Vanilla In Manila: History in the Making

Welcome again, Dear Readers, to yet another fateful and exhilarating experience. I hope you're all sitting down, hopefully you have a nice cup of coffee or a scone, or something like that, because, Dear Readers, I've witnessed history in the making. I sit here in the midst of what is being called the strongest storm on earth (since 2005), Mega Typhoon Megi (aka Juan), reveling in the last few days. First and foremost, let's put your worries to rest. We're just fine here in Manila. The worst of the storm is up north, where the winds were recorded at over 160 mph, whereas here in Manila the winds are, at most, 30 mph. Alas, dear readers, the worst effects of the storm we're experiencing here is heavy rainfall. The storm began last night whilst eating dinner. As we sat there with the monastic community, enjoying our rice, fish, and peaches and cream, we began to hear howls and whooshes. No no, readers, it wasn't a pack of rabid wolves. It was the storm surging through Manila, but again, fear not, it was just the outskirts of the typhoon. It began to sprinkle, it began to drizzle, then it began to rain. And then the wind picked up...(that was for you, Al). It's continued to drizzle all day, and because of the heavy winds last night, most of the humidity and heat has been swept off. So, it's currently a cool and comfortable 26 degrees Celsius, which...I guess is 78 degrees Fahrenheit....which is actually really surprising. It feels like it's in the low 60's. The breeze is perfect, and the drizzle pitter-pattering off the steel roofs is quite poetic. If you're curious what Megi looks like:

Our first typhoon, and a monster one at that. History in the making.

This past Sunday Matt and I finally had a primo chance to give back to the monastery. They've given us SO much since we've been here- great food, incredible places to sleep, great trips around town. So, we decided to do a little cooking, and since we were cooking, why not give them a little Minnesota flair! And what says Minnesota more than fish and potatoes!? So, the cooks took the backseat and Matt and I took over the kitchen for an afternoon. I was in charge of the fish part, and Matt the potatoes. The fish they gave us is called lapu lapu, which is in the grouper family, and it's common name is Sea Bass. That's right, they gave us bass for a fish fry. They know us all too well...all..too...well.... So, I made a nice breading out of Fita crackers (fita=ritz), some spices and flour, and then fried up the fish. Matt peeled some potatoes and made a killer potato soup and fried up the peels. Needless to say, we finally earned our stripes with some of the older curmudgeons of the monastery (most notably the 96 year old Spanish monk, who, surprisingly, is unable to smile anymore (or at least hasn't smiled in 6 weeks)). Well we got him smilin' on Sunday. History in the making.

I know you're all wondering about the NCAA Championship game. Well, I'm gonna go ahead and just wait to tell you the story when I get back! Hope everything is well!

No no, I'm kidding! Of course I'll tell you. Well, as noted last Thursday, we did, indeed, win. Which set up an epic showdown on Friday evening. The Juniors (High School team) played at 2pm, with the shot at winning the Junior National Championship. It was a well fought game, a tough game, but in the end we came out victorious by 11.

The little Indian dancers at halftime, yet again!

The crowd goes wild!

The 2-Time National Championship Juniors Team

The crowd was rockin, there was electricity surging throughout the arena, and anticipation was mounting over the Senior game. Then it began.

The game was tight for 3 quarters. We had some solid defense throughout the game, had good passing, but weren't making good shots. The other team...well they had a lot of great flagrant fouls (2 REAL, REAL bad cheap shots, including their star player punching our star player right in the family jewels), and a lot of great technical's (4, yes, 4 technical fouls). Somehow they kept it close, though. Then, finally in the 4th (when most of their top line was on the bench in foul trouble) our guys ran away with it. We absolutely put the hammer down on them. They tried to hurt us in the place where it hurts most (you know...see above), so we hurt them where it hurts most- the Scoreboard. We were making HUGE blocks, HUGE rebounds, and our 3 point shooters came alive. We had the game sealed by the halfway mark of the 4th quarter, and the crowd knew it. The players knew it. It was SO loud, SO exhilarating waiting for the clock to hit 0 and our team to be crowned national champions. And then it happened. The game ended, the Red Lions had the first-ever 18-0 sweep, it was the first time that a school had the double championship (Juniors and Seniors), and the place went crazy! It was unbelievable to be a part of, so surreal, so fantastic. When we got back on campus "We are the Champions" was blaring from every speaker, the celebration began, and a great night was had by all. Truly, history in the making.