Making my way home....slowly!

It has been almost 4 weeks since I left Ruel and it feels a little less painful to now write and even now there are tears in my eyes!! All my fears about how I would feel when the time came were nothing in comparison to how it actually felt. Saying goodbye to those precious children and the great community of friends I had establish has honestly been the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. To go for one last time upstairs to the children and knowing this was our final goodbye. Most of them did not know what was happening especially Bertie as he decided to walk the whole length of the room for the first time into my arms for what he didnt know was his last hug. A memory I will treasure and just shows how awesome the God I serve is that He would leave that as a reminder for me! For the older children it was especially hard for them and me. We had spent so much time together and had bonded incredibly and here I was doing what everyone before me had done and abandoning them again. I can still hear Aira's cries as I had to tear myself away. It is still very painful...

Since Ruel I have taken the opportunity of extended time off work to do a bit of visiting. I spent a few days with my aunt in Australia relaxing and recovering (although this is still ongoing!). It was nice to have a suprise visit from my cousin who flew from Cairns especially to see me! It was great to have potatoes again!!! Following on from Oz I went to New Zealand to spend 2 weeks with Jo and Johnny. It was an incredible time with lots of talking, fun and laughter and just what I needed. They are such wonderful people who ministered to me in every way!!! Currently I am in one of my most favourite places with some of my most favourite people....America or to be more precise the Pearson's house!!!! Again another wonderful home with lots of talking, fun and laughter and just what I needed!!!!!

I have spent this time not only visiting friends and family but also preparing myself for returning home. I have had such an amazing and wonderful time, in fact I would say it has been the best time of my life in so many ways. I have never felt more in the will of God and have spent the last 7 months in His classroom. I have learnt and grown immensly that the thought of coming away from that is a little daunting. I know that there will be some adjusting to be done but I know God is with me and He has clearly directed me home...the rest I am not so sure about but I am excited by new opportunities and am preparing for the next part of my life will look like!

Thank you to all who have supported me through this journey. You have been the ones making this possible. I am really looking forward to coming home and seeing you all. See you soon xxxxx

Saying Farewell...

Time flies when you are having fun!!

And boy what fun I have had!!! I cannot believe the time has come for me to say goodbye! It was with such a heavy heart I completed my final week of teaching last week. It has been such a privilege and honour to watch these children grow in their learning. It is only when you get to the end and look back and realise how much you have achieved. To think when I first arrived the kids spoke a small amount of English, cried everytime we had school and seemed to look at me as if I had 2 heads! Now, they not only speak fluent English but also read and write in English too! They started also in the last month to do addition and subtraction, not an easy concept let alone when English is your second language! As for me occasionally they think I still have 2 heads but they have grown to love me as much as I love them, which is a lot!!!!

I wanted to spend the last week at Ruel having fun with the kids and doing lots of fun things! We have planned for this week a trip to a waterfall and a ride on a Karabaw (water buffalo), trip to the beach and Jollibee (Filipino version of McDonalds), face painting, swimming, movies.... trying to cram a lot into just one week but these kids really deserve it! I still don't know how I am going to face it on Saturday when I have to say goodbye and answer them when they ask "how long you go for?" (which they do everytime we go anywhere). Already I have been preparing them (and myself) by explaining that I will be going and it breaks my heart everytime when they tell me how much they love me and want me to stay. I am clinging to the fact that I serve an awesome God who has a plan for me and for them and He will be my strength when the time comes.

It is not only the kids whom I will miss dearly but the amazing and wonderful friends I have made here. Theresa, Jason, Maiya, Ayda, Hannah and new baby Eheler have been an inspiration to my life and taught me so many wonderful things. God truly blessed me with their friendship and I know it will not end here! They have shown me the true heart of community and how we should love and serve one another. You are my heroes! I only hope I can be and do half of the things you have shown me that I too will love and serve in my new community! I will miss you very much!

Well...thats all from Ruel! All I can say it what an honour and a privilege it has been. I am so very thankful to all who have made this journey possible. I am coming home a very different person, having learnt so many new and wonderful things although sometimes painful they have shaped me and moulded me into the person God wants me to be. It has been the most fulfilling and rewarding time in my life and I have never been more happy! Just now excited for the future and what is in store...it is nice for the first time to not have a 'plan' for my life so who knows what might happens next! Looking forward to seeing you and sharing with you when I return in August.

