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 »Day Nineteen – Super Typhoon Yolanda
My NEO word processor ran out of memory, so I have not recorded anything on it for the last two or three days. I made notes in a notebook (my sprained finger won’t let me write even in my childish scrawl), and I’ll get to those notes in a minute. First, I’d like to talk about the experience of getting my journal downloaded from the …
Day Eighteen – Super Typhoon Yolanda
Yesterday was a day of much interest. I was supposed to go with Dan to the Bohol bicycle shop, but Dan never showed up and never contacted me. I located the Bohol bicycle shop on my own and found it closed. I spoke with one of the owners, and he spoke with a mechanic, but they wouldn’t do anything for me. They were busy cleaning …
Day Eighteen – Super Typhoon Yolanda
A city without power can be a very quiet place. Last night, the silence was so complete and for so many hours that I imagined that I had gone deaf. I made some noise from time to time to ensure that my ears still worked.
At four a.m. this morning, the sole rooster left in this part of Tacloban began his totally unchallenged (and therefore rather …
Day Seventeen – Super Typhoon Yolanda
Yesterday was a day for public urination. No matter where I went, which street I went down, which corner I turned, I came across a man sending out a splendid stream of bright yellow liquid. That’s not uncommon, of course. There aren’t thousands of “Don’t Urinate Here” signs all over the Philippines for nothing. But yesterday was something special, like there was a urination festival …
Day Sixteen – Super Typhoon Yolanda
After my morning of running errands yesterday (buying alcohol fuel for my stove and food), my plans were to go out with my camera. However, it continued to rain, and there wasn’t much point to it. I hung out at the pension house drinking coffee, reading, making something to eat, and trying desperately to endure the children. I eventually had to lay down some ground …
Days Fourteen & Fifteen – Super Typhoon Yolanda
Dan did manage to contact his friend the bicycle mechanic. This fellow works at the Bohol bicycle shop, and Dan arranged to be the very first customer on Monday morning when they plan to open their doors. He offered to go there with me and help me get my bike into the system to be worked on as soon as possible. The plan is to …
Day Thirteen – Super Typhoon Yolanda
I finally encountered my first Canadians among the relief organizations. They consisted, to my joy, of a group of four people with cadaver-sniffing dogs. The four dogs are large, beautiful animals of all different breeds. I was sitting with the BFP team when the Canadians returned from a mission with their dogs. They are part of a larger team effort and were assigned to work …
Day Twelve – Super Typhoon Yolanda
A lot of things have been puzzling me about this typhoon and in particular my experience of it. And yesterday, I had the chance to talk to a couple of journalists. Their questions brought into focus some of the details and brought back some of my memories of what had happened.
Considering the horrific aftermath of the typhoon, it’s been puzzling me why it wasn’t taken …