21. Overloaded Jeepneys and Churches

Hi Everyone,




This is the goat that greets us in the morning right outside our window. One morning, while I ignored her and rolled over, Heide jumped up and took this picture. By the way, the goat is pregnant.






Here's a nice picture of Rap-Rap with the valley behind him.






On a Sunday morning, RJ is definitely interested in the ice cream man, who came around in front of our driveway. Rap-Rap is surprisingly distracted. You can see Heide waiting for the rest of the family so we can go to church at the Cathedral. In the background are Precious and Butch. Butch is walking back to the house to get everyone else.






Just to the left of the little grocery store selling bananas is this open-air pool hall. There are actually a lot of these open-air pool halls in the Philippines. Doesn't look like there's much interest here in joining us for church.






The other day this jeepney caught my eye as it went flying by. I've become fascinated with capturing riders hanging on the back of the jeepneys. This is supposedly ok here in the suburbs, but is illegal in the City Center. The "hangers-on" get off before a policeman catches them.





This morning was a big surprise. I saw several jeepneys with guys hanging on as they whizzed by. This was the most crowded of all. It's hard to tell, but this is actually the same jeepney as the one above. The mud flap says "The Lord is My Shepherd". Those who ride this way will definitely need the Lord as their shepherd.






"The Lord is My Shepherd" jeepney will take you to this Cathedral. This is a photo of the Cathedral at 6 pm on Sunday. The huge crowd is not unusual. They have masses every hour on Sunday and they're given in different languages-- English, Tagalog, Visayan, Ilocano. In order to get a seat, you have to enter halfway through one mass and stand by a pew. When the mass ends, you grab a seat vacated by one of the parishioners and prepare yourself for the next mass. There's Butch in the blue t-shirt.





Their religious fervor is reflected in prayers before events like the Arnis Tourament or a seminar that Heide gave at St. Louis University Nursing School. Here you can see it in the names on Jeepneys and Taxis.





Besides this "Gift of God" Jeepney, others are "The Lord is My Guardian" Taxi, "Great is Thy Faithfulness" Taxi, and "Prime Movers" Taxi.





Here in the Philippines, people often get water delivered to their house in tanker trucks. Last night Heide and I were riding home in a taxi and saw a water tanker truck fly by us with the name "Holy Water Delivery". We laughed!





In the secular realm, we have "Pure and Simple" Jeepney, "Home to You" Taxi (I would hope so), "Ever Prudent" Taxi (ensures his trust), "Tattooed" Taxi (What? It's just plain white!), "Snowy" Taxi (Filipinos have no concept of snow except for its color), "Kookoo's Nest" taxi (you wonder about his driving).





This is one of my favorites. If you use he services, you can be sure to get home in "one piece"! Then there's the "33 Aggregates" Taxi, the "Glenn Ford" taxi, the "Lone Ranger" Jeepney, "Tin Tricks" Taxi.





There's even some obscure ones like this "M3L3" Taxi, where both threes are superscripted, and the "XYRYX Czar" Jeepney.






The "Student Drop Out" Taxi! Looks like a warning to stay in school! Saw a guy yesterday with a T-shirt that said "This is not the life I ordered".


Duane and Heide