Apat, Lima, Anim!

[Four, Five, Six!] - yeah, I'm running out of title ideas.

Thoughts:

• Filipinos are all over the world.  Seriously.  A large percentage of the population is employed overseas.  Actually, when you go through customs in the airport there are special lines for "Overseas Filipino Workers."  I had been really surprised when the two men I sat next to on the plane said they were returning home from Africa and Australia...but now I know it's actually very common.  Unemployment rates are very high here and college graduates rarely find a job in their field of study.  Many of them end up working as operators for overseas products.
• I miss home.  It's not a desperate kind of I want to hop on the next flight out kind of missing home, but just a quiet longing.  The encouraging thing is, spending time with the people here is easing the pain of missing home rather than exacerbating it!  :)
• I've spent at least five days in each barangay conducting interviews or just walking around.  It's been really encouraging for me to recognize people now and to have them recognize me as well.  I like all the smiling and waving.  I'm not naive enough to think that those are representative of me being in the in-group, but it's definitely growing rapport!
• I miss China.  It's strange (but good) to be in a country that's not China and it's strange that China is so close but so far away and it's strange that everybody at OCECC in Florida is preparing to go to China and I'm not.  This is the first STM our church has organized that I haven't been involved in.  I guess you could say I'm a little jealous thinking that in two weeks a number of my good friends will be playing ridiculous games with students and walking miles and miles to have picnics by a river and dancing in the park.  Oh, and playing hangman as a teaching tool.  But don't worry guys, we use umbrellas here for the sun too!  And there's bubble tea :)
• It's still hot.
• I lost my umbrella this week.  Now I have funny tan lines.
• I really like coconuts!  the smell!  the taste!  the everything!  You can make a lot of things with coconuts.  Mm...but I think I mostly like the smell of coconut milk.
• My legs are really sore from running up and down the stairs.  Kind of embarrassing.
• Soccer isn't big in the Philippines :(  No world cup news from me.  I'm a bit bummed.  Actually, really bummed.

Updates & Prayer:

• Praise God I have completed a total of 97 interviews!!  :)  I'm almost finished with week six...still haven't written my interim report, but have finished all my interviews [hm a little backward].  Things kind of didn't go as planned, but that was expected.  I passed out a number of questionnaires to the youth at the church last week, hopefully I will get at least 90% of those back.  All that's left is a whole bunch of writing and coding and analysis and reporting.  And then play!!  I really like that everybody's attitude has been "Finish your research so we can go play!"  I'm good with that.  That's what Chinese people do too!  Work hard then play hard.  But yeah...work isn't over yet.  I still have a ton of writing to do.  I'd appreciate prayer for that.
• Continued prayer for faithfulness and good stewardship of my time.
• Humility in my work and in using my knowledge.
• Wisdom in coding, analyzing, and reporting my data.  I think Pastor wants me to report to the entire church.  Hm.  Yeah, that makes me a little nervous.
• Pray that God will prepare me to serve as RA again this coming semester and pray that He is growing each of the girls on the hall.  Most of the RAs have received a list of their hallmates.  I--have not.  Pray for wisdom for me in discerning God's plan for the hall and how I can best serve him in cultivating that plan and not my own.

Isa, Dalawa, Tatlo!

[One, Two, Three!]

Okay back to numbers!

