A Whole New World...

So, I know all of you have probably been checking this. I have not had a chance to type a blog yet. The fact that I even thought I might makes me laugh looking back on all I have been through. Here is the deal: I have to jump through some hoops to even be here right now. I am supposed to be getting one day off a week. However, who knows how that will go. My first day off is next Monday. I will be using my day off from now on to do this because taking time out of the orphanage work is not going to be happening a lot I don't think. I am basically saying you will get one entry per week on here and that's it. They might be excruciatingly long too as I am sharing details with everyone and saving most of the details I am telling my parents for this blog entry!

The start of the trip was crazy (and, I wish I would have known that would set the tone for the next eight weeks of my life). I didn't know what I was doing traveling by myself. I got lots of crazy looks as I passed through airports and asked questions. I arrived in LA and ended up walking around the entired airport to find the next terminal. lol. I thought I would never get there. By the time I got there I really wanted some human contact. Finally, Cameron (a girl from my team I was meeting there) and about 40 other NEhemiah Team people showed up. So, we went the rest of the way together!!! That helped me so much! But, I just want my parents to know this: our idea of that trolley and that cardboard box wasn't a good one! Lol. I looked like a redneck. When we got to Manila I got yelled at immediately by some Filipinos for moving too slowly and for not doing what I was supposed to. lol. I also was crossing the street (trying to cross it quickly because there was traffic) when my backpack slipped off and fell in the middle of the road. It cracks me up thinking about everything that happened with that backpack and cardboard box. lol. If it weren't for the guys waiting on me hand and foot I wouldn't be here right now!
Our flight from LAX to Hong Kong took 19 hours. THat is about four hours longer than it is supposed to take. Who knows why. But, we stopped in Seoul to get some gas. It was horrible! WE finally arrived in Davao exhausted.

We went straight to a hostile where we stayed the night. WE slept on these VERY THIN foam mattresses. And, it was my first experience taking a cold shower. The water also flooded the whole bathroom so you couldn't go to the bathroom without getting wet. lol. The toilets here don't have a lid. So, it is basically like sitting on a toilet if a guy had left the toilet seat up. I always feel like I am going to fall in. ANd they don't believe in toilet paper. So, that's fun! HAHA!

The next day we headed to a camp ground. You all know camping is my favorite. By this time my cardboard box was all beat up. ANd I was beginning to wonder if it would make it the rest of the way (till I got to the orphanage). When we got there they gave us tents and told us to set them up ourselves. THe girl I was paired up with was just like me and had never been camping before. It was pretty hilarious trying to put the thing up. We had it down by the lake but decided to move it because I didn't want to hike even longer with my luggage to get to it. And thank goodness we moved it. I want my parents to imagine me hacking through the jungle with that backpack, trolley and cardboard box. YES, it's a funny picture. The good part about this camping trip though was that it was in a BEAUTIFUL location. So, it eased the pain of having to camp. lol. That night it decided to storm REALLY bad. And by the morning our whole tent was flooded. You know what that means? That lovely cardboard box was now wet. lol. We ended up having to take everything out of the tent in the middle of the night and ended up just sitting under the pavilion until morning. We spent the next couple days camping and training for the summer.We also moved into a bungalo hut for the last two nights. Basically that is a grass/bamboo hut. It was pretty nice. But, my air mattress was too big for it so I ended up sleepin on a mat for a couple nights. I have some hilarious stories I can elaborate on later about this experience too! A lot of them have to do with bugs. The training was good and God used it to convict me about a lot of things. I realized one day into it that this summer will be tough for me. It is not going to be an easy ride. And that God didn't want me here to be comfortable. I used the camping experience as a way to get adjusted to that idea and remember that it isnt' about my comfort. I spend way too much time on my comfort!!!

I hope you all are reading this with a sense of humor. Because, I am not trying to complain. But, I am trying to explain my past couple days to you! And they have been funny. But, a little hard one me at the same time.

We arrived at Ate' S's yesterday (If you are to address someone older than you here you ad "Ate" to the girl's name and "Kuya' to the guys names. It is disrespectful to not do so.We went from there to the school. They are just opening a new school for the kids and we went there and helped them set up, clean up, etc... The kids arrived and it was mass chaos! Lol. They are so adorable. Some of them come from families who abused them in ways you can't even imagine. Others were from tribes where their parents were killed by invading muslims. It is a sad world. The kids have a lot of emotional issues. Our job is to show them the love of Christ. To show them that they can know what love really is and that they won't be hurt by every human they come into contact with! They played games but they were speaking in Cebuano the whole time. So, I didn't know what was going on! It was hilarious!!! After that we headed to the orphanage to settle in. I am staying in the girls' house. It is a little house on the outside of the main building. It has a tin roof and open windows. I wish I could add pictures so you all could see it. I won't be able to do that till I get back in the states though!!! Cameron and Sarah are in the boys rooms. I think that is a little awkward for them.