Medical Outreach

Classroom:

For a change it was my turn to be the pupil listening to someone else doing the teaching!! I have just taken part in a 4 day mini medical school here at Ruel. We had some guests from America who were really keen to do some medical training and I was also given the opportunity to take part. We studied the 'Integrated Treatment and Management of Childhood diseases', a course set by the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is a mini medical course which enables me to diagnose and treat childhood disesases and it is specifically aimed at the third world. This qualification now means I can volunteer as a health worker at a health centre anywhere in the 3rd world.

It was a quite a difficult course to take part in as daily we saw pictures and video footage of children in Africa, India and the philippines who were extremely ill and dying. We were trained to look for danger signs and recognise pneumonia, measles, Dengue fever, malaria, malnutrition, dehydration amongst more milder conditions. Over 70% of the deaths in children are caused by one of these treatable and preventable diseases. A figure that completely astounds me as it just would not happen at home. Many of the families simply cannot afford to get their children treated or seen by a doctor! Makes you appreciate our FREE health service. Here if the parents dont have the money for the medicines the child is left to die!

Following our training we put it all into practise and boy was that an experience! We went to a Mangyan village in the mountains. The journey alone was full of adventure and great excitement! There was not enough room for all of us in the Ruel van so it was decided the 'youngies' could go in the back of the yellow van! It was rather small in the back and after 20 minutes of stooping and bashing our heads we decided it would be far easier to stand for the remaining 40 mins! Holding on tightly and watching for the bumps in the road was great fun!!! You may recognise the bridge from the Ruel video I showed many many times! This is the only way to reach the village.

On arrival to the Mangyan village it did not take long for news to spread we were here for medical outreach and soon we had well over a hundred people waiting with their children. We had been taught to fill in charts and prescriptions in the comfort of Ruel House with very little pressure and lots of time. On the field it was a completely different scenario! Conscious of all the people waiting and precious time available you had to get quick! It was such an amazing experience and to think that because we were there lives will have been saved. At the same time it was devastating as some cases we saw we knew that there was not a lot we could do. I felt very helpless - especially as one 4 year old girl severly malnourished stood naked before us with an obvious heart condition. There are no medical services available to help and nothing anyone can do for them. With virtually no money the family are without hope. Makes me so angry and breaks my heart to think what an unjust world we live in.

I shall certainly never forget my experience on medical outreach I am so grateful I have had this chance to add to my skills and hopefully sometime in the future I can use them again!

Bertie Update

Bertie Update:

Hi everyone firstly apologies for not posting recently things have been very crazy here! I have now moved house again (hopefully for the final time!). It has been such a blessing to me. Theresa and Jason are such wonderful people who have been so inspirational to me and taught me so much, even though they don't know it!! 

Just thought would post very quickly some recent photo's of Bertie. He truly has been a testimony to God's love and how His love can overcome all circumstances and change lives! Bertie has put on lots and lots of weight and looks nothing like the poor, malnourished baby that we first saw. He is now crawling and hopefully within the next week or so will be walking too! He is so desperate to be on his feet!! 

Enjoy looking at his journey and remember we serve an awesome God!!

Singapore!

Singapore:

I had the opportunity to go to Singapore for a few days break with Pauline. It was a blessing in two ways! Firstly, it was a nice break to recharge batteries ready for my last 2 months at Ruel. Secondly, I made a mistake when booking my flights which meant I would have to renew my visa in order to stay for one more day! At a cost of £60! To avoid this I could leave the country for just one day and therefore my visa would restart and cover that last day! The flight to Singapore was just $12 US!!! Couldnt pass on that opportunity!!!!

Singapore was such an amazing country and so contrasting to the Philippines! Everywhere was clean, immaculate - no need for my hand gel there! Their main source of income on the island is tourism and we made the most of it! I really would recommend to anyone a visit to Singapore, especially the night zoo and Sentosa Island! 

In addition to the sight seeing I also got the chance to visit Joseph Prince's church, a church of 20,000!! Admittedly, that is over 4 sevices but still the fact was that people were queuing for hours prior to the service just to get a seat in the main auditorium instead of sitting in one of the 3 overflow rooms! Had we not be chance met friends of the people we were staying with we would not have had a seat even though we were there an hour early! God always makes a way!! 

