Greetings from the future.

Yes, that's right folks, i am writing to you from tomorrow and if your tomorrow is anything like my today let me tell you, its gonna be interesting. After defeating all previously held logical perceptions of time and space by catapulting through two whole days in a matter of only 16 hours my dad and i arrived in Manila at the sunless hour of 4am. In spite of the very wee time of day, the second we set foot on Philippine airplane ramp i had the oh so tropical sensation of being slapped in the face with a damp washcloth. I have to admit, there is something somewhat satisfying about gulping in one's air supply instead of merely breathing it. After making it to the missionary guest house where we are staying the night and meeting Nene (the excitable lady of the house whose grin as big as she is tiny) we decided to bypass the whole sleeping bit, which i've come to view as highly overrated anyway... who was it that said, "I'll have plenty of time to sleep when I'm dead?" Anyway, i digress. By 9am we were out on the streets of Manila, which like any other big city in a poor country is, in a word, overwhelming. The thing is, on top of having that general slightly-frazzled-upon-arriving-in-a-new-country feeling, one is then immediately bombarded by the incessant preemptive honking of the taxi drivers, the weight of nearly tangible pollution, accented by the gut-wrenching conglomeration of unpleasant smells that arise from too many people with not enough resources all crammed together in the same forsaken space, one encounter with an impressively/disturbingly insistent and barely pubescent looking Philippino who was tougher to shake than... something very difficult to shake, and a death defying ride in a Jeepney, which (i know this sounds corny) reminded me exactly of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride at Disneyland, but more specifically the sensation that no matter how much that stupid wheel is turned and/or spun the vehicle continues to swerve down a perilous course all its own until somehow, against all odds, the ride ends abruptly, without incident. So think me lily-livered if you will, but after one day in this chaos i am glad i'm gettin' out of the big city and headin' for the sticks (and sand and rice terraces). That said, i'd rather end the first day, no, uberday of my travels on a positive note, so here we go...
Three things i like about Manila:
1) The people. Everyone i've talked to (aside from danny the unshakable) has been extremely polite and friendly and kind and helpful. Philippinos never point and i don't think i've heard a single person yell yet.
2) The greenery. The clammy weather makes it nearly impossible for things not to grow here and encourages large, lush trees and exotic foliage to burst from even the most unlikely spots, filling every possible nook and cranny of an otherwise tin and concrete jungle.
3) Jeepney's. Aforementioned story aside, these things are actually very awesome modes of public transportation. They are old American army Jeeps customized with brightly colored paint and embossed metal decorations and have been stretched (i assume with some sort of magic stretching device) to be able to hold two longways benches seating up to 14 people. Not to mention that they are dirt cheap (20 cents a head), and they are EVERYWHERE, can't miss 'em.

So, now, with my glass once again in its proper half-full state and the sun finally tucked away on ya'll's (?) side of the world, i am going to hit the shower and then the hay, two things i've been putting off all day, while i was dreaming of the bay, and my friends jay and may, with whom i like to play, and make things out of clay...yep, i'd say that about sums it up.