Digital Chain

On July 10, the Associated Press released the news item with the title “Pope: Other Christians not true churches.” Meaning, the Bible believing Greek Orthodox, Lutherans, other so-called Protestant groups are considered Christians but they are not in the true church. More…

Today, I received an email from Rod and Vivian. They just returned from a trip to the Philippines. What makes this trip special, not only for the couple but also for my family was that they were able to bring home to the USA little Melanie.

You see, little Melanie was from an orphanage and was matched to Rod and Vivian. After months of processing the documents, Melanie was finally adopted and given clearance to fly with her new parents to California.

Rod and Vivian was able to adopt Melanie with the help of the Inter-country Adoption Bureau (ICAB) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development(DSWD).

When I was back in the Philippines I was privileged to have worked for DSWD and saw how momentous these events were. I saw this scene before - when the would-be parents meet face-to-face with their new child. There was this anticipation and the initial awkward feeling of how the parties should react to seeing each other for the first time. But all these will soon be over as the warmth of the hugs and the longing takes place. It was also an emotional moment for the care givers who took care of Melanie for the the first 19 months It was a painful good bye but at the same time a sigh of relief because they know she’s in good hands.

For the new parents it would be like welcoming a new born into the family. Tears of joy may have been shed by the parents as they hold their child for the first time.

But what breaks my heart is the look on the face of the children who will have to wait for their turn to be adopted. Their good byes are as equally painful as they bravely put on brave faces. To see their friend leave the center is not that pleasant but they understand that is how it is in their world.

If you want to adopt a child try to check with ICAB. Who knows you might be the next happy couple as Rod and Vivian are now.

To Rod and Vivian congratulations for having Melanie!

By the way all the parties involved are Filipinos.

We went to the circus - a performance they also call the “greatest show on earth”. It was nice, really, to experience the circus. Yes, they did have great shows and the performers were awesome. The usual circus fare were there - the clowns, the flying trapeze, the acrobats, the men on stilts and the performing animals. It was fun to watch and we enjoyed it very much. We went to the 3:30 p.m. show.

The show was over, so we made our way out to the front entrance. As we exited from the Rabobank we saw the next batch of circus-goers lining up for the next show. Eager to get in, as we were 90 minutes ago. But at the corner of the intersection near the venue were a handful of people holding placards and handing out flyers. We continued to walk, admiring the water fountain fronting the arena. Children were in the fountain frolicking and soaking themselves to cool down as it was quite warm that afternoon. We stopped a few feet from the geysers, took some photos then walked casually some more - as did many circus goers were doing.

We reached the corner and saw what these handful of people were doing. It was a small protest group denouncing the cruelty that goes on behind this circus - particularly those made to animals. This is their site. Check it out and get educated.

I was not sure what they thought of us or what I thought of them. We just patronized, according to them, an organization that mistreat its animals. After enjoying the show, I suddenly thought, perhaps it may not be the greatest show on earth after all. They just spoiled the circus for me. But that’s just me thinking.

I found work or rather work found me. I started working for a home health service provider a few weeks ago. It’s an interesting job and the pay is above the minimum wage. Well, it’s a start - I’m just glad to land a decent job.

What was amazingly weird about this new experience was how small the world really is. One of the owners of this company is a Filipina who went to UB Science High. She’s a medical doctor and is the marketing manager. My immediate boss is from La Union and studied engineering in SLU.

The assistant administrator is also a pinoy who happens to minister to fellow kababayan here in Bakersfield. Other staff are pinoys too and majority of the nursing personnel are from back home.

The lingua franca in the office is Tagalog - although English is the official business language. Every now and then we get to talk in Iloko and Cebuano is heard here and there. What I’m saying is that we took parts of home and brought it here.

Lunch is another manifestation. We always have rice and Filipino food.

Indeed it has been very busy…

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!