The next couple days were without question the calmest of the entire vacation, the eye of the storm if you will, before a straight shot of activity that would eventually lead to Jasmin and I coming home to MD. We woke up late Saturday and took our time getting up until the kids arrived. I'd met Jasmin's young niece and nephew, Gyles and Coleen, on Guam, and every summer they come to stay with their grandparents in the Philippines for 2 months.
We helped them bring in and unpack their stuff, then relaxed with them the rest of the day. We had brought presents - paper airplane books and paper, Littlest Pet Shop drawing materials, bubble blowing materials, etc. - and by the end of the day the kids had gone through them all. Their cousin came over and helped them build tons of airplanes, Coleen drew on all the sheets for Littlest Pet Shop, and they went through a whole bottle of bubbles. So we just laid around and played DS for the rest of the afternoon.
Jasmin still didn't feel good from the day before, and I started to feel kind of bad as well, finding myself constantly running to the bathroom. Jasmin's brother Oliver, the kids' dad, suggest that it could be the ice in the drinks, which comes from the ground and isn't as sanitary as the bottled water that's poured into the glass. He said that this is what catches a lot of his friends off guard, and for the rest of the trip Jasmin and I were careful to stay away from it. Let that be a warning to anyone thinking of going to the Philippines: stay away from ICE!
Sunday was another day of playing DS and trying to get better. In the afternoon, we went to a blessing for one of Jasmin's parents' buildings, which consisted of following a priest through the rooms of this new building, to be used as apartments for students, I think. From there, Jasmin and I went with Oliver and one of their cousins to an acrobatic stage show called Wanders in Manila. It was modeled after a Vegas show, and had a little something for everyone, with singing and dancing, slow romantic pieces, martial arts, etc. It was really cool, albeit with a few mess-ups, then we got in the car to be driven home. Oliver, however, wanted to go out drinking with his friends, and it wasn't until we got there at 11:00 that we found out we'd be leaving the next morning at 5:00 am for Palawan. So Jasmin and I just stayed in the car and slept, finally getting home around 2:30 am and had to do all our packing before going to sleep for a good hour and a half.
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