Crushed at Batangas

It's been a while since our last post - Sorry if you've checked often and not found anything new. I received some advice that I need to write more often. So here goes....

Last week, Easter, is known as 'holy week' here in the Philippines. Mike and Kara Wong were able to visit us for more than a week, which was an awesome blessing. We figured that we would travel to the OMF guesthouse in Calapan to relax and enjoy their hospitality. The only problem with this idea was that 'holy week' is the time for everyone to travel out of Manila and go somewhere else.

I wish we had taken a picture! To go pretty much anywhere by boat, you need to leave from Batangas. To get into the terminal waiting area, there is one door before the security check. Before the door are all the counters where you buy the tickets. I've never seen that room so crowded before. Actually, I'm not sure I've been in anything that crowded.

The whole room was filled with people, all trying to get through that one door. Some people were cutting across the door in order to buy the terminal entrance ticket (a boat ticket is not enough to get in, you need a terminal ticket as well!). Anyway, I'm carrying our bag with all our stuff in front of me, my arm cramping beacuse there's not enough room to put the bag down, pretty much leaning on Kara in front of me, all the while trying keep my balance and not fall over.

I saw the head of a young boy - couldn't see the rest of him - at about waist height. He looked as if he was just being carried along wherever the people around him went. I imagine it would have been quite a scary experience.

Well, we got through and just made it for our 7:15am boat ride.