Monday, September 29, 2008
A Photo Update
A street in Dauin, A goat, and me at a resort where I ate dinner after snorkeling. Enjoy!
Snorkel!
I wish that I could show you what I saw yesterday afternoon when I went snorkeling in a protected area of coral off the coast of Dauin. Dauin is a city next to Dumaguete. I have been told that many people are trying to protect the coral now so there are these preserve type things all over. It was great to see so many fish, the only two I could identify was the clown fish made popular by the film "Finding Nemo" and the angel fish.
As for an update on ministry...
My girls are doing so well with reading! The older one is advancing into more difficult books and the middle girl is continuing to make progress on word pronunciation. The youngest girl is not developing as quickly and so I am thinking of new methods on how to get her to remember letters. She can tell me the ABCs over and over again, but if you point at the letter "H" she will have no idea what it is. We've gotten through A-G so far.
Today the two older girls had their pre-trial for their ongoing case. The younger one seemed fine, but the older one was very emotional today. I do not know the circumstance that these girls came through, and out of privacy laws, I will never know unless they tell me. All I know is that they need prayer. Please continue to keep praying for these three girls and for their continued zeal for learning to read, their ongoing case in court and upcoming trial, as well as their spiritual and emotional needs.
All of the toddlers are doing well. Two of the boys who are brothers have just been approved for inter country matching! This is exciting news. Another boy will soon be placed in Italy and soon as his parents make arrangements to come out here and get him! So exciting for these kids to be placed and start their lives with their families!
Again, sorry for such a delay in the updates, my internet hasn't been working as per usual.
I hope everyone is doing well!
Love love, Amanda
As for an update on ministry...
My girls are doing so well with reading! The older one is advancing into more difficult books and the middle girl is continuing to make progress on word pronunciation. The youngest girl is not developing as quickly and so I am thinking of new methods on how to get her to remember letters. She can tell me the ABCs over and over again, but if you point at the letter "H" she will have no idea what it is. We've gotten through A-G so far.
Today the two older girls had their pre-trial for their ongoing case. The younger one seemed fine, but the older one was very emotional today. I do not know the circumstance that these girls came through, and out of privacy laws, I will never know unless they tell me. All I know is that they need prayer. Please continue to keep praying for these three girls and for their continued zeal for learning to read, their ongoing case in court and upcoming trial, as well as their spiritual and emotional needs.
All of the toddlers are doing well. Two of the boys who are brothers have just been approved for inter country matching! This is exciting news. Another boy will soon be placed in Italy and soon as his parents make arrangements to come out here and get him! So exciting for these kids to be placed and start their lives with their families!
Again, sorry for such a delay in the updates, my internet hasn't been working as per usual.
I hope everyone is doing well!
Love love, Amanda
Thursday, September 25, 2008
My Third Week
Hello Everyone!
Sorry for a lag in an update. I haven’t had my internet working for the past couple of days. Lots of great stuff is happening here too!
The orphanage won a cash prize of 50,000 pisos for a contest that they did not enter. This is such a blessing from God considering it is almost time for the college tuition to be paid and that is 53,000 pisos. ($1,142 for three girls for one quarter)
The girls are doing great with their reading! We are reading through those little phonics books and they love saying that they have read 6 or 8 books in one day. The middle girl finally learned the word “the” and no longer says “team”, the older girl begs to read more everyday and spend a longer time with me, and the littlest hasn’t had a meltdown yet this week! Praise God!
The two kids I ride along with to school are doing well. The girl is just precious and the other day one of the yayas (caretakers for the kids) stood her up and held her there for a few minutes and she just thought it was the greatest thing. She laughed so hard that she snorted and giggled.
The boy has been having a hard time the past couple of days and cannot handle loud noises or waiting. When he is in the room with all of the toddlers and they are crying and yelling he gets very upset and when we go to school to pick up the girls and he has to sit in the car he gets more upset as well. He becomes very active by yelling and moving around and flailing his arms and legs. Sometimes he wants you to touch him and hug him. Other times he does not want you to be near him. He responds well to singing so I always hum songs to him.
I guess that is all I will update for now. It’s Friday for me today and we are having a toddler outing. Those are always fun.
Blessings to all!
Love love, Amanda
Sorry for a lag in an update. I haven’t had my internet working for the past couple of days. Lots of great stuff is happening here too!
