Malasakit...

This past week went by really fast and I am sure this next week will go by even faster! I cannot believe it is already my last week! It's kind of sad in a lot of ways! This life is becoming more normal for me! And, I am getting used to everything more and more everyday. It is hard to imagine going back to life as it was before I got here. It will definitely feel weird at first. It seems like I have been here for such a long time!

Last Monday we hiked to these waterfalls on Samal Island. I saw pictures before we got there! They are beautiful. They are supposed to be clear blue waters. However, since it had rained the night before they were all muddy. We did jump off of the cliff into the water below though and I got to slide down this rock into the water. It was a lot of fun. We then went over to the Bat Cave they have on the Island here. You don't actually go inside (which is what I was expecting). But, you just look into the entrance. They also have these holes in the top where you can look down into the cave. There are about 3 million bats that live inside. I never realized how horrible bats smell either. It was really interesting to see!

On our way back to the orphanage we had a really nice cab driver. He was so sweet. And he tried to teach us Cebuano words and we tried to teach him some english ones. lol. He taught us the word Malasakit. It apparently means something you can't really express in english words. But, it is something like love. He said you know you have Malasakit when you can give everything of yourself and it is ok if you get nothing in return. He was like,"That is what you have for those kids!" haha. It was so cute!!! And really neat to hear someone tell you how one word means but they have to use a paragraph in english and even then it still doesn't quite capture the meaning.

This past week I got the chance to iron a good bit for the laundry lady at the orphanage. She has such a big job. Filipinos are really big on smelling good and since it is so hot here they change multiple times a day. So, mulitply that by like 50 kids and you have yourself a really big job. Especially since they don't use washing machines!!! It's crazy!

On Tuesday I accompanied Nanay and Mary-D to the school. My arm was really scraped up from skiing and there was a Filipino crowd nearby. When I passed them they asked Nanay a question. And all I heard was "white girl". So, I asked what they said and she told me they were wondering what had happened to the "white girls arm". haha. It made me laugh! People here are really nosy. And it is funny because I wonder why it matters to them what happened to my arm? haha. People are really open here about every detail of their lives and they want to know every detial of yours. Even ones you may not want to share! Lol.

That day coming back we saw one of the girls fathers on the street. Nanay told me that he had chosen to remarry and support his new wife instead of his own daughter. That made me really sad! I don't understand some of these parents and their poor decisions. It makes me so upset to think of all these kids and how some of their parents just didn't want them!

MJ has found a fascination with all of the scrapes I have on my body. And she thinks it is hilarious to punch them, scrape them, etc...So, that has been a lot of fun this past week! HAHA! THe other night I was sitting on my bed and she kept puckering her lips at me (that is what they do to point here...instead of using their finger. The gesture still kind of confuses me sometimes because I forget what it means). I finally figured out she was pointing behind my head so I looked to see two big lizards right above me. I chased them away and then she gave me a thumbs up sign! HAHA! It was so funny.

I finally got to interview someone that works at the orphanage this past week. I think a lot of them are confused about how you get saved. But, I wonder if it is because it just isn't like it is in the USA where you pray a prayer or go down the Aisle. When I asked him when he got saved he said he didn't remember? I think I might follow up on that later.

I have been helping the kids with homework a lot this past week. IT has been kind of fun! Everything I do here requires patience though because the kids are SO SLOW at reading english and I have to sit there while it takes them about 30 minutes to get through a small paragraph. God is really teaching me patience! I also found out MJ is a perfectionist. Who knew? I sat there with her while she tried to draw and "A" for about an hour! She kept erasing it until she got it perfect. haha.

We spent Thursday and Friday up at the church labeling clothes for the bazaar. I managed to stab myself pretty hard with the gun in my finger! HAHA! It took a lot of time because of all the stuff we had. WE took a break one day and went to eat a snack. One of the workers accidently left a candle burning on a plastic chair and when we got back from snack it had completely melted the chair! We were so glad nothing else had been damaged!!!

This past week it has been really good to see my girls act like kids. I don't get to see that too often because they have so much responsibility!!! They are always cleaning or working or something. But, there was one night this last week where we got to just goof off in the room and I was so glad to see their childlike attitude come out!

I found out this past week Mount Apo is a volcano! I was so shocked!!! I was telling on of the workers I would love to see a volcano and they were like,"There is one right over there!You see it everyday!" haha.

Nanay gets her break FINALLY this next week. She gets a break today-Wednesday. So, I will be doing everything she does for the next week! It should be interesting to see if the girls will get out of bed for me or not! Lol. And, it should be interesting helping them with their homework since I can't speak the language! She told me this past week she is going to miss me when I leave! It was really sweet! I love her!!!

This past week we also did some painting at the school for the preschool room as well as pass out fliers for the kids club they are having. On Saturday afternoon we went with the pastor to cell groups on the beach. It was really neat to see all the kids who lived down by the sea playing games, singing songs and hearing a bible story! I really enjoyed it!

