A date interupted!

Tuesdays is the day that the clinic has minor surgeries and their training classes in basic healthcare for non-medical missionaries going to unreached people groups. This Tuesday was an introduction for this years class. That being said Allan finished early in the morning, went with Scott to the bank and then they met Cindy(Scott's wife) at the mall. Allan and I had some shopping to do including groceries because no self respecting mall in the Philippines isn't anchored by a grocery store. This mall is called Santa Lucia and it is the closest to us--about 30-40 minutes. We go here almost weekly for our groceries and other items we might need that we find at the bookstore or hardware store. Isn't this what your mall has--Ace hardware and a grocery store? These malls are actually huge and the 4th or 5th floor is always a wonderland of video games and a movie cinema. Since Cindy was picking the kids up from school, Allan and I decided to get some lunch and go see a movie. We saw "The Great Raid" A great true story about the rescuing of 500 POWs held here on Luzon by the Japanese after the Bataan death march during WW2. I highly recommend it. I think it has had a bigger hype here than in the states becasue it is about the Philippines.
So Allan and I are sitting in the movie, which by the way cost us less that $2 a piece, when my cell phone rings. It's Emily telling me the boxes we shipped from the US have arrived and they won't let Scott or Cindy sign for them so can she? Here we are 40 minutes away and our stuff from the US has arrived, but they won't leave it. I texted Scott and Cindy and asked them if they could contact Ling Ling our nurse. She was the cosignee on our shipment. Scott texted back that everything was fine they let Emily sign. So we live in the same walled yard as the Nelsens and they couldn't sign, but they let our 10 year old with no id sign for delivery. Something just isn't right about that. This is typical of how things work here. We have been told to never ask why. It is a good lesson. Everything arrived here intact. We have one picture frame with broken glass, but that was all. All our stuff is finally here so I guess there is no going back. We are "home". If only that empty shell in Greenwood would sell.

What stinks?!

First of all, let me say that we try to write about are real experiences, good and bad, spiritual and not-so spiritual. We want to give a glimpse of what it is like to live a new missionaries in the Philippines. That said, if you are easily offended by gross stories, please stop here. If however, you want to experience everything with us, then read on brave soul . . .

For days now, I have been smelling something very weird whenever I sit down to use the computer. . . something a little like stinky feet smell. After many sniffs around the computer, around the computer desk, and generally just around, I could not figure out what the bad smell was. This happened to me repeatedly over the past week. I even thought one of the kids had been sitting in my chair with their feet and that was the smell. (Of course, this is on top of all the other weird smells that are around also.) Then today I noticed the same weird smell at the clinic and I began to really worry - was it ME?! It suddenly struck me that the smell was dependent on my sitting position which at the time was: fingers interlaced, elbows propped on a desk and chin resting on top of my fingers (sort of a "thinking position") With a direction finding sniff or two, I finally solved the stinky mystery. It was my watch, or more specifically my watch band which is made of canvas. Slowly over the past 4 weeks, it has absorbed water from the very high humidity here and was evidently growing some very funky stuff as a result. So another missionary lesson learned here in the Philippine Islands - everything, and I mean everything can and will grow fungus under these conditions.
Allan (Ginger made me sign this one so you wouldn't think she was the stinky watch person)

Our New Pet!

Last fall when we were here, Scott began raising bunnies as part of his agricultural project. He tries adapt new agricultural and livestock techniques to help Filipino farmers increase their yeild. This always causes a stir among our neighbors. They do not respond well to change and are a little sceptical of Scott's methods. It was hard to get this bunny project off the ground. Of the numerous bunnies Scott bought last fall only one survived. The kids named him Magic. Not because he did survive, but because he has black ears that look like a top hat. All winter we have received updates on Magic's progress.
It was with great joy that we arrived the same day Magic's "wife" gave birth to baby bunnies. The kids were thrilled with the little guys and often can be found hanging around the bunny pen. Bethany, the Nelsen's daughter, says these aren't bunnies, but rabbits. Bunnies are pet, rabbits are raised to eat. Emily and Will know this in principle and have even rejoiced when a mean one was killed for dinner one of our first few days here. It wasn't long though before they began asking couldn't they raise one until he is grown. So Friday, when they were weaned, they chose the runt to come be a part of our family for a while. They accepted this knowing full well that these are raised to eat, but I can already tell they will have a hard time letting "Caramel Swirl" become bunny stew. I have to admit I have also grown attached to the little guy. He is cute.

A view from our balcony

Here is a view of the clouds and trees in our backyard. Don't be fooled by the idyllic setting. This land is unihabitable and the only patch of woods for miles. It is nice to come home to after passing the trash heaped up on the sides of the road. It also doesn't smell as good as it looks. Someone is always burning something, that includes rubber and plastic. If you have never smelled burning plastic as the sun rises you've missed a treat!
We are also in the flight path for the airport, so if you ever come to see us you will fly right over the house.

