July 6th, 2010 - Going Home

We started our day today, with our normal worship. We then discussed highlights of the trip and what the Lord taught us during our time here. My highlight: BDA weekend and the Tuesday after: students lining up to pray to accept Christ. What the Lord taught me: God answers prayer. There had been several times during the trip that I prayed for something specific. It was very evident to me, that God was listening and answered them. A few of them were very "no biggie" type prayers like asking for a cloudy or even rainy morning so that I, horribly sunburned, could help build a ramp outside without getting more burned or crazy hot. It was both cloudy and rainy, with the sun blaring as soon as we got home from the job.

We packed up our bags and cleaned our areas. We left the house at 11am, stopping by McDonald's for lunch on our way out. Arriving at the airport, we learned our flight was delayed. After two hours, we took off, praying we would make our connecting flight. Once we arrived in the Manila domestic airport, we grabbed our bags, hopped in taxis and took off to the international airport. We literally ran through the airport, arriving at our gate after the boarding time had already started, only to find out that this flight was also delayed. We waited in the gate area for almost 3 hours, now praying we would make our connecting flight in Honolulu. When we arrived in Honolulu after a 10 hour flight, most of which I slept, we were given a glimmer of hope. The flight attendants let us off the plane first, so we could make our connecting flight. However, we waited for our bags for 45 minutes, prior to running through immigration. We didn't make it. Instead, we were given food vouchers and a booking on another flight 8 hours later. What do you do in an airport for 8 hours? You leave and go to the beach! That's what we did! With our carry-on bags, we took taxis to Waikiki Beach. It turned out to be the BEST layover ever!

We didn't have our swimsuits or a change of clothes, but the beach and the water were still so inviting. I sun bathed a bit and then took a long walk down the beach, in search of a Starbucks. I remember there being one years ago and was successful in finding it. A frappacino in hand while walking the beach in Hawaii, was the best way to spend a layover!!!

After eating dinner on the beach, and going back to the airport, we continued our journey. We had a brief layover in Portland, before we arrived in Seattle, at 8:30am. I didn't sleep on the last flight, which was a red eye, so I had the entire day I needed to stay awake. After spending time with my parents, I drove home, absolutely exhausted but anticipating staying awake all day. We traveled for 39 hours and by the time I went to sleep, I was awake for 32 hours. I woke up 13 hours later, probably able to sleep longer.

Back to reality, back to responsibility. I miss my friends already. I miss the simplicity of life in the Philippines: share the LOVE of Jesus.

July 5th, 2010 - Beach Day!

I was SO looking forward to beach day. Normally it happens during the middle of our trip but I was very thankful this year's beach day was after all our ministry was complete. It was like a reward for working so hard. I spent the majority of the day laying on a Sponge Bob sheet, under the shade of a palm tree. I had a one hour massage, a foot scrub (taking off all callouses) and another one hour massage, all for $12.50. It was GLORIOUS!

July 4th, 2010 - Happy Fourth of July!

We had an early morning Independence Day display of color. I am up every morning to watch the sunrise over the jungle, but today's sunrise was the best so far this trip. It was God's fireworks for us! Today was our last day of ministry here in the Philippines, the last day with the Filipino high school students. Our dear friend from many years ago, Francis, was in town. He preached for our church this morning. About 70% of his teaching was in the local language, the rest in English.

Following church, 4 jeepnees caravanned to the Bohol Beach Club with all our friends. It was a time of fun on the beach and great conversations with the students. When our friends left, our team went to ICM for our last hurrah of souvenir shopping. I, having been here 7 times now, grabbed a book and sat at the coffee shop. When going home, we had dinner and group time. We talked over our time during the weekend and it sounded like a lot of our team connected well with our Filipino friends.

July 3, 2010 - More HARVEST!!