1. There is only one knob to the faucet:  no "hot" and "cold", just "little water" and "a little more water."  Sometimes my showers are freezing (which is nice) and other times my showers are so hot I have to get out and wait a couple hours (that's what happens when you live near a volcano).  I run my fingers through my hair at least 40 times to rinse out shampoo and 80 more times to rinse out conditioner because I don't believe the water pressure is actually washing it out of my hair (yes, I'm counting).
2. My host dog (...that sounds strange) has finally stopped barking at me whenever he sees me.  I knew my stares would get to him!  I win!
3. I have a cup of tea or coffee every morning.  Pastor Benjie is a coffee lover so we have real coffee (most Filipinos drink instant coffee).  Awesome.  The local coffee here is really really good.  I think I should bring some home.  Tea = also awesome, but not as awesome as tea in China.  I wish we had some chai especially since Dr. Mask keeps asking me about "chai drinking"--which is really funny because he knows there isn't chai in the Philippines.  Oh well.
4. Today, when no one was home, I took the opportunity to have a dance party by myself (actually because I saw Becky's suggestion to Dave as a distraction for loneliness; I figured I'd give it a try).
5. I also ran up and down the stairs 20 times because I miss walking up the 5 flights of stairs to my dorm room.  Only 20 times because it got too hot.
6. I got down on my hands and knees to clean the wood floor in my room, even though there is a mop in the house.
7. I like cassava chips.  yum.
8. I'm still eating mangoes everyday.
9. One of our neighbors got a karaoke machine...we had free concerts everyday from 8am to 10pm.  No kidding.  This went on for two weeks.  But school started last week so it's been much quieter. 
10. In addition to the kind of nonsense things I did today, I got a lot of work done! 

Prayer

• I'm having a really hard time getting out of bed in the morning (not a hard time waking up, just a hard time getting up) because I just kind of dread the day ahead of me even though I know, from experience, it's going to be a good day.  It's like there's this big boulder on me...but it's not that I want to sleep more...I'm just completely restless rolling around in my bed...which isn't that comfortable because it's so hot that I'd much rather be up...but not really because there's a boulder I have to push off first.  So this is really kind of a practical thing, but I've been trying to make the first thing I do each day, even before getting out of bed, prayer.  It's been helpful to remind myself that my motivation for the day and for my life is Christ.  Pray that this will become a habit.
• Pray for rain.  It rains everyday...but just not at my home!  So...it's hot.  And it's like having someone hold an ice cream cone in front of me after I run 6 miles in the sun and then watching him eat it without sharing.
• Pray for those whose homes are flooding because of the rain.
• As usual, pray for an attitude of humility.  Pray for patience.  Pray for God's love to abound more and more.  Pray for my faithfulness and obedience.  Oh yeah, so basically, pray that I would grow in the fear of the Lord.

Grace and peace to you!

Cooking, Grumbling, and Music

Hi all!  I'm actually feeling a bit empty as I sit down to write this blog post   It's getting more and more difficult to think of things to write as my thoughts become more continuous and part of everyday life.  I'd make a list, but I think I've forgotten how.  So bear with me as I ramble.  Hopefully you will find some treasures in this mess :)

Friday:  Cooked dinner for my host family.  Success.  Started cooking at 5pm, didn't get dinner on the table until 9pm.  I don't think I've ever sweated that much from working in the kitchen before, but then, my kitchen has always been air conditioned.  (I can't remember if I've mentioned this before, but being in the Philippines is like being in a sauna for the majority of the day...crazy!  I didn't think certain parts of my body could sweat--but they can!)  It was my first time cooking over a stove where you had to light the fire and really couldn't control the temperature of the flame.  I did a lot of holding the skillet away from the stove...actually, I did a lot of juggling to cook 4 different things over 2 flames.  Filipinos eat dinner quite late, so 9pm is really okay.  It's just good that I planned ahead and started at 5...  My stove/oven back home make me so spoiled!  Oh and I sorely miss chopsticks!!  I had to use two spoons to pick things up out of the ginormous steamer...WAYYY less practical than chopsticks.  But that's just my opinion  :P

Saturday:  Woke up at 5am and went jogging around UP campus (University of the Philippines) with my younger host brother, Joshua, and two other girls from church.  I have never seen that many people up and moving about that early in the morning!  The park was full of runners and there was even an outdoors aerobics class taking place!  After running I went to one of the girl's homes.  Four of the boys from church were at her house.  Her mom had hired them to paint the outside of their house.  Most of the day was spent preparing, serving, and cleaning up merienda (snacks) and lunch for our hardworking boys.  I was able to learn to squeeze fresh coconut milk.  Mmm!!  Oh and I marinated meat for the first time in my life!  After all that, we joined the boys outside and helped with the painting.  One of the boys teased me and said that there is hope for me yet--as a painter!  haha.  It was fun and exhausting.  I think we're going to do it again next Saturday!  Around 4pm we all piled into a car and went to church for Praise Team practice.  That lasted until 8pm.  But of course, we had merienda around 6pm.  Yay for always having merienda!  Then we got home around 9pm and had dinner.

