Ryan and his first host family

The Rotary Club of North Davao insisted on hosting one of the team members their first week in Davao and Ryan was the lucky team member who got to stay in the beautiful home owned by Danny and Judy. The first night there, Danny insisted that Ryan try durian, the famed local fruit. They have a durian tree in their back yard, though the fruit we ate came from the market.

These two also have two birds, pictured in the photos. They are called minas and are able to mimic sounds. The birds greeted Ryan each morning with rounds of "Hello," "Hiii," and "Good morning."

The other photo is of Ryan and his hosts at breakfast one morning. Breakfast consists of rice, eggs, red sausage, and chicken for round one. Then came the round of fruit with pineapple, watermelon, jackfruit, chicos (a kiwi-like fruit that has a similar inner texture as pears), mangoes, and of course bananas. All delicious.