Jerusalem - Part Two

I'm three quarters through Selma Lagerlöf's Jerusalem. I knew I would enjoy reading this novel after reading Elizabeth von Arnim's praise of it in her novel Christine. I haven't been disappointed. The wikipedia description of Jerusalem follows:

"The narrative spans several generations in the 19th century, and focuses on several families in Dalarna, Sweden, and a community of Swedish emigrants in Jerusalem. It is loosely based on a real emigration that took place from the parish of Nås in 1896."

The true to life emigration in 1896 involved a group of Swedish co-religionists - what we might call a cult today. In the novel, the majority of the families in Dalarna, Sweden are Lutheran and the introduction of this messianic Protestant sect into the area disrupts life in the town. Families are torn apart and friendships end.

In the introduction to Jerusalem Henry Goddard Leach quotes Swedish composer Hugo Emil Alfvén's description of Lagerlöf -

"Selma Lagerlöf is like sitting in the dusk of a Spanish cathedral.......afterward one does not know whether what he has seen was dream or reality, but certainly he has been on holy ground."

An apt description.

Our Latest Trip to Cebu City

Our recent trip to Cebus had its own positive and negative aspects - its own ups and downs - its own Yin and Yang.

My original plan was to take the first fast craft leaving Sibulan for Liloan, Santander at 5:00 AM. With the time involved in traveling by water, then the bus ride from Santander to the South Bus Terminal, we should arrive in Cebu by 10:00 AM. With luck, we might be able to finish our business with Immigration in time for the last bus returning to Santander that afternoon.

Unfortunately, a defective alarm clock put the kibosh on that plan. We woke up too late for the 5:00 AM departure, taking the 7:00 AM trip instead.

The heavy traffic from the South Bus Terminal to the J Centre Mall, where the Immigration office is located, didn't help either.

On the positive side, everything went better than expected at Immigration. I was able to get my I-Card with only a five minute wait. Getting all the paper work, for my status conversion from probationary resident to permanent stamped, approved and paid for, also went surprisingly well. The fee turned out to be 2000 pesos less than I had expected, and on top of that, we were finished by 2:00 PM. We wouldn't be able to make the last bus to Santander, but it was theoretically possible to catch the last bus going via ferry to Dumaguete. We might not have to spend the night in Cebu after all.

The 10 kilometer taxi ride from the Mall back to the terminal took two hours. We had even bypassed stopping at Krispy Kreme in hopes of still making the bus.

We did make it in time for the last bus, but it was so crowded, and we were so far back in the pack, taking the bus would have involved standing for the five hour trip. We weren't up to that.

My wife and I decided, instead, to head the the hotel where we normally go when staying over night in Cebu. Fortunately for us, there's a suitable cafe adjacent to the hotel. We could get a decent meal and go to bed at a respectable 7:00 PM.

Up before four, we were out of the hotel by 5:00 AM, and in a taxi heading for the terminal. We managed to get a light, non-nutritious breakfast across the street from the terminal and were able to catch the first bus to Santander. It was so early when we left Cebu, the Krispy Kreme located not too far from the hotel was not yet open. We would be leaving the city sans glazed donuts.

We'll be returning to Cebu toward the end of next week for an interview with Immigration. The appointment time is 10:00 AM which means we'll have no other option than to travel to Cebu the day before the interview. We'll be able to be at the Immigration when it opens at 8:00 AM and with a bit of luck, we might even be able to bump up the interview time. Stranger things have happened.

Even with the scheduled 10:00 AM interview, we'll have no problem getting the afternoon Santander bus. We might even have time to go by Krispy Kreme.

Sanders wins Democrats Abroad Primary

On March 06, I learned, via Facebook, of the Democrats Abroad’s Global Presidential Primary . Rather than vote in the Primary, I left a comment on the Facebook page - "Vote Democrat?!?! You SOBs are why I left the country!!" - to which I received 6 likes.

Today I read on the Al Jazeera website, that Bernie Sanders beat Hillary Clinton in the Democrats Abroad global primary contest - 69% versus 31% - giving Sanders 9 delegates. Clinton received 4.

According to results listed on the democratsabroad.org website, 139 Democrat ex-pats in Philippines voted in the primary, giving Sanders 79 votes to Clinton's 59. You can be certain of one thing......there are many, many more ex-pats in Philippines than the 139 who voted. I don't know the exact figure, but 139 is a drop in the bucket.

From my experience in the U.S., it appears to me that American men with Filipina wifes tend to be, more often than not, politically Conservative. Of course, that being said, the American/Filipina couples I know are living in the Southern United States which tends to vote Republican. That's anecdotal evidence, but I feel reasonably confident that the majority of American/Filipina couples in the remaining areas of the U.S. would yield similar results.