Sunday:  Went to church at 7:30am for Praise Team practice.  Oh!  I just realized that I've never described the church to you.  The church is an open church, meaning there are no walls.  [Pastor Benjie likes to say to people that the church was built with no walls because the church is open to everybody--and that really sticks with people!  I've heard multiple people mention it during my interviews].  I have over 30 mosquito bites on each leg thanks to my time spent at the church (note:  only my legs.  strange!).  There is a ceiling--with ceiling fans--and pillars supporting it.  The floor is marble and the pews are plastic.  Each pew seats about four people and they are divided into four sections.  I've never counted how many rows though...  There is a raised pavilion, the stage.  The stairs going up on both sides of the sanctuary lead to the office, conference room, and classrooms.  The stairs going down lead to the kitchen, comfort rooms (bathrooms), and more classrooms.  The classrooms are for Grace Christian Community School--a school affiliated with the church, but not run through the church [think New City Fellowship and Hope for the Inner City].

The power went out as the service began.  No mics.  No fans.  No LCD projector.  No words for songs.  No amps for instruments.  Just a lot of heat and people pulling out fans, handkerchiefs, and pieces of paper to fan themselves and those around them.  I, of course, observed the congregation.  People continued with the service.  No one said anything; people just took action.  The youth pulled out a big white board and began to write song lyrics on it.  The liturgist spoke louder.  But then about 15 minutes later, the electricity came back while we were praying!  Thank God!  :)

After the worship service, there's Sunday school.  I'm actually kind of scared of my Sunday school teacher.  He doesn't look at me nor does he speak in English.  I've just decided he's probably scared of me too...or he thinks I'm a bother.  (both probably untrue)  But no big deal.  Whoever sits next to me serves as my translator for the 30 minutes we're in class.  I don't really mind and the youth are becoming more conscious of me and are starting to translate things without my asking.  Our assignment this week is to memorize Romans 8:28-29 and find Bible verses describing certain qualities of the Holy Spirit.  I'm really proud of myself because I picked that up without people translating!!  Oh p.s.  I'm in the college Sunday school class; I think the average age of my class is 17 [people start college at age 16 here].  So it's a bit strange for me.  But it would also be strange for me to join the young professionals fellowship because they're all graduated.  I kind of don't fit very well anywhere.  But that's okay!

After Sunday school I had a short meeting with the youth to pass out and explain some questionnaires I needed them to fill out for me.  It was nice how attentive they were!  It reminded me of teaching in China.  It was also kind of funny to me that once I handed out the questionnaires they began to answer the questions.  Then I explained that I didn't need them back until next Sunday and there was this huge sign of relief (the questionnaire was pretty in-depth).  It shocked me to think that they would have just sat there without a grumble and filled them out, if I had asked them to.  It made me smile.  I know that for them the actions were out of habit and expectation, but it made me think about how the Bible says we should

"Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life" (Phil 2:14-16a)

It challenged me to think about whether I do what God commands without grumbling.  Am I content with whatever God gives, good and bad?  Do I praise him when things don't go my way?  Do I have the faith to follow His commands no matter how bizarre they seem to me?  What would my life be like if I had the humility to just obey when called instead of pouting and demanding answers, proof, or reasons first?  Hm.