One of my girls told me this past week that she would miss me and she gave me one of her only two necklaces to remember her by! I didn't want to accept it since she only has two necklaces. But, she insisted. It really made me want to cry! Yesterday I was telling Sarah it hadn't hit yet that we were leaving. But, yesterday was our last day at church. And while I was sitting there watching the kids sing and MJ turn around and smile at me I just lost it. I bawled my eyes out!!! Mj came up and gave me a BIG hug before bed and told me goodnight (she has never done that before). I am goign to have a hard time leaving these kids on Saturday!!!

After working on the Bazaar this past week we had an outing to this place kind of like Lowes. It was fun to walk around. We got free ice tea!!! I enjoyed being out doing something normal in society for once!!! We don't do that often! lol. We also went to get some glass at Mama C's old house.

This past week Mary D was telling me how bad she wanted an english bible and how bad she also wanted a small bible. She was talking about how cute mine was. And, so, I told her I would give it to her when I left! She was so excited. She would have a better use for it than I would. I have so many Bible's back int he USA. However, I will miss reading it for the couple days I am flying home and at debrief! Maybe I can borrow someone elses. (I hope you don't mind Ben my giving away the Bible you gave me! It's for a good cause).

Two nights this week I have woken up to HUGE cockroaches crawling all over me!!! It has been so gross! It really creeps me out!!!

I have been sick these past three days. I have some type of cold. but, it is the worst cold I think I have ever had. Not only is my nose stuffy but my chest and throat are killing me. It's really hard to breathe. I have been really achy and weak. I can only walk for a little bit before I feel like i need to lay down RIGHT THEN!!! I hate feeling like this!!!! I am so busy all the time. I don't have time for this! Lol. Especially not on the week Nanay is gone. I also got pink eye. Which, it wasn't just a little bit. It was HORRIBLE pink eye. If any of you remember those two years in VBS I had gone to the eye doctor and the corners of my eyes were red. They looks so freaky and they looked like they were bleeding! That is how it has been! haha. It has been an interesting couple days with all of that!!!

Luckily it has rained this week! Last week it didn't rain at all so it was getting really hot and nasty. Thankfully it is back to pouring rain EVERYDAY! Lol. I am thankful for it though. There was actually a breeze in my room all night long the other night. It felt kind of like I had airconditioning! KIND OF! haha.

Yesterday cracked me up. After church last night we looked outside and our ride back to the orphanage was a big dump truck! HAHA. I just smiled and was like,"You have got to be kidding me". It was jammed packed full of kids. And not only that, but it was a stick shift. So, imagine what happened with that many people whenever it jolted or came to a sudden stop! HAHA! I think I hurt a few people trying to balance and keep myself from falling over. I came pretty close to wiping out a couple times! I finally got to the edge where I could get a good grip on something. But, even then the tree limbs kept hitting my head from up above me. I was telling Cameron and Sarah,"What are we going to do whenever we don't have random things happen to us like this all the time? Life is always interesting and full of weird surprises here!" One thing is for sure: I laugh more here than I do at home. Everything is just so hilarious!!!

Last night I was so hungry after dinner and luckily two of the workers noticed. They took us down to a shop to get some Hany (their chocolate here) and a 7 up. I was so thankful!!! I was starving!!! I am becoming addicted to Hany! I will miss it at home!! lol.

Since we are leaving here soon everyone keeps asking when we will be returning. It is kind of sad knowing we may never see them again and they are not just a car drive away. I mean, it costs thousands of dollars to come see them. It's hard to tell them we might not come back. In fact, I haven't. We have been making facebook accounts for a lot of the workers here so we can keep in touch! That makes me laugh1 They have no idea how to use facebook. haha. So, we have to give them lessons.

This next week we are taking a couple of the workers out to lunch and a movie. We are paying. They never get to do fun stuff like that! It should be really fun!

Today we are going to Paradise Island to go Scuba diving and then we are going to the G Mall to shop.

I am really going to miss this place. I will be missing telling the kids goodnight all the time! It is going to be hard to come back home! But, in some ways I am ready to see everyone back home again. I guess this is one of those no win situations, huh?

Debrief is from Sunday to Wednesday. I will most likely just want to get home at that point. haha. I leave the kids Sunday at noon! So, pray for all of us! It is going to be so hard to leave them! It will be hard to leave this place. Pray for my last week and that Christ will give more opportunities to help out and speak to others about Christ. Pray that I will get better. This sickness really stinks!!! And, pray for the kids and me as we say goodbye to each other. It is super hard on them too!

I have been amazed to see the missionaries here and how they operate. They find so many ways to tell people about Christ. I have been blown away at the inventive things they have come up with! Because it isn't like the IMB just sits them down, holds their hand and tells them everything they need to do! I have just been really excited to see what they have been up to and the ways they have found to reach out to the people! I hope I can be that inventive one day!