The orphanage won a cash prize of 50,000 pisos for a contest that they did not enter. This is such a blessing from God considering it is almost time for the college tuition to be paid and that is 53,000 pisos. ($1,142 for three girls for one quarter)
The girls are doing great with their reading! We are reading through those little phonics books and they love saying that they have read 6 or 8 books in one day. The middle girl finally learned the word “the” and no longer says “team”, the older girl begs to read more everyday and spend a longer time with me, and the littlest hasn’t had a meltdown yet this week! Praise God!
The two kids I ride along with to school are doing well. The girl is just precious and the other day one of the yayas (caretakers for the kids) stood her up and held her there for a few minutes and she just thought it was the greatest thing. She laughed so hard that she snorted and giggled.
The boy has been having a hard time the past couple of days and cannot handle loud noises or waiting. When he is in the room with all of the toddlers and they are crying and yelling he gets very upset and when we go to school to pick up the girls and he has to sit in the car he gets more upset as well. He becomes very active by yelling and moving around and flailing his arms and legs. Sometimes he wants you to touch him and hug him. Other times he does not want you to be near him. He responds well to singing so I always hum songs to him.
I guess that is all I will update for now. It’s Friday for me today and we are having a toddler outing. Those are always fun.
Blessings to all!
Love love, Amanda
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Coconuts and Chickens
So this morning I was reading in my room when all of a sudden I hear this noise on the deck outside of my house. Thinking it was the dog, I looked out my window, but didn't see him. So I slowly opened the door to see the cat playing with a moth. I went to shut the door but something under the chair caught my eye. Just then, the cat jumped at it and by the time I reacted to shut my door, there was a chicken in my room! She went under one of the beds in my cottage and I couldn't get it out! After moving furniture, pocking her with an umbrella, and yelling at it a bunch, she finally escaped.
Just for kicks, here is a photo of her under the bed:
After lunch the girls wanted to harvest some coconuts. (the property was originally a coconut field) So they got all of the tools out and I helped pull the coconuts out of the tree with this knife attached to a long pole. Then we cut open the coconuts with a large knife, and then poured out the water and scraped out the insides of the coconuts. It was so much fun! I was only allowed to cut open one of the coconuts because one of the girls said I worried her. She was scared that I was going to chop off one of my fingers. I am happy to report that I still have all ten fingers.
Then I played a bunch of games with my 3 girls. I tried to teach them new games. They really enjoyed "duck duck goose" and couldn't quite understand "simon says" As per usual, they were a handful. One of them got in trouble for stealing at school this week, and the other two are both on restriction as well for other acting out that they have done in the past week. They have all been in bad and defiant moods this past week. I've been trying to work very hard with them and whenever I get frustrated I just keep thinking that this is the reason why I am here. I have been reading with them a lot and it is great to see how excited they are to just have a story read to them. Please continue to pray for these girls. They really need a lot of love and attention and patience.
Just for kicks, here is a photo of her under the bed:
After lunch the girls wanted to harvest some coconuts. (the property was originally a coconut field) So they got all of the tools out and I helped pull the coconuts out of the tree with this knife attached to a long pole. Then we cut open the coconuts with a large knife, and then poured out the water and scraped out the insides of the coconuts. It was so much fun! I was only allowed to cut open one of the coconuts because one of the girls said I worried her. She was scared that I was going to chop off one of my fingers. I am happy to report that I still have all ten fingers.
Then I played a bunch of games with my 3 girls. I tried to teach them new games. They really enjoyed "duck duck goose" and couldn't quite understand "simon says" As per usual, they were a handful. One of them got in trouble for stealing at school this week, and the other two are both on restriction as well for other acting out that they have done in the past week. They have all been in bad and defiant moods this past week. I've been trying to work very hard with them and whenever I get frustrated I just keep thinking that this is the reason why I am here. I have been reading with them a lot and it is great to see how excited they are to just have a story read to them. Please continue to pray for these girls. They really need a lot of love and attention and patience.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Its Raining Its Pouring
It hasn't stopped raining since last night. The thing I love most about when it rains here, is that everything dries relatively fast. Not to mention that once it stops raining, it makes everything more vibrant and beautiful. Yet at the same time, I hope it stops raining soon because we are going on a toddler outing today to the park and if its raining, that wont work.