After Sunday school we usually hang around a bit.  For my first couple of weeks here I had been going home with my host mother, Ate Malu (Ate means big sister...it's a term of respect.  All women older than you are called Ate and men older than you are called Kuya, meaning big brother), but since she is in Rwanda and Pastor is busy (yeah, the title pastor is kind of used as a name), I've been hanging around after church.  It's been exhausting to be at church at 7:30am and then not getting home until dark (8pmish?).  I thought I'd be used to by now, but even at OCECC [Orlando Chinese Evangelical Christian Church] we get home by 5pm and that was only before I could drive.  Now when I'm home I just take my own car to church so I can get home by 2pm.  So for the past two Sundays I've hung out with the youth...going out for a meal and then walking around UP or going back to the church to play boardgames.  Around 3:30/4pm the youth begin music practice for the afternoon service (afternoon service is really evening service for all you in the U.S.).  Let me tell you!  These youth are dedicated!  And it's been a privilege to serve beside them.

Yesterday, though, Pastor Benjie was preaching in another city and would not be back for the night, so I spent the night in another pastor's home.  I went to sleep at 10pm because I was so exhausted. But I was up by 6:30.  No alarm.  Maybe I can keep this up and never be late to 8am classes next semester!  Yeah.  We'll see. 

Monday:  It's not over yet, but here's what I've done so far.  I met my translator at church at 9am.  We went to barangay Tadlac to interview.  We completed 8 interviews today.  It was very hot.  It poured a couple times, which just made it even hotter when the sun came out because of the humidity.  100% humidity.  No lie.  Interviewing in Tadlac has been different than interviewing in the other two barangays because we don't have a guide.  We walk house to house greeting people and asking if they've received aid from LBCRC.  It's hard to know how successful we'll be in finding interviewees.  But the Lord provided us with 8 today, which is wonderful because that means tomorrow we only need 7 more!  I'm really thankful that my translator doesn't mind walking, because if I could, I would walk everywhere.  I'm also really thankful that she's not afraid to tell me if she thinks we should ride a tricycle instead because it's too hot.  I got home around 3pm.

Oh!  I stopped by a bakery on my way home because I really like bread.  It was kind of a walk-past-but-then-change-my-mind-and-walk-back kind of thing.  I usually avoid talking to people too because it makes me nervous, but for some reason I had courage today to ask a sales lady for help.  She was really quite a likable person, and kind of out of nowhere she asked me to write down my name and phone number.  As you could probably imagine, I was taken by surprise.  And my natural instinct is to trust people and my gut reaction is always "yes."  (Yeah, I know I know, that's dangerous...I'm working on it!)  So I said, "My phone number?" and she said "Yes. I need you to pray for me."  I didn't know whether she was serious or not because she had been laughing and joking (but Filipinos say most things with smiles on their faces and they like to laugh and joke).  I asked her what she needed prayer for and she just said "for my life and for how to take care of my child."  I told her I would pray for her.  She asked me more about the church and said that she would like to come with me.  I was really feeling like this was a divine appointment kind of thing (like the interview with the mother who has a sick baby...we visited again today, by the way!).  I don't really know what will happen next, but even if it was only for the purpose of a quick prayer on my part, I'm sure it was worth it.

On another note...
Since I've had many more opportunities to hang out with the young people, conversations are moving away from "How are you?" to actual talks of "What do you like?"  "What do you think of ___?"  Instead of questions and answers there is actual conversation and discussion.  Well...okay, one reason why connecting with young people in China has been easy for me (other than knowing the language) is because I am familiar with the popular drama series (think movies except extended across an average of twenty 45-min episodes) music, artists, and actors.  Well!  In the Philippines I don't have that.  Well I didn't think I did until...some of the youth started asking me about drama series I'd watched.  Korean dramas are very popular here, but I haven't watched many of those.  But I found some Taiwanese ones that they were familiar with!  Oh exciting!  So one boy mentioned the name of a Chinese band, tapos (then) I asked if he recognize a song, which I proceeded to sing for him.  Tapos he picked up a guitar and began to play along!  And tapos the other youth started to shush each other to listen!  Talaga (really)!  Something in common!  They had me translate the Mandarin lyrics and then they shared with me the Tagalog lyrics.  My homework this week is to learn to sing the rest of the song and teach it to them.  I should have them teach me the Tagalog version.  Oh I like bonding through music!  I actually...I've made a lot of friends in my life through the common enjoyment of music.

