Well, things are still in stagnation land, here in Pasig City, Metro Manila, the Philippines. However, I am indebted to some generous contributions from the home front in the United States. So here’s a big “shout out” to my mom, Bertha Brennan and my sister Madelyn and family. Your assistance is much appreciated, each day, at the dinner table while we figure out how to proceed forward. I’d send you guys “Thanks for Donating” T-shirts – but the post office is still flooded 
By the way, it’s Madelyn’s birthday this Saturday. I think she’s going to be somewhere in her mid-60’s. Anyway, she’s much older than I am.
The family dynamic continues to be rather interesting. I don’t have a handle on the number of folks staying in our 2 bedroom upper floor of the duplex. It seems to be in constant flux. But it’s somewhere between 13 and14. Because of school, etc. you only really see everyone at night. Then it’s like a tribal affair. Timing is crucial since the one toilet\bathing room has to accommodate all toilet\washing\laundry needs. Fortunately, I’m a nocturnal creature – so it’s not too bad. I’ve even mastered the 8-inch high, non-flush, non-seat toilet. But I’ll leave those details to the imagination. Oddly enough, though, bathing out of a bucket of cold water with a large plastic ladle is actually more efficient when it comes to getting clean. Who knew? I guess the only really disorienting part is being around so many folks who are speaking a language that I have yet to learn. But they’re as friendly as one can imagine and their cultural background affords me a lot of consideration since I’m the senior male of the tribe. The only real obstacles I have to overcome now are truly understanding all the internal workings of the culture and trying to get enough sleep in this environment. The surgical placement of pins in my right leg does a bit poorly in a humid environment (coupled with the sleeping-on- the-floor deal). Also, I’ve noticed something else unusual. The tropical environment has slowed the metabolism of the locals down to the point where they can sleep anywhere at anytime – deeply. So when one of them gets up at 3AM to get ready for work in the call center and others get up at 5AM for school – I’m the only one who is also awakened. So sleep is sporadic at night. But I’m learning to catch naps in the daytime. I’ll write more about the cultural environment in future posts. Damn, I’m leaning a lot…