Zamboanga: Sr. Celine works in Lower Calarian, another neighborhood that is one of the poorest in Zamboanga. She gave me the tour starting with Silsilah's kindergarten classroom. When we opened the window, this was the view - the man fixing his boat, kids swimming, and the boy with his kite. This day was one of my favorites. The highlight was a conversation that I had with an Muslim elder who is a member of the neighborhood's "harmony council." Sr. Celine and I stopped to say hello outside the man's house and before I knew it chairs appeared for the three of us to sit in a vacant lot across the street. One of the first things he did was compare me to Fr. Sebastiano (who founded Silsilah) saying, "You're not afraid to come to these places." Soon there was a circle of children around us as well as an outer circle of young men who spoke so loudly about me that I had to lean forward to hear the gentleman speaking to me. I don't enjoy the celebrity quality of being foreign in the Philippines, but this was actually a very amusing situation. Perhaps because I enjoyed my white-haired friend so much. We talked about religion, of course. A bit about America's relationship to the Philippines. And my marriage prospects. After advising me not to settle for anyone who is not as educated as me, he said that he thought that if I found the right man it would not matter if he was rich or boy. Then he asked me with a grin, if I found the man to be the right kind of man, would I marry a Filipino? My response, "Yes, of course," met with loud cheers from our sizeable audience. And from the right side, shouts and pointing - "Here he is, this one, this one!" ..........Other two pics: Karioke is really under-appreciated in American culture, in my opinion; it's fun and good for the spirits even when, as here, you really don't know the song. Next is part of my 'despedita' (spelling?) or going away party; oh how I miss Filipino mango! It's the best in SouthEast Asia. Oh, one more random thing. I met an Iraqi in Zamboanga. How often do the non-uniformed American and Iraqi get a chance to chat war over a cup of Nescafe'? In the Philippines?