January 16

I think that I have already seen enough of this city to last a lifetime.   I am told that the islands of the Philippines are truly spectacular. But Cebu, their second largest city would be rated terrible by most Americans.

These are really nice people. They treat me and seemingly one another very kindly. They are a laughing singing people (known to be the best performers in Asia). I see families literally sitting in dirt with nothing but a few packs and laughing together and enjoying their children.

But their living conditions are very bad.

My nephew Michael took me to a truly beautiful resort out on the ocean side of Mactan island (sorry, forgot camera). And I have found two areas of new investment, nice “modern city”, both of them  a few blocks square. Isolated in a sea of poverty.

Some other parts of the city are OK.

Just a typical 3^rd world country trapped in the vicious cycle of low investment=low productivity=low wealth creation=poor conditions=low investment.

I did not try to point my cell phone camera at people in desperate conditions. There are plenty of them here. But here are some street scenes to give you an idea.

The traffic is horrific. There are strange vehicles like Jeepney busses and motorcycle sidecar cabs. It is very dirty and polluted. There are usually no sidewalks adding to the traffic chaos.

You see everything on the street. Haircuts, pedicures, cooking, washing, grooming. Armed guards with pistols and often sawed off shotguns are at the entrances of any significant buildings. A significant portion of the population is constantly involved in vehicle maintenance.

The few cultural sites I have been able to track down (almost no street signs) are in terrible condition.

And it is hard to stick the camera inside places, but here are a few.

THERE IS A BIG FESTIVAL COMING. Everyone is pretty worked up with anticipation about this. Some set up is already underway .. and here are a few photos. I will try to send more later.