Gobble gobble

A couple of side notes before I get on topic:

This past week it was my class's turn to give a little presentation in chapel.  They'd been practicing choreography to a song called, "Jesus is my Superhero."  Thursday, Lance came up to me and said, "Jesus is a Superhero!" and posed like Superman with one fist out, the other on his hip, and leaning forward with a leg kicked back.  As if that's not cute enough, you should here his naturally raspy voice and see his fat cheeks and floppy hair!

BJ, the "big kid" in my class (the one with the smelly gas) said to me, "I ate so much for lunch, my neck is getting so big!"  I said, "You mean your tummy?" and he said, "Yes!"  English as a second language can be pretty comical sometimes.

As you all know, Thursday was Thanksgiving at home!  Of course, that's not celebrated here, and I kept forgetting all week that it was coming up and then forgetting on Thursday that it was even Thanksgiving.  Maybe part of the reason I would forget was because I didn't REALLY think of it as Thanksgiving until later that night when it was Thursday morning at home and I could text my family a happy Thanksgiving.  Anyway, it was pretty cool to be able to look at my Thursday and see how blessed I am even with my every day experiences.  How many Americans get to say they teach at a Christian elementary school in the Philippines?  How many people got to sing worship songs, share a Bible story, and help feed a meal to a group of under-privileged children?  And then, the day ended with a terrific Bible study, and it was also great to be able to look around and appreciate the many, many new friends I have made.  Oh, and after Bible study Lauren, Anderson and I still hadn't eaten, so the choice was obvious.  The closest thing to home here: McDonald's!

Saturday was great as well.  All of the Agape staff was invited to the Carla Village to watch the Ati school's first ever program.  They are a sister school to Agape and will be trying to provide the same opportunities as Agape even though there is maybe a total of 20 kids in the school at this point.  The kids gave a fun, cute U.N. Day celebration program and it was great how the kids were able to feel so special and important and didn't have to worry about criticism (which the Ati people receive plenty of).

 

After the program, the Russells had us all over for a Thanksgiving feast!  All of us "foreigners" went, as well as Praise, Randy, and Lilia (Filipino Agape staff) who had also gone to the performance.  We had turkey, which they had put on a stick and prepared over a fire, mashed potatoes with gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes (which is more like normal potato with a really sweet sauce on it), and PIE.  We didn't know how they would find turkey here but apparently they know someone who keeps turkeys that they were just able to buy from.  They brought the live turkey home and did the whole, well, preparation themselves.  We also didn't know how they would bake pie without an oven, but there is another American missionary family that lives near the Russells and I think they actually have an oven they used.  That's the first oven I've heard of here!  Also, we were promised pumpkin pie, and it was a mystery to us as to where they would find pumpkin.  Turns out it was actually kalabasa pie which tastes the exact same as pumpkin!  There was also apple pie and a custard pie.

Lilia's five year old daughter was there with her and said, "What's a turkey?"

Lilia watched as we put gravy on our mashed potatoes and thought that it was such an interesting concept.  She tried it and liked it!

We also had cool whip for the pies, which she'd never had.

It's so easy to go to a different culture and think of some of their customs as strange, but others think the same thing about us!

Pre-dinner prayer

I loved the food, fun, and fellowship.  God is good!

Volleyball tournament

Over the weekend, I played in a four-on-four volleyball tournament with three of my Filipino friends I've been playing with for a while.  We got third out of six, so we didn't do great but we didn't do bad.

Friday night was a free dinner buffet for all the players!  The four-on-four didn't start until Saturday, but I was still able to eat at the buffet.  I was afraid it would be awkward not being able to communicate very easily with the Filipino guys, but it was fine.  The buffet was just for the players so they had some games planned with give-aways and it ended up being pretty funny :)  The only bummer about the buffet was that I really wanted seconds (and thirds), but none of the Filipinos went for seconds so I didn't either.  I didn't want to look like the "typical American."  Guess I could have swallowed my pride...  I guess I picked the healthier option, but I mostly just didn't want to embarrass myself.

