Double blog III: Last US city “North Platte” and the last of Manilla!

What did you say? You haven’t heard from me in a while? Well, that’s because I got home, and some events happened to happen… So, now that things look like they’ve calmed down, I will inform you once more about all that has happened! I might be a bit off-balance, but please forgive me =D I’m just a humble servant of your time.

Let’s start off with the last city in the United States: North Platte, Nebraska! Loads of things happened! This would be the last city where we would be in the US, and of course, that all struck us like lightning! We would not be back in the US as “this group” ever again in our life… Even more bold, “this group” would never be the same again, since we had to say goodbye to some of our friends we’ve been traveling with since the beginning: Kirk (US), Catherine (Denmark) and Gwen (Switzerland) all decided to go home, instead of going to the Philippines with us. This was a hard decision for them, but it was a health-matter…
You bet, this was an emotional departure for all of us…

But, hey, that’s the end of the week, let’s start at the beginning again!

My host family this week was actually just one guy: “Chuck” (not Norris). He was an elderly guy, but with a good, strong heart. He does his own kind of volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity. He’s decided to host two people in his house for the benefit of his town. Also, he remembered UWP from when he was young. Really cool no?
I was roomed with redhead James “Opie” Pennington, and we got a good time with Chuck. We also met Chucks family (read: Daughter and grandchildren) and we went to this cool restaurant with them (Fort Cody, which had Dutch flags on top of it!) where you could throw the peanut-shells on the ground! Wow, I’ve never seen that in a restaurant before! Weird but cool xD

So, guess what NP is famous for? You betcha! Their railroads!
So, for “regional learning” we didn’t really go out… instead, we watched a 2 hour documentary about the “North Platte Canteen”. This canteen made NP famous, back in the days, since soldiers that would be on trains and stop here, would be welcomed, no matter what or who, with a lot of volunteer-prepared food and meals. Apparently, the soldiers would remember this canteen until their last breath, just for the hospitality that they received.
Also, for the “exploration crew” that I was selected for on the last show day went to went to the current North Platte railroad-center, thingie. Really cool, railroads as far as the eye can see! I even saw kids there I met earlier that week in their classrooms. That brings me to my next part.

This entire week, I feel like I’ve been doing Stand for Peace and “Country Introductions”. I think I’ve been in 20 schools this week (or at least 20 classes), and all of them were totally awesome. Well, that was also pretty much all the CI I did this city. So, not much to tell, although I made some cool pictures…

About pictures, I plan on making a special post full with pictures as soon as I’m done with telling everything I want to tell =)

So, this week went by in a rush. I drank the last Mountain Dew in my life (that’s what I thought at the moment), said goodbye to friends for life, and send a big box home again. (I just wonder how it’s possible that a suitcase can gain 20 pounds in 2 weeks :S And then…
The Philippines!


So, let me do the last part of Manilla!
Actually, there’s not so much to tell… I told a lot already, at least the most impressive things…
But, there’s always more. Let me see how far I can get.

So, for the last few days, someone else got roomed with me. Guess who? Colin, right! The guy I was roomed with in Culiacan! Hehe, loads of fun!
Well, guess what, our family (now it’s “our” instead of “my”) took us to a hair-barber- thingie, where the hairdudes oiled our hair. For more glow and stuff xD Yeah, we looked like damn princes! (the prince of retardia)

Ooh, the shows here involved a new song! “Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling ka”. Or “I love you every rainy season”. Let me see… I can’t find the original song we practiced on, but I think I found a decent replacement. (Don’t watch the movie, it’s the song that’s good.) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqyR8QTA62w&feature=related

Yeah, we performed twice in Manilla. Big shows, yeah. Very emotional too, having all the people you worked with in the slums, sitting in the room, watching probably the first show in their life… Man, emotional… no words…

And that might very well be the end of these cities.

So, the only city left is Subic Bay. Again, another interesting city with loads of tears.
But that’s a bedtime story for another time!

Love,
Bubbayz!