Around the Compound

I thought I would take you on a photo tour of the Episcopal Diocese of Santiago (EDS) compound today on the blog! The Diocese was founded only 13 years ago due to the large size of another diocese. The Episcopal Church of the Philippines (ECP) broke part of the larger diocese off to create EDS. At first the compound was a plot of land with one small building where the Bishop and a few staff members lived, had their offices, and held meetings. From what I've been told, it was cramped!

Front of the Cathedral which faces the main road.

Now the compound consists of the Bishop's house, five staff houses, the newly built cathedral of the diocese, which was consecrated this past May, the offices of the diocese, a conference room, and a guest house. I technically live in the guest house. They converted one of the rooms into my apartment and added the private bathroom. Therefore, my door doesn't lead to the outside but out to a common and dining area. Oh and those of you who are concerned about security, the compound is surrounded by a concrete wall with a gated entrance and a security guard walks around the property at night.

Living on the compound has given me an instant community, which is wonderful. However, it can feel isolating sometimes. It's about a 15-20 minute drive to Santiago City. If I need to go shopping or something, I have to get a ride from a staff member or take a tricycle, which I haven't done yet. Like everything, the compound has it's pros and cons. It's all part of the transition!

Here's the photo tour:

Back of the Cathedral, you can see the windows of the offices on the bottom floor.

This building sits about 200 yards behind the Cathedral. To the left side is the conference rooms for meetings. The right side is the guest house. Fun Fact: the Bishop planted all those trees. 

Ok, if you go into the main door of the guest house from the building in the previous photo, this is the view. My door is behind the table below the tortoise shell or shield thing hanging on the wall (hard to see).

View of the common area and guest house from my door. You can see two other doors of the other guest rooms on the opposite wall. 

Looking to the left out of my door. The next photo was taken after walking out of this door and turning to the left.

This is Anti Joyce's house which sits behind the back wall of my apartment. There's a large garden in between.

I did a complete 180 degree turn from the last photo to take this one. To the left is Vanessa's house and to the right those windows belong to my apartment. In the distance, you may see a bridge where the next photo is taken from.

This bridge leads to the rest of the staff houses. Once you cross over the bridge to the left is Ata Jocelyn's house and to the right is Pati Clearance's house.

Ata Jocelyn's House

Pati Clearance's, the Priest-in-charge of the Cathedral, house.

Looking back over the bridge towards the Cathedral. 

While writing this post, I realized I should make a map of the compound. I tried my best to describe it in the captions. But a map would give you all the best picture of the layout, so I'll work on that.

Thanks for reading!