I admit it. This picture was taken a few years ago, but I think I still look vaguely like that. Depends on the day (and the time of day). And today, just before I uploaded this picture, an Indonesian English student told me how much she liked my nose. I heard that a lot in Indonesia. Apparently, a large nose like mine is a good …
Read the full story »A Hotel Room of Despair and Creativity in Cebu
Tuesday January 28, 2014
4:45 a.m. Cebu City, Cebu, Philippines
Getting out of bed this early might not be a wise idea, but I had woken up and I felt like having a cup of coffee. I’m fairly certain that I am not allowed to fire up my little Trangia cookstove inside this hotel room, but I’m careful and clean. I often do little things like this …
Finally Leaving Tacloban and Heading for Cebu
Monday January 27, 2014
4:40 a.m. Carigara, Leyte, Philippines
Marupoy Hotel, Room 17
Small room about ten feet by ten feet. A single bed, a small picnic table, a locked wardrobe with old magazines on top, a window, a fan, a needlework piece of art on the wall of a seagull flying over a mountain stream and the phrase “There’s a reason for life” at the bottom. Done …
Mango Shake at Alejandro’s
Much as it pains me to say it, it is raining heavily outside. It has been raining all night, and my first task of the day was to push the floodwater into the bathroom. The floodwater is currently rebuilding. I’m also vaguely ill. Worrying facts of life in post-typhoon Tacloban.First day of the new year was not exactly a barn burner. I slept until 11 …
Newspaper Article about Body ID at Suhi
Not to be a broken record, but it rained – hard – all last night. I woke up to a flooded room again and my first task was to take a towel and clean up. There is always so much water that I can’t just mop up the water. I use the towel like a squeegee and push waves of water toward the bathroom. Luckily, …
The Generator Runs at Night
The year is stumbling and groaning and shuffling to its end. At least it feels that way here in Tacloban as the rain comes down for hour after hour, day after day, even week after week. Considering that the ocean itself rose up and engulfed the city in seawater not long ago, it seems a bit harsh of the sky to be so unremitting in …
Carlo and the Japanese Journalists
I’m not sure if I woke up as the curmudgeon or the invalid. Maybe I’m still both. I woke up to the tinny and endless sound of horrible music coming out of Guapo’s cell phone. (I’ve recently learned that the young muscly and fashionable guy with the cell phone is referred to as Guapo or “Guaps” by everyone here.) The music got worse and worse …