Out and about in Cebu City



Magellan's (the explorer who settled here) cross

I didn’t expect to have a day off, but I must say it was a nice way to break up the work. On Sunday, we had the choice between a city tour and golf. Given that my golf talents are non-existent and it’s a mere 90 degrees outside with at least as much humidity, I opted for an air conditioned bus to take in some sights. I was pretty tired and still tasting the wine from the hospitality room antics of the night before, but glad to not be wearing scrubs and filling in forms by hand.



Cebu, we’re told is about 80% Roman Catholic, which explained somewhat why the streets were more quiet on this day. These deeply religious people flocked to hundreds of churches on the island to take in their weekly mass. One of our first stops of the day was at the Basilica, the cathedral on the island where (no joke) hundreds of people cued up to file into the bleachers before services began outside of the actual cathedral. We were able to walk around inside and take some photos. It was clear that there’s been a strong Western influence on this country – at least when it comes to religion. Inside the cathedral, people lined up to touch the glass surrounding some kind of religious monument. I didn’t get close enough to see what it was, but the line was at least an hour I was told to merely walk by and touch it.

Afterwards we walked through the St. Nino Museum. St. Nino is a big deal here. He’s everywhere and I haven’t yet figured out what it’s all about. I should. More on him later. But suffice it to say, he’s got one of everything in the museum. People give him offerings and gifts – jewelry, clothing, toys – one which was probably some child’s favorite: a tricycle-sized plastic toy car.

We made a several other stops touring a monument in the middle of the city showing Magellan’s arrival and the years that followed; a historical house built with strong Spanish influence (the antiques in there would cause both of my parents to salivate like Pavlovian experiment subjects), and ended up at a beach resort where they had yet another buffet lunch and entertainment lined up. After lunch a few people were able to swim in the sea; in my post-party state I failed to bring along a bathing suit so I had to settle for dipping my legs into the tepid water. It really was quite beautiful, though.

After a bus ride back to the hotel, I crashed in my bed for a two-hour power name before hitting the hospitality suite for a round of bottled water. But as I dozed off, I was still troubled by some of the street scenes I’d seen from the comfort of the air-conditioned bus. More on that later.




The monument for which people waited more than an hour to touch

 





Fort San Pedro



Lunch time was at this resort on the beach