My 2 Little Special Friends in the Philippines

One of my friends is Jenny. She is 4 going on 5. I first meet her when she was 3. She lives in Naic at the Valley Cathedral. I had a lot of fun tutoring her and carrying her and carrying her. I was kind of surprised that people would tutor a 3 year old. She was good at shapes. Even though I was only with her 3 weeks and 2 days, we are friends. I love her.
The other one is Teah. Teah is 2 going on 3. She lives in Baguio, but since her grandparents are Ate Rufina and Cuya Patrick, she comes to Bontoc to visit. I have enjoyed holding her. Even though she has only visited twice, we are good friends. I love her.

On Top of the Jeepney, On Top of the World

Yesterday we got to go to the Mainit hot springs again. It was fun and we didn't get sunburned as much as last time. The big pool was full. The highlight of the trip for me, however, was on the way back. I got to ride on top of the jeepney with Daddy! I had always wanted to but last year Dad said no. I didn't actually think I could do it because of my fear of heights but I did it!

It has the best view and is the most uncomfortable place to sit. Daddy told me I was to sit in the "cage". But the bars dug into my bottom. I learned that if you take off one flip-flop and put it under your bottom it makes a more comfortable seat.

There was nothing but sky and trees overhead. I could feel the wind in my hair. It was a little chilly, but who cares? It felt like I was on the top of the world.

We passed a few caribous and cows. We saw a mountain that looked like a perfectly symmetrical volcano. Later in our trip, we saw the swimming pool in Bontoc (from above) that we had heard of. The best part was when I was able to see our house from high up on the mountain. It's so nice to be able to point from somewhere and say "That's my home."

We had two encounters with other people: one good and one bad. The first one was bad. As we were going past, an unseen somebody threw mud at us . The second one was good. As we passed another jeepney, they seemed to be talking about us. When we asked one of our fellow passengers what they said, he said they were calling me a doll. We get so many compliments here.

Love,

Adriana

Ube, Snails, and Puppies

In Baguio, I got to try ube. Ube is basically a big purple sweet potato. I liked it. I peeled the skin off and put peanut butter on some of it. It was very good. There is even ube ice cream.

Ging-Ging, Lyka, and I went on a snail hunt. We caught about 30 snails. Some of them were very small. We made a Special Snail Playground for them. We used moss, rocks, mud, sticks and leaves to line a cardboard box. The snails looked as happy as snails can get.

Ging-Ging has a puppy. It is a brown male. It is a Labrador - Dalmatian mix, it was going to be Lab-Lab but the neighbor’s Dalmatian got out. She asked me “What would you name my puppy?” I said “Mud Puddle or Puddles for short.” She named her puppy like I suggested!!!! I am so happy. We got to play with Puddles and his unnamed siblings. Puddles is a very good puppy. He has blue eyes.

Annalise got her picture in the newspaper! Our landlady gave us a copy. In the picture, Annalise is playing with a young Filipino girl at the Am-Among festival.

Love,
Adriana