October 24, 2024, Manila- I rode the Light Rail to United Nations Station and walked over to the museum complex, thinking I would visit those floors at the Natural History and nearby Fine Arts, that I had missed last time. A tricycle driver told me everything was closed. This made sense-more sense than this one heading out in the rain, even though my umbrella did its job. The national government took care of its workers and sent all non-essential staff home early.

Typhoon Kristine is here, and is dumping heavy rain, so that the streets are rivers, for the second time this visit. I have checked in with the residents of the Baha’i Center and advised them to shelter upstairs. Here at Ola! Hostel, we are all on the second floor or above, and even the staff are on a mezzanine level, safe from flooding. Kathy and her sons are on an upper floor of their building, so no worries about them. Somehow, the street people will also survive. This is de rigueur for them and most will take to fire escapes or hunker in lobbies of large buildings, including car parks-or in one of the 7-11s or Lawton’s Convenience Marts, which are open 24 hours a day.

Severe weather is just part of experiencing a place, and if I follow my current plan, typhoons will be a routine part of my life, in a year or so, just as hurricanes, monsoonal rains, blizzards and dust storms have all been, elsewhere. By 11 p.m., the rain is expected to subside and tomorrow will come, gray and damp, but without the flooding. We are all okay.