I got back safe and sound from the Philippines on the night of Tuesday, March 11. I spent the 12 days prior with my team of nine (Seth our leader, Charlie, Josh, Luke, Jared, Elizabeth, Darcy, Vica and myself), working along side Resources for the Blind.
Day 1: We got into Manila Saturday morning on March 1. We left Portland, Oregon on Thursday afternoon, February 27. That means we didn't have a Friday. That was a bit crazy to think about.
We travelled from Portland to L.A. and we had a three and a half hour layover there. We were very thankful for that long layover!! Mainly because in order for us to get to our connecting flight to Taipei we had to go out of the airport and go to a completely different and separate building to check into our flight with Eva Airlines. That took us a while because we had to check in nine people; that takes a while. Then we had to go through security again and find our gate. Seth had us running all the way from our gate from Alaska Airlines to the Eva Airlines check in. I think it was just because he knew we were about to be on a 13 hour flight so he wanted us to have some exercise before we were stuck on a plane. But poor Elizabeth, she had hurt her ankle the day before and it hurt for her to walk, let alone run. But she was a trooper and walked as fast as her ankle would allow her.
The L.A. International airport is super nice once you get into the terminal. It's like a mall in there!
We boarded our flight to Taipei and we were able to sit together! That was so nice! We weren't sure if we were going to be able to do that. The Lord was gracious and kind to us in both allowing us to sit next t one another and getting us to Taipei safely!
We arrived in Taipei and had to go threw security there then find our gate. Once we found our gate we realized that we still have about 2 1/2 hours left in our layover. We went off to explore the airport. This airport was like a mall too!! It was crazy nice! My team and I came across a prayer room that was for Muslims, Christians and Buddhists.
Each had their own room and the appropriate things in it in order to pray. In the Christian room they had Bibles and tracks. Some Bibles were marked to leave there but most were there for the taking. I thought that was really cool.
We went back to our gate and some slept until our plane was ready to board, read or wrote in their journals that our leader asked us to keep while we were on the trip. I chose to do all three. I all so had to try to dry my book and my notebook because they had gotten wet on our first flight from my water bottle leaking. So I was under a fan at the airport in Taipei drying one page at a time. I thank the Lord that the book and the notebook were not ruined.
We finally got to board our last flight to Manila! Everyone started to get a bit more excited. The last flight!
Flying into Manila was so pretty!
We travelled from Portland to L.A. and we had a three and a half hour layover there. We were very thankful for that long layover!! Mainly because in order for us to get to our connecting flight to Taipei we had to go out of the airport and go to a completely different and separate building to check into our flight with Eva Airlines. That took us a while because we had to check in nine people; that takes a while. Then we had to go through security again and find our gate. Seth had us running all the way from our gate from Alaska Airlines to the Eva Airlines check in. I think it was just because he knew we were about to be on a 13 hour flight so he wanted us to have some exercise before we were stuck on a plane. But poor Elizabeth, she had hurt her ankle the day before and it hurt for her to walk, let alone run. But she was a trooper and walked as fast as her ankle would allow her.
The L.A. International airport is super nice once you get into the terminal. It's like a mall in there!
We boarded our flight to Taipei and we were able to sit together! That was so nice! We weren't sure if we were going to be able to do that. The Lord was gracious and kind to us in both allowing us to sit next t one another and getting us to Taipei safely!
We arrived in Taipei and had to go threw security there then find our gate. Once we found our gate we realized that we still have about 2 1/2 hours left in our layover. We went off to explore the airport. This airport was like a mall too!! It was crazy nice! My team and I came across a prayer room that was for Muslims, Christians and Buddhists.
We went back to our gate and some slept until our plane was ready to board, read or wrote in their journals that our leader asked us to keep while we were on the trip. I chose to do all three. I all so had to try to dry my book and my notebook because they had gotten wet on our first flight from my water bottle leaking. So I was under a fan at the airport in Taipei drying one page at a time. I thank the Lord that the book and the notebook were not ruined.
We finally got to board our last flight to Manila! Everyone started to get a bit more excited. The last flight!
Flying into Manila was so pretty!
The flight only took about 2 1/2 hours and once we got into Manila it was a security check and customs; get a stamp on your passport then your in! No one on the team had any trouble getting into the country. We did have to wait the longest time to get our bags though! I was beginning to think that they didn't make it but the Lord is teaching me that I need to have more faith. All of us got our bags and off we went into the hot world of Manila.
We were picked up by Seth's mom (Mrs. Weisser) and sister (Omega). We all squished into a caravan and drove to their house.
Traffic is just crazy there. Actually, driving in general is just really scary. It doesn't appear that they like to obey rules. So there are cars just everywhere! Lanes don't really exist and blinkers don't really mean anything. If you want over you go and if someone is in your way or you're going to hit them you just honk your horn. In the Philippines honking your horn isn't always a bad thing. Its just a more efficient way of saying you're there.
They'll also get as close as they need to. You have no personal space in the Philippines.
We arrived to the Weisser's house (which is just gorgeous) and just took in the fact that we were in the Philippines.
This was the Weisser's backyard!! Like I said, it's gorgeous there. They also had the cutest Dachshund every and her name is Latte! She was so sweet!
Seth had us walk to a mall that was maybe 1-2 miles away from the house so we could exchange money and just see where we were.
The Weisser's live in a subdivision that has a wall around it and at each gate has guards who are there 24/7. The reason is because right outside their nice subdivision are shacks and poverty. That's how it is in the Philippines. The nice houses are right in the middle of all the shacks. That first time walking threw it was so hard. Seeing the people in the state that they were in and smelling that smell. I have tried to figure out how to describe the smell but I have nothing to liken it too. It's worse than anything I have smelt before. And just right down the road is this 4-5 story mall. So strange.
While we walked there we got a lot of stares and had a lot of people (mostly little kids) saying, "hey Jo!" They call Americans Jo because of the GI Jo's that came to help them with the Spanish. So we were called Jo where ever we went.
After we exchanged money we walked back to the house and had a great Filipino meal and had our first debrief and devotional of the trip. That was how we ended every night. We would gather together. Have a teammate give a devo and then talk about how the day impacted us.
That was the first three days. We traveled, skipped a day and got culture shocked.
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