Oh!  Today when I was interviewing, one of the interviewees started to speak to me in Mandarin!  Aye!  So cool!  Oh yeah, so I've been picking up on the Filipino use of "aye" as an expression of surprise.

This is quite a long entry.  Mommy, I'm glad that at least I know you'll like it because you're my mom :)

Siesta - "Nap"

[I actually started this entry on Tuesday...It's Thursday now...]

Guys!  It's officially been over a month since my arrival in the Philippines!  Incredible.  Time is such a strange thing.  How can it move so quickly and slowly at the same time?  It just doesn't make any sense.  But then again, not much in the world makes sense...which makes it awesome!  "Awesome" as in "full of awe".

My supervisor is leading a microfinance training session in Rwanda for two weeks.  When she gets back, I will be halfway done with my internship.  Crazy right?  I'm currently processing my interim report (analyzing data, deciding the next steps to take, etc)...which I'll probably actually write sometime next week because my translator has to take a couple days off for nursing training anyway.

So my host mother is away.  My host sister also just got a job and today was her first day of teaching.  She is in another city and will be back on the weekends.  My younger host brother just had his first day of class today (3rd year of college) so he's also in another city and will be back on the weekends.  So yup, just me and my host father and older host brother.  (Maybe I should start using names?)

I titled this entry "Siesta" because it's the Tagalog word for a nap taken after lunch...and this entry is about one of my days off!  Day off = rest = ...nap.  Okay...a bit of a far reach with that one, but just go with me.

Today [Tuesday] I went with Pastor Benjie (my host father) and Jairus (older host brother) to the theater and watched a movie!  It was really fun!  When the lights went out, the silhouettes of peoples' heads lined up in the theater made me think of popping in a DVD from China, only to find that it was pirated (oh but of course).  I wish I could use my ethnographic skills to describe what it's like to watch a movie in a theater in the Philippines, but I turned off my ethnographic brain today (don't tell Dr. Mask please).  We ate spicy peanuts during the movie--sooo much better than popcorn!  After the movie we went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner where they served jasmine green tea (my favorite) and gave us chopsticks!  The food even tasted like Chinese food!  (That's probably good considering it was a Chinese restaurant.  But, I mean, when you go to a Chinese restaurant in the U.S. it doesn't usually taste like Chinese food...).  I was all giddy and bubbly inside--it probably showed a little on the outside too--which got me thinking:  I've been more excited about seeing Chinese things or meeting people who speak Mandarin much more than anything Western.  Maybe because the Philippines and China are similar in many ways, so it's a bit disorienting to see things or taste things or even smell things that are familiar, but in an entirely different setting.  Yeah.  Disorienting is probably the best way to describe the feeling.  So close, yet so far.  One of those kinds of things.  So like...Chinese, but not Chinese.  American, but not American.  Spanish, but not even Spanish.  Filipino culture is really a blended one, which makes it beautiful and also one of wonder for me.  It's taking a long time to figure things out.  You can learn things quickly and yet, not really know anything.

Every week CDV interns have to write a weekly log and turn it into our professors.  One of the questions is always about our cultural adjustment.  Usually we describe how we're doing based on Alder's stages of cultural integration (in emotional terms:  excited, confused, withdrawn, angry, assertive - and then the cycle begins again).  I think I mostly skipped the "excited" stage all together.  Those of you who know me might find that strange since almost anything excites me and I'm very easily amused.  But I was just so nervous, scared, and self-conscious that, well, I didn't show any emotion except whatever emotion smiling portrays.  I think I'm loosening up a bit...so that's good.  It's nice to feel a little bit more at home in my own skin.

I'm going to cook a meal for my host family this Friday :)  I'm so excited!  I hope they like Chinese-Chinese food...that'll probably be disorienting for them too since there's definitely a Filipino version of everything I'm going to make.  Maybe I can buy them all chopsticks too...