Anyway, another "perk" of being in the tournament was a players' party every night with free drinks.  I knew going in that this would also probably be awkward for me.  Friday night, the party was right next door to where we ate, so I went and it wasn't bad.  My Filipino friends gave me a hard time (in a funny way, not a rude way) about not drinking, but the last thing I would want is to risk one of my students walking by and seeing me drink, or just risking the reputation of the ministry.  I stayed for just a little while and left.

Friday night, there was no buffet but there was a party at 9:00.  I really didn't care to go, but part of me thought it would look unappreciative in this culture for me not to.  When I got there, I wasn't really seeing any of the players around right away so I decided to sit by the beach (my preference).  There were some kids playing and they kept looking at me and smiling while they were playing.  I finally asked them their names, and then we started playing in the sand.  That was my favorite part of the night, as more kids started appearing and playing.  One girl asked me if I was a teacher at Agape and told me she has a friend that goes there.  She said, "The Agape teachers are so nice."  Another little toddler came barreling through our tunnels and roads we had built in the sand and while one of the kids was yelling at her to stop, it was just so funny to me.  It was fun, and definitely worth getting sandy even after I had already showered.

After a while, I did leave and go into the party.  I went for about 30 minutes, and there was loud music and it was just a bit difficult because I don't really have smooth conversation with the Filipinos as it is, much less with music blaring.  There were a couple of people dancing, and I actually have fun dancing sometimes when I'm just goofing off which is what they were doing (they may have been drunk already), but I was way too shy to dance without having a good friend with me!  I did have an excuse to leave because the Johnstons were having us all over for games, so even though I could have gone to bed right then after being tired from playing that day, I went on my way to the Johnstons (I can't pass up games with friends!).  My teammates probably had more fun after I left anyway because they could speak in Tagalog with each other and not feel like they had to have conversation with me.  In their minds, they were probably wondering why I even went if I wasn't going to drink, which is pretty logical in hindsight.

Sunday night was the big party.  Games were over, so everyone was excited to be able to drink as much as they wanted.  I knew it would be crazy and I went back and forth in my mind as to whether or not I should make an appearance.  Again, I definitely don't want to put the ministry's reputation on the line.  I was exhausted, the party didn't start until 10:00pm, and I was going to have to wake up at 6:00am the next morning.  Finally, I decided to take a nap from 8:00-9:00pm and then decide how I felt after the nap.  Well, I honestly don't even remember if my alarm went off.  Maybe it didn't go off.  I may have slept through it.  I may have turned it off and accidentally fallen back asleep.  I may have even intentionally decided to fall back asleep.  I was so out of it I don't remember!  I woke up at 11:00pm, and by then there was no way I was going to the party, so I put on my pajamas, brushed my teeth and crawled back into bed.  Ten hours of sleep with some crammed lesson planning Monday morning was great.  Maybe it was God's way of telling me I shouldn't go.

The tournament itself was fun!  All games were just one game to 21 unless you made it to the final, which kind of stinks because one game to 21 flies by.  Still, any time I get to play volleyball is a good time!  We lost in the semi-finals to a team we had beaten the day before.  They were killing us and we were playing horrible, but we finally got our groove and had about a 5-point run but by then it was too late.  Maybe we could have beaten them if it was best 2 out of 3, but oh well.  They're actually our friends and ended up winning the championship, so I'm happy for them!

Side note: Before one of our games one of my teammates was smoothing out the sand in front of him.  Then he looked at me and said, "You have to clear your runway!"  SO hilarious!  I have no idea how he came up with that.

Here are a couple pictures from the tournament.

My missionary friends were so supportive throughout the weekend!  True to the Filipino way, I never ever knew when we would be playing.  It would get pretty frustrating and I had to keep asking for the sake of my friends who were wanting to watch.  Even when I was told when we'd play, it would get changed and/or they would tell me wrong and/or I would misunderstand.  Sunday morning, I got there at 8:30 and the tournament was supposed to start at 9:00am (of course, they ended up starting games at 10:00).  First thing I asked was when my team would be playing because I was hoping I could go to church and come back if there was time.  I understood that we would be the second game, but, alas, we ended up not playing until noon after several games had been played.  Oh well.

