Hospitals -- AAARRRGGGG

But first some fun pictures. This is the Elders and Sisters in our District/Zone during our second transfer. On the back row, holding the container of papaya is Elder Cenal, our District Leader. The second row is Elder Barfuss, our Zone Leader from Pocatello, ID, then Elder Orpia, Elder Consego, our other Zone Leader, and Elder Bajacar. Front row is Sister Parsons, Sister Jacinto, Sister Mijares, Sister Sumingait, Sister Baricar, and Elder Dapac. Elders Barfuss and Cenal, plus Sisters Jacinto and Baricar were all transfered today.

This is our handyman, Bobitz. Lately, we have needed him to fix a short in the light in our kitchen. It took him about 2-3 hours to complete the task. Including parts, it cost us 150 pesos ($3)

How did these guys get in here?

Well, second story. This is Brother Shields. He is a Vietnam Veteren from Las Vegas. His first wife died about 6 years ago. He met his second love and has been married 5 years to her.

Her name is Luz. She had a friend who knew Guy Shields and they were in love. They lived in Las Vegas until last year when they moved to the Philippines. It is amazing how many foreigners live here with their Filipina wife, but that is not our story.

Every afternoon on Negros Island all the locals build fires to fill the air with smoke. They say it is to keep mosquitos away, but we know it doesn't work that well. What it does do is get into the lungs. Brother Shields developed pneumonia and spent a few days in the hospital a month ago. This is one hall of the hospital which in the morning every seat is filled by patients waiting to see a doctor. The ceiling fans do not keep up with the aroma (bring a clothes pin).

This last week we visited Guy and found that he was not doing well, at all. In fact he had lost over 75 pounds since being in the hospital. He had determined he needed to return to USA to go to the VA Hospital in Las Vegas. We knew that the airlines would question his ability to fly and determined he needed to get a Medical Certificate to fly. We told Luz and he that we would help them obtain the necessary documents. This is the other direction looking outside. Directly across the roadway occupied by the motorcycle is the ER.

We said a prayer stating that we needed to see the right people at the right time to accomplish what would be best for Guy and set out with them for the day's excursion. We went to the doctor's office only to find out that the doctor was only in for half a day. We got there with 10 minutes to spare, got right in, and got set up for an x ray for Guy.

[We talked to another man the next day at the same doctor's office which arrived at 7:30 AM. We saw him at 12 noon and he still had not seen the doctor. He also was there for an x ray. Funny how those prayer things work.]

The x ray was read by an ER doctor who immediately called the original doctor for her to return to the hospital and requested that Guy go get an ultra sound, which we then went right over, and got right in. The ultra sound reveled that Guy had about 3 liters of fluid in his right lung. It has a capacity of about 7 liters. This is Guy back in the ER where his original doctor called in her husband, a surgeon, to do a little procedure on Guy.

"X" marks the spot. Wait a minute there are 2 "X's". Good thing the doctor knew which "X" marked the spot.

They were only able to get 2700 mls of the 3000 mls. Ha Ha. What you see in the jar is cotton swabs dipped in iodine. That is as sterile as it gets. Notice no mask. Notice the lovely assistant!!

Guy was admitted for observation for overnight. Remind me if I need to go in the hospital that "This is not the Place!"

Would You Like Fries With That?

So, you wanna job in the Philippines? Here are a few. Maybe one will catch your fancy. Stranger things have happened.

This is a hoppin' place, especially for the white guys here.


Then there is the local McDo wanna be. We eat at one of these or "Chow King" pretty much every day or so. The cost of a meal for the 2 of us runs about 250 Pesos (around $5 total) and we are "'tuffed" when we leave.


Or the Pizza business. This is your basic Hawaiian pizza.


Maybe you consider yourself more of a "Professional". Say a Dentist maybe. We had occasion to check one of these places out the other day for a member. Two fillings were completed for 1450 Pesos (that would be $33), and a cleaning for 900 Pesos (about $20)


or maybe a drug dealer, I mean pharmacist. I got Sinu-tab for 8.5 Pesos each (would you believe 20 cents)


One of the larger employers are the retail stores. This is Lee Plaza. It has five floors for your shopping convenience. The escalators go to the top floor, but they only go up. For down you must use the stairs. The fifth floor is the CR (alias comfort room, or toilet, or restroom, BYO-TP, no paper provided) and also a food court. The 5th floor annex is where we found our dining room table. The 4th floor provided housewares in your choice of plastic, stainless steel, plastic, glass, or plastic. The 2nd and 3rd floor are clothing. Men on 2nd and women on 3rd. The 2nd floor annex also has a CR, but also sells athletic equipment. We did buy an exercise bike from them.


