Montana Meets Manila

As I said in my last post we've had a busy few weeks, but this last one was quite welcomed.  Nothing like some friends from home to help pick you up and keep you going.  We loved having Karson and Josh around for the week and loved showing them this new place we call home.

We laughed a ton and had great conversation and I tried to give them as much boy time as possible.  I did get to join them for a day around the city and it was fun to see it all again with new eyes.  It made me fall in love with this place all over again.

The sun was bright and hot, but that wasn't going to stop us.

We took the LRT and headed deeper into the city.

Taking them to Quiapo Church, Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene, (you can read more about it if you follow the link) one of the most popular churches in the Philippines.  We wanted to give them an idea of the Catholic influence here in the country.  It's quite a sobering place.

It was then time for lunch and Jordan wanted them to experience more Filipino culture at a local fast food restaurant called Mang Inasal.  Lunch was pretty much just some meat and all the rice they wanted, which is what makes this place so popular.  He even showed them how to eat with their hands.  I enjoyed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich I brought along.  =)

 We headed back to the train station a rode back a few stops to hit up Rizal Park.

It was fun being a tourist for the day and capturing things that have become so much of everyday life.  This guy on the bus was yelling at me to take his picture and thanked me after I did.  I'm probably now fulfilling his wishes by adding it to the world wide web for all of my followers to see.  I love how happy the people are here.

Rizal Park was huge and there was tons to see.  Like this statue of Lapu Lapu, a ruler who was resistant to the Spanish colonization.

And of course much of the park is dedicated to Jose P. Rizal, a national hero who was a prominent advocate for reform in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era and was eventually executed.

It was a fun day of commuting and sightseeing, especially having our friends in tow.  We were so blessed to have them come and visit and loved every minute with them here.  I think they left loving the Philippines just as much as we do.