on our way home knowing we would be leaving for Cebu in less than 3 weeks. Wow! Well, this trip was the perfect send off! We love the U.S.A!

NEW YORK CITY DAY 3

My little brother Adam and his wife Tonna always know the good places to eat and they did not fail us here. On our third day in Manhatten we took the subway and found Doughnut Plant which came highly recommended. Let me tell you, they were not wrong. These donuts were amazing! If you go to NYC, do not miss out on this place.

As you can see from my face, I quite enjoyed it. The one that I like the best was actually a jelly filled square donut called Peanut Butter and Jelly. Um, I hate peanut butter, but this was nothing like anything I have ever tasted before. So yummy!

I promise our whole day was not about food, but we had just heard of some places that you can't miss. The next of these was Carnegie Deli. I actually didn't order anything cause I wasn't that hungry (see picture above) and because it was pretty dang expensive for a sandwich. Well, there is a reason for that (see picture below). I have NEVER seen more meat on a sandwich in my life. Crazy! But, Ben loved it! I did end up losing a $20.00 bill at the deli too, which was a little disappointing since I could have just bought a sandwich and at least got something for my money.

After lunch we walked through Central Park. I wish we could have seen more, but that is one big park:)

Then we walked to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I would have liked to spend more time there, but for anyone who is thinking about going to NYC go to the museums first. By this time in our trip my feet were killing me, I could barely stand, let alone walk around a huge museum. But, we did walk around some and enjoyed it.

That night we went to Mary Poppins on Broadway. I was really wanting to go see WICKED but you can't get discount tickets so we bought these instead. Um, can I say AMAZING! It was such a fun show to watch. WE both loved it.

Another busy day on our vacation, but just so much fun!