This morning started off, knowing it'd be similar to last Saturday with the Deaf. I taught the message again, about salvation. It was a very basic message changing it a little from last week. It was amazing again! The Lord totally spoke! The biggest difference was that I had an interpreter! I would speak a few sentences and then Along, the local pastor, would translate into the local Filipino dialect. I love to see the reaction of the students' faces when they seem to "get it". I prayed at the end and then asked the students if they wanted Jesus' peace, to accept Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. Many hands, between 20-30, raised their hands and prayed the salvation prayer. It was OVERWHELMING!!!

The rest of the day was pretty similar to the Deaf Saturday, still really hot! We played relay games, a water balloon games, and made bracelets and tie-dye t-shirts. After lunch and siesta, we had pool time. I again didn't swim, as there were even more students in the pool than last weekend. Instead, I spent some time with some girls painting our toenails. Of course I needed to change my nail color for my much needed feet pictures!

After dinner and court games we held our yearly talent show! We were laughing so hard at some of the talents. There were two guys who danced so well, that won they show. They could probably compete on "So You Think You Can Dance" in America! We then performed our dramas with in-depth explanations between. A few more hands were raised! What a great day!

July 2, 2010 - Retreat!

We started our morning with our worship time and Bible study. We then sent all the team members outside to have a "Silent Retreat". This was a 4 hour block to just spend time with Jesus, reading, praying, worshiping, journaling, etc. When the time was done, we met as a group and had a lengthy discussion regarding our time. Usually our team meets more consistently to go into depth about "heart-issue" subjects, building up our team and encouraging them and their relationship with Christ. We've been so busy most nights that we haven't had time to do this. This 4 hour block gave the team some down time to focus on Jesus and then discuss it even further as a group. It was a good discussion.

After lunch, we headed down to Loboc Elementary where there were 535 students enrolled. We didn't do crafts there, as it would've been too chaotic. With 9 student team members and 3 adult leaders, it was still VERY chaotic. We had the group split into two groups, half played with the parachute, while the other half with the tug-of-war. I saw some girls that I got to know last year. They spoke pretty good English and had a ton of questions about life in America and the schools. It was fun to talk with them again. The team also performed the 3 dramas and I stayed with the girls and explained the dramas more thoroughly to them. It was a good time, chaotic, but good.

When we were driving home from the school, several students were already walking up the driveway for the camp. We hurried and got stuff ready and went to hang out on the basketball court as more and more of the campers started to arrive. I taught a bunch of Filipino boys how to play bump with the basketball. It was fun. After dinner, one of our team members, Zach shared a message. He did a great job! We did roll call with the students. There were 5 high schools represented, with 10-20 students coming from each high school. A lot of extra students showed up... 26 more than signed up. We ended up with 86 students! It was going to be a great weekend!

July 1, 2010 - Concrete!

This morning we headed out to the barrio community center. We were doing our service project: building a concrete path up from the road, up to the basketball court. The path was very rocky and we had watched for years, young children and elders waver and stumble on the rocks. We had a mixer and a handful of barrio men helping us out. We completed the job in 3 hours! I was the water girl. I would carry buckets to the slow faucet to fill with water, and carry them back to the mixer for the guys to use in making the cement. Getting close to the mixer, it splattered cement all over me! I was covered with cement by the time we were done!

We washed up, ate up and took off again. We had a 1-hour window to drive down to the Loboc Tourism Complex, do a little shopping, and drive back. We drove to the closest school to our house, Calunsan Sur. We started to play games, but the down pour started. It was thundering and raining SO hard! We started crafts and completed our dramas huddled under their outdoor stage area. It was crazy!

We arrived home, wet and muddy, and ready to eat. Marita cooked for us tonight, we were SO thankful! She lives in the barrio and is a great cook. She made our favorite: pancit!!!

We then ended our night with a "music experience" time. He played a handful of songs that evoked responses from our group in which were shared. It's crazy to think that tomorrow is Friday... we leave on Tuesday. We're wrapping up with one hearing school left and the barrio high school students coming for the weekend. End the race strong!!!

June 30, 2010 - Dolphin Watching!

