Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Finally Solano!


What can I say it takes awhile to get to Lyn’s hometown no doubt about it. We left our house in Greensboro Saturday morning at 7 am and drove to my daughter Chelsea’s house in Raleigh. We got there about 8:30 and went to breakfast with all the kids. What a treat after the last few days. After having breakfast we were taken to the airport by Chelsea, Justin and Rheagan. We usually to try to travel light but this would not be one of those times. We had our carry on bags as well as three 50lbs bags that we were taking to the Philippines. Lyn has six siblings with families of there own and it is always nice to get things from the states that they could not usually get there so we were loaded to the gills with stuff. Our plane boarded on time but we got stuck at the gate as the plane next to us was having a problem. They moved some of the passengers over to our plane and by the time they moved the luggage and added more food we were leaving about two and half hours late. Our flight once airborne would be an additional 12 hours to get to Tokyo. Yikes!!!! We were in for a long ride. When we finally arrived in Tokyo 5 movies and three meals later we found out that they had actually held our next flight and we would make it to Manila but about 2.5 hours later than planned. We were going to be picked up by the relatives of Eric and Russelle friends of ours that live in Greensboro but are from the Manila area. They were going to pick us up and let us stay with them and then take us to the bus station the next morning for the final leg of our Journey. We needed to tell them that we were going to be late but the wifi was not working in the Tokyo airport. Finally we boarded the plane for our trip to Manila. This flight would only be 4 hours, very short by our current standard. As luck would have it the plane had wifi and I was able to send a message to Eric who relayed it to his Mom. We finally arrived in Manila to long immigration lines. By the time we made it through and found Eric’s Mom and brother-in-law it was almost 1 AM. They grabbed our bags and took us in their car to a condo that we could use for the night. I cannot tell you what a big deal this was and how thankful we are to have such good friends to set this all up. It is so hard to travel that far and be thrown into the craziness of a big city and try to figure everything out. By the time we went to sleep it was 3 AM. We got up at 6 and took much-needed showers. Then we caught a cab and went to the bus station. Eric’s Mom insisted that she go with us and she stayed until we were safe and on the bus headed for Solano. While waiting for the bus it was obvious that I was the only non-Filipino in the area. You know when sometimes you get that feeling that you are being watched well it was happening every minute. Every time I looked around the room it was like the entire room was staring at me and then they would all look away. This happened over and over as we had to wait until 11 to catch the next available bus. After saying goodbye to Eric’s Mom we were off to Solano! Well after we fought our way out of Manila. If you have to fight traffic, a bus is the way to go. They just go where they want to go and everyone else gets out of the way. Once we got on the road I just sat back and enjoyed the trip as the scenery went by. I also enjoyed the very cold air conditioning. We made several stops along the way and I was quit a spectacle every time I got off the bus. We finally arrived in Solano and were whisked away to Lyn’s sister’s house. After unpacking and lying down for a moment we headed out to Lyn’s Mom’s House. Her body was there and most of her relatives were there as well. They are currently going through 9 days of prayer.  Her Mom’s funeral will actually be this coming Thursday. When we arrived Lyn was able to finally say good by to her Mom. It was an emotional outburst that had been building in her since she found out the news several days ago. I am so glad she could be here and surrounded by all of her family members during such a difficult time. There were lots of people inside the house and several outside as well. As with most funerals there is great sadness and great joy as family members reminisce about great times in the past. Lyn knew that there would be lots of kids there so we took a box of 100 blow pops. As they got handed out we noticed that adults and kids alike all enjoyed them. The room turned to one of laughter and the fun stories continued into the night. We went home about 11 and went to bed for the night. We both slept soundly and were thankful to be here with our family.

Hotel in downtown Solano.


Bus in Manila.


Vendor on a trike.


The market.

Downtown Solano!