Prayer Requests
-It seems that I can never catch up on written work....
-That I remember that my life is His to own.  For a willing heart and steadfast spirit.
-For continued flexibility and good health (so far I've only had minor problems :D and I drink 12 glasses of a water a day yay!)
-For productive use of my time
-Continue to pray for the sick baby I visited.  Last week I saw him and he looked a bit better (more color to his skin, more active, gripped my finger - but it was a pretty weak grip), but he is still very sick.
-That I won't be afraid to invest in people here and that I won't be afraid to let them invest in me (I really dread goodbyes.  I dread goodbyes so much that I think about the day I leave more than the day I arrive.  It's really a very depressing habit of mine!)


**I think I'm more productive the days I blog...so if you don't mind, I think I might blog for my own sake in addition to keeping you updated :) **

Ligo sa Ulan

That means "bathing in the rain" :D

I had some major breakthroughs today and this past week!!  and I'm going to share them with you!

• I constructed my first Tagalog sentence on my own today!!  See the title of this entry.  I was so proud!!  Actually, I still am!  During my day off I started reading about Tagalog grammar...and it paid off!  Yes, the content of my sentence is a bit ridiculous, but it's very applicable here!  And I did bathe in the rain today!  Sort of.  I stood in it for 3 hours (sorry, mom).  With an umbrella.  Which didn't help much because of the wind.  But that just reminded me of Covenant, so it was nice.  :)
• The benefits of looking Filipino definitely outweigh the disadvantages!  It's taken a while for me to make that decision..but it is now made!
• Disadvantages - 1) People ask me everyday things, "Which route is this jeepney on?"  "Is this the basket checkout line?" and then I panic and look at my translator or I say "I can't speak Tagalog" and they look at me as if to say "Well...why not?"  and then I feel dumb.  2) When I choose to take pictures of things that are new for me and people stare.  I can just feel them saying, "Why is she taking a picture of chewing gum??"  3) Being unintentionally offensive because I look like I should know the proper way of doing things, but I actually don't.
• Advantages - I saw two Caucasians walking on the street today while I was riding a tricycle.  The boy sitting behind me yelled at them, "Hey!!  Amerikano!! [some other things in Tagalog]" and then there was laughter and suches.  It made me giggle because I was sitting in front of him and he had no idea that, hey, I'm American!  So... 1) Teasing avoided.  Next, I proceeded to walk to the church to meet my translator.  I gripped my bag, feeling vulnerable walking along the side of a busy road on my own.  Then I realized that I look just like everybody else!  2) I don't stand out as a target of ignorance though I am very ignorant indeed!  thus, 3) It keeps me safer!  (Hopefully no robbing and no kidnapping for me!)  In addition to that, I think it's helped decrease the time it takes for people to, in a way, accept me.  I physically "fit in."  So, 4) Wayyy less reactivity!  And 5)  So far, no marriage proposals!  [My host - Day 1 of Internship:  "It is good that you look like a Filipina so the men on the street will not bother you and ask you to marry them."]  (Becky, you may laugh now.  I totally meant to tell you this prrrreeetty much the second after I heard it and to shove it in your face--how Dave's and your teasing last semester was complete poopoo. :D)
• If you noticed, the curse is only in my own discomfort.  And I'm not here for my comfort so this is great news!
• Some of the cultural things are starting to click!  I can't quite articulate what exactly yet, but I know they are because I'm starting to laugh more :)  
• I had a meeting with my supervisor yesterday to narrow my research and it was super productive and decisive and I'm really thankful!!  She also affirmed that my research topic is actually meaningful to the church--so that was really encouraging and motivating.
• I had my first "real conversation" with my host sister two nights ago!  That means we spoke more than 2 sentences to each other.  It was actually A LOT more than 2 sentences!  Huge answer to prayer :)  I am hoping that our conversations will not end there and that God would provide more opportunities for us to talk.
• There is evidence that my host brothers are watching out for me even though they don't talk to me!  They say "bye" when they leave the house and they open the door for me when I come home.  And sometimes they ask me how I am.  But the major signs are 1) They worry - my host mother said, "When it was 4 o'clock and you were not home, [he] said to me 'It's 4 o'clock and Jessica is not home yet!  What if she got lost?'" and 2) They're brainstorming and plotting cultural adventures for me.
• There were two girls at the church who especially intimidated me because they never spoke to me or really even looked at me.  I kept telling myself "they're just shy," but I was really starting to get discouraged.  Then God provided me with opportunities to talk to both of them this week!  It's so funny how I can come back home at night and feel like I accomplished something huge because of a short conversation or even gaining a smile from somebody.  It has also been interesting to work on using my nonverbal skills to communicate with others.  Don't take your ability to speak with others for granted.  Use your words for encouragement.  Don't underestimate the power of a smile either.  (Becky, I know what you're thinking...)
• I interviewed a barangay captain today (comparable to the head of a city council in the U.S.) and he was just so developmentally minded!!  I was completely blown away and really excited!

