Arriving in Manilla..

Sunday, November 30

After a full day of travel with 3 different flights, the last one being 10 hours long we finally arrived in Manilla on Thursday around 10 p.m. We arrived at the YWAM base in Manilla and all passed out right away. We woke up at 6 a.m. the next day and found that we only had 2 showers to be shared between 17 people, and the only water temperature we get is cold.

We have breakfast at 7 a.m. every morning, so we ate breakfast and then proceeded to orientation. Mitch & Fidel de Castro gave us some basic information and tips for living in the Philippines. We were then split into teams for the Amazing Race, the teams were:

Saila, Rangi, Zach, Kaitlin, Alana

Michelle, Brittany, Bryan, Ahruem

Taylor, Britton, Tristan, So Jin

Kelly, Gram, Rene, Jordan

We were all given Filipino guides & we left promptly at 9 a.m. to begin the adventure. We had to take a jeepney, which is the most popular means of transportation in the Philippines. We traveled all over the Philippines, seeing some of the richer areas as well as the poorer places. It's insane how they have the slums right next to the wealthy areas.

Today we went to church, and ironically the pastor is from Austin, Texas. We also went to the most hectic & busy mall I've ever seen. It had 4 levels and we all got lost in it quite a few times. You would think they were having a dance party because the music is so loud. Luckily, they had the best comfort of home: Starbucks  :). The sizes are very different here, and most of us have to wear at least XL to fit into the clothes. The weather is very humid and hot, it rains once a day so that helps to cool it off a bit. 

Our whole team is bonding so much here, and we're all sad to split when our group goes to Davao and the other stays in Manilla. The people are very friendly and hospitable here. The food is pretty good too, today we ate fish with the heads still on them but they were delicious. We also have rice at every meal including breakfast, this morning was eggs & rice. 

Tomorrow we'll be practicing dramas & skits for the ministry.

More later...

God bless,

Taylor