I think about it all the time:
1. Will today be the day we get the email we've been waiting for?!
2. I wonder if they have my brand of deodorant there?
3. Am I sooo incredibly cold this fall because God is already adjusting my body temperature for the heat?
4. Will my kids eat anything there?
5. What stuff should we take and what stuff should we leave?
So, you can understand that when we found ourselves in a large city this past weekend we had to check out all the things we could. First, Dennis and I went to the brand new asian supermarket that has been built only a few kms. from his sister's house in Ottawa. We went up and down the long aisles looking at everything with big eyes and smelling everything with big nostrils. I mean, small nostrils. Ok, forget about the nostrils. We smelled stuff. Fish, wierd unidentifiable stuff, fish, cow tongue, fish- you get the idea.
Then we looked more specifically for what we came for in the first place: CANDY! Candy from the Philippines, to be exact.
The next day we tried out the only Filipino restaurant we could find in the city.
We bought four different meals and shared them amongst the seven of us. We had Dennis' friend, Stephen and Dennis' sister, Brenda along. Our food had very good flavor but was not made with the best cuts of meat. We adults liked it all but the girls filled up mostly on rice. Winnie is our most adventurous eater and enjoyed all the different dishes.
We decided to go all out and order dessert. Halo-halo. Hmm. Not sure this was my favorite, but at least now I can say that I've eaten a dessert that had beans in it!
I searched through dark racks and dusty piles and scrounged up several books on the Philippines. We ended up buying three. Two of them are informational books on the country with lots of fun pictures. But the coolest find by far was this... passed over for years by hundreds of other customers who would never look at it twice.
Ta DA! This book is written by an anthropologist who provides some interesting insights into a tribal group of the Philippines. Dennis and I read parts of it together in the car and found it fascinating. Many of the tribal names and areas mentioned in the book are familiar to us. I'm sure much more of it will be familiar in a few years! It reminded us a lot of the cultural study we did in one of our practicums during training.
I wonder if the Kalinga have been reached with the gospel.
6 comments:
cool book find!! I'm going to look for a Phillipino restaurant around here for next time you come. :)
We did Hungarian 51 weeks ago :)
Question though: Who around here knows what brand of deoderant etc you like so we can send them in a care package? If you want to share such intimate info I'd like to know stuff like that someday before you go. You know, so I can send useful stuff and not just peanut free treats and stickers for the kids.
Patti
Thanks for the tip on FB. The girls sing very well.
DID you get the email yet?!?!?!
See you guys soon
Hey, that looked like fun! We love ethnic restaurants and food. Just for the record, almost all our desserts have beans in them... and they taste great:)
AH! I loved this post! :) Made me miss the Philippines SOOO much! I can't believe you found a Filipino restaurant!!! That's so awesome! I've never been to one here in the states. Halo-Halo! You are brave! I've never tried it, it always looked too gross! Maybe someday :) The Bamfords (you'll meet them soon!) LOVE HaloHalo....it's the first treat they get when they get out of the tribe! All Matt & I can say is "wow." I can't wait to get that e-mail either!!!! Maybe today is the day! :)
The highway bookshop!! Yep that's a great place. Glad to see your enthusiasm in digging up stuff on the phillipines. I trust it will be of much use. Bless you guys!
Amy
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