On Monday after the staff meeting I was asked to help out with some social work business in the office. I am super excited to start doing that. I will be helping write the case studies for the set of triplets and the set of quadruplets and once those are finished I will help with some of the other children who arrived more recently. I was able to read a case study file about a set of brothers who are here and it really puts a lot into perspective about who they are and why they act a certain way. I am also currently reading "Adopting a Filipino Child: The Intercountry Way" It is very interesting so far, I haven't gotten that much into it yet but i am already learning a lot.
My time with the 3M's is going great! The youngest is being punished for the hour outburst she had with me so I haven't worked with her all the much yet. She got an answer wrong and started to act out so it became a very big ordeal ending with her not being able to have one on one time with me this whole week and loss of privleges to take the kids to school. She is learning because she sees the other girls getting this special attention and says "I want to write" but we can't because of what happened and it is really making her think about it. Before coming to Rainbow these girls had no structure or rules and it is a very difficult process to teach them.
As for the other two girls, they are doing great. We are currently working on sight words such as "round, good, look, it, of, their, there, around..." and as a reward I let them pick a book in the beginning from the library and when we are done with the cards I read the book out loud and when it is one of their words, they have to read it. They both get very excited when they get it right. Fridays I told them we fun days where we will do a craft, play games, or read more stories, but it all depends on how well they work during the week. I made a chart for them so if they follow directions and improve and aren't too distracted they get a good mark and the person with the most good marks gets to choose the activity.
Yesterday was my day off. Which I ended up working for most of the time anyway because I did not really have anything to do. First I was able to go to the farmers market type thing called the Tabo and buy a lot of fruit and veggies. It was a really fun experience and I am so glad I got to buy more mangos. Later in the morning I played with the toddlers and hung out with the blind autistic boy. He is starting to become more and more attached to me. He will hear my voice and find me and latch on to my arm and not let go. When it was lunchtime I was able to help feed the triplets because they are still too young to feed themselves. After lunch I asked if Carmen, the young missionary, wanted to go to town for lunch. We took a pedicab into town and ate at jollybee. It is kind of like McDonalds but it also has chicken and spagetti. Very interesting. I'm not sure if I will go there again but it was good for a try. After we ate lunch we came out of the resturaunt and it was pouring down rain. We made out way back to the pedicab terminal and got on one. I had to sit behind the driver on the motor and had my feet hanging off. Normally this wouldn't be so bad, but since it was raining there was a lot of puddles on the ground and so my feet kept dipping into them and it was kind of gross.
When I came home I went back to my room to hang out for a bit and dry off because of the rain. I noticed that it was time to take the two kids to school in the afternoon and I was kind of sad that it was my day off and that I did not have to go. Then Kuya Mike came over and he was like are you going to come today? And then they realized that it was my day off and felt so bad but I told them that it was okay and went along for school drop off and pick up. When we came home I tutored the girls because the person who is supposed to tutor them on Wednesday nights hasn't been around lately. After that I went over to Leanna's and watched one of my favorite shows Filipino style. It was pretty comical to see such a vast difference.
Hope everyone is doing well! Thank you for all of your prayers and nice comments!
On Monday after the staff meeting I was asked to help out with some social work business in the office. I am super excited to start doing that. I will be helping write the case studies for the set of triplets and the set of quadruplets and once those are finished I will help with some of the other children who arrived more recently. I was able to read a case study file about a set of brothers who are here and it really puts a lot into perspective about who they are and why they act a certain way. I am also currently reading "Adopting a Filipino Child: The Intercountry Way" It is very interesting so far, I haven't gotten that much into it yet but i am already learning a lot.
My time with the 3M's is going great! The youngest is being punished for the hour outburst she had with me so I haven't worked with her all the much yet. She got an answer wrong and started to act out so it became a very big ordeal ending with her not being able to have one on one time with me this whole week and loss of privleges to take the kids to school. She is learning because she sees the other girls getting this special attention and says "I want to write" but we can't because of what happened and it is really making her think about it. Before coming to Rainbow these girls had no structure or rules and it is a very difficult process to teach them.
As for the other two girls, they are doing great. We are currently working on sight words such as "round, good, look, it, of, their, there, around..." and as a reward I let them pick a book in the beginning from the library and when we are done with the cards I read the book out loud and when it is one of their words, they have to read it. They both get very excited when they get it right. Fridays I told them we fun days where we will do a craft, play games, or read more stories, but it all depends on how well they work during the week. I made a chart for them so if they follow directions and improve and aren't too distracted they get a good mark and the person with the most good marks gets to choose the activity.
