Advance Party Arrives in Cebu

Dr. Tom Clark and Dr. Tom Jackson left Louisville, KY on Monday, December 7, 2009 as the advance party for the Cebu, Philippines trip. Ordinarily there is not an advance trip, but since this is the inaugural trip it was necessary. Their roles will be to make contact with the different coordinators in Cebu, as well as acquire some of the supplies required for the dental clinic.

Wednesday, December 9, 2009 -- So far our trip has been darn near perfect . Tom C. (TC) and I arrived to the Louisville airport as it started to snow and ice. We figured not again. It wasn’t. We boarded the flight and departed a little late but we were in the air and on our way. Then the airline captain said we had to hold awhile because of traffic in Atlanta. We thought, “Oh no. Not again. Here comes Birmingham!” (Note: one of the previous trips included a holding pattern and diversion to Birmingham) Well that didn’t happen either. We landed and worked our way slowly to Terminal E and slowly ate at McDonalds. We then leisurely went to the gate with plenty of time.

The flight to Seoul was full and a good flight. TC had nobody next to him in the middle section. Basically there were four seats and the two ends had people. He was loving it. He watched four movies and started his book. I watched four movies, played 60 holes of online golf, and lost $1,000 in Blackjack. Fortunately it was play money. The 14.5 hour flight went quickly.

After landing in Seoul we went to the KAL (Korean Air) lounge for frequent fliers. We had a nice meal in a relaxing atmosphere. After eating we checked out the electronic stores and exchanged cash. I would NOT suggest changing cash in Seoul. It will be cheaper using the money exchanger in Cebu we have arranged. Also note that the layover in Seoul is NOT a lot. Just keep that in mind. We got to the gate with about 20 minutes to spare. With a large group we might have been searching for people.

Flying to Cebu from Seoul was very difficult. Although both TC and I had entire rows to ourselves, we had been traveling all day, it was dark outside, we didn’t have the entertainment system, and it was just tiring. We were ready to get to Cebu and that flight was 4.5 more hours. That was a long flight. We both napped on that flight, but not too much.

We had a few things waiting for us upon arrival. A short customs line and luggage. Yep, the three bags we checked (suction and two stations) all arrived just fine. Our carry-ons made it too, making this one of the few flights everything made it with us. TC had his usual backpack of everything. I had my small suitcase and backpack. We had no questions leaving the airport and the Hilton people were outside the terminal to the right waiting for us. They bumped us up to the executive level upon check-in – that was very nice.

Joseph, the concierge on the executive level was awesome. After having a nice nights sleep we woke up about 6:30 a.m. We checked emails in the executive lounge as Joseph brought us coffee and helped us with EVERYTHING. We added minutes to my phone (yep, it still worked from our last trip but just need minutes), helped us set up internet in the room (costly but he gave us a better deal), and checked on our big group reservations. It was all there and paid for in full. I bet Laura is happy to hear that piece of news. He also helped us Skype.

We then went downstairs for a free buffet. The dental supplies did not arrive, although they did arrive later after we left. Their wire-transfer also arrived so they were very happy. At 10:00 a.m. Marichu and Erra arrived with Mario (our driver) to take us to Cebu for supplies. They bring birthday greetings to Joy, as do Tom and I. It was nice having them with us. We went straight to the building supply store. It was like a smaller Lowe’s. We got almost everything we needed. Those items we could not find we later found them in one of two other hardware type stores (Bennetts and Ace). After the building supply store (which took a long time) we dropped all the items off in Judith’s office. Judith is one of the coordinators and the principal at the Banilad Night High School. Her office was just up the street and very near where we will be staying for the bulk of our trip. After picking up Judith we went to the other hardware stores for our supplies. We also went to the pharmacy to pick up our order but it wasn’t ready yet.

We finally ate a late lunch/early dinner about 4:00 p.m. then rushed to the pharmacy to get our order. After dropping everyone off, and leaving our supplies in Judith’s office again, we came back to the Hilton totally wiped. Exhausted. I was so tired I immediately started to fall asleep (and fell asleep) once we dropped everyone off. Remember the drive from the Banilad to the Hilton is about 40-45 minutes.

It was a VERY productive day. We have all the things on the list except permanent markers. It was so productive, tonight TC even assembled some of his fittings he just bought for the units before crashing. He is out cold right now. I have caught my typical night owl second wind.

Tomorrow we go to Paril and drop off supplies. We will meet the new principal and familiarize ourselves with those operations. That is all we have planned. That will take most of the day when you figure 40 minutes to get to Judith’s office to get the other supplies and the 40-45 minute drive to Paril. We should arrive around noon or so and will probably stay a good 2-3 hours there. We have no plans to set-up since that is for the students. After that we are done with a day to spare. We can get caught up, rest, or solve new problems we didn’t know we had.

I will check us all in on Friday once I learn you are on your way (let me know when you leave SDF and ATL). My hope is to just give you keys when you get into the Hilton so you can go straight to bed. Of course the nightowl in me will still have me up.

Written by Dr. Tom Jackson, Jr.