I think God allowed me to experience a lot of comfort and encouragement today both from the people and my family here and from my family and friends back home and I am very thankful for that!!  May I still praise him on the days that don't seem so wonderful in my eyes.  May I not lose hope or faith when things around me seem to crumble. 

"Ulan"--"Rain"

Today has been another day of “homework,” as my translator and I like to call it.  It just means we both sit at home all day working on…well, our work.  She’s writing up and translating last week’s interviews and I am writing fieldnotes (my goodness it never ends!) and planning future interviews.  I told myself I wouldn’t blog until I caught up with my fieldnotes, but then it started to pour and I said, “I just have to write during this storm, it’s awesome!”

So yes, I am writing to you in the middle of a ferocious storm.  I have never EVER heard thunder this loud!  The only time it’s cool in the Philippines is when it pours like this.  I have my windows open and ahh, it’s just so nice to feel a cool breeze rather than warm air!  Oh, the power just went out.  By the way, when the power goes out in a city it’s called a “brownout” (a “blowout” is a big birthday celebration).

But the sad part is that I know many streets are already flooded and it’s only been raining for maybe 10-15 minutes.  A major problem here is the poor drainage systems (generally cluttered with trash, especially plastic bags--the use of plastic bags in grocery stores is actually outlawed now).  In Manila (where flooding is even worse!) they have trucks on call every day to transport people around the city because they’re the only vehicles that can still drive in that much water.  It just blows my mind that some people experience flooding basically every day for half the year.  Flooding as a normal occurrence in life—it just seems so bizarre to me.  My host said, “I always pray for rain so that it will be cooler, but then when it rains I always pray for the other people who are suffering because it’s raining.”  Goodness, what a natural dilemma.  Is this what a broken relationship with creation looks like?

This weekend I experienced more birthday parties and some more traditional foods.  I walked around the University of the Philippines in Los Banos (a major agriculture school) and visited IRRI (International Rice Research Institute)—I was a bit skeptical at first—about going to a rice museum—but IRRI was awesome!  It’s all about how to manufacture and grow rice in a way such that people all the people in the world can afford to eat.  The rice museum really made me love rice!  (no, I actually didn’t love rice before) (perhaps I just love anything I see in a museum because I love museums…)  There are so many different types of rice!  And you can make so many different products from rice!  (My mom is probably nodding her head like I’ve finally seen the light or something :D)

Thanks for your prayers!  I had some really discouraging interactions (or lack of interaction) with the young people at church this week…all I could do was sing to myself to distract my tears.  But I sat through it and didn’t run away.  God gave me extra initiating effort and eventually that led to some really encouraging interactions with two young people in the church—small as they may have been, they seemed like huge steps to me.  There are no hard feelings; rather, the difficulty lies in living through the uncomfortable-ness of the situation.

Keep praying for the baby I mentioned last week.  My translator and I went back to visit the other day and found their two little girls (5 and 8) at home with the sick baby—the parents were out working (they sell scrap materials for a living).  We will try to visit again this week.

"Ano" - word used to express "that word I can't remember" [so brilliant!]

Really busy, so quick post! (meaning I haven't edited it 200 times)  (the end is more important than the beginning!  So if you can't read it all, just read #8!!)