Today we spent the day on the water, watching dolphins, snorkeling, diving off the boat and doing back flips off the boat. We weren't planning on being able to do this, this year, because we are here for a shorter time. However, today the new Philippine President is being inaugurated in Manila. The entire country is shut down so they can watch it on TV. We weren't sure what we were going to do, as no school was open. Joshua surprised us with this trip! We were down at the Loay pier at 5:30am ready to go! It was a BEAUTIFUL day! We were able to see a lot of dolphins and do a lot of snorkeling. Lot's of sunblock was used... but I still got fried.

We arrived home and I instantly jumped in the pool. It was cold, just what my burn needed. I sat there for a long time, needing to cool off. I then sat in my room for a long while with aloe plastered all across my chest, upper back and front legs. Please pray, as I am sitting here typing this two days later, I now have little blisters forming on my chest and back. I knew I would blister but I'm thankful it's not worse than it is.

We relaxed tonight, had our morning Bible study after dinner, and had a long group discussion. Typically we'll have time a few times a week to have in-depth discussions with the team about spiritual issues. This year though, it's been so busy and we've been out late almost every night, we haven't been able to. It was great to share, encourage and hear where the students are coming from.

June 29, 2010 - HARVEST!!!

It was hard to concentrate during my quiet time this morning. Our barrio is having Fiesta right now too, so everyone had yesterday and today off. This means there was an all-night party. From inside my room, with the AC on, I could hear the bass thumping all night from down in the jungle. At least it was consistent and it didn't bother my sleep. Maybe it kept my lizard away too. My quiet time, though, was interesting. The music was loud outside and I could clearly hear the words to every song that was played. I heard Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana signing though the jungle! When I got up to go back in, after my time, I recognized the song... it was Jingle Bells! So funny!

This morning we visited our last Deaf school. It's in the middle of the city, so we left early in order to maintain our yearly pattern of eating at McDonald's prior to going to this school. Yummy! We arrived at Tagbilarin Elementary School, being welcomed by the principal. This school is not associated with IDEA, so the Christian values are not taught, but the principal and teachers welcome us none-the-less. One woman, who is 34 and in 3rd grade, I had met last year. She showed me her phone which she had brought up a picture of the two of us from last year. So sweet! We very much enjoyed this last Deaf school!

We drove home and ate lunch prior to making our way out to a hearing school. We arrived at Tanbagan, a school along the side of the barrio road that we pass every time we leave and enter the barrio. We love the kids here. They are so fun and well behaved. When starting our dramas, Joshua's iphone died. His iphone plays the songs for our 3 dramas. I jumped on the ATV, raced back to the house, grabbed his charger and raced back. It's SO hard to drive the ATV through the jungle here. There are SO many holes and rocks in the road, that the entire time you are driving, the tires pull you right of left. I arrived back at the school, with my arms feeling like jello, but having time to sit and rest and watch the dramas. Good thing we were so close to home!
After the school finished, we raced home, ate, and then drove to BDA. We typically go to BDA on Wednesdays for their Bible studies, but tomorrow is the inauguration of the Philippine's new president. Therefore, the entire country is shut down for the day. We were invited to school to socialize tonight. Of course ALL of our team members jumped on the opportunity to go, as it was the last time to see these students.

Instantly, Reyna, one of the girls that I've been talking to over the weekend (she's also my sponsor child Iris's best friend), came over and hung around me. She is pictured left. I talked to her a bit and asked her, probably for the 10th time, if she was ready to make a decision. Every time I asked her, she said yes but she wanted to wait. I never could understand it. This time though, I asked her if she wanted to wait or was ready right now, she said she was ready now. Woo hoo! I was so excited! We talked about it at length, making sure she was truly ready and then we prayed. Oh I was overwhelmed! Then another girl I had been talking to, Judith, came over to me and said she wanted to talk. We talked and she said that she was ready. The two girls that I had been praying for and talking to, had accepted Christ. I was so excited, but it only was the start to the night. My team members constantly asked me if I was busy, as they had students that wanted to pray. I had to start talking to them and praying with them in pairs and threes, as they were coming to me so quickly! It was so overwhelming that I didn't really have time to think about it. Three of the girls that I prayed with were wearing rosary necklaces. We discussed the meaning of the necklace, as in the Philippines, they believe that the brown plastic picture of Mary can protect them. It's so sad they put their trust in this plastic rather than Jesus! All three of the girls gave me their necklaces and then proceeded to destroy them, breaking that stronghold off of them. It was so freeing for them and for me! At the conclusion of the night, we had the students sign up if they had accepted Christ the past weekend or tonight. All together, more than 20 names!!! I didn't realize it was so many! Wow, thank you Jesus for this HARVEST!!!! It was SO hard to say goodbye for another year. It's times like these, though, that I know I'm coming back. This is what I am called to do.

June 28, 2010 - Talibon

My lizard woke me up again last night. I had just fallen asleep and he started scratching and scratching. I turned on the lights and took out a book, knowing I wouldn't be able to sleep. I could hear him, above the AC blowing, walking around, dragging his belly across the ceiling. About an hour and a half later, I was able to turn off the lights and go to sleep. This lizard is not my friend!

The school we visited today is our longest drive, more than 2 and a half hours. However, I love this school. They are always very well behaved and respond to our purpose there. Also, my 2nd sponsor child is there, Joselle. Here she is, playing a game in the parachute. It's always such a joy to see her again! I started sponsoring her 2 years ago. She had just started Preschool, as a 7 year old. She couldn't communicate... couldn't even tell me her name or age. Now she is able to tell me about her family and ask me about mine. What joy! We were there just a short time, but it was time well spent. As we were leaving, as we normally do, we took a group picture with everyone. In the process, the picture taker dropped my hand-held camera and it broke. I have my bigger, more expensive camera that I can use, but I'm not able to download anymore pictures for you all until I return to the US.

We then drove to Loboc Elementary, a school with 400-500 kids. With such a large group, and us being so small, we have learned to only play games with them and then perform our dramas. We do not do crafts with this group. However, when we arrived at the school, it was closed. They were celebrating their fiesta, which is a 2-day holiday for them to spend with family and friends. We were bummed but now had a free few hours. We drove just down the road to the Loboc tarsier reserve. Tarsiers are the smallest primate in the world, and can only be found in the Philippines. They are cute but kind of remind me of an ewok with really big eyes.

We drove home for a while before heading to Along and Endi's house for dinner. These two are the pastor's of the barrio. They are also the caretakers of the house we stay in. Every year they invite us to their house for dinner and it is my favorite meal consisting strictly of Filipino food. So yummy!

June 27, 2010 - Beach Day

Today was our last full day with BDA. We started off the morning with church. I taught again, the message again being about salvation. Here's a picture of me signing, "hands". Our verse for the weekend was Romans 10:9. The students don't think some of the verses that mention 'mouth,' 'talk,' or 'tongue' apply to them because they don't commicate with their mouth. We discussed this and I substituted the word 'mouth' in this verse, with the word 'hands'. The students seemed to get it and apply it more. Again, it was amazing! The Lord gave me a few examples to show the kids in a more visual way, that Jesus wants a relationship with us and sin blocks that relationship. It was an amazing time and at the end, at least 8 students raised their hands.

We then took the students to the Nature Resort Beach Club. We had a fun time swimming, diving off the island and swimming out to the floats. Zach, a team member, came and found me at one point, because one of his Deaf friends was ready to accept Christ. My team members often bring the students to me, since I have the language to really communicate with them. Most of time, the team members do not sign and either communicate on paper or through gestures. So to make sure this was something Ralph really wanted to do, Zach brought him to me. I always ask the students a few questions that let me know if they really do understand the decision they are about to make. Ralph was in and I led him in a prayer to accept Christ. When we were getting up to finish, Jenry, a Deaf student came up to me and said that she was ready. She and I are pictured to the left. I asked her the same questions as Ralph and she was good to go! Yea, how amazing to be praying with students on the beach! I was SO excited! However, our day with the Deaf was soon closing. I took a shower and we all departed the resort, knowing we would see our friends one last time for their Bible study.

Our team had the evening free, so we went to BQ to do some shopping. I took our grocery list and had at it, meeting the team later at Pizza Hut. We enjoyed the American food and took off for home. I was SO exhausted! At 7:30 I made my way back to my bed. Not only was I sleep deprived, I was emotionally and spiritually spent. What an amazing weekend!!!

June 26, 2010 - Lice?

So, last night while I was interpreting for Zach while he was teaching... I itched right under my hairline on the back of my neck. There was a bug there and I was able to get it under my fingernail in order to look at it. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but I'm pretty sure it was a lice bug. I didn't freak out because I was up in front of the campers interpreting but it did distract me and gross me out for the remainder of the night. I checked my head that night and didn't see anything so I prayed and prayed that it was that one bug and my head would be clear of any more and any eggs. Lice is something that is very common here. It's more the norm to have lice than to not. I was in a science classroom 2 years ago and they were talking about the microscope. After they took a test on the different parts of the microscope, the teacher wanted to show them what it was like to look through it. She asked the class of about 20 kids who had lice. Every single hand raised! I was just telling Lindie a few days ago that I'm surprised we don't get lice more often here as we are always hugging the kids goodbye and to taking pictures while hugging them. Lindie checked my head more thoroughly today and she found no lice and no eggs. Pray it will stay that way!

This morning I had the opportunity to teach BDA about salvation, in sign language. I absolutely love it! The students were totally engaged, answering questions, nodding and even tearing up. A few hands raised when I asked if anyone wanted to accept Christ. It's always so overwhelming when you see a student raise his or her hand to accept Christ, knowing they are making a heartfelt commitment to the Lord. Here is a picture of me teaching, signing and mouthing "God."

After the teaching we had organized court games. We played relay races in teams and then had a parachute competition. The weather was so great, but it was extremely hot out there in the direct sun. We headed into the shade and made friendship bracelets and tie dyed t-shirts. After all the tie dying was done, we had a water balloon toss and then water balloon fight. It felt so good to get wet! After lunch we enjoyed the Filipino siesta, which meant we could rest a while. We ventured out to the pool for our pool time. I typically don't swim during this time as our pool isn't too big and with 40 or so Filipinos and 15 Americans... it's a little crowded and chaotic. I hung out with some other girls talking and painting our toenails.

After getting cleaned up and eating dinner, we held our yearly talent show. The Deaf students love to dance and are really good at it. They don't care what the music is as long as it has good bass so they can feel the beat. Some students had funny skits. The Americans then performed the 3 dramas that we typically perform at the elementary schools. Between each drama I reviewed and discussed each one in length, so that they would fully understand the concept of each drama. It was an intense time as all of our dramas have very strong messages. The kids responded very well, and seemed to understand more fully what the dramas were about. At the end, I again asked if anyone felt like the sinners in the dramas and wanted to have the freedom they had after they accepted Jesus Christ's help to save them from the sin. All of the students raised their hands. I asked again if students wanted to accept Christ, to follow him, and a few students raised their hands. I love to be able to pray with them! What a great day with my friends! Thank you Jesus!

June 25, 2010 - Lizard Visit

At 2am I was woken by a loud scratching noise coming from the corner ceiling in my room. My first thought was a rat. I've seen one rat here, in the years I've been coming and it was the size of a large raccoon. I was scared, thinking he would scratch through the ceiling and "come after me". I ran to the closet and got a wooden hanger as my "weapon" of choice if it were to come in. I kept the lights on and my eyes peeled to where the sound was coming from until it stopped a half hour later. I tried to sleep again but I wasn't too successful after my visitor. I talked to Joshua the next morning and he thinks it's a lizard because they know there is one that lives up in the ceiling. He's not ruling out a rat though, as they have caught a rat in the ceiling before. I'm going to hang on to the lizard theory as that gives me a little more peace.

After our morning worship and Bible study we headed off for a 2 hour drive to Jagna Elementary School. This is our 3rd Deaf school. We had a great time with them. It's amazing year after year of coming to the Philippines, seeing the same kids, how much they grow in communication and maturity after living with other Deaf. It's fun to see how much this organization has had an impact on these students. I talked with woman today in the 4th grade. She is 34, one year older than I am. It's sad that it took her parents until she was 29 to put her in school, but it's great that she now has a language, education and friends. I remember meeting her in Preschool. She was 29 and couldn't tell me her name. She had just started Preschool a few weeks prior and was just getting used to learning that she can have the ability to communicate. Now she is able to have a decent yet kid-like conversation.

We left Jagna and drove back home to get ready for our campers coming for the weekend. However, we arrived home earlier than planned so we had about 30 minutes to jump in the pool... the first time we've had pool time all week. It felt so refreshing after being so sweaty!

We met as a group to organize the weekend and then the campers arrived. This weekend is looked forward to all year, by me of course, but also the students at Bohol Deaf Academy (BDA). The administration of IDEA has recognized us as having such a large impact on it's students' spiritual growth and this weekend has now become a "required" retreat for all students at BDA. Yea!!! We had a total of 51 students and several teachers come along. We ate dinner and then had a teaching by Zach, a team member. I interpreted his teaching. It was SO great to see all the students again. We went off to bed, excited for the activities of this weekend. I went back to my room to prepare my teaching for the next morning, anticipating!

June 24, 2010 - Mango Overdose

Again I started my day with my quiet time with the Lord. It's SO easy to get up early here as I absolutely love my quiet time surroundings!!! After getting ready for my day, prior to Bible study, I go into the kitchen to eat my breakfast, which is always a mango... an entire mango. They are so juicy and sweet here. I have to actually eat the mango standing over the sink!

This morning we headed off about an hour and a half away to Sagbayan Elementary school, another school for the Deaf. Joshua's mother-in-law is with us for the first time. She has been sponsoring a girl from this school for a few years now and was able to meet her! It was so exciting to be able to interpret for her that her sponsor was here. They absolutely love their sponsors! I'll often be asked by students if I know so-and-so. Most of the time I don't know them as there are so many sponsors. The student will then describe their family (from letters they have received) and tell me they live in Montana. I don't think they realize how big the US is! During our time here, we had to take a short break so the students could eat their lunch. The teachers actually provided us a lunch! They have us ube and ginger rice and mangoes... I had TWO more! Is there such a thing as a mango overdose? We had a great time at this school!

We then left, heading back to the barrio. We stopped at Calunasan Norte, a school in our barrio, about a 15 minute drive from our house. This school is normally pretty chaotic as the kids aren't very well disciplined and don't follow directions. However, this year there wasn't nearly as many students so it was so much more manageable. We had a great time! On our way home, Lindie, Joshua's wife, said there was a surprise on the side of the road. Well... the barrio fiesta was going to be starting soon, so they were skinning and gutting a pig for the roast coming up. It was pretty interesting, but I'll spare you the gory details. ;-)

Arriving back at the house, I started making dinner with Lindie: noodles with butter, Parmesan cheese, garlic toast and mixed fruit. Lindie and I didn't tell any of the team members that as we poured the noodles into the water, we then proceeded to pick out all the bugs that floated to the top of the water. Yah, ew! The bugs were dead and small, but still were bugs. Also, as we finished making the noodles, we noticed little black specs in some of the noodles... bugs again! However, what does a little protein hurt? I'm sure we've eaten worse things here without even knowing it. So... I proceeded to add a little pepper to our noodles to "mask" the little buggies that were in our meal. Hee hee!!! As we prayed for our meal, our electricity went out. And when our electricity goes out, it is PITCH dark. The moon was covered with clouds, so outside and inside the house was blackness. We ate our meal by a single flashlight, which made Lindie and I giggle more as now the little bugs in the noodles would for sure not be seen! Oh the joys of being here!

June 23, 2010 - Iris!

I awoke around 2:30am again wide awake. I forced myself to sleep a little more, as I knew this may be the last day I wake on my own accord, feeling I had enough sleep. I ventured out of the house around 4:30am to see a glimpse of the sun coming up from behind the hills in the distance. I just sat there listening to the morning sounds of the jungle... monkeys, insects, and geckos. Oh, how I've missed those geckos! Did you know they actually make a sound as if they are saying, "gecko"? It brings a smile to my face every time. I sat overlooking the Loay jungle and Loboc River watching the sun come up and having my time with the Lord. This is what I imagine Heaven would look like, so it's so easy to know the Lord is there with me, as I feel His presence around me. After getting ready for my day, our normal schedule includes worship time and a Bible study led by one of our team members. This is also a time to dive into the Word, discuss happenings, pray, and bless other team members. By 8 we were on our way to Loon. This is by far my favorite school, besides the Deaf high school. We drive the 2 hours and are greeted by the kids running across the school field, ready to play. I make introductions for the team, thanking them for welcoming us and I introduce myself. I spell out my name as most of the kids are fingerspelling my name with me and with their other hand signing, "I know"... it warms my heart and blesses me SO much that they would remember my name after a full year!

Our typical time at a school consists of:

Field Games: dodge ball, tug-of-war, and parachute play

Crafts: gluing tiles on a wooden cross, beaded necklace, tie-dye t-shirts, and origami

Dramas: The Champion, Redeemer, Everything, and a team member sharing their testimony and praying

My job at the all the schools is a leader with Joshua. We have 9 students with us that mostly run the show. A more important job I have at the Deaf schools is the interpreter. Every game, craft and drama, I am interpret. I love it!

As we leave the schools, we make each student a balloon animal and give them a gift. This school is also extra special as my first sponsor child is here, Iris. She is 14 years old now and in the 4th grade. She is doing very well and is definitely a leader with her classmates. I was talking with her and a friend and her friend asked me about my family. Before I could answer her, Iris had her hands up and explained to her friend each person in my family's names and occupations. I was amazed as I've only told her once, and it was a year ago!!! It was fun to interact with her and talk more in depth with her.

After leaving Loon, we headed back into the city. We stopped at Bohol Quality, which is a shopping center in downtown Tagbilarin, the capital of Bohol. We shopped around a bit and then took trikes to the Garden Cafe. This cafe is run by IDEA (International Deaf Education Association) and is mostly served by the Deaf who have graduated from Bohol Deaf Academy. They train the Deaf to serve, cook, and bake so they can go out into the world, maybe back where the family is, and have a good job. There are 3 Garden Cafes on Bohol and they are all run by the Deaf.

We then headed on to Bohol Deaf Academy where all the Deaf high schools go to school and board. I was so excited to see the students again! We socialized with them for a while and then had a Bible study, led by their Deaf pastor, Mart. He is a great guy and really knows how to teach these kids about the Bible. I voice interpreted for the group, which was a little intimidating since we had only been to one Deaf school here and I wasn't quite used to signing the Filipino sign changes. FSL is about 90% similar to ASL. Luckily it was a basic teaching. We had time at the end to again socialize with the students, which is our favorite time. We were excited that they would be coming up to our house for the weekend camp, so it wasn't too hard to say goodbye. We arrive home after 10pm... I knew I would sleep until my alarm went off the next morning!

June 22, 2010 - 44 Hours

After almost 44 hours of travel, we have arrived!!! We began our journey, needing to be at the airport by 5:30am, on my 4th day of summer vacation. Not sleeping much the night before though, proved to help the hours go by during our flights, as I was able to catch a few naps along the way. We had a 6 hour flight to Honolulu, a 2 hour layover, and an 11 hour light to Manila. I still don't understand why it takes 11 hours from Honolulu, in the middle of the Pacific, when it takes 9 hours from Seattle. If anyone can answer that, I'd love to know. I'm guessing maybe a bigger plane that flies faster? Anyways, we landed in Manila completely exhausted. It was such a long day... about 24 hours after leaving Seattle... and we still weren't done. We grabbed a quick bite at the KFC next door and were all in bed by 8pm, ready for our 5am wake-up knock. Every single room woke up super early. I was up at 2am wide awake, trying not to wake my roommate. She soon was awake and we got ready for our day of more travel. We were showered and doing our quiet times by 4am. The team took advantage of our free breakfast of plain bread, friend bananas, fried eggs and garlic rice and then headed off early to the airport. It was the first time ever, we were ready to go a lot earlier than planned and it was so great to arrive at the domestic airport without having to rush and run to catch our flight like we normally do. After arriving in Bohol, a 2 hour flight, we loaded up our bags into our friend, Along's, truck. Our team then, loaded our carry-ons and ourselves into the bus. We drove straight to ICM (Island City Mall) where we had a long list of things to buy, consisting of craft supplies, games, toys, field activities, drama equipment, and prizes. When we were done and had completely exhausted the workers there, we brought everything outside in search of our bus... which was nowhere to be found. Joshua, our leader, circled the mall in a trike (a motorcycle with a cab attached) and still no bus. Our passports and all our carry-ons (including Joshua's and my computers) were on that bus. No panic... the driver was our normal driver's brother... we didn't know him, but we trust our normal driver, Leo, so we thought we could trust this guy. Assuming he'd show up later, we hired a jeepnee to store all 12 boxes and later drive them to our house. We ate lunch at Greenwich, a Filipino fast food pizza chain and then headed downstairs to tackle our massive food list. On our way down the escalator, several girl team members in front of me started screaming and Joshua's 13 year old son was jumping up and down screaming. The escalator had grabbed Caleb's flip flop and took his foot with it. His toe was banged up and bleeding, but mostly Caleb was in shock over what happened. I ran to the pharmacy to buy hydrogen peroxide and gauze but they ended up taking Caleb to the hospital. He is alright and has been a trooper ever since. After our food shopping spree of 7 carts, we still couldn't find our bus. Panic hadn't started in yet, but it was in the back of our minds... passports, money, computers... all gone! One of our team members, however, started walking down the street and saw our bus in the distance. Phew!!! Only this time it was Leo driving! I guess his brother drove to their shop and they traded drivers and didn't let us know he'd be leaving. All is well now, as as we loaded everything in to the jeepnee and the bus. We took off for home, the Sunrise House! We drove through the city and the main perimeter road prior to turning onto the barrio road. We drove along the single lane road that is about 30% paved and 70% clay and rock = lots of deep pot holes and bumps for us! It's fun to wave at the people in their one bedroom, bamboo built houses looking out of their open air windows. these are the types of "huts" you see in pictures. However, as we turn up the steep, windy driveway that leads to the Sunrise House, the atmosphere changes. The Sunrise House is absolutely majestic and takes my breath away ever year. It is a modern house, built on top of a hill, overlooking the Loay jungle and Loboc River. I smile though, when I hear the oohs and aahs from the team members in which it's their first time here. It's absolutely paradise! We arrived home around 4pm, well enough to see the house and the surrounding in broad daylight. We unloaded and got settled as our exhaustion hit us yet again. 44 hours of travel... I was ready for a deep sleep. The team went off to practice their dramas as I hunkered down to unload the groceries and make dinner for 18 people. Something easy for the Philippines.... tuna boats and grilled cheese sandwiches with a side of bananas. I think the last time I ate tuna was in the Philippines last year. We don't get a lot of protein here, so getting a good shot of it with tuna is helpful. We were all in bed by 8pm again tonight, laying down with the room spinning around us, excited for the happenings of tomorrow!