Yesterday was my day off. Which I ended up working for most of the time anyway because I did not really have anything to do. First I was able to go to the farmers market type thing called the Tabo and buy a lot of fruit and veggies. It was a really fun experience and I am so glad I got to buy more mangos. Later in the morning I played with the toddlers and hung out with the blind autistic boy. He is starting to become more and more attached to me. He will hear my voice and find me and latch on to my arm and not let go. When it was lunchtime I was able to help feed the triplets because they are still too young to feed themselves. After lunch I asked if Carmen, the young missionary, wanted to go to town for lunch. We took a pedicab into town and ate at jollybee. It is kind of like McDonalds but it also has chicken and spagetti. Very interesting. I'm not sure if I will go there again but it was good for a try. After we ate lunch we came out of the resturaunt and it was pouring down rain. We made out way back to the pedicab terminal and got on one. I had to sit behind the driver on the motor and had my feet hanging off. Normally this wouldn't be so bad, but since it was raining there was a lot of puddles on the ground and so my feet kept dipping into them and it was kind of gross.
When I came home I went back to my room to hang out for a bit and dry off because of the rain. I noticed that it was time to take the two kids to school in the afternoon and I was kind of sad that it was my day off and that I did not have to go. Then Kuya Mike came over and he was like are you going to come today? And then they realized that it was my day off and felt so bad but I told them that it was okay and went along for school drop off and pick up. When we came home I tutored the girls because the person who is supposed to tutor them on Wednesday nights hasn't been around lately. After that I went over to Leanna's and watched one of my favorite shows Filipino style. It was pretty comical to see such a vast difference.
Hope everyone is doing well! Thank you for all of your prayers and nice comments!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Weekends are Fun!
Usually I have duty on Saturdays at night. But this weekend was full of events. Saturday was birthday lunch. Three of our girls had birthdays in the past week so we celebrated with lunch, cake, and they each got one gift which is customary in the Philippines to only have one. Then I taught some games to some of the kids and we played for about 3 hours. Then we all sat around and did Bible trivia. It is amazing to hear just how much these kids know about the Bible. I am so impressed. I didn't even know some of the answers and they rattled them off like it was nothing! After that we played more games and suddenly it was time for dinner.
For dinner I went to the missionaries house for a Rainbow Missionaries dinner. We had some authentic Filippino food which consisted of fish, eggroll type things, an aray of noodles, and watermelon, We discussed a lot about the Lord and how he works here at Rainbow and the surrounding cities. It was very encouaging. We also talked about the upcoming celebrations that Dumaguete has during the Holiday season, which starts now. Christmas music has began to play in stores and soon people will start to decorate.
After the dinner I went over to Leanna's cottage, where every Saturday night is a movie night with all of the girls. It was a lot of fun to hear all of their reactions to the movie we were watching.
Sundays are my day off. I went to the later service at church and afterwards I went out to lunch at a Korean place and ate some more traditional Filippino food. I had BBQ pork (which usually I do not like, but this was pretty good), garlic rice, and an egg. It was a very weird combination, but it all tasted pretty good. After that we went across the street to a desert place and four of us shared two mini cakes. One tasted awful, like it had been sitting there for years, and the other one tasted very good.
Our plan was to go to the beach afterward but it started to pour down rain and the car we were taking did not have windshield wipers that worked. So we decided to take a jeepney. These are what look like small school busses made of scrap metal. There is no limit to how many people can ride in one of them. They even pull out little wooden seats to fit down the center isle to accomidate more and more people. We got to the beach which was about 30 minutes down the road and we hung out there until it was very dark. We went swimming in the water and we watched the fishermen pulling out their nets. It was a full moon and the ocean looked so beautiful.
We ate dinner with our hands which consisted of fish on a stick, rice, and dipping sauce. After we cleaned up dinner we headed home. It was a great weekend but I was very tired and slept in kind of late this morning. I have a staff meeting at 9am which I am really excited for!
For dinner I went to the missionaries house for a Rainbow Missionaries dinner. We had some authentic Filippino food which consisted of fish, eggroll type things, an aray of noodles, and watermelon, We discussed a lot about the Lord and how he works here at Rainbow and the surrounding cities. It was very encouaging. We also talked about the upcoming celebrations that Dumaguete has during the Holiday season, which starts now. Christmas music has began to play in stores and soon people will start to decorate.
