Through a twist of fate, I saw Mhay and Cherry walking a little distance from us, and pointed them out to Ms. Ramos. About that time, Mhay happened to look in our direction and saw us. She smiled and waved at us, then nudged Cherry, who did the same. I was proud of Kelly when she remembered to extend her arm and let her hand drop to gesture that we'd like them to come over. Both readily changed direction toward us, and in a few moments, they were in an animated conversation with Ms.

Ramos. When they were done, Mhay and Cherry both told us it was nice to see us again, and wished us well. Kelly and I reciprocated, and the two of them headed back the direction they'd been going while Ms. Ramos watched.

When they were out of earshot, Ms. Ramos told us "You pleased – and surprised – both of them very much with your willingness and ability to learn to speak Tagalog. Cherry in particular is grateful for your help in letting her improve her English."

Then she looked at me speculatively, and said "There aren't many U.S.sailors that come to our country that take the time or effort to learn our language, Mr. Marshall."

"Please, call me Dan – and this is Kelly. I'm sorry to say that I know that, Ms. Ramos." – "It would be Miss Ramos, but I think Marlyn would be better since we'll be together for a while." – "But the Philippines isn't the only country I spent time in, and I found that I liked to learn about the places I was lucky enough to visit. I also found that it was easier to get the help that I so often needed if I was able to speak at least a little bit of the language. I have no illusion that I am fluent in Tagalog; but I hope that I can at least be polite."

She listened to that, and when I was done, told me "Yes, I think that you were probably the kind of visitor that we like to have here, Dan."

Then she turned to Kelly and said "I was told that this is your first trip to our country. You impressed Cherry and Mhay very much with how quickly and well you learned the Tagalog they were able to teach you.