Getting paid in a free clinic

The medical care given in our clinic is always free to the people we serve. That doesn't mean that we aren't paid though. Almost always, we are given gratitude with the commom phrase "Salamat Po, doc" or sometimes a mixture of english with tagalog, "Thank you Po". (The "po" indicates you are placing the hearer in the respected position.) Occassionally, I'll get a smile or "high five" from a child which is always welcome since doctors are known for doing some painful stuff to little kids. Sometimes the offering of thanks is more tangible and one of the most common is a gift of bananas. I would say that at least once a week or so someone brings in a fruit of their garden with bananas being the #1 gift. Considering that our patient group makes about $1 per day this is a big gift. And when I bring my portion of the bananas back home, I remember our patients while I eat and enjoy them. I remember how blessed I am to have enough food to eat, clean water, toilets, clean clothes, electricity, phone service, internet and so much more. I remember these things because the person who gave me the gift may not have any of these. And in remembering these blessings, I pray and thank God for them because it was by His grace that I am where I am.

"and a great cry arose from the people"

It is Friday at 1:45 (pm here, am there) After 8 days of no phone we are back online. Just moments ago the phone rang next door telling us service had been restored. You have never seen such happy people. Even Elaina the Nelsen's katulong(helper) cheered and I am not sure the phone being off has effected her life too much. Al had already left for clinic so I took it upon myself to replug the dsl back into the wall and voila' here I am. It was wonderful to feel connected to the world again. I read the emails from family and friends with tears in my eyes. Our lives weren't too impacted by the loss of phone service, but it sure is nice to be able to find out what is happening a world away. Didn't even know there was another hurricane!
Ginger

Welcome to the Third World!

In case any of you have tried to get in touch with us over the last few days, we have had been unavailable. It doesn't just feel like we have been run over by a cement truck. We have--literally. Well not actually us, but our communication systems. Thursday evening, the kids were in bed and we were enjoying some dessert and conversation on the Nelsen's lanai when we were suddenly plunged into darkness, followed by 2 small explosions. According to Scott this is never good. The explosions are a sign that for some reason a transformer has blown. In this case it was 2 transformers. A cement truck had some how caught some powerlines near the house, pulling them down along with a couple of power poles. Fortunately we were only with out power until early the next morning. While it was a little hot sleeping without the fans, at least it wasn't longer. The bad news is that during the night people came and cut the phone lines and stole the wires. Power is restored, but we are without phone service. This means no local phone and no dsl. Scott says it could take a couple of weeks for the phone company to replace the lines. Meanwhile we are experiencing mission life before the internet.
I am blogging this from an internet cafe in Mega Mall after church. We will soon be going to Ace Hardware for curtain rods and 2 new fans for our porch.(humidity and dampness means things often break here) Then we will have some lunch before heading home. There is a big debate on our lunch choice for today. Will wants to get his weekly hamburger in at Wendy's while Em thinks she would like to have something else. Who knows maybe Allan and I will win and we will eat at a real restaurant. We will probably avoid any type of Asian cuizine since we have rice almost daily at home and Will might start a rebellion if we ate it out too. Hope all is well with you.
Ginger

Will's Class

Here is a picture of Will's 3rd grade class. There are 2 Australians, 6 Americans, and 6 Koreans. His new good friends are Lawrence, Caleb, Noah, and Erika. He loves school, his class, and especially his teacher--Mrs. Brooks. Who by the way graduated from Auburn. War Eagle!

Old Yeller Update

OK here is an update to the below post "Old Yeller". If you haven't read it you might want to read it first.....
I (Ginger) have now eaten dog! I had to have a true Filipino experience and try it. Not too bad. If I hadn't know it was dog, I might have just assumed it was beef that was a little gamey. I am not saying I want to add it to our weekly menu, but in the case of a famine......Bonnie beware.

Manalangin - Please pray

Please continue to pray that our house would sell soon. The equity in our home is what we had planned to use to pay for our medical school debt. In every month that passes, we must make a payment on the student loan that we had not planned for.

Old Yeller

If you read the below post about driving, you know that there is an abundance of dogs here in PI. We had a special treat yesterday. Our neighbors by the clinic came to bring us a special treat---barbequed dog. It seems the dog was barking too much at night so they decided to put it out of it's misery and enjoy a delicacy at the same time.

Actually, I (Ginger) opted not to try this Filipino favorite. Maybe today I will get a little. I hope the Nelsen's didn't eat it all.

