We asked Anna questions about the cultural side of her mission, we want to have a picture of where she is and what her life is like.  She only had time to answer half our questions, but she finally figured out how to send us photos!  It's fun learning about the Philippine culture and the people Sister Allen loves so much.

What do the Filipinos do who don't use toilet paper?  

They just wash their bums instead.  The toilet paper clogs the toilets too, because there's no flush...you just fill the toilet with water and wait for it to drain.  I just use the TP and throw it in the trash. 

How do you wash your hair?

We have a dipper!  I don't have a pic of it, but I will send you one next pday.  It's like a big ladle, and we dip that in the bucket, and then pour that on your head.  It's pretty easy.  I just have to dump a lot of buckets because my hair is still so thick.  It's pretty easy to wash though!  No problem.

How do you wash your clothes

In a bucket of course!  You just have a bucket with soap and water and you scrub the clothes with your hands, then put them in a rinse bucket, and then you refill and re-rinse the clothes two more times, and then you hang them to dry.  We have powder soap packets and fabric conditioner that we use to wash them and make them smell nice.  Then we hang them on hangers and put them on a big rack, and wait (for a few days) for them to dry.

What is your bed like?  Is it comfortable,cold, hot?

It's comfy!  It gets hot, so I put a standing fan on a chair right above my head, since I'm on the top bunk, and the fan cools me off.  I still get hot though, cause it's so humid!  I don't sleep with a blanket.

Do you cook dinner?

Sometimes...we live right next to a restaurant, and a meal is like $1 in US dollars, so we get food there a lot at dinner.  

What do you make?

I make PB and J, ramen.....I don't really make anything.  I burn everything.....

Where is your companion from?

Manila!

Tell us something about your companion.

She is studying psychology and used to intern at a mental hospital.  Her mom died when my comp was 15 from a brain aneurysm.  Her dad is the stake patriarch, and he and her step mom are temple workers in Manila. She is so nice!  She is also very tiny.

What has surprised you the most about the Philippines?

All the people are always soooo into the fact that I'm American....they act like I'm famous and always say, "You look like a movie star!"  Also, a lot of tiny kids, like 2 and 3 years old just run rampant and free in the streets. 

what the pics are:

1. My comp and my house mates: Sis Maroket, Canlapan, and Culis.

2. A street in our area.  This is what most of the streets look like.  This is in our far away area, called Reina Mercedes.  It takes about 10-15 minutes tricie drive there.

3. Me in the rain!  Walking in the streets!  There's really no way of avoiding it, so you just walk through it. :)

4. Me and my comp this morning at our zone activity in the "bukid" area.  Bukid means country, so we were basically in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by rice fields and coconut trees, ahaha.

5. The food at the zone activity!  This is called a Budol Fight, where each team has a big leaf of food, and whoever eats more, wins!  I think we tied today.  It was yummy!  Rice, fish, and some veggies.  We also drank fresh coconut juice.  And we ate with our hands, cause that's what the Filipinos do.... it was fun and yummy. Dad would love it.

6.  Hahaha this is a drawing from my journal.  This is how I use the buckets! 

7.  The beautiful bukid area.  Pretty! 

8.  Our apartment! We also have an upstairs with two little rooms where we do our studies and where we keep all of our stuff.  Our stuff is high and dry! It gets really hot upstairs, so we usually don't spend much time up there, except for studies in the morning. 

Just know that I love you all so much.  I know that we can do all things, if we have faith and believe.  

xo Sister Anna Ray Allen