Our home for the month is in the heart of a very poor area called Cuatro. Cuatro is Tagalog/Spanish for the word Four because this tragically destitute neighborhood sits on the edge of the fourth hole of the ritziest golf course in Manila. We live in a small compound, behind a gated iron fence. The main house is about the size of a smallish McMansion in the US. Upstairs there are five bedrooms, each with their own bathroom. Our host family lives in an adjacent building with their children. They have extra bedrooms there too, so of course, more World Racers are living there. There will be a video of all of this soon, but for right now, I can only give a few little glimpses of life here.
Every single one of us (all fifty-one) have been provided a bed, with sheets already on it, complete with a pillow and towel. We have two cooks in the kitchen who prepare us American-style breakfasts and dinners every day, and we have Filipino take-out for lunch. We have hot showers and drinkable water out of every tap. There is a balcony with a porch swing off the upstairs living room and a huge laundry room in the basement with modern washers and dryers. Oh yeah, and there is a four-person hot tub downstairs too. This lovely home has now been dubbed the World Race Palace because it is so amazing (and extremely atypical of World Race accommodations).
All of this is, as I said, is behind an iron fence. Stay tuned for the next blog about what else is on the other side of the gate!
