My new home.

This is the view from my bedroom. Manila is a beautiful city, but the smog is very thick. I'm constantly amazed at the drastic difference between the urban poor and wealthy. A high class hotel or condominium may share a wall with the slums.




You can also see Faith Academy from my room. Is just across the hill. The big white building behind the palm tree is the middle school and new theater, the high school and elementary is behind that. May we be a light on the hill.

My condo has a pool and tennis court accessible to all the renters. This is my view of the pool from my balcony... suffering for the Lord. haha

Everwhere I go I see these beautiful butterflies. Another reminder of how magnificant our God is. The creativity and care put into each butterfly is amazing and reminds me of how wonderful my God is.

a cultural experience

If you want to really experience a intercultural experience, go and apply for a license....

Early this morning I met up with a bunch of other teachers to go apply for a license. The Faith staff warned us that it would take most of the day so we should leave early. So at 7 am we were on our way to apply for our license (it wasn't a guarantee that we would be able to get one). Some of the staff members noticed myself and three other guys were wearing shorts and flip flops and quickly told us to change into something more professional, such as slacks and closed toe shoes. They told us that we had a better chance of getting a license if we were dressed in more formal clothes. So in 90 degree weather with 90% humidity I'm wearing slacks and a shirt going to a DMV where there is no air con, and we're not sure how long we'll have to wait...this is when I decided i needed to let go of all my appearance issues and just accept that I was going to sweat like no other.

After finally arriving we were put in one line, only to be sent to another line, which then sent us to another line across the street and down three blocks where we would receive a drug test and medical examination. When first arriving the "nurse" points us to the back of the room at these dirty lawn chairs that looked like they may have been from the 60s. As I'm sitting there I start looking at my surroundings and notice that there are these tiny clear bottles, and the door I'm sitting next to is a bathroom, and on the bathroom door it reads, "Males Do Not Shut the Door". Yikes! As I'm slowly realizing that our drug testing is a urine test and the guys are not actually supposed to shut the door, and those bottles are a lot smaller than they should be (I mean really smaller than usual).
The guy hands me a cup and says, "fill it." I'm all of a sudden stage fright and can't do it. After leaving the bathroom, I hand the sample to the guy who then wipes it off with a towel (the same towel he cleaned the last persons "sample" with) and then takes my hand and has me give finger prints (and this is all being done without gloves)! Oh my goodness, I can't help but laugh at the circumstances and just the craziness of it all. After standing in three more lines the guy calls me again and tells me I need to "add to it". Now I'm thinking, "oh please don't make me do this again!" The missionary next to me gives me two bottles of water and the rest of the room starts chanting to chug chug chug... and then proceeds to cheer for me as I walk back to the bathroom.
I don't know if this is too much information, but in that small bathroom where there is no toilet paper and no toilet seat the smell is nauseating and most of you who know me know that my gag reflexes are very strong and its easy to get me to start gagging. So I'm leaving the restroom gagging and literally trying to pee all that is in me (with little success), and finally the guy passes me and I'm sent to another line to finish up my medical examination.
After that traumatic experience I stood in four more lines getting my picture taken in two of them and signing multiple documents, but now I am an official Filipino driver!!!
It was a great experience I learned a lot about the Filipino culture and learned to let things go, as well as being flexible, but never again will I complain about the DMV in the states.

Where to begin?

Have you ever had a job so big put in front of you you don't know where to start?

We had our first day of new staff orientation today and it was almost overwhelming thinking of all the things that I need to do before the school year starts and then setting up my classroom, as well as trying to get adjusted to just living in the Philippines. I think I'm starting to feel the pressure of culture shock and how stressful this may be. I didn't think it would come on so quickly, but I feel like I can't do anything that used to be "normal" for me.
This is my prayer for today:
Lord please help me to be patient and loving to those around me. Please fill my heart with patience and peace, so that I might be able to better focus on serving you rather than doing what is comfortable to me. I am leaving my comfort zone for you Lord, not for myself. Thank you for choosing me to go on this journey, that I might help further the Kingdom of God. Something that is so much bigger than myself. This is just a constant reminder of how little I am and how little control I have in my life.

crossing the sea.

I made it to the Philippines! After 7 movies, 3 naps, and a bit of reading I have made it to my destination! I flew in last night around 10:15, and got to my apartment around midnight.
The air is very muggy and has been raining off and on all day. The temperature isn't too bad but the humidity is just gross, I feel like I'm walking in a sauna.
I also took my first driving lesson in the Philippines today! The roads are terrible, and the construction that they are doing doesn't make any sense, and they don't always have caution tape around it. So I found myself bumping around and going all over the place. There doesn't seem to be a speed limit, and everyone just drives where ever they may desire.
My apartment is nice and big, there is almost too much space. I can't wait til my room mate gets here, hopefully it wont seem so lonely. I keep on catching myself looking for roaches or any kinds of spiders, luckily I haven't found any yet, but its only been one day... eee
I was also able to see my classroom today and its gorgeous! Nice and big, but it does remind me that I have so much to do before the school year starts (which is in two to three weeks!). Please pray that God would give me a clear mind and that I would be able to creatively put together and organize my classroom! I'm trying not to get overwhelmed by the amount of how much work there is to be done! But I'm also very excited by the possibilities!
Anyway, I just wanted to send a quick update on whats happening! I appreciate everyones prayers so much! I love getting everyones facebook comments and hearing about life back in the states!! Love you