AFter we settled in we spent the afternoon playing games with them and just getting adjusted. It is very weird because most of the kids cannot speak english. So, trying to have a conversation with them is really hard. In fact, it is impossible. Most of them stare at me as I rattle off a couple sentences in their direction. They respond to everything with "Yes". I went to bed last night around 10. The kids started their first day of school today and we woke up at 4 AM. That is the routine. I could not sleep well anyways. It rained really hard last night and the roof is tin so it was super loud. If it wasn't raining their was always a rooster crowing or a dog barking furiously. Since they don't have windows that close out noise here you can hear everything. And, I am not into taking Tylenol PM to help me sleep simply because I have to wake up so early. My job is to get the kids ready for school. This morning I had to help the five year old bathe. I also had to put her clothes on and fix her hair. I am with all of the girls in the orphanage (from age 5-15). There are no babies here. Most of the kids are boys. THis morning was crazy. I have a really funny story too that you can ask me later about my first morning of getting the girls ready! Lol. Everything is chaotic at this point. I am wanting a schedule so badly. The lady in charge of the girl's house doesn't speak english. So, trying to communicate one sentence takes us about 30 minutes. It is really frustrating.

Right now my problem is feeling like I am in the way because they haven't given us a schedule and because I cannot communicate with them clearly. The language barrier is really tough on me right now! Also, I hav eyet to wake up not feeling sick. I got sick the second day I was here (I think because I drank some coke with ice in it). And, I have been sick ever since. Trying to go on when you do not feel well is not fun! These are all prayer requests that I hope you will pray for!!!

I am also always starving here. I realized today that I am eating the same amount as a five year old orphan eats. My system is not used to it and I am agonizingly hungry all the time. Every once in a while I will eat a granola bar but it is hard to find a place just to eat one since I am with the kids all the time. I feel so selfish eating more when they have so little. I guess their little stomachs are used to it whereas mine isn't though!!! It is hard being hungry all the time. Pray my system gets used to eating less and to eatin gthe same things everyday. It is hard to choke it down at times. I am required to eat it all though. Since I am eating it in front of the kids.

The orphanage I am working with is pentecostal. And, so you can imagine things are quite different in the way they pray and stuff. THey stop to pray a lot. The kids are constantly surrounded by spiritual things. THey seem to have a good handle on things. I am wondering who I will share Jesus with? I know I am here to love the children and tha tis my main goal. I know the kids already hear about Christ all the time though so it is really tough to figure out what to do there! Apparently every Saturday is their church. We wake up from 3:45-4:45 and pray. Then we go back to bed until time for church. We spend the ENTIRE day in a church service. Pray for me specifically one those days!

I am also extremely tired. I haven't gotten much rest and it is hard to find time. It is also hard to find time for privacy as the girls want to be with you wherever you are!!! Luckily the FIlipinos have a Siesta (nap) every afternoon. I think I will be using those up! I have to find time to do my homework for school and team devotions though. THat is hard. I feel like I have no time for myself at all. And, when you have things you HAVE to do for school back home or for the IMB it gets rough. Especially when you don't know your schedule!

Pray for all of this! I know this is a scattered blog. My brain is scattered thinkning of all to write from the last week!

Thanks for your prayer and support. I need them so much!!! It has been hard. But, not in the way I thought it would. I thought it would be hard bathing from a bucket and stuff. That isn't the hard part. I mean, I am used to the lizards crawling on me while I sleep (yes that happens), the mosquito bites, the spiders in the shower, washing my clothes from a bucket. But, It is hard in ways I have no expected it to be. Those things I named are the easy part of being here. Pray that God will help me! God has taught me so much already. And, I know He will continue to do so. So far he has taught me lessons in things that haven't been fun to learn. And that is part of it sometimes. God has taught me things about it not being about my comfort, that He is worthy and if I were here for any other reason it wouldn't be worth it. But, I keep reminding myself that God is worth it. He is the only reason I am here. He will use me if I allow. I am learning things in how lucky I am to live in America. Guys...WE ARE SO LUCKY!!!

Continue to pray!