After the dinner I went over to Leanna's cottage, where every Saturday night is a movie night with all of the girls. It was a lot of fun to hear all of their reactions to the movie we were watching.
Sundays are my day off. I went to the later service at church and afterwards I went out to lunch at a Korean place and ate some more traditional Filippino food. I had BBQ pork (which usually I do not like, but this was pretty good), garlic rice, and an egg. It was a very weird combination, but it all tasted pretty good. After that we went across the street to a desert place and four of us shared two mini cakes. One tasted awful, like it had been sitting there for years, and the other one tasted very good.
Our plan was to go to the beach afterward but it started to pour down rain and the car we were taking did not have windshield wipers that worked. So we decided to take a jeepney. These are what look like small school busses made of scrap metal. There is no limit to how many people can ride in one of them. They even pull out little wooden seats to fit down the center isle to accomidate more and more people. We got to the beach which was about 30 minutes down the road and we hung out there until it was very dark. We went swimming in the water and we watched the fishermen pulling out their nets. It was a full moon and the ocean looked so beautiful.
We ate dinner with our hands which consisted of fish on a stick, rice, and dipping sauce. After we cleaned up dinner we headed home. It was a great weekend but I was very tired and slept in kind of late this morning. I have a staff meeting at 9am which I am really excited for!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Week One Done
Today my 3M's (My 3 girls and all of their names begin with M) drove me a bit crazy. They each have such different personalities and it is very difficult to reach out to them all at once. I was given a lot of resources to use with them; books, flash cards, notebooks, and a few games. I'm going to try to work with them one-on-one. This is going to be a very difficult task. Please pray that I am able to reach out to these girls through the language barrier, through the frustration, through their past issues, and eagerness to play and no desire to learn.
My first week here is completed. I almost feel like I have been here for longer than that. I am loving it here! I will update more later.
Blessings,
manda
My first week here is completed. I almost feel like I have been here for longer than that. I am loving it here! I will update more later.
Blessings,
manda
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
No Internet!
Sorry for everyone who has been keeping up with my blog and wondering where I went. The internet has not been working. For a few days I have no had internet connection.
With that, the past few days has been very busy! I was given my schedule of what my ministry would be here. I will be working with three girls aged 7, 11, and 13. I will be disciplining them for the next few months, hanging out with them and teaching them about Christ. Then four times a will help with school transport of the two children we have here with special needs. One has cerebral palsy and the other is blind and has autism. I really enjoy working with these two. They are wonderful to be in contact with, even if they can't speak. Two nights a week I will be tutoring the older girls with their homework, and the other three nights that I am scheduled I will be putting the toddlers to sleep and reading them stories, singing a song with them, and praying with them.
Yesterday I was able to go downtown with Ate Sheryl on a pedicab. She showed me more of the city and then we separated and I was able to walk around by myself and get a little more comfortable with the town and then ride the pedicab back to Rainbow. It was a lot of fun!
With that, the past few days has been very busy! I was given my schedule of what my ministry would be here. I will be working with three girls aged 7, 11, and 13. I will be disciplining them for the next few months, hanging out with them and teaching them about Christ. Then four times a will help with school transport of the two children we have here with special needs. One has cerebral palsy and the other is blind and has autism. I really enjoy working with these two. They are wonderful to be in contact with, even if they can't speak. Two nights a week I will be tutoring the older girls with their homework, and the other three nights that I am scheduled I will be putting the toddlers to sleep and reading them stories, singing a song with them, and praying with them.
Yesterday I was able to go downtown with Ate Sheryl on a pedicab. She showed me more of the city and then we separated and I was able to walk around by myself and get a little more comfortable with the town and then ride the pedicab back to Rainbow. It was a lot of fun!
Friday, September 5, 2008
Lizards!
There are a bunch of lizards in and around my cottage. I'm trying to name this one:
He follows me everywhere. Even into the shower.
Some of the girls just came over and I told them that I heard and frog last night, they told me that it was probably a lizard. Then about 5 feet away from us in the walkway, was the lizards head. The cat must have gotten to it.
Yesterday I went into town on a motor with Leanna. She is one of the daughters of the founders of Rainbow and works with the school sponsorship program. We went grocery shopping and ran a bunch of other errands. I thought it was funny to see that tortillas were around 600 pisos which is about 12 usd. I might have to get a new phone since mine will cost an arm and a leg to make calls here. It would only cost me $30 to get a phone and a plan. Crazy huh?