I felt so loved that I had people there to watch every game except my morning Saturday game and my noon-time Sunday game!  I had people at 4 out of 6 games!  My missionary friends weren't my only fans.  My favorite voices to hear cheering me on were the kids that Carla brought!

AJ, Kathleen, Angel, and Shane.  It was sunny!

Sunday afternoon my team received our consolation prizes from a couple of the sponsors: a Rubbermaid cleaning caddy and some snacks.

Here are some of my other Filipino friends (except the guy crouching next to me or the girl.  I don't know them.), some of whom beat us in the semi-finals...

Top: Alex, Hans, Gerald, Raf, the girl I don't know, and a friend whose name I've never learned (oops).

All in all a fun weekend!  And a great lesson in being flexible and dealing with language barriers!

From high to low to the Most High

Last week was our first week back to school after our break.  First day back, I was working one-on-one with a student in the "library" (a small room where we have a table and a couple of bookshelves with books).

BJ is staring straight forward and not moving.  It starts smelling really, really, REALLY bad.
Me: BJ, do you need to go to the bathroom?
BJ: No.
We continue working while I also attempt to hold my breath.  A minute later, he's holding his stomach.
BJ: May I go out? (the way the kids here ask to go to the bathroom)
Me: Yes (PLEASE).
BJ holds up five fingers and says, "five minutes."

A few minutes really do pass by, so I walk by the bathroom to make sure he's not goofing off because he's someone who would.  A first grader from another class is in there commenting on how bad it smells.  This is my welcome back to school :)

This week, Lance tells me, "I want to ride a cow!"

Also this week, Anderson had my class one day for our "station rotation" and told me he was showing them how to draw a tree for art.  He said one little boy (I'm guessing Lance) walked up to the front of the class and was staring at the board with a puzzled look on his face.  Anderson was expecting a question, but instead hears, "It looks so REAL!"

I love my kids.  I didn't think I was ready for break was to be over, but when school started back up I realized how happy I was to see all of them!

Now onto today...

Today was a mostly great day.  I left school feeling very happy about how smoothly things had gone.  My kids had behaved pretty well.  PE was easy, which rarely happens.  I left school with a smile on my face!

I went back to the Barn, got my laundry to drop off, and as I was walking past the school to take my clothes to the laundry place I saw Shannon and she said my box had arrived that I've been waiting for from my mom and friends!  I was SO SO SO happy to find a box full of yummy snacks, a few Thanksgiving decorations, some school supplies, and a few things I had requested from home.  I still can't stop looking at it!

A while later, Anderson and I headed to Kagban where we go every Thursday for a feeding site.  Jerry, a worker at the Jungle Barn, had told me he didn't think there would be a feeding because he's usually the one that goes and gets the food ahead of time, but Teresa hadn't told him to this week.  We decided to go anyway and thought we'd just play with the kids if there wasn't a feeding.  Sure enough, there wasn't, so Anderson pulled out a Frisbee and we started playing!  Eventually, I became a human toy for about four kids as they ran around me in circles, pulling my arms along with them.  It was fun!  It was a blessing to be able to just spend time with the kids and love them.  Parents were standing around watching us play, and I hope that we were displaying Christ's love to them that we came to have fun even when there wasn't a feeding.

We were having so much fun, I had to get some pictures.

At one point some of the kids saw the coloring sheets in my backpack.  I had assumed I'd save them for next week, but they all wanted to color!  I told them they could color if they wanted to hear the Bible story first, and it made me so happy that they seemed excited for the story (I'll hope that they weren't just wanting to color).  Sometimes I wonder if they understand a word I say, but the best I can do is to do the best I can do! :)

As I pulled out the book and was using the pictures to paraphrase the story of 12 year old Jesus teaching/learning in the temple, a little kid brought me a stool to sit on.  I thought that was so cute!  He stuck it right behind me, so I sat down and the kids gathered closer to look at the pictures.