This Picture is of the Nelsen's new dog Bonnie. She is a great little Dachsund and Will adores her.(Emily too!) Don't fear - she is not on anyone's menu . . . Yet.

Driving!

Well, it wasn't long after our arrival that we had to jump into the world of driving. We picked up our van the Monday after our arrival and began driving in this crazy world. If you have ever been in a 3rd world country you know what I am talking about because I think they are all pretty much the same. The lanes are really just guidelines of where you might want to drive. All along the roadsides are people--people walking, people talking, kids playing, people going to catch a trike or a Jeepney, people basically not watching for you coming down the road. So we are constantly watching out for people and the multitude of dogs that seem to abound in this country and choose to nap in the middle of the road. If that was our only concerns it would be Ok, but traffic is heavy and as I said lanes are only a guideline.Cars, trucks, trikes, Jeepneys, and motorcycles are constanly swerving, changing lanes, and generally trying to get ahead regardless of what we are doing. The general law in regards to wrecks is that whoever is ahead is not at fault. Which seems crazy since that guy probably pulled over in front of you and tried to get in front of you. I try to drive without flinching and there have only been 2 major incidents when I have actually gasped. Both times Allan was driving. Once was when a semi truck began pulling over into our "lane" and literally came with in centimeters of our mirror and side of the car. I am not joking. I could have touched the side of his truck with out reaching very far. Much closer that what we would consider a close call in the states. The other incident was that same day on the way home. The truck next to us quickly slowed down. Allan began to slow too just in response, when a child darted out from in front of the truck. She was running across a major 6 lane road with outeven looking. This is so common that the truck drivers didn't even seem flustered, surprise, or anything. We on the other hand were shaken and had a nice check of our heart functions (they are working well). Many children (and adults) are killed from crossing the road. They don't even watch for cars. They seemed surprised we're there when we honk at them to watch out. I am not finished telling about driving. I am going to post again about my driving in particular. I will also attach a picture of our van which seems to be a question we are asked alot from the states. Above you can see a picture of a Jeepney and a trike. Both are forms of transportation for hire. A trike is kind of like a really cheap taxi and a Jeepney is like a bus. The Jeepneys are owned by individuals though and the places it travels between are listed on the side.

Woo Hoo! our first boxes arrive. . .

We decided that we would not send "a crate" over with our belongings. We felt that cost was too high and most of our stuff was not coming with us to the Philippines. We sold the majority of our big furniture and dispersed the remainder to family. So to get our stuff to the Philippines, we decided to use a Filipino mainstay - the "balikbayan box". This type of shipment is common for many Filipinos. Many Filipinos will leave their country to find employment and as part of the deal, they will send their families "balikbayan" or a gift sent to home. These boxes are delivered door-to-door from the US to the Philippines with customs taken care of by the shipper. (If I can avoid a governmental agency it sounds like a better deal to me!) So we shipped 10 boxes in mid-June and another 16 boxes in July. I wasn't quite sure about our choice at first because the place we left our boxes in America seemed "semi-seedy". It was a deal accomplished in the far corner of a shipping warehouse. Fears aside, our first 10 boxes arrived today. So far only one picture frame has been found broken. I am not sure who was more excited, Emily and Will to have a box full of their toys arrive or Ginger to have her house taking shape as she planned.

Backtracking just a bit

Now that I've got the computer operational, we can post some of the pictures we have taken.
Saying goodbye is tough and the aprehension on Emily's face is evident.

Filipino Drivers license

What could have potentially been a very bad nightmare was actually quite tolerable (but certainly not enjoyable). Ginger and I spent the morning obtaining our Philippines driver license. I have to say it was less painful than the first time I tried to obtain a drivers license in Greenwood, SC.

We had to go to a central facility in Quezon City to obtain our licenses. Since we did not know the way to get there, we had to hire a driver to help us. He drove us there in our own van which seemed odd to me but I was reassured that this was the way things worked.

Besides presenting the typical official documents such as passports and U.S licenses, we were required to obtain a medical physical and urine drug screen. And you guessed it, there are many medical offices surrounding the place just so you can obtain your required exams (at 300 pesos/person or about $5.45). The drug screen was done right there on the spot, while you wait. I didn't see them do the actual test so I am not sure it was even done. But he signed our form that we both passed without evidence of drugs (whew! what a relief).