1. I killed two cockroaches on my own this week.  TWO!  And they were HUGE.  G-R-O-S-S.  I prayed before attempting to kill each one.  Really long and specific prayers.  Jesus said "yes" to my requests.  Thank God.  Pray for less bugs and more courage...and that Jesus would keep saying "yes" in this department of my life  :)
2. I've been memorizing Psalm 27.  Reciting it has been like having a super top secret, super effective medication for my loneliness and fears.  Pray for a continued hunger for the Word and growth in depth of understanding.  Pray for faithfulness.
3. Thank you for your prayers.  Thank you for your comments and e-mails.  Even if I haven't found the time to respond to them, I've treasured each one dearly!  They really DO help me get through the rough patches of every day.  They especially help motivate me to continue to work (I need that everyday...so if you want to send me a message everyday that says "you can do it!"  that'd be awesome).  Praise for the blessing all of you are to me and for the encouragement I've been receiving through you!  Pray for continued motivation in doing good work (I'm really kind of behind on all the writing I have to do).
4. I bought new pens.  I was having a really bad day, but then I was in an air-conditioned store for 30 minutes and I bought pretty pens and my day?  Much better.  A little sad, but I guess it's the little things.  And the pretty things... :)  and the air-conditioning.  Trust me, it had been a miserable day.  Oh and 10 pens + a notebook < $5.  Yeah!  And then eating frozen watermelon with my host mother and talking about life...wonderful way to end an exhausting day!  Thank God for the little things he brings me during the day to show me He's there so I can rest in Him.
5. I have PLANS!!  Social plans!!  That means...I have friends!  or at least I'm starting to have friends...  Outing this Friday...hiking up a mountain?  and shopping with the church secretary next Tuesday.  She's 24 and super tiny and super cute.  I think we'll have fun.  Pray for my social interactions and Praise for growing friendships.
6. I was starting to get really discouraged doing interviews last week because I found myself becoming bored.  I thought, "You can't be bored yet!  You've only done 30 interviews!  You have 60 more!!"  and also, "You can't be bored!  You're listening to people share their lives!  You're supposed to care!"   and then, "You are a horrible cdv major.  FAIL for not liking interviews."  --  Right.  Then today, while doing interviews, I realized...I really love this!  It's just really difficult when I can't speak to people myself and I have to go through a translator.  I feel like such an outsider.  My interviews with these people are not going to make a huge difference in their lives.  I'm only there for 12 weeks.  *light bulb ON*  Which is why I'm working for the church!!  The church is there long term.  The church is there to be a testimony to Christ.  I'm just a tiny piece and I'm just a servant.  Wow.  My interviews were created with the intention of informing the church, not for me to go out and fix people.  Pray for humility in my research.  Pray that it would be for His glory and not my own.  Pray that I would be willing to submit my research plans/intentions/goals to His plans/intentions/goals.  Pray that I do no harm.  Pray that I will be able to be a blessing to those I interact with, not because of me, but because of Him.  Pray that I will be a good/faithful testimony for the Church here as I interact with their typhoon relief beneficiaries.
7. Pray for some more free time so that I can finish my assignments and share some really neat stories with you that don't have to do with me! 
8. Pray for a family I met today--they were the first of my 7 interviews.  The couple has a sick 5 month old baby - gastrointestinal infection.  He's been sick since he was 1 and a half months old.  They can't afford to take the baby to see a doctor again (with paying for damages from the typhoon, lack of stable income, 3 other children, preparing for the next wet seasons...health care wasn't in their budget), so they keep taking him to the local health center...but all the health center can do is tell them to go see a doctor.  The baby is very weak, his skin hangs off his bones, he's jaundiced (yellow), and he has a protruding and rigid abdomen.  I don't know what we can do for this family because I really can't/shouldn't do anything without approval/advising.  I brought it up to the deacon board tonight at the prayer meeting...so we'll see.  I think my translator and I are going to keep visiting with them while we're still interviewing their barangay and pray pray pray that prayers of healing will do the trick.  So please pray with us!  and ask others to pray!