Once i got back and put my groceries away, 3 of the younger girls asked me to play with them. We played badminton, basketball, tag, and volleyball.
Then at night I went to the youth group at church with the older girls. I got to meet all of their friends and they told me all of their gossip and it made me laugh. My favorite part was that after the message there is a time of fellowship. One of the girls said "Ate, you look sleepy" and she sat with me and talked with me about the message and how it applied to her. Some of the other girls joined in and it was a great time of getting to know some of the girls. On the way home they were all trying to teach me some Cebuano words. They laughed at my mispronunciations, but told me I would learn very soon.
He follows me everywhere. Even into the shower.
Some of the girls just came over and I told them that I heard and frog last night, they told me that it was probably a lizard. Then about 5 feet away from us in the walkway, was the lizards head. The cat must have gotten to it.
Yesterday I went into town on a motor with Leanna. She is one of the daughters of the founders of Rainbow and works with the school sponsorship program. We went grocery shopping and ran a bunch of other errands. I thought it was funny to see that tortillas were around 600 pisos which is about 12 usd. I might have to get a new phone since mine will cost an arm and a leg to make calls here. It would only cost me $30 to get a phone and a plan. Crazy huh?
Once i got back and put my groceries away, 3 of the younger girls asked me to play with them. We played badminton, basketball, tag, and volleyball.
Then at night I went to the youth group at church with the older girls. I got to meet all of their friends and they told me all of their gossip and it made me laugh. My favorite part was that after the message there is a time of fellowship. One of the girls said "Ate, you look sleepy" and she sat with me and talked with me about the message and how it applied to her. Some of the other girls joined in and it was a great time of getting to know some of the girls. On the way home they were all trying to teach me some Cebuano words. They laughed at my mispronunciations, but told me I would learn very soon.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
A New Home
I cannot even begin to talk about how wonderful this experience has been already. Although I am get lagged, I have received so much information about Rainbow and what goes on around here as well as what goes on in the city. Apparently I came at the best time.
When I was picked up at the airport, it started to downpour. There was no thunderstorm, but the clouds off in the distance warned of one. Thanks for those of you who prayed for no storm for the flight!
Kuya Mike and Ate Sheryl told me what was on the agenda for the day. I was super excited to find out that one of the girls was being adopted and going to Italy and that she was leaving tomorrow! They threw her a party which was a great time for me to greet and play with all of the children and meet the yayas. Some of the children were scared of me and others warmed up instantly. One girl in particular was very excited to know that i will be living in the cottage on site.
After the party, I went along for the ride to drop off the family at their hotel and I got a tour of the city. So much has changed from two years ago!
We came home and I got a tour of the grounds. There are two pigs, a large garden with tons and tons of fruit and vegetables, and there is a lot of lets call it wildlife. frogs, bugs, and stray cats are common.
Then after i took a nap, some of the older girls came over and met me. I know that I am going to have so much fun with them. They even said that they would teach me cebuano, the local language.
I am very exhausted and I cannot wait to go to sleep!
love love,
manda
When I was picked up at the airport, it started to downpour. There was no thunderstorm, but the clouds off in the distance warned of one. Thanks for those of you who prayed for no storm for the flight!
Kuya Mike and Ate Sheryl told me what was on the agenda for the day. I was super excited to find out that one of the girls was being adopted and going to Italy and that she was leaving tomorrow! They threw her a party which was a great time for me to greet and play with all of the children and meet the yayas. Some of the children were scared of me and others warmed up instantly. One girl in particular was very excited to know that i will be living in the cottage on site.
After the party, I went along for the ride to drop off the family at their hotel and I got a tour of the city. So much has changed from two years ago!
We came home and I got a tour of the grounds. There are two pigs, a large garden with tons and tons of fruit and vegetables, and there is a lot of lets call it wildlife. frogs, bugs, and stray cats are common.
Then after i took a nap, some of the older girls came over and met me. I know that I am going to have so much fun with them. They even said that they would teach me cebuano, the local language.
I am very exhausted and I cannot wait to go to sleep!
love love,
manda
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Thunder! Lightening!
I almost forgot to mention the most amazing thunder storm I have ever seen. It literally lit up the entire skyline while we were landing in Manila. At first I was worried because my airplane was sharing a sky fully of beautiful furry, but as soon as we landed and were taxiing down the runway, I was able to appreciate the beauty of it. I wish I have taken a photo!