I had literally just gotten the last word out of my mouth when all the kids ran off for a reason I didn't understand.  Ramelyn, a friend and the on-site helper at the feedings, told me there was a fight between two women.  I went off to a corner with Ramelyn and a few kids and then Ramelyn informed me the ladies were going to get knives.  It got scary then, as I saw a lady storming off to her home (it's the one with the green in the back center of the above picture) and then come out later with a knife.  I wasn't able to see what was happening very well because the skirmish was around the side of a house, but at that point I was holding back tears and had already been praying to God.  There was a circle of adults that seemed to just be watching, and the kids were all running back and forth not knowing what to think.  I thought SURELY people would hold the women back, but for a moment I wasn't sure.  I could just hear them screaming at each other and was finally able to see some adults holding back the ladies.

I guess the lady I had seen go get the knife had gotten it taken away from her, because next thing I knew she was off to her house again and came out with a long, pointy thing that could have definitely caused some damage.  The one man that was near-by when she came out managed to get it away from her and somehow broke it.  She tried to straighten it back up and fix it on the ground, but eventually gave up on that.  Her next weapon was a really long bamboo stick.  Lastly, she got a big, thick piece of wood.  Everything got taken away from her as she brought it out.

At one point during a lull while she was looking for her next weapon, I texted some other missionaries here and asked for them to pray.  I believe in the power of prayer, and while part of me thought it may seem odd that I would text during this ordeal, a larger part of me decided that powerful prayer was in order.

Also during all of this, I found out from Ramelyn that two of the kids who had been hanging all over me playing earlier were the children of this lady we kept seeing go back and forth finding new weapons.

Kagban is the same site I have posted about previously where there is a diabetic boy whose family can't afford medicine, so he takes spoonfuls of sugar and has diabetic ulcers on his legs.

Also at this site, the pastor for the community recently passed away unexpectedly.

Even living here, I still get stuck in my own little bubble and sometimes forget what's happening just up the road.

While my great day had turned into a scary one, I thank God that He kept us all safe.  Jesus Christ is still Provider, Comforter, Prince of Peace, Almighty One.

I'm thankful that Ramelyn was there to help me understand what was happening.  I'm thankful Anderson was there because it somehow just helps to know that I'm not the only one that experienced it.

I'm thankful that I went today.  After things died down, the kids still got their coloring sheets.  I may have handed them out with shaky hands, but maybe it was God's way of getting their mind off of what they saw.  The two children, a toddler and maybe a four year old that belongs to the crazy mother, were kept away from the scene the entire time and seemed unaware of what was going on.  I'm also thankful I managed to get the whole Bible story out just in time!

There were several kids who did see the whole ordeal, and I'm praying for them.  I pray that they will completely forget about it, and I pray that they don't follow in these footsteps.  I pray for the children of these two mothers.  I pray that God teaches them, and all of the kids, what love looks like...HIS love.  A perfect love!

Ariel's Point and weird conversations

Last Wednesday the Johnston family, their friends that are visiting, the Kropps, and Russ, Anderson, and I went to Ariel's point for cliff diving.  I knew going in that I'm not too keen on cliff jumping, but I've heard about this particular place quite a bit and felt like I needed to go before I leave here.  The first time I ever jumped off a cliff at a place near Austin, I didn't know you had to jump in a certain way.  My legs were kind of just out in front of me when I entered the water and I got some pretty nasty bruises on the back of them.  It's given me a fear of cliffs!

The first leg of the trip was taking a 30 minute boat ride over.  A buffet lunch and drinks were included in the trip fee, and the drinks started on the way over.  I went crazy and got a Sprite!  When we got there, we saw the boards extending off the cliffs...a 5 meter board, 6 meter, 8 meter, and 15 meter.  There were also a couple of shorter platforms to jump off of.  The Kropp boys and Johnston kids, as well as the dads, Anderson, and Russ started jumping right away.  I watched for a while trying to get up the nerve.  After a little while, I finally jumped off the 5 meter board and thankfully made a clean landing.  Shortly after that, I went for the 6 meter board, and that went smoothly as well.  Woohoo!  Of course, by now I didn't even feel very proud of myself because the dads, Russ, Anderson, and Kiara (Johnston) had all done the 15 meter board.  Oh, well.