As an aside to a friend currently living in the United Arab Emirates, there appears to be more active Democrat voters in UAE compared to Philippines. The website shows 880 Democrat voters with 541 of those going to Bernie. I'll leave it to him to explain that.

It's a Small World......But I Wouldn't Want to Have to Paint It.

They say, "Old habits die hard", and I can certainly attest to that.

During the last two years of my nineteen year stint with Mohawk Industries, I was working at the company's distribution center - a 35 minute commute from my home. During the last year of that commute, the ride was shared with my friend, Mark B. On our way to work each morning, we would tune the car radio to a local Rome, GA radio station, WRGA and listen to Home Town Headlines, the Radio Edition, hosted by another friend, John Druckenmiller.

Now that I'm retired and living with my wife and son in Sibulan, Philippines, I still find myself occasionally listening the radio program over the Internet via the TuneInRadio app on my Android. John and my sister once worked for the same company; he and I knew each other from church (St Mary's Catholic Church) and his son and mine attended the same school - but in different grades- and I consider him a friend. His friendship is not, however, the only reason I listen to his program; it's really the best place to keep up with events in my old stomping ground.

When the U.S. is following Daylight Saving Time, Sibulan is 12 hours ahead of Rome, GA. (it's 13 hours ahead in the winter when GA goes back to EST). I had just finished supper last night around 7:00 PM when I decided to tune into the program. I wanted to let John know that I was listening to the program and I sent a message to him via Facebook. I had no idea that he would give a shout-out to us over the radio. Very nice.

I learned from another former co-worker via Facebook, that my buddy Mark B. was listening to the program on his way to work. Old habits die hard for him as well, I guess.

We've all grown accustomed to the wonders of technology and we often forget just how amazing these times are. It's not so long ago that communicating with friends and family on the other side of the planet, as easily as we do today, would have been unthinkable.

Now, if only traveling back and forth could be as easy.

The New School

 

 Our eight year old was enrolled into a private Catholic school this week, and after paying the enrollment fee, fees for books, school uniforms and PE uniforms, I assumed that we had paid all we needed to pay to the school until the first of August when the next months tuition payment is due. I was wrong.

We attended a conference meeting this morning for all foreign students where we learned of additional requirements. It seems that the next tuition payment is not due in August- but next week, so he can take the, so called, Mastery Tests. Rather than pay the tuition monthly, I'm going to pay three months in advance so we won't be blindsided by this type of thing again.

In addition to the tuition, we'll need to pay for his special class in Filipino. The price of that class will be determined by the number of foreign students in the class; we were told that there will be 11 elementary students in the special Filipino class. Going by last years costs, I'm expecting to pay PHP 2500.

I also learned this morning that my son will need a Special Student Permit (SSP) required by the Philippine government for all foreign students. This will cost somewhere in the neighborhood of 5000 PH Pesos. I'll need to go the the Philippine Immigration website for a list of the requirements for the SSP.

Last year, when we were visiting on vacation, we went by the school and talked to someone about the requirements to enroll him into the school; I wish we had been better informed. The secretary we spoke to last year is no longer the secretary for the principal- perhaps deservedly so.

As an aside; the lunches available in the school's canteen are surprisingly more to J.P.'s liking than the food provided in the school's cafeteria in the U.S.. The price is more to my liking too. When I visited the school Friday, he was eating fried chicken with rice. 35 pesos.

My wife visits my son for lunch every day, but I don't. I feel like it would be too much of an unnecessary embarrassment for him to have both parents at the school so often. This past Friday was "New Comers Day" and the students would provide entertainment. Naturally, I was there to watch my son dance.

It was the music used by the third and fourth graders that forced me to have a conversation with the school's principal, Sr Bernadette, after the conference this morning. The kids were dancing to Jason Derulo's "Talk Dirty to Me". Anyone familiar with the song can understand why I felt it was not appropriate for students in a Catholic school. Sr Bernadette wasn't familiar the song, but after I voiced my concern, she said she would look into it and asked me to feel free to let her know if something like this happens again. Perhaps I'm prejudging her, but I trust Sr Bernadette much more in this situation than I would a nun at a Catholic school in the United States.

Turning Off the News.

Being retired, I have plenty of free time on my hands. If were living in the U.S., I’m certain that I’d fill the free time from noon until three PM listening to Rush Limbaugh. I’m living in Philippines where the time difference (when the U.S. is on Daylight Saving Time) is twelve hours. When it’s noon in Georgia, it’s midnight here. Consequently, even though Rush is available live on radio stations that can be accessed via the TuneIn Radio mobile app, I’m normally asleep when he is broadcast in the U.S..