The 1st floor is for school supplies, toiletries, and books, plus a very friendly lady who tries to convince us we need to purchase perfume every time we pass by. We do shower every day. I don't think we stink. The basement is the grocery store.


The next biggest retail is Unitop now pictured. It is only 2 floors, but has equally in variation of products. They are packed much closer together than in Lee Plaza.

Every store including McDo's also has gun toting security guards at every entrance and exit. They examine every one who enters. We notice that they often pat down the natives, but as yet have not tried that out on us. There is also a package check in desk outside of most of the stores so shoppers are not entering with excess luggage. Most also require entrances as He on one side and She on the other. No He's can enter on the She's side and vice versa.


This is the ATM we use. They have an agreement I guess with Wells Fargo, and only charge us $5 for every withdrawal. The maximum amount which can be withdrawn in a single transaction is 10,000 pesos (about $225). That will last us about 10 days.

The local appliance store where we got our refrigerator, our range with oven, our fan, our vacuum, and our sala (living room) set.

We go to Yan Yans weekly. It is the wholesale baking supply store. We have only found whole wheat flour in this one location. We have yet to find a "Pam" alternative. All pans are greased with oil or lard.


If you prefer the supplier business then maybe this would be your forte just don't hit the brakes too quickly with this load.

These are a little less fragile and require a little more creativity in making them fit in the vehicle.

or possible you prefer to be the talk of the town as the rice is delivered. Rice is served 3 times a day. This week it was selling for 18.5 pesos a kilo, but you needed to buy 5 kilo minimum, but that is the lowest it has been since we arrived. Oh wait a minute, the Vice President of the Philippines is in town this week. Usually, the price is 20-25 pesos per kilo.


Here is the local thrift store. (Ha Ha! Eat your heart out Debbie) They have new arrivals almost daily. We go here to buy the white shirts and ties for newly ordained Deacons. The cost of a shirt and tie is 60 pesos (About $1.50)

This is a shop in Clay Town of pots, etc. We did buy the containers for the plants we have in front of our house, (Oh yeah, I haven't put up the apartment pictures yet, but I will before we come home.)

This is how we transported our exercise bike to our apartment. It is about 6 Km and it cost us 150 (about $3) pesos for the ride.

You could also go into the smiling business. Well, this man is our landlord. He has much property and has built some multi family housing complexes.

These folks are loading sugar cane onto this truck to be transported to the plant.

Here we have the "modern" farmer, as he has upgraded from the Caribou as his plow.

You could work for the local power company as a lineman. If you look closely you will see a scaffolding on the back of a pickup truck with a ladder attached. I also like the barrier in front of the truck to warn oncoming traffic. I expect that branch has stopped many a wayward car from crashing into the pickup.

Another supplier or two. You have your choice of bike........

or head. Let's see bike or head. Which would you prefer?

The local tree removal force.

This is interesting. Every day this guy transports his business to the beach. And every night he takes it back home with him. And it is all contained in one transport no less.

There must be big business for these ladders. The man in the hut under the beer bottles makes 4 at a time and puts them out here. After about 8-9 days he has none for 2-3 days when he has made 4 more to display. What home should be without a good ladder, that would be my motto if I were in it, for sure.

If you prefer to work on the beach then have I got a deal for you. This lady sweeps the flotsam on the beach and buries it. That includes trash and sea weed. It is full time work, for sure.

If real estate is your thing, then bingo, you said the right word here. There are many foreigners in the neighborhood looking for beachfront property. This happens to be Jerry Baldado, the Branch President of the Bacong Branch.


Not for the faint of heart. If heights cause your stomach to get knotted then harvesting coconuts would not be the right match for you.


Many woodworkers are needed especially, if you have a little girl who wants a dollhouse.


Now we are talking. I want to shot a sling shot all day long. We call this little lady the human scarecrow. She is out in this rice field every day scaring the birds away. Her pay a 60 Kilo bag of rice a season.

The best job of all though is being the companion of this dear sister as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Now that's what I'm talking about. This job is already taken, but the world has need of many more, BYOC (companion) and serve the Lord by being yourself and loving those around you.


Until next time.

Elder and Sister Parsons