First day in the Philippines

The first day was eye opening.  We drove from the Manila airport through Davao to Digos.  As we were traveling on the bus we saw how beautiful the nature was on the island: beautiful trees, a few gorgeous tall houses, tall green mountains, and the ocean.  We also noticed the saddening slum conditions: small “houses” with tin roofs.  Many of those houses would be destroyed in the case of a heavy flood or hurricane.  We also noted people bathing in dirty swamp waters and collecting water from the swamps, children smoking, and walking with cloths over their faces.  Workers were climbing tall ladders secured only by being leaned against a single telephone wire.  Many of the residents of the city were waving at us on the bus.  The hotel we stayed at was going through remodeling, and we were quickly introduced to a different lifestyle.  Toilet paper as not provided, the shower did not get very warm, there was no separation between the shower and toilet floor.  We had 5 small beds in one room, and most of the guys are over 6’3’’ so it’s funny to try to seem them fit.  The traffic is on a whole different level here.  Little kids are riding on mopeds and we haven’t seen any traffic lights in Digos.  It’s more of a “bigger car wins” mode of traffic regulations.  People weave in and out of lanes, no crosswalks, tons of motorcycles, taxis, and mopeds.   However, there are very few accidents.  That night we played a basketball game…