Next was our medical exam or "medical" as the nurse kept calling it. This involved a BP check in which everyone that was in our group had the same BP measurement. There was also a weight check - I didn't ask how much you would have to weigh before you were disqualified for a license. Next was the eye exam. Knowing my eyes were not 20/20, I decided to invest in a little mental insurance and I quickly looked at the eye chart and memorized the 20/20 line just in case. Fortunately, with my glasses on, I didn't have any trouble with the vision test. If I had failed, I'll bet there was an eye doctor just around the corner ready to sell some glasses to me. Having "passed" our medical exam, we headed back to the license office where we . . .
handed in our forms then
sat down and waited then
took our picture then
sat down and waited then
paid in cash then
sat down and waited then
took our picture again then
sat down and waited then
picked up our completed license and headed for the house.
Did I mentioned it rained most of the time we were doing this.
Compared to trying to get a South Carolina driver's licence for our Kenyan friend when he came to the States, I would say this was a piece of cake.

It's a small world after all!

It is amazing to me how the world keeps shrinking. Through modern technology, we are able to communicate with our family and friends as if we were all in the same time zone. Emails come quickly and are so welcome. We have enjoyed hearing what's going on at "home" and getting encouragement from many of our supporters. We also have been able to use the internet to actually talk to our family. It is still wierd to be talking to some one at 11 am on a Friday and know that they are still living Thursday. Just this evening I talked to my Mom and Dad as they were beginning their Saturday. I on the other hand am going to take a shower because we will ususally not have water on Sunday until after lunch. The rains are still here and the weather is very cool. It almost feels like Spring.

Its raining! Its pouring!

I have always had an unnatural fascination with the weather. I can watch the weather channel for hours at a time. Our home page has weather displayed for Greenwood, Auburn, Pine Mountain, GA, and TayTay, Philippines. I also check the forecast on the internet or tv at least a couple of times a day. Therefore I have been watching the Philippines' weather since last fall. I knew that July was the rainy season. According to the weatherchannel.com it rains an average of over 15 " during the month of July alone. So it hasn't been any surprise that it has rained everyday since our arrival. The days are usually beautiful with bright blue skies until the rains come. They blow in, it pours for 30 minutes to an hour and they leave again. This happens once or twice a day usually in the afternoon. It isn't just a sprinkle; it is heavy sheets of water. Kind of like the old Morton salt ad-"when it rains it pours". Yesterday, the rain began while I was returning home from taking the kids to school. All of the sudden traffic just stopped as Jeepneys and trikes stop to pull down or put up plastic over their windows. They don't pull over or anything, they just stop where they are. Last night the rains came in again. In the U.S. we might not have even noticed, but here we sleep with the windows open. This rain came with gusty winds and Allan and I awoke to rain blowing on us in the bed. We shut the windows above the bed and returned to sleep, only to have to get up a little while later and lock the screen door in our room. It was banging in the wind. We finally had to shut the other windows because the fan was catching the rain and blowing it on us. The kids of course slept through all this since their windows face a different direction. They enjoyed the benefits of the cool breeze through their rooms. It is now 3 pm and the waves of rain keep coming. It stops for 30 minutes or so and then pours again. We did see the sun for about 15 minutes just before lunch, but our Filipino friend Dehl told us it wouldn't shine for long. She was of course right. After lunch, before Allan returned to the clinic, we did enjoy a 20 minute snooze on the lanai (screen porch). It was so cool and we enjoyed the sound of rain on the lanai's metal roof.

Earlier this morning, I did a little shopping after dropping the kids off at school. It was then I discovered what the cement culverts along the edge of the road are for. These are for the run off of the tons of rain water which has fallen in the last 12 hours. There are still big puddles and flooding on the street, but I guess it helps divert some. I would have thought the heavy rains would have kept the people off the roads seeking shelter else where, but kids were out in droves splashing and playing in the puddles. I guess kids are the same the world over. Emily and Will also wanted to engage in a little puddle jumping after school today.

Stuff takes longer

I think this has been true for most 3rd World countries I've been to - It takes longer to do everything. Even the small tasks of daily living take longer to accomplish. Sometimes I am not sure why it takes longer but it does. Even activities within our own house that are completely within our control seem to go slower. Big activities like shopping for food, buying electronics, or completing governmental forms seem to drag as if a ball and chain were tied around time itself.

Arrived Safely-Kids start school

We arrived safely and without difficulty early Saturday morning. Settling in over the past 4 days was made simpler since we were just here a few months ago. We still remember how to do those basic tasks of everyday life that can sometimes be difficult in foreign countries. We are settling into our new home, unpacking our bags, and establishing life here.

The kids started their first day at school today. Both are attending Faith Academy - the school for missionary kids that is located about 20 minutes from our home. Both were excited on their first day. Emily, of course, has a new friend as she always does whenever we venture to a new place. Will enjoyed his first day and talked mostly of his new experiences. We instantly bonded with Will's new teacher who is a fellow Auburn graduate. We'll have someone to cheer with us if we can figure out how to get a tape of an Auburn football game.