We have an apartment on the 46th floor of the Grand Towers II on Pablo Ocampo Street in Manila. We have a wonderful view of Manila Bay. Our first big purchases were a bed/mattress and an air conditioner. The latter is absolutely essential for me, as the heat quickly makes me wilt. I'm getting better but I am not fully adapted yet.
We were supposed to move into our apartment on Monday, the 20th. Instead, we got into a different apartment on Saturday, the 25th. In between, we got delays and foot dragging and things got challenging. We couldn't really afford a hotel for an extra week, so we ended up staying with one of Mexica's aunts for a few days. They were very gracious. The pictures on my Facebook account of me reading to two little kids are of me reading to her aunt's two kids, Yuro and Reika.
Traffic in Manila is SOOOOOO BAD. I was looking out our apartment window and I can see our hotel from there. It is no more than 2-3 miles but driving would take us at least an hour.
I went the US Embassy on Wednesday to get paperwork, and that took me about 3 1/2 hours. Funny thing, the man in line in front of me was from Springfield MA. I never got his story, he was the one unfriendly man in the whole line. The rest of us talked and shared stories and it was pretty interested how we each ended up in the Philippines.
This is a little disjointed, and I am sorry for that. I will post more episodically now, if I can, as I have time. Once we have internet in our apartment, I hope to do better. Right now I'm in a public study room in the apartment complex. Next to the palm trees, the swimming pool and the Jacuzzi tub. More to follow from the Philippines, bye for now!
