This is the view that I’m looking at right now.
I have a fan two inches from my face.
I just ate a mango and leftover airplane snacks for breakfast.
I woke up to at least 100 roosters crowing.
My hair is triple the size of my head.
I flushed a bug down the toilet and it broke.
So I guess we’re here!
{the road leading up to our apartment}
Cebu is a big city with a breathtaking mountainous, tropical landscape and several modern establishments like the lovely Ayala Mall. That’s where I spent my ATM maximum yesterday to buy some essentials, like a classy white plastic table, a large fan (the one that’s two inches from my face), and a rice cooker. Riiiiiiicey.
But most of this city is not modern. In contrast with the beautiful landscape and modern parts of the city, there is an overwhelming amount of poverty.
You know when you “know” something, but then you really don’t know it until you actually experience it?
That’s kind of how it has been.
I think that because I had seen the poverty through the window of a van when I came 4 years ago, I thought I knew what it was like here. But we are LIVING here now, living amongst poverty that I am realizing I really know nothing about. The way of life for most people here is so extremely different than how I live my Western life at home.
I think I underestimated how overwhelming it would be.
But sometimes when I get overwhelmed, I try to focus on why we came, which was to support an organization that rescues homeless kids and gives them a chance to be a part of a family. And speaking of that organization, I could probably write a whole post on what is happening there and the sweet kids who call it home. But I’ll save that for next time.
Thank you for your interest in what we’re doing and thank you for waiting patiently for food posts. Believe me, I’m eating, but most of it is coming out of a wrapper, box, or bag right now. It will take me a week or two to get my feet settled in the kitchen but I am excited to share some yummy new foods with you!
Your thoughts and prayers and comments and emails are so appreciated! And if you could especially pray for the toilet to get fixed, that would be good. Really good.