For lunch, the buffet included rice, some sort of Filipino noodles that I can never remember the name of, chicken curry, a type of sausage, fruit (including a yellow watermelon), and I can't remember what else.  Yummy!  Soon after eating, everyone was jumping again.  I decided to be photographer and take pictures, but then decided that I needed a picture of myself!  That meant jumping again.  I briefly thought about trying the 8 meter board, but ended up all the way back down on the 5 meter one.
 

Inclusive in the price of the trip is the chance to snorkel and kayak.  Since I got about as much jumping in as I could stand (three jumps), I decided to take the snorkels for my first ever snorkeling experience.  It was pretty cool seeing different fish and starfish as well as some cliff drop offs in the water, but I ended up getting some sort of little stings all over me at one point and headed back.  It was really cool but short-lived.  I hope I get to go snorkeling for a longer period of time before I leave!

A little later I went kayaking.  That was also fun, but nothing spectacular because there wasn't really any special place to go explore.  I paddled around for a while and when I was done, went back up and thought I'd explore a little bit while everyone else was still jumping (the qualms of being the only one that was not a part of a family and not a big jumper was that I kind of was on my own...the worried moms wanted to watch their kids, of course!  Thankfully, I don't mind doing things alone).  The area where we were wasn't particularly large, but had lots of paths going different directions.  I found some places with hammocks and different viewpoints.  I sat in a hammock for a couple of minutes just because I felt like it couldn't be passed up.  When I headed back, I continued to watch the others jump and just hung out.  For me, it probably would have been a more fun trip if Carla, Olivia, or Lauren had went, but I still had a lot of fun anyway.  I was even exhausted enough that I took a short nap sitting up on the boat ride back.  Apparently Anderson did too, and the parents were all joking about how strange it was that us young ones were so tired.

Thursday, I went down the beach to play volleyball.  I found a spot to sit in some shade while I was waiting for a game to finish, and a Korean guy I was sitting near started a conversation with me.  I don't remember everything, but it was one of the weirdest conversations I've ever had!  He asked me how many husbands I have.  I told him none and he seemed so shocked.  I think what he meant was how many husbands have I had, as in the number of divorces or something.  He was kind of odd to be honest.  A part of me wanted to leave but I also wanted to stay in shade.  Plus, I really had nothing to lose by talking to him.  I figured it would at least be an interesting experience.

I told him why I'm here, what I studied in college, and I don't remember what else.  He told me I'm very good at English (thanks...) and that I should write a book.  Most interesting part of the conversation: he said he's been to rehab four times for some sort of drug that's like cocaine.  I don't remember what he called it, but he told me how to make it and everything.  So, that explains his strange personality!  Ha.  He said that he doesn't do it now, though, and that he bikes every day.  He told me he's thankful for his wife because she's stayed with him this whole time.  He also said he's very lucky because he doesn't work and he made it sound like his wife has some great job and makes lots of money.  His kids are all very smart, too, and went to or are at great universities.  Throughout this conversation, his family was coming and going back and forth to the beach and lawn chairs.

At one point when I told him I teach English and Bible at a school, he asked how much I get paid.  I told him I do it voluntarily and that I got donations at home to come.  He asked me if I was a missionary like the Burnhams who were taken captive here by the Abu Sayyaf a few years ago (he didn't really use that terminology in his broken English, but I understood "missionary" and "Abu Sayyaf").  I actually just recently read Gracia Burnham's book and knew what he was talking about, and said that yes, they were missionaries and I am a missionary.  He asked what religion I am and I told him I'm a Christian.  "So you're Catholic?"  "No, I'm a Christian but I'm not Catholic."  "But you're a Catholic Christian?"  "No, I'm a Christian but I'm not Catholic or Baptist or anything."  I don't really remember what I said but I think I tried to explain what non-denominational means.  He said, "Oh, me too.  I pray every night."  To that I think I said something like, "Good!  I pray too, in the day or night, anytime I want!"  Eventually, we somehow got back on the topic of me not having any husbands.  "Not even a suitor?  But you're very, what do you call it...friendly!"  I was laughing on the inside.  Maybe I don't have a "suitor" because I have conversations with four-time drug rehab patients.  But, I did get my interesting experience out of the deal!

My fall break is over now.  Iloilo, Ariel's point, games, volleyball, and this conversation made for a break to remember!