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This morning, however, I found myself awake at 1:00 AM PHT. For the first time in quite a long time, I listened to a bit of Rush’s program. After a few minutes, I found that, although Rush was his usual self, and I am still one of his biggest fans, political events in the U.S. no longer interest me as they once did. Having become an ex-pat, I am no longer captivated-nor imprisoned-by what the current U.S. president says or does.

With the possible exceptions of events happening in my old stomping ground of Rome, GA, I have very little interest in anything happening in America today. I suppose it’s a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same. The United States has become a virtual cesspool and short of divine intervention, the situation will not improve and I see little point of reading the same stories every day.

I can’t comprehend the current crisis on the U.S.-Mexican border.

Despite several States having constitutional amendments prohibiting same sex “marriage” it is only a matter of time before it becomes the law of the land in all of the fifty States. Along with the evil of abortion on demand, one particular political party is Hell bent on seeing life in America transformed.

As Robert Bork so brilliantly pointed out in his book from 1996, America is slouching towards Gomorrah. Too many conservatives try to place the blame on Barack Obama but I believe he isn’t the cause of the disease but a symptom. The hemorrhaging is so massive that a simple blood transfusion won't do the trick.

 The America people are reaping what they’ve sown ages ago.

First Monday

When he and I last spoke, my old and dear friend, Big Lew said, that when I had finally retired and emigrated from the United States, I’d no longer have an excuse not to write. While our leaving for Sibulan is still a week away, this is my first Monday as an officially retired person, so I suppose his statement still applies.

The age old problem is, of course, what does one write about?

The political situation in the U.S. no longer interests me. People living in a democracy (or democratic republic) get the government they deserve. You folks put the current regime in power; now you have to live with the consequences. 

From my point of view, the current POTUS isn’t the problem…..he’s a symptom of the degradation of the American culture. Abortion on demand is the law of the land and same-sex “marriage” will soon be. Far too many people wish to suck on the government teat, rather than work. One political party enables the proverbial drunken orgy that is America, while the other party is far too splintered and dysfunctional to achieve any worthwhile intervention.

I am not moving to a paradise; Philippines is by no stretch of the imagination, a Utopia. At least the country is not the dystopia that the U.S. is quickly becoming. Certainly, the fact that Philippines has a Catholic tradition, while the U.S. has a Protestant one, has a good deal to do with the difference.

America’s love for rugged individualism has led to an “I, me, mine” society. In the U.S., nothing can stand in the way of “me and my desires” no matter depraved and anti-social those desires are. America is the logical conclusion of the Protestant mind-set.

Most of my former co-workers imagine that my new life will consist of mostly lying on the beach or fishing. They’d find my plan to spend my time writing, attending Mass every day, gardening and raising pigs, too boring to even contemplate; too much like living in a monastery for their tastes, I suppose.

My Patron Saint

St. Anthony of Padua is my patron saint.

I can’t say exactly when he took an interest in me, but I suspect it was quite a long, long time ago. Since I was in my early twenties, I’ve processed an uncanny knack of finding lost items – particularly in small amounts of money finding its way to me when I needed it most. I may have had this gift for fifty years, but it wasn’t until after spending time in Sibulan, Negros Oriental, that I came to realize that St. Anthony was behind it all.

St. Anthony of Padua is also the patron saint of Sibulan.

After my wife and I decided to move to Sibulan, I’ve relied on the saint to help us reach our goal. Earlier this year, I discovered a novena to St. Anthony, as well as the St. Anthony chaplet. Things have been miraculously falling into place and I can’t help but believe there’s been a supernatural component involved.

In a relatively short period, we’ve managed to sell the house and my wife’s car; along with a place to stay until we leave and the transportation situation being taken care of. The latest blessing was the selling of the van yesterday. I had almost given up hope of being able to sell it before the time came for us to fly to Philippines.

I know that there are folks reading this who’ll say that I haven’t written anything here that will convince them that St. Anthony had anything to do with this. Be that as it may; my personal belief is that St. Anthony deserves my sincere thanks.

Getting a Bit Closer Every Day.

We're getting closer every day in our plan to leave the United States and make our home in Philippines.

We've sold the house.....the closing will be the first of next week. We'll move out of the house this weekend.

We've already shipped five balikbayan boxes with 5 more to ship tomorrow. That will leave seven (I hope) to leave on April 19th. We'll probably ship a box of food items unavailable in Philippines just before we depart in June or July.

