Steve & Whitney

I was going through the files in my work folder in my laptop this morning and saw some shots I did of Steve and Whitney, a couple who were nice enough to sit down for an interview with me a couple of months ago.

I was doing a story about how the local tourism is faring under the whiplash of the economic crisis, and Steve and Whitney were the perfect interviewees because a) they once were tourists b) Steve works in the diving biz (as underwater photographer) for a couple of years now and hence, deals with tourists on a regular basis and c) they are just so nice.

However, what really struck me was their love story. He's Belgian and she's American. They met here in Dumaguete City about 5 years ago as tourists. Fell in love with the city, and with each other. Eventually they got hitched and now they chose to settle down here in the city, where Whitney volunteers in a couple of humanitarian works.

As I was watching them during the interview, I wanted to go grab a groom and get hitched in the nearest church. (hehe).

It also turns out that the person who introduced them to each other is a former classmate of mine back in high school. Such a small, beautiful world, isn't it?

Here's an interesting qoute from them in my write-up:

In their more than five years stay in the country, Fleming and de Neef said that even the negative experiences have ended positively. "I once had something stolen from our house. The next day we already knew who had it, because the whole neighborhood came together and helped us. We went to the barangay captain and the guy who stole it was there and even he was friendly," mused de Neef.

But of course, not all thieves here are that friendly. But in most cases, de Neef's experience do ring true.

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By the way, the lines are still open for party guests who wish to participate in the GWWAI game. Mister Linky for the game is stickied at the top part of this blog.

Also, a little reminder: I'm closing the lines this Sunday for party guests who wish to receive their digi goodie bags. So choose which one you want and email it to me fast before Sunday. You need to email me if you want to get your digi goodie bag BEFORE Sunday.