I had read Joseph Prince's book 'Destined to Reign' recommended by my Mum and it was an inspirational book. I learnt a lot through the book about Gods grace and the freedom in which I live. So I was so excited to be able to visit his church and hear him! He spoke again on the topic of grace and it was so encouraging. I really recommend if you haven't read his book read it you will be blessed!

On returning to Ruel I have been back into teaching and starting to prepare for my successor! It is scary to think I am already having to make preparation for my leaving!!! I really missed the children while I was in Singapore so it will be even harder leaving when I know I will not be back at least not for a long while and by then they will be gone!!! We have been learning teen numbers (always a hard one!) and I have been so amazed at how quick they have picked it up! They are not only recognising all numbers to 20 but also now starting to read words and write short captions! We have so much fun everyday having a class of 3 is a dream!!! It is going to be hard to leave and come back! How did I ever cope with 30!!!!! 

I am on the move again and this weekend I will be moving house and living with Jason and Theresa, Maiya, Ayda and Hannah, the Canadian family. I am really looking forward to this as I spend most of my time there anyway! They have a great source of Tetley tea!!! At least enough to last for my last 7 weeks! 

Manila A mix of emotions!

I have arrived 'home' from Manila! And what an experience it was! I had previously been to Manila once but only saw part of it - the 'nice' part: the malls, hotels, restaurants etc... My opinion of Manila was slightly distorted and I was often thinking why do people complain and say it is so bad and how nice it is to live out here in the province! However, that was because my orginial version of Manila was not a true reflection of the sheer poverty and overcrowding I witnessed on my second visit!

I was introduced through my church to meet up with a pastor out here who was running a pre-school for the disadvantaged children of Manila. Great! I though a good opportunity to witness the 'real' Manila. His school called City Gates Academy only accepts the poorest of the poor! Their philosophy is that through education children can get themselves out of poverty. Only 1 in 10 children from slum areas will ever complete elementary (Primary) school!! As it is summer vacation there were no classes but I was able to get involved in the selection of new pupils! In order to make sure only those in greatest need receive the education the team at City Gates complete home visits and conduct an assessment. Because their school is so good many people will claim to be poor in order to send their children. What I witnessed was truly heart breaking and then on top of that to have to sit there and assess their 'possessions' just felt so unjust. One of the questions I had to answer was "ratio of family to house" Basically was their house "large, enough, small or none". How could I answer? All of the houses were small!! And yet many times I was circling 'enough' because each person had a space to sleep therefore it was enough! The house in the picture had 2 adults, 7 children and the mother was pregnant. Their house was 'small' and only slighly bigger than my kitchen at home (those of you who have seen it will no it is small!!!!). There was no furniture: bed, table etc... I was sitting on a log to complete the assessment. Inside was a simple wardrobe. So hard to understand and comprehend and that night as the rain was coming in all I could do was think of that poor family. 

I have been thinking a lot about how I will feel when I come home and experiencing 'culture shock' when faced with all our luxuries but Manila provided me with that experience 3 months early! From leaving the slums we went to the mall. Clean, air condition, expensive, bounteous in food! I have never been in a more affluent, clean shopping centre makes ours look small and dirty! From one extreme to another, it was hard to be there. Part of me just wanted to scream and the injustice and the other part recognised comforts of home and so my mind was in constant battle. I am so thankful for Glenn and Nadette they really ministered to me during this time and helped me deal with these conflicts. They also taught me to enjoy Manila too! Hence the Karaoke! They are 2 of the greatest people and we had a lot of laughs - mainly to my expense!!! I now have really seen Manila - the good, the bad and the ugly and these experiences will stay with me forever.

Easter Celebration

Firstly apologies for not updating my blog recently! Things have been very very busy here!! 

Easter here is a big celebration without the commercialism of home. It has been really refreshing and a good way to remind us about what Easter is truly about. No Easter bunny or Easter eggs here! In the Philippines Easter is a national holiday too and they all get Good Friday off. Its one of only 2 days (the other being Christmas Day) where everything is closed: malls, ferries, shops etc... Many Filipino's take the opportunity to spend time with their families and escape the cities for the coast. Being on an island away from Manila a lot of people passed through Calapan, there was a great holiday feeling!! Weather was helpful too lots of sunshine to get everyone in the mood! 

