![\"The](\"http:\/\/www.charlesmusser.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/SeranaFamilygagthering1.jpg\")
<\/a>The Serana Family at a Small Celebration<\/p><\/div>\n
John Carlos and Threese spent several weeks in Manlapay in the Southern part of Cebu Island.\u00a0 Her mother grew up there, and it is one of two towns composed primarily of relatives.\u00a0 John Carlos went to the local primary school, where classes are conducted in Cebano.\u00a0 His teacher was a relative, the principal was a relative and many of his classmates were second cousins.<\/p>\n
<\/a>John Carlos’s first-grade teacher Analisa Cartesiano.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I managed to spend a few days there a the end of our stay.\u00a0 We stayed at another Aunt’s house–she was in Texas but other family members were living in half of the house, so we moved in.<\/p>\n Threese cooking in the Dirty Kitchen<\/p><\/div>\n Playing Angry Birds at in the Living Room.<\/p><\/div>\n That Monday we descended on the school with video and still cameras.<\/p>\n We had visited Manlapay once before\u2013\u2013for about an hour when John Carlos was one and a half.\u00a0 The roads were consistently tortuous–almost impassable then.\u00a0 Everyone but the driver (me) had to get out numerous times to lighten the car and push. This time the roads were much improved.<\/p>\n John Carlos and his Classmates<\/p><\/div>\n The drive from Dalaguate to Mantalongon, the market center for vegetables in this area (it is known as the vegetable basket of Cebu), was quite easy due.\u00a0 We stopped to see one of Threese’s cousin–or is she an Aunt?<\/p><\/div>\n large open shed where farmers were carrying in the cabbages, carrots and so forth.\u00a0 The weather was cold and windy: people were wearing jackets–not at all what one thinks of this part of the world.\u00a0 We unexpectedly ran into one of Threese’s aunt–a woman who had been reasonably well off until her husband was killed by one of the buses that barrel along the highway\u2013\u2013for which she received no compensation.\u00a0 Now she is raising her child by selling fish in this market town.<\/p>\n They were busy building paved roads from Dalaguete to Manlapay, but the work was being done in noncontinuous sections. We had more difficulty going from Mantalongon to Manlapay–and later back again.\u00a0 On our way out, we were stopped by several different crews who were widening the road.<\/p>\n They Work on the Road. We Wait to Pass.<\/p><\/div>\n In this\u00a0mountainous countryside, the roads are often treacherous.\u00a0 The most poignant spot was one I remembered from our previous visit: a narrow curvy section along the edge of a cliff.\u00a0 This is where the truck that was carrying coal and Threese’s grandmother went off the road, killing her and everyone else.\u00a0 She was on her way to Cebu City (a six hour drive) with vegetables to sell and to buy a wedding cake for a relative.\u00a0 That section of the road was being widened as we left:<\/p>\n We had to wait for an hour or so–until the lunch break–while they dynamited the mountain above the road. Travelers piled up.\u00a0 A few make-shift stores had been opened.\u00a0 And once again, Threese met a relative–a cousin this time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A fourth goal for our visit was to have a little vacation time and to see a part of the Philippines that was unfamiliar.\u00a0 We ended up deciding to go to Siargo.\u00a0 We took a ferry\u2013\u2013a quite primitive ferry at that\u2013\u2013from Cebu to Surigao City on the northern tip of Mindanao, then another smaller ferry to Dapa on the island of Siargo–and on to General Luna.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We stayed at Patrick’s on the Beach with Andreas Mikoleiczik, his wife Elizabeth and their kids, with whom John Carlos played when they were not in school. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The beach area. John Carlos quickly made friends.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a>There is no cell phone service or Internet in Manlapay.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>Threese’s uncles, who owns a bakery and ended up doing some filming. A little like typical tourists, we were impressed with the<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n
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