Yesterday was our day off and we decided to go to the beach, finally. Here we are in a country with over 7,000 islands and we hadn't made it to the coast yet. We woke up at 5:30am to be ready to leave at 6am. This is really early for all of us westerners but when we got out it felt like 9am because everyone was up and out, starting their day. We took a tryke out of Valley Golf (our neighborhood),
a FX (a SUV taxi sort of thing but there is no meter so you decide how much to pay ahead of time) to the bus station, and a 3-hour bus ride to Subic Bay. A little side note here, Subic Bay was the site in WWII where we had a naval base. Then another bus to the actual beach we wanted to hang out at. All in all, it took us 5 hours to get there. So, by 11am when we arrived at the beach we were starving! I took a quick dip in the ocean (it's SO hot here) and then we sat down at the restaurant for lunch. Some swam and others sat under the shade eating and lounging around.
After I was done lounging I decided to go hang out in the ocean with Michelle, Angi, Sharon and Joel. I convinced them to swim to the "castle island". This is "Castle Island" (ignore the scaff on my face, lol)
It didn't look that far. But, sheesh! I would estimate that it's about 3 times the length of Barton Springs pool. It took me about an hour to swim out to it and I was the first one there. This island was so cool. When I first got there I climbed up on the side where all the sharp rocks were. They were covered with shells and very sharp. I ended up cutting up both legs and the bottom of my feet. There were crabs, hermit crabs and little fish everywhere. It looks like they must have built this "castle" a while back. Everything was old and worn out but we could make out a fireplace, bathroom and shallow pool. The swim back was a lot faster.
Once we got back we joined the rest of the group that had found a 24-hour hotel/restaurant that had a pool overlooking the ocean.
The only stipulation was that if you weren't staying at the hotel you had to spend 300 pesos in food and drink. That's a whopping $6. It wasn't easy, everything is so cheap. I finally had to order a milkshake at the end just to get up to 300 pesos. We had a wonderful day. We got 12 people there and back with no complications and with a lot of fun!!
We were asked by Jeff Long, director of Kids International Ministries (www.kidsim.org), to help scrape and repaint the old dining room at New Faith Children's Home. They had just finished building a new wing on the home that includes a larger dining room for the kids, new nursery and boy's hangout (no girls allowed). And, KIM is throwing a "block party" for the neighborhood and then later in the afternoon, having a dedication ceremony. Well, there will be tours of the home for all the guests so the pealing paint in the old dining room (aka, the girls hangout, no boys allowed) needs to go. We had a little less than a week to accomplish this. We got started right away. Here are some pictures of us all hard at work.
Even the kids wanted to get involved,
they were quite helpful (not really, but they had fun).
We started with a bang and with the help of some local Filipino men we were able to have it repainted by the party.
The Party........was great.
All the kids were dressed up in formal wear and performed dances. Some of the other performers were singers, karate and traditional Filipino dancers. The party was catered with real Filipino food (I have tried alot of new foods since I got here) and we even had ICE CREAM! (I ate two). They cut the ribbon and opened the house up for tours. For the remainder of the evening the kids ran around playing, dancing, singing songs of praise... it was beautiful.
Those of you who know me are probably thinking, "Oh no, Joy's in trouble!" And you would be correct. Last night we had a long "family meeting" (aka, team meeting). I am being asked to trust our leader with everything; ministries we do, information we receive, etc. AIM is a company who I have just recently (less than a year) come to know and I am still not submitting my 100% trust to them; I need to know them more before I do that. And, now I am being asked to give 100% trust to our group leader. I don't even know him that well. If I don't even trust AIM and the people that they have hired then how the heck am I supposed to trust a fellow world racer? Is it unreasonable to expect to get to know someone before I blindly follow? I feel myself pushing back because I feel like I am being forced to do something I don't feel comfortable doing. Until I know you and I know your heart and your intentions I can't trust you with everything. I trust my friends in Austin because I know you. I have spent time with you, I have seen you in different situations and have observed how you react and handle things. I know who loves me and who doesn't. I don't know that about anyone here yet.
Am I crazy? Am I being unreasonable? Am I the only one having trouble following blindly?
We are so lucky. In the US we are distracted with our job, friends, family, happy hour, parties, church functions, Friday and Saturday nights, TV, movies, shopping, freedom of going anywhere we want, dinner, the internet, bills, cable, career, climbing the corporate ladder, etc. I have abandoned all of these things to give this next year of my life to what God wants to do with me, without the typical distractions of my life. Don't get me wrong, there is still shopping, movies and some other luxuries here but it is so much easier to choose to spend time with God everyday and for hours at a time. I am just starting to learn the joy in spending long periods of time listening to worship music, reading the bible and praying..... because there isn't that much else I can do. I can't turn on the TV and zone out, I can't call up JP or Carol and see if they want to go to dinner or grab a margarita. (Which, by the way, I REALLY miss. xoxo). I am being forced to slow down and feed my soul with healthy and life giving substance. This is something that I would have never been able to do in the US because it's so hard for me to slow down, unless it's forced. And, for all of those who know me, can you believe it's not driving me crazy? I'm embracing it!