We had a wonderful time together on Easter Sunday. At Ruel we had a huge community meal where all the volunteer staff of Ruel and all the children shared together. We brought all the tables and high chairs outside and enjoyed a huge spread and no rice in sight! See pictures of kids and Bertie enjoying their Easter dinner! Was a typical English/New Zealand/Canadian dinner!! We spent time in the day preparing cooking at least 100 spuds! Well at least it felt that many when peeling! As a very special treat Jason brought back from Manila some ham - impossible to get here in Calapan! It tasted soooooo good! Even the next day in sandwiches and omelette's!!! We also made lots of jellies of all different colours - the children had great fun trying them all! For many it was the first experience of jelly! It was a great evening spending time with friends and family. We have been very lucky past few weeks as Jason and Theresa have had lots of visitors of friends and family. It is always great to meet new people from all over the world! 

Back to 'work' now after the Easter break, I say work but when you are doing what you love every day it really doesn't feel like that! Often find it hard to believe I am actually here doing this! Plan to paint a nice big Hungry Caterpillar this afternoon! Looking forward to it. Next week I head to Manila with the important task of buying new toys for the orphanage I can't wait!! 

Bertie

Bertie:
Just one month ago Ruel received a call asking us to take a serverely malnourished baby aged 1 year and 2 months. A small bundle was brought by his sister and aunt, who had been looking after him, weighing just 4kg!!!! It was devestating to see a little baby in such bad condition. The photo below does not really show fully the state his little body was in. He had sores all around his groin as his skin was peeling due to the severe malnutrition. His skin was loose around his arms and legs and he had no energy to move or cry. All I wanted to do was cry as I held his little hand in mine and looked into his dull, lifeless, little eyes as he feebly cried.

Within a few minutes he was bathed, his sores soothed and tucked up in a warm bed. When caring for a severely malnourished child there is a strict procedure to follow. It would be so tempting to just feed and feed and feed him but that is the worst thing to do. It is important to start slowly and for the first week to only give milk until he gets stronger to eat food. Watching him guzzle his first bottle and knowing that he is safe and will get better was an amazing feeling.

One month on:
Now a month on and you can see the change in him! The first picture was taken 2 weeks after he had arrived, he looks so cute and small next to the balloon! He was at this point beginning to eat food and really enjoying it!!
It has been such a privilege to be a part of this amazing transformation and know that what we have done has saved his life! He is now starting to sit up and smiles and laughs daily. His eyes are shining and full of life. It is impossible to resist him when he holds his arms out longing for a cuddle! Watching the recovery of Bertie only confirms what an awesome organisation the Ruel Foundation is!!

Change and a rest!!

Change:

I am really enjoying teaching the children here at Ruel and it is so rewarding and wonderful to see them learnig and enjoying their learning too! Despite the language barrier they are make such great progress and coming on in leaps and bounds. Their English is also getting so much better! I have increased my teaching sessions to an hour every morning with the two oldest children and we are joined by one of the daughters of a Canadian couple who are missionaries here at Ruel. It is a win win situation for us all, as having her in the group is so good for the English development of the others and at the same time she is getting her schooling. In addition to the hour in the morning we also do an hour in the afternoon play-based learning. This is the best part!! I have 5 children and we spend each afternoon either cooking, painting, playing outside, walking, singing...etc... basically just having a whole lot of fun!!

Another change that has happened this week is that I have moved from my apartment to make way for a maternity clinic. In the Philippines many women a day will die during childbirth not to mention the babies. Maternity care is expensive and many women cannot afford to pay. Offereing free pre-natal, birth and post-natal care will make such a difference to the community and prevent many many deaths. It is exciting times so where I was living is now going to be a birth room! Looking forward to being involved in this part of the ministry and hopefully maybe even seeing a few births.

Rest:

After a very very busy first 7 weeks last weekend we headed to what I call paradise! A beach resort about an hour and half away called Peurto Galera. Along with my friends from here we went to spend 2 days chilling and relaxing. It was very much needed as since we arrived it has been non-stop with establishing my teaching, rennovating Theresa and Jason's house and setting up the maternity clinic and they are just the big things - never mind the smaller day to day jobs!Watching the sunset on the beach was fantastic and swimming in the sea, I cannot remember the last time I swam in the sea!!! It was a must as it was the only way to cool down from the sun!!! I resisted the several offers for a massage but think next time will put on my list!! We came back feeling refreshed and well rested -ready to start again! At the end of this week I am hoping to go to Manila not so sure that will be as restful but I am looking forward to seeing a mall!!!

School!

