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Photo Post – Basper Mass Grave in Tacloban
Many mass graves were dug in and around the Tacloban area in order to deal with the thousands of victims of super typhoon Yolanda on November 8, 2013. These particular mass graves were dug inside a public cemetery at Basper about 12 kilometers north of Tacloban City itself. I did not know what to expect when I visited this place, but I admit I was …
Day 37 Super Typhoon Yolanda – Mass Grave at Basper, a Concert, and Mosquito Torment
The very first thing I did this morning (after taking a bucket bath, shaving, and battling mosquitoes) was to remove the back cover from my broken Kindle. The battery finally went dead, so I couldn’t use it to listen to music anymore. And I don’t want to throw the entire Kindle away as it is. If, by some miracle, someone were to fix it, they …
Day 36 Super Typhoon Yolanda – Odd Encounters in Seawall
It’s already the 13th of December, perilously close to Christmas. I was thinking that since it is so close, I might as well stay here in Tacloban for Christmas. In a strange twist, the typhoon has meant that I now know more people in the city of Tacloban than in most places on the planet. I already have two invitations to spend Christmas with families. …
Day 35 Super Typhoon Yolanda – Bike Ride and Taking Photos
12:30 p.m.The day began with another flurry of text messages. People here seem to have a routine of greeting the new day by texting a good morning message to everyone on their contact list. So I got a few of those. And then I got a bunch from this odd duck Joevelyn and then some from May and then from a mystery number. I have …
Day 34 Super Typhoon Yolanda – Getting Sick, Bike Ride to the Bus Station
Yesterday included another walk to the harbor to check on the navy ship. Marie, my main contact, was at the gangway shack this time and I was glad to see her. However, it didn’t make any difference. She wasn’t very friendly this time – probably tired of seeing me – and she had no information about when the ship might be leaving to go to …
Day 33 Super Typhoon Yolanda – Hospitality Prisoner
An unusual day yesterday. A somewhat stressful one. It started out with a walk from the pension house to Mark’s house. I wanted to use their computer to copy some pictures and clear up a memory card or two. Without a memory card, I can’t do any more photography. Unfortunately, when I got there, I found the entire house empty and disturbingly quiet. Then one …
Day 32 Super Typhoon Yolanda – Watching Bad Movies
Yes, I’m still in Tacloban. I checked on the navy ship – LC 551 – yesterday, and it was still docked in the harbor. However, no one was able to tell me anything about their departure date or time. The young sailor got on the radio for me, and he even called a senior officer down to talk to me. This senior officer had nothing …
Day 29 Super Typhoon Yolanda
A knock came on my door in the evening a couple of nights ago. It was Dan. He had gotten off work a bit early, and he stopped by to touch base with me. I was hoping we could sit around and have a beer and have a good, long chat, but it was clear that he had things to do. He could only stay …