This past week was another whirlwind of events that seemed to go by pretty fast. We only have three weeks left. We are past the halfway point and I only have two more Mondays where I write on here! That seems crazy to me! I don't feel like I have been here that long. And, I am sure those next couple weeks will go by SUPER FAST!

Monday was our day off. We went up to Hope Mountain to visit two other summer missionaries our age. We met them at New Life Church (the church we have been attending). They are really sweet. We just kind of hung out and talked. We played this game called Auto Ban (if I spelled that right). IT is kind of like horse shoes with golf balls on a string. haha. Yeah. Who knows. I wish I could put pictures up of that. It was a lot of fun. We also ate fried squash, BBQ Chicken, rice, mango, etc...it was a good meal. And, it was nice to hang out with them. It is so pretty up there. You can see the whole city of Davao, the ocean, lots of trees, and Mount Apo!

On Tuesday we helped out at New Life. We worked at the Chosen school sorting through clothes for their store. They give the kids fake money everytime they come to church. They save it up and then they open a store for them with toys, clothes, and things that people have donated to the church. It was kind of funny sorting through all of the stuff. There was a bunch of random things in there. We were sorting everything, putting it in piles and then putting it back in a bag. We had to write what the bag contained on the outside. There was one marker. And, once again I got a little confused thinking Warren was asking about my boyfriend again (I never learn). So, I finally just starting saying in English,"Warren, could I see the boyfriend?" He thought it was so funny. So, the rest of the afternoon we just kept asking if we could borrow the "boyfriend" from each other. I like communicating like that! HAHA! IT is just one big joke. We laughed about it for a long time! Tuesday night Mama C wanted to take us out to go get dessert and coffee. She seems to wanna do that often. lol. We do that kind of thing about once a week. So, we went up to this place called Jack's Ridge. It is up on the mountain overlooking the city. It is really pretty up there. They have a garden and they have lights streaming down from the trees. It was beautiful. I got a cookies and Cream milkshake and a muffin. haha. I was thankful for dessert. They never eat dessert here! Lol. But, I had a really good time talking to Mama C and Papa T and looking around the place. They had deer roaming the courtyard too. haha.

On Wednesday I asked Nanay to show me the ropes of what she does (in preparation for her days off). It was funny that morning because the first thing she took me to do was clean the "urine blankets". I had no idea what that even meant except I just kept hearing her say "Urine blankets" and I was thinking,"Whatever we are about to do has got to be fun!" (that is sarcasm). Anyways...we went into the bathroom and she explained that whatever blankets, underwear, shorts that the kids urinate in during the night are placed in a bucket in the bath room tub. The laundy lady refuses to wash them because they smell so nasty. So, Nanay takes them, scrubs them, and hangs them up to dry. So, that morning I learned the ropes in how to wash "urine blankets". haha. It was kind of funny. She also taught me a couple of other things about what she does in the mornings. Normally I am playing with MJ and taking care of her. So, up until now I really didn't know much about what she did once the kids went to school. That afternoon I was sitting with Sarah and Cameron waiting on the kids to get home from school and I saw the BIGGEST rat I have ever seen. It was the size of a full grown bunny. I looked at Rusty horrified and go,"Rusty, did you see that rat!? IT WAS SO HUGE" He just kind of laughed and goes,"We have some bigger than that! The really old ones are even bigger". It was so gross.It was one of the kids birthdays on Wednesday and apparently their dad had purchased and sent a chicken for the orphanage to kill on his birthday. So, that afternoon I got to witness my very first chicken killing. I couldn't pass up the opportunity knowing that I would never experience this again (well, maybe not). Rusty went and got the thing and brought it down. We each took a picture with it. They told me to conquer my fear of birds. So, I tried. But, my picture looks like I am crying. Because, I was almost going to! HAHA! I only held on for about 10 seconds. It was kind of morbid. I will spare you all the details, knowing tha tsome of you might not want to read them! And, I will show the ones who do care pictures later! I have plenty! HAHA! The kids took the feet and head that had been chopped off and chased us around with it for a little while. I didn't like that so much! And, it was a little bit weird eating that night thinking about the process it took to get on my plate. haha.
That night I really had a good time hanging out in the room talking to the older girls. God has really answered my prayers when it comes to them. They have been seeking me out more and we have been talking a lot more often. I have enjoyed talking to them and I have finally started building more of a relationship with them! At night now they will come and sit on my bed and ask for my help with their homework or just talk to me! A funny story...Wednesday night I went to change into my pajama shorts in the back of the house since the bathroom was taken. I somehow managed to put both of my legs in one hole at the same time. I fell over onto the floor and was stuck in my shorts. All the girls were laughing at me and of course I had to laugh to! I am such a blonde sometimes!It was not my best moment! Lol

