Happy New Year!!

Hello and Goodbye....



First of all I want to wish you all a very happy new year!! Now I get the joy of trying to remember what year this is!! 2009...where has the time gone(question mark)....If you are wondering about my new way to punctuate my blog posts it happens to be that my question mark key is not working on my computer anymore so I would have posted several stories that I have written about my experiences but I have a few keys out of service. :( Maybe I'll still try to post them even though it won't look the nicest...who knows(question mark).



I'm leaving back out to my village on Sunday so I will be internetless(if that is a word) again until April. I've really enjoyed having a vacation...It was 4 months that I was out there without seeing cities or towns, cars, trucks, stuff like that...or having a hot shower...a piece of pizza...going shopping...ah..vacation....:)



It will be good to get back to my house and the regular routine of school life with my kids though. I haven't had a student living with me yet but I decided I would adopt my 6th grade student to share my home for the last three months I'm here. I am excited to have her live with me and I know it will be nice for both of us to have the companionship.Vilma is 14, the oldest of 5 or 6 kids, I've forgotten how many of them. In fact her mom just gave birth before I left on vacation to a cute baby girl who was named after me and the other missionary. Her name is "Jessella!!" I feel so honored and privileged to have a baby named after me. I feel like my heart will forever be there in that village because of that!!! It is just so sweet!!!!



Village life is very different from that of life in the states or even life in the cities in the Philippines. In the cities there are malls, fast food, cars, modern things like that. In the village I live in I take a boat for 3 hours and I land on a beach that would make all of you think that my life is paradise and that I have the easiest job in the world but once you walk into my village you discover that life isn't as it seemed on the beach. The houses are huts, the floors are dirt, mucous and sleep covered faces of children are everywhere, dogs run here and there, but this is my home and I love my village....I have a little house with a cement floor, running water(cold mind you!!!) piped in from a spring, two light bulbs powered by solar, a comfort room or "cr" with a big bucket as my shower and a squat type thing as my toilet. I cook on a two burner stove top powered by a gasule tank I buy. So far it has lasted several months. The other option is to cook over a charcoal burner. I have one but have not used it yet. Two of the biggest pet peeves for me is not snakes, or bats, or sharks, or spiders, but it is lizards and rats!!! They poo all over EVERYTHING!!!!! It is so frustrating to deal with all of the time but I keep a bottle of bleach very handy and clean up after them so that at least I can have a clean table and counter!!!

I have encountered spiders and snakes. The spiders are very big but my broom comes in handy!!! There are big lizards that get into my house and they can bite people plus they are ugly and creepy!!!! And they leave nasty poo all over. One evening Vilma and I came back from the beach and we discovered one on my stove and Vilma took the broom handle and killed him!!! He was probably 5-6 inches long and stocky. Not salamanders like in the states. It smelled so bad when she killed him I wanted to throw up!!! lol



When I came here I didn't realize it could get so cold at night!! Maybe I'm finally acclimatizing!! At night you need pants and a jacket or sweat shirt! During the day it is very hot. The island of Mindoro though is hotter than Luzon and Luzon is where Manila is. In fact I just got back from that Island where I was on vacation with my friend and from the climate change I got a slight cough and partially lost my voice.( I'll be okay though...I won't die!!!



This has been a long blog post..the longest one in quite sometime!! I won't be able to get back online till April...so that is why this is also goodbye...



I'll finish up my school year, celebrate graduation with my kids and then I'll be back on a plane headed for the states. I've been overseas before on small mission trips but never have I lived and worked so intimately with a people from another country...you know it will be the hardest thing to leave them. God has been teaching me through each experience overseas to be flexible and open and I can see why...keep your expectations at home..through the complications of life out the plane window...land with an open heart to learn what lessons God has in store for you...This is an experience that I will never regret and one in which has only given me more reassurance that I can do ALL things with God, through God, and for God. When you know that God is leading in your life and you follow Him it is the best adventure in the world! It doesn't mean that life will be easy, that it will always be fun, or safe, or beautiful, of wonderful, but what it does mean is that God will NEVER ever let you go...that He will keep you when no one knows your problems, your situation, your fears. I've faced scary earth quakes day and night for weeks, I almost died on the ocean, I've been followed by drunk guys, I sprained my ankle really good running down the mountain (i thought i had broken it and almost passed out and felt myself going into shock because I was so afraid I had broken it and I was so far away from doctors!!!), had the army stay the night in my village(that was unforgettable because i was so scared at first i was SHAKING!!!!!) In all of this I've seen God protect me, keep me safe, I've heard him talk directly to me when I find myself getting prideful....God is amazing! I see his love written on the paper of my English student telling me that she wants to be a teacher just like me, I feel the love of God through all the hugs I get every day from my sweet students, I experience the wonder of God just for me when I look up at the beautiful sunsets over the beach every evening. In all these things I see God and His great love for me!

I have 3 more months here..I'm leaving for my village Sunday and the wind is pretty strong so please keep the safety of all the missionaries in your prayers as we all travel back to our respective villages and lives to continue our service for God....Thank you for reading to the end and may God bless each of you abundantly and be near to you in ways that you didn't dream possible....By the way...if you want an exciting adventure...become a student missionary!!!!!! I have no regrets!!!