I went to school last week!!! As our 2 older children attend pre-school in the morning I thought I would pop along with them to see how things were taught here. Pre-school here operates in a similar way to our nursery in the sense that there are 2 intakes, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Our children attend in the morning and the session starts at 7.30am and finishes at 10:45! A long morning!


The official age for starting school at the elementary government school is 6 and the school year starts in June. The school day is from 7am-3pm. It is hard to believe that they expect their children to be at school that long at such a young age. I am hoping to visit the elementary school next week as I believe it is very different to the pre-school. Look out for the post!




On arriving at the pre-school it was immediately clear that the children were not going to concentrate on their teacher when there is a strange white woman standing at the back on the classroom - not really like I blend in!!!! All the children were sitting at tables appearing busy! These children are aged 3-6. The classroom was very endearing lots of recognisable areas of learning such as, role play, small world, science area etc... but at the same time completely different to ours. It was really great to see the Sari-Sari (shop) and house role-play area as that is exactly what you see along the road here in the Philippines. I think I might steal that idea and build a sari-sari and house here at Ruel!




I wandered around as the teacher was talking to them in Tagalog and heard her mention 'madame Lynette' a few times and assumed that was me! Then after a while I noticed that she had left!!!!! What was I to do - 30 little faces looking up at me. I tried to talk to them in English and they tried to talk to me in Tagalog but we were getting nowhere and just to prove that children everywhere are the same, when their teacher leaves they started to be very silly! We had several boys running around with waterpistols, girls crying and lots of children trying to talk to me in a strange lanugage I didnt understand! So in true style the water pistols were removed and although I couldnt stop the girls from crying some sort of order was restored. Let's say we had not been very productive in all that time!


I felt really sorry for the teacher who is on her own with 30 children aged 3-6, I understand how it is not an easy job and I only had 19 in my class when I left and had support! And to think she does all this for less than £50 a month. Never have I been so grateful and appreciative of my job. I certainly will be looking with fresh eyes around my classroom when I get home.

Playdough!

Good news now feeling totally better and back to normal. It was so nice to be back working with the children and although I was only unwell for about 4 days it was amazing how much I missed them!

On Sunday I set out to make some playdough ready for using with both the big kids and small kids at Ruel. Accompanied by Maiya and Ayda we made 4 lots of playdough - using lots of different colours. It was such good fun! Believe it or not I had never made playdough before so had the potential to be a complete disaster.

It is amazing how much fun and learning you can get from playdough. Watching the childrens faces light up as I brought out the bright coloured playdough. I have been teaching the bigger kids the letters 's' and 'a' so we used the playdough to make these letters. You should have heard them gasp in wonder when I showed them how to use the playdough mats to make the letters. They had so much fun. With the small toddlers they seemed a little unsure and the sensation of the playdough in their hands felt strange to start. But they too soon got the idea and enjoying flattening, banging, rolling and prodding the playdough!!!! Something so small and cheap to make has brought me and the children so much joy this week!!

A mixed week!

Week 4!!!

Week 4 already and a month has passed since I left the UK! As each day passes I am feeling more and more confident to do more things and getting familiar with my surroundings. Here are some pictures of our street and neighbours.

This week I travelled on my own into town on a tricycle to collect my passport. Doesn't sound like much but for me it was a big thing; being able to do something completely on my own and successfully! I was even confident when the tricycle driver I asked to bring me home wanted more than double the fair! I just told him I would find someone else to take me! And I did!

Week 4 has been mixed. Start of the week went really well the children are making progress in so many ways. I was planning to do so much with them, the first thing being to make some playdough! But by Tuesday evening things did not all seem to be well...and by Wednesday morning it was obvious that I was not myself!!! So enforced rest has been upon me - but I am making the most of it. Enjoying reading my bible lots and watching DVD's and sleeping until I feel better. Oh and drinking lots and lots and lots of water!!! Today (Thursday) I still feel a little weak but I think the worst is over! So hopefully I will make the playdough at the weekend and we will be back to normal next week.

I am praying for wisdom at the moment that I will know when to do the right thing. When you are living side by side with people who are experiencing injustice, poverty, corruption its impossible for your heart to not want to help. Especially when you consider that a days wages over here is a little over £3 and that would have been a very hard day for most people. Being part of The Ruel Foundation has really opened my eyes to so many things and I am learning all the time. They face hard decisions daily and there is always a need somewhere within the small area in which we live never mind the wider community.

