My First Honest-to-Goodness Visitor

Photo by Stephen Wallace (with Henna's camera)

Henna Garrison (Groton '04) happened to be in Bali living the good life for a few months with her folks after graduating from college and needed a visa run. Guess where she came? To visit with her favorite old teacher and dorm head of course: Jdubb! (The girls of Wallaces '03-'04 gave me that moniker, which always secretly thrilled me. You know people like you when they give you a nickname they're willing to say to your face. Down deep I'm still the insecure 2nd grader whose teacher had to lecture the other girls to be nicer to, so I live for cute, inclusive nicknames.)
Henna had seen beaches and tropical living at their most splendiferous in Bali, so we worked on a most urban respite, full of smoky bars and live jazz (the Hobbit House was a big hit--a bar staffed entirely by midgets and dwarves). Yeah, and she spent a lot of time at the Oar, too, of course, with this crazy crowd. This picture was taken was not taken on the weekend of Henna's visit, but instead just before the new year at the supposedly "closing night" commiseration (before we found out that the Oar would in fact open again in a matter of days!). It's a little out of place here, but I was just looking for an excuse to post it. Whaddya want, coherence? This ain't my day job, ya know.
After these Manila excursions we did settle down to a wonderful brunch at Sonya's Garden in Tagaytay, which is sort of a writ-large model of what we hope to do on our farm. Sonya has made it into big business, which is not our intent, but the set up of her operation is still charming and locally-focused, not industrial. Her grow-houses even inspired Stephen to draw up plans for our own. (By the way, construction has started on our first platform on the farm. Stay tuned!)

And another staple in my Manila introduction is Carlos's intramuros tour (I've mentioned him so much recently I should get a kickback...just kidding, Carlos!):
Most of these photos are Henna's, and I have to say that I am quite impressed by her snaps because half the time I did not see that she was taking them. Below is San Augustin church, the only remaining Spanish cathedral in Intramuros after World War II (and if you think that's because of those evil Japanese invaders, Carlos will set you straight--it's 'cause of the bombs we Yanks dropped on those evil Japanese invaders...not that they didn't deserve it for their massacre of Filipino civilians, but the bombing campaign wasn't exactly a picnic for the local residents either. Bombs stubbornly refuse to differentiate between soldier and civilian. Plus ca change...eh?)
The church is beautiful, but misleading. It looks all carved marble and old world, but it's really a big white box painted to look that way.
I'd laugh at this example of ultra-cheez, but as Carlos points out, where would they have gotten marble to line their churches, anyway? These volcanic islands have ash, mud, and mother-of-pearl in abundance, but not hard rock. And, what the hell, I just love Intramuros, anyway, even the Starbucks built into the wall.Thanks, Henna, for coming to see little ol' me in this hot corner of the world. We will miss you and good luck in the rest of your travels. There is now room at the inn for the next traveler...