There is supposed to be a huge thunderstorm coming in this morning, I hope it holds off until after my flight. I'm not a big fan of turbulence unless I'm watching Indiana Jones...kind of makes it feel like you're on the ride at Disneyland.
There is supposed to be a huge thunderstorm coming in this morning, I hope it holds off until after my flight. I'm not a big fan of turbulence unless I'm watching Indiana Jones...kind of makes it feel like you're on the ride at Disneyland.
Two Down, One to GO!
So here I am in the Philippines with my ticket and my passport.
I feel like I haven't slept in forever.
Here is what its like to travel through manila alone while being blonde.
I get off of the plane and go through customs and get my bags in the matter of maybe 20 minutes which was a lot faster than i expected but I think its because it was so late at night.
Here is where it gets interesting. I was under the impression that I would have to take a cab by myself to the domestic terminal so I prepared myself for that. But then one of the airport workers tells me that there is a FREE shuttle. So I get on it and I tell all three of the men on it where I am going even as much as to show them my pre-ticket. They take me to the wrong terminal. It was 12am and the people in the area were sparse. I got a little worried and ended up having to take a cab to the correct terminal. The cab driver scammed me out of an extra $5, but I did not really care, I was so tired and I just wanted to be where I was supposed to be. Come to find out that the airport is closed until 2am. So I sat outside with all of my bags and I really wanted to go to sleep...but i couldn't.
Then I came in the airport when it finally opened and i got charged an overweight charge for my bags, which again, i did not mind as much as long as they are taken care of.
A cool story is that almost everyone I come in contact with asks me where I am going and when I say Dumaguete they get a weird look on their face and say "do you have family there?" and I proudly say "no, but I do have friends out there" and almost automatically they ask me if i'm a missionary. Pretty neat.
I think its time for a nap...
love love,
manda
p.s. sorry for gramatical mistakes, I haven't slept.
I feel like I haven't slept in forever.
Here is what its like to travel through manila alone while being blonde.
I get off of the plane and go through customs and get my bags in the matter of maybe 20 minutes which was a lot faster than i expected but I think its because it was so late at night.
Here is where it gets interesting. I was under the impression that I would have to take a cab by myself to the domestic terminal so I prepared myself for that. But then one of the airport workers tells me that there is a FREE shuttle. So I get on it and I tell all three of the men on it where I am going even as much as to show them my pre-ticket. They take me to the wrong terminal. It was 12am and the people in the area were sparse. I got a little worried and ended up having to take a cab to the correct terminal. The cab driver scammed me out of an extra $5, but I did not really care, I was so tired and I just wanted to be where I was supposed to be. Come to find out that the airport is closed until 2am. So I sat outside with all of my bags and I really wanted to go to sleep...but i couldn't.
Then I came in the airport when it finally opened and i got charged an overweight charge for my bags, which again, i did not mind as much as long as they are taken care of.
A cool story is that almost everyone I come in contact with asks me where I am going and when I say Dumaguete they get a weird look on their face and say "do you have family there?" and I proudly say "no, but I do have friends out there" and almost automatically they ask me if i'm a missionary. Pretty neat.
I think its time for a nap...
love love,
manda
p.s. sorry for gramatical mistakes, I haven't slept.
Greetings from Korea!
I'm here in South Korea in the airport getting ready for the next flight. I have a two and a half hour layover before going to Manila. My flight was pretty good. I watched 5 movies and slept for about 30 min. Hopefully I can sleep more on this next flight. I hope to get internet connection in manila for my 7 hour layover. I will update soon!
love love,
manda
love love,
manda
Monday, September 1, 2008
One Day Away!
With about 24 hours until I leave for the airport, I still have not packed. I have always been a last minute packer, so I am really not too worried...
This past weekend has been amazing! I got to spend some quality time with my friends and family and speaking at church was not too bad. I had been super nervous, but it was a blessing to know so many people will be praying for me for this trip and that they are all so supportive. I also learned so much about God's Word speaking through other people. All of the things I had been worried about have been bathed in prayer and I am now more excited than ever!
Now if only I would start packing....
This past weekend has been amazing! I got to spend some quality time with my friends and family and speaking at church was not too bad. I had been super nervous, but it was a blessing to know so many people will be praying for me for this trip and that they are all so supportive. I also learned so much about God's Word speaking through other people. All of the things I had been worried about have been bathed in prayer and I am now more excited than ever!
Now if only I would start packing....
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