I've already been to the water department and Georgia Power to have those utilities turned off and taken out of our name. The Internet will be turned off Sunday. We'll have Internet in our new, temporary location.

We had a yard sale not long ago. It was successful, but we still have a bit of junk on our hands. Anything which we don't want will have to set out for trash pick-up Monday morning.

We'll be gone in about 90 days - give or take. Time is flying and dragging at the same time.

Moving to Philippines.

We've taken the first steps on path towards moving to the Philippines. We've got a long way to go ......we can't be finished fast enough to please my wife. It'll take time.

I've sent an email to the Philippine immigration dept regarding the necessary visas. Normally, one can get a 21 day visa when you enter the country, but obviously, that won't do. There is also a, so-called "balikbayan visa" for family members of returning Filipinos, but that visa is only good for one year.

I've also sent an email to a local realtor to help us sell our house. I should hear something from him when I get off work this afternoon.

The next item on the agenda is the disposal of whatever we can't take with us.......that's going to be difficult. We can send some items that we may want to keep by way of balikbayan boxes, but most of this stuff will need to be sold, or given away. I see a number of yard sales in our future.

We may already have a potential buyer for the house so we'll need to start right away on the packing of the balikbayan boxes and the yard sales. Wish us luck.

Leaving For The U.S..

As I write this, it is 6:45 AM, Friday in Sibulan ( 6:45 PM, Thurs. back in Georgia ). We'll be flying out of Dumaguete in approximately nine hours - if the plane actually leaves on time.

We'll have to spend the night in Manila; our flight for Japan leaves just before 8:00 AM, Saturday, Philippine time.

We're scheduled to leave Tokyo, Saturday afternoon at 3:10 Tokyo time.....we'll arrive in JFK Saturday afternoon at 3:05. Ain't time travel amazing?

This will be my last post until after we arrive home. It'll be late Saturday night in Atlanta when we arrive; I won't go back online until after Mass Sunday.

A few days ago, we went to St. Paul's University ( a Catholic school from elementary thru college ). That visit, along with an email from St.Mary's at home informing us of a large increase in tuition, has pretty much help me make up my mind about moving here.

I'll be writing more on that in the future, but it looks like June, 2015 will be the target date.

See ya'll Sunday.

The New Me.

Continuing along the path I started on yesterday, I'll write a little on my plan to take myself off my current medications - meds for high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and cholesterol. To do that, I'll need to make small mention of our plans to eventually leave the USA for good and live near my wife's family in Philippines.

Without going into great detail now about our decision to emigrate, it was that decision which lead to my plan to get off the meds.

Currently all my maintenance medication is provided to me through my health insurance - with no cost to me, other than my insurance premiums, of course. When the day arrives when I've retired and said my fond farewell to my employer, I'll no longer have the free maintenance medication. Being retired and living on a fixed retirement income in Philippines, it will be difficult to provide myself with these medicines.

The plan has been for some time now to return to a regular meditation schedule - which will lower my blood pressure to acceptable levels - get back on the treadmill - which will help lower my triglycerides - and stop eating the food which I know is not doing me a bit of good.

Returning to a regular meditation schedule should be the easiest of the three to accomplish. After all, it's something I've been doing - off and on - for more than half my life. I'll get out of the habit from time to time but will return to it again and again. Finding the time for the afternoon meditation is slightly more difficult than fitting it into my morning schedule. It's easier to find peace and quiet in the house when everyone else is sound asleep.

There was a time when doing strenuous exercise played a more central place in my life. Weight training, and treadmill, that sort of thing; didn't spend much time running, however. Now, the nerve damage which prevents me from playing the guitar as I once did also prevents me from weight training. I just can't get a proper grip on free weights. I tried Yoga for awhile, but I finally settled on getting my workout on the treadmill. Sadly, I've fallen behind on that. I'm not fat by any means, but it wouldn't hurt to tone up a bit and the exercise will help with my triglyceride levels.

It goes without saying that changing my diet will be the most difficult of the three. Being a typical 21st century American, convenience is my curse. All the wrong foods are too easily within reach.

My plan to go med free may have started with the plan to retire, but it was still too convenient to continue as I have been. The proverbial slap in the face came when I noticed some unusual hair loss. I've lost hair on my arms and on the back of my hands; my beard seems to be getting sparser and my eyebrows, which were once notoriously, bushy have become thinner.

It turns out that the culprit for this unusual hair loss is one of my current medications. If I want to keep the little I have left, I'll have to get away from the convenience of daily pill popping and make a few inconvenient lifestyle changes.