This Weekend, I....v.1

This post is my first link-up with Syndal and Sar. They're hosting a new link-up called This Weekend, I...



1. I went to the Women's Correctional for an outreach activity Saturday morning. I was with the whole grade school faculty and at first we were quite apprehensive about the whole idea.  We didn't know what to expect about the women there and this worried us a lot.

We were in for a surprise because the experience turned out to be so different from what we were so afraid would happen.  We prepared a short program for around fifty inmates who did not get visitors very often.  They all participated actively in the games, although they were of varied ages.  Every teacher was assigned two inmates to interact with and the ones assigned to me did not get any visitor at all because their families lived in another island. Visiting them would require their families to spend which they couldn't afford because they were poor.

I was so sorry for both women, specially for the elder one who last saw her youngest son nine years ago when he was still one year old! Imagine that!  She wasn't able to pay a debt of 76,000 pesos (around 1,500 US dollars)and she got 16 years imprisonment for that.

She seemed resigned to her fate and is just leaving everything to God. She kept preaching to me about God's word and she said that it was only in the facility where she learned how to pray.  I thought that it was a good thing that she found God there but I was also saddened by the fact that most people would only really learn to call on God when they are already in need.  It also reminded me of what my mom always would always tell me, "Pray, pray, pray....do not wait for God to tap you."

Anyway, we really had a nice time and I felt guilty about the things that we brought.  I actually wished we had brought more for them.

2.  Ruel picked me up from school after the outreach.  The teachers arrived in school around 12:30. We were all tired but happy from the outreach experience.  Some of them stayed in school to work. I was excited because Ruel and I were going to have our invitations printed.  Yay!  Goodness!  It took us almost two hours just choosing the design, the colors and the fonts!  Still, it was a happy time!

3.  After the trip to the invitation supplier, Ruel and I went to a trade fair exhibit.  It was  a feast for the eyes! If only I had money to burn, I would have bought half of what I saw!

Here are some of the things at the fair.

These are antiques from Mindanao.  I really wanted to buy some antique forks but as I have said, no money to burn!

Nativity Scene for one's garden

Modern Christmas lanterns and some other capiz products

The stones are real, the metal is plated in 24 carat gold....I actually felt a little headache coming up from looking at the jewelries.  They were just too bright!

Ooops! Sorry for my finger there!  These are wallets made of snake skin.

Some cheap vases

There were so many pretty things there which I was not able to take pictures of because I was afraid that because they looked so unique, the sellers would not allow me to take pictures of them.

There were also a lot of food items.  Ruel spent our money on some  and we ate while we went around.  I wanted more!!!!  But things are tight because of the wedding planning.  We're trying to save as much as we can.  I'm actually so lucky we live here because I don't have to pay for my wedding.  Ruel is  spending for 85% of the cost.   I told him, I had limited means and could only pay for some minor things.

Anyway, I ended up buying  some accessories and a wallet made of snake skin.
I'm actually so happy with the wallet!

So that's how I spent my weekend.  How did you spend yours?