On Monday morning I attempted to get to Tacloban, ground zero for the recent typhoon, for work, but due to some flight issues had to overnight in Cebu before finally making it to Tacloban on Tuesday morning. Luckily Cebu isn't a terrible place to get stranded and there were several of us in the same boat from various organizations funding recovery efforts. Cebu was the landing point for Magellan (and his cross), as well as the site of his death.
Lapu Lapu - his troops killed Magellaan.
His head was recently cracked during the October earthquake
Magellan's cross, still being propped up after damage from the earthquake
Tuesday was a more somber day as I attended meetings related to recovery efforts in Tacloban and witnessed first hand some of the devastation from the Nov typhoon. Though the destruction was incredible, the most visible and striking observation of the trip was actually seeing the resilience of the people who remain and the fact that daily life continues to go on. The markets are re-opening, people are reconstructing using whatever materials they can salvage, city offices are re-opening under makeshift conditions, haircuts are being given on top of debris piles, water and electricity have been restored in parts of the city, and a Christmas tree of plastic bottles is being erected in the town square.
The Airport
I assumed that these boats were fishing, but they are actually salvaging bottles of rum from a boat that sank during the storm
Pasko = Christmas
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