I need to preface this blog by giving the definition for those of you who don't know what Balut is.....
A balut is a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. They are common, everyday food in some countries in Southeast Asia, such as in the Philippines, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac and considered a high-protein, hearty snack, balut are mostly sold by street vendors at night in the regions where they are available. The Filipino and Malay word balut (balot) means "wrapped" – depending on pronunciation. ---www.wikipedia.com
Tonight Allison, our squad leader, took a few of us to a woman's bible study at the community church, which doubles as the school. Because Allison went on one of the previous world races and they had come to this community in the Philippines, she knew all of the women. They were so excited to see her and have us there. There was one man that led the bible study. He spoke fluent Tagalo and English so he switched back and forth so we could understand most of what he was teaching. Because they were studying women in the bible we discussed the Philippino culture and how women fit in. It was so interesting and shocking to hear some of what he was saying about how the women are viewed and treated. It's really pathetic the way that these women think it's ok to be treated by men. It breaks my heart to think that they know no other way and here I am thinking that I have a right and expectation to be treated with respect, which I do, but these women don't have this expectation.
After studying about Eve we women ended up talking for a while. The language barrier was hard to get past but a few of the women knew enough English for us to understand, or pretend to understand, most of what they were saying. They invited us to "visit" tomorrow. We are going at 9am to one of the ladies houses and I'm sure that we will end up going from house to house "visiting" with the ladies from the bible study tonight. I can't wait to experience a home visit. You guys have no idea what type of places the people have made into houses. Hopefully I will be able to take pictures, no promises, I don't want to be disrespectful.
All in all, each day gets better and I love it!
Oh, by the way, Heartlyn was discharged from the hospital yesterday and doing great at the children's home. Michelle and I stayed the night with Chris John last night and this morning Dr. Solomon came in and decided that he was doing good enough to go home, so he was discharged. Everyone is out of the hospital and getting settled in their new home.
Were here at St. Victoria's Hospital looking after Heartlyn and Chris John. They are 2 of the 4 that were surrendered by their parents to the Children's Home this week. Heartlyn has been here for 4 days and Chris John was just admitted last night. The hospitals are different here. There has to be someone with the kids all the time and we have to go to the pharmacy and pick up all the medicine that the nurses administer, they don't have anything here. Thank goodness that we are in private room with a wall unit for the AC but the rest of the hospital doesn't have AC. Although they do bring us food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it's not very tasty and they don't bring silverware so we have to eat it with our hands. Oh, and they don't provide toilet paper.... You have to bring your own. How weird it that!?!?
We are taking 12 hour shifts, 2 people each shift. Today Laura and I are doing the day shift 7:30am to 8:30pm.
Heartlyn is 2 months
and
Chris John is 10 months,
although he looks more like he's only 4 months old.
They are so sweet but exhausting. I can't imagine how the staff at the children's home, or moms in general, do this day in and day out. When we finally get one to sleep the other one wakes up, then when we get her back to sleep the other one wakes up.
I am starting to fall in love with this city. They people are so nice and friendly. The Philippines is very family oriented and the neighborhood we live in is very community oriented. It's a nice change from the US where we stick to ourselves and our friends. By the way.... I miss all of my friends and family.
Well, after 24 hours of traveling we finally made it to KIM
(Kids International Ministries) in Manilla, Philippines. I am pretty sure that
it's 2am in Texas and it's the middle of the afternoon here. I am so jet lagged
but I have been instructed that if I don't stay up it will be just as bad
tomorrow. So, here I am, blogging (and on the first day-Joey).
The 14-hour plane ride from LAX to Hong Kong wasn't as bad
as I was expecting. We each had out own TV. I watched Meet Bill, Man VS
Wild (Carol, I still can't see what you see in him, he drank his own pee!!),
Friends, played Bejeweled and tried to sleep some. They actually fed us 3
times!! And it wasn't anything to shake a stick at. The food was pretty good.
We hopped another plane to Manilla and then took a bus to KIM.
You guys wouldn't believe it here in Manilla...the driving
kinda reminds me of NYC drivers. There are no stop signs or lights; you kinda
just go where you can. There are people crossing the street on foot, riding
motor scooters, bicycles with sidecars and what I can only describe as taxies
but they are like little busses with an opening in the back and people just
jump in and out. Everyone is out on the
streets walking or just sitting around hanging out. There is trash everywhere.
It doesn't seem like there is a clean spot anywhere. And, I am guessing that
the makeshift shacks that we saw everywhere from the airport to KIM (an hour
drive) is where most people live. It's unbelievable. If you have ever driven
from Austin to LA (Ann) I can describe it as what Mexico looks like across the
Rio Grande on the boarder between Texas and New Mexico.
Once we got to KIM and got off the bus we were surrounded
with about a dozen little boys that were waving and wanting to play with us.
They are so excited that we are here. These weren't even the kids that live at
KIM. We are actually staying at a location about 300 feet from the actual
orphanage. We will be going there tomorrow to meet all the kiddos. I was told
that they range in age from 10 months to 16 years. I am really excited because
everyone seems so welcoming.
I really miss you guys.
I'll try to take some pix tomorrow and post them so you can
actually see what I see.