Thursday morning I woke up and helped Nanay get the girls up. They are so hard to wake up in the mornings. They really sleep like a rock. I guess they kind of have to. But, most of them when I wake them up get up quicker than if Nanay wakes them up. haha. This morning was really hard though. Because Rusty came to tell two of the girls (they are sisters) that their grandmother had passed away in the night. When the first one got the news she started bawling her eyes out. These are always awkward moment for me. Because I have no clue what to do. Some people like to be left alone in times like that. Others like you to be there. I finally just asked her what was wrong. She told me. ANd I gave her a big hug for a long time. She just sat there and cried on my shoulder. It was so hard for me not to cry. I had to crawl up on the top bunk and wake her sister up so she could tell her. THey both took it really hard. Of course it was hard for them because they still want to be with their family. All of their family members were so close to one another. But, they couldn't afford to feed them so they gave them up to the orphanage. It was so hard not to cry. But, I spent the morning trying to be there for them and let them know I cared! That day we didn't really have anything to do around the orphanage. We had gotten all of our work done and none of the kids were there. So, Mama C came and told us she wanted us to go with some of the orphanage workers (around our age) to the beach. So, we loaded up and went down to the Mer Grande beach resort. We went down to the beach that has black sand. We hadn't seen a black sanded beach yet! I love their beaches because they are surrounded by huge mountains! I think that is my favorite combination: the ocean and the mountains! We had fun hanging out there for about an hour and a half. I got a sunburn! But, I got lots of beautiful pictures! Lol. Thursday night two of the kids were having a birthday. So, for the first time since I got here I got my very own piece of chicken! I was so excited. It had pineapples on it too! It was so yummy!

Friday Cameron, SArah and I went to Talomo to the school and painted the preschool room! We got to hang out with two of the New Zealand Missionaries. Friday afternoon we got back to the orphanage in the afternoon. I went downstairs to see Sarah and saw a clown standing up against the wall just staring at me. I was like,"Rusty, what is a clown doing here?" Apparently one of the sponsors of the orphanage has his kids birthday party at the orphanage every year so the kids can enjoy fun, good food,etc...It is a really sweet idea! It was nice of him to do that for the kids. Apparently this year a clown got to come entertain them. It was really funny because we told Cameron it was Mark dressed up so she would go talk to him! HAHA! We are so mean. However, Sarah kept laughing so she knew we were lying to her! Lol Apparently at these birthday parties it is really common to have a WHOLE entire pig (in it's original form) with an apple in it's mouth. haha. THey cook it like that and the skin gets really crunchy. I tried eating a piece but the thought of it kind of made me gag. The skin was really nasty. And there was still black hair on the skin. But, I did enjoy all of the other food! There was a lot of food there. The kids had a lot of fun and it was really nice to see them having a good time, eating good food, and playing games! I still don't like clowns though. The kids really liked him! HAHA!
It was a lot of fun! I think I laughed more that night than I have the whole time I have been here. You guys know me...when things get awkward or I find something funny I laugh really hard. I have been doing that a lot lately. Because sometimes things just get really funny to me! I hope no one gets offended! Lol. I think Sarah and CAmeron sometimes are like,"OH BROTHER! HERE SHE GOES AGAIN!" haha.

The past three days we have had our vacation. They gave us a midpoint vacation just to recoop and get ready for the next three weeks and have a chance to rest since we never got one when we first arrived. It was nice of them. I have been so tired lately. I am still really tired. But, we stayed at a really nice hotel in Davao City. We didn't do much but sleep and lay around. haha. It was just what we needed though. We laid out by the pool and everything! It was really nice! We are at the SM Mall today watching a movie, looking in the shops and stuff. Tonight we are meeting up with Lizzy. She is the media person for the Mindanao area. She is going to be joining us this next week and filming our work at the orphanage!

Things are good. Pray that God will help me through these next three weeks. I am really getting more and more tired by the day. Even after this weekend of rest! Pray that God will still give us opportunities to speak to people and tell them about Him. Pray that the workers at the orphanage will get some time off. They postponed the next three days. And, I hope they get to have those! They really need a break.

This next weekend we are planning on taking a trip with the older kids and rent a boat and go Island Hopping! Pray that goes well and brings us closer together with the older kids!

I appreciate your prayers!!