Well...no plans as yet for weekend but I am sure it will be busy there is always something happening or somewhere to go, people to meet!!!

Settling In!

Week 3:

Nearly half-way through week 3 and I am amazed at how quickly time is going. Starting to feel like I am getting into the routines here and feel a little more sure of what I am doing! Its true what they say you know you have the confidence to do something when you can show someone else and that happened to me this week! Christina arrived for New Zealand last Thursday and together we went into town at the weekend - I was able to show her around and I actually felt very confident for the first time since arriving!

Starting to make progress too with my little class of 3!! They have stopped crying - result! They now run to me when I come and start getting the table and chairs ready for our lesson. They love the time we spend together and in the evenings when I go back to look after them they are desperate to show me what they remember or want to practise more!! Language is still a little bit of a barrier but I can already see their progression. Surprisingly preparation is taking almost as long as at home! I never will complain again about photocopier being down!!! Or about not having right resources. I have realised how lucky and blessed I was back home with everything to hand in my classroom. Here I am making everything by hand (really enjoying the creativity actually!) and reproducing it 3 times - just as well I only have 3 in my class couldnt imagine having to create 30 sets each time! Just wish I could find some decent paint - all paint here is very small and not good for children's painting - will go on a hunt at the weekend!!



My Class of 3!

Have finally erected my mosquito net properly - not touching my legs anymore! Was quite impressed with Theresa and myself it wasn't easy trying to attach it to a bunk bed! Sleeping getting a lot better too! Now used to the noise of the fan which acts as a great distraction from the barking dogs and early morning noises! Making the most of the cooler nights and days and lying in because as soon as the hot weather arrives I am sure lying in a hot bed will be the last place I want to be! Off now to enjoy late afternoon sun! Its a beautiful day here today!!

Saturday Shopping

The weekend arrived and with it no duties at Ruel - what to do? After a much needed lye and then lunch we headed to Calapan City for some shopping! Saturday is my traditional shopping day at home with my mum so why not transfer some traditions here! Theresa and I headed off on a mission to find things!!!!! My first ride in a tricycle! 20 peso will take you the 6km to town thats just 30p!

Shopping in Calapan is rather different! Theresa and I nearly landed ourselves in trouble within the first few minutes! You would think crossing a road is simple - however Calapan is the 'discipline city' and crossing the road is only permitted on a pedestrian crossing! Good job the officer took pity on us otherwise we would have had a 500 peso fine!! The market shopping is most interesting - all kinds of food; meat, fruit, vegetables lined out on tables as far as the eye can see, takes a little adapting to! Lots of smells and noises completely filling all my senses! Even though I havent even been here a week I still managed to bump into 2 people I knew in the city! Some things stay the same no matter where you are! Before catching tricycle back couldnt resist calling at the Philippine version of McDonalds Jolibee where I ordered french fries - they tasted so good!

Looking forward to next Saturday and the sights and sounds I will be experiencing!

First week!

Well...everything is still all new. Learning to adapt to a new culture, new climate and new language. I am so fortunate though that everyone here can speak English - even a little! I think I wandered around in a little haze for a while as trying to take on board everything and comprehend that this is my life for the next 6 months. I have so much more free time keep thinking I should be doing something like planning or marking or prep...but alas no! Having enforced rest is a good thing!

The one good thing is being able to pray and read my bible so much more regularly! Who knows might actually be able to read through the whole bible before I return!!! God has been so gracious to me and everyday confirms that this is where he wants me to be. Although I am missing home I am not yet home sick.

Started teaching yesterday...was interesting...you would think only having 3 in a class would be easy!! However when 2 of them spend nearly 40 minutes out of the hour and fifteen minutes crying full blast its not that easy!!! In the meantime trying to encourage the one who is listening to listen for sounds when all we can hear is crying! But they did settle down and soon enough they began to smile and respond! I think the whole experience was a learning curve for us all...we try again Monday.



This is a picture of the Ruel House were I am staying:

Arrival!!

After a short flight from Hong Kong lasting 2 hours I emerged out of Manila airport - following my instructions very carefully. Stand under to 'R' and look for your name. What I wasn't expecting was the amount of people who were waiting on the other side for loved ones to arrive behind railings and security. Fortunately Lily was right opposite with my name and I didn't have to wait long at all. The first things to strike me were the strange smells and the heat - although thankfully not too hot! I climbed aboard the Ruel van and was relