Sept 12, 2009

I started my journey at the O'Hare airport in the afternoon. I easily found my gate and waited. Next I took a connecting flight from MN to Tokyo. Not many people were on this flight so I got two seats to myself to spread out. This very elderly man befriended me and I would say he adopted me the rest of the flights making sure I made our other connecting flight and got to the right spots. He was very nice and I am very glad he was around just to show me someone cared about me. I got fed plenty of food on the plane and tried to sleep a lot! Upon my arrival in Manila, I made my way through a few lines and got my luggage in no time at all. It took me a few minutes to finally find my contact Gigi, who was picking me up at the airport. But all went well! We stayed the night at a hotel nearby. It is not easy for me to sleep at night because of the time change. I wake up very very early.

Next on our journey we took a bus from Manila to Dagupan City. It was a five hour ride but easy. Upon my arrival to Dagupan, I was immersed in many different smells and things to look at. The city is fairly busy with many vehicles transporting people, there are a lot of people on the streets selling things or just hanging out...I think.

At the YWAM base I was greeted very generously by the people who live here. Everyone is very pleasant and love to joke and laugh.

I often find myself desiring to nap, but I resist it as much as possible. The house in which I am staying at is very clean and nice, although I do find a few ants or so in my toothbrush. I share a room with three other woman. Gigi, who is the eldest, Fronie who is 26 almost and Queenie who is 20. Dreb and Mark also live here at the base. It has been nice getting to know them and they are very friendly Dreb doesn't speak much English but he is so nice. The base leaders don't live at the house we live at but they live a few houses down from us. There is Manny and Gina who have two children Remie, 16, and Josia who is 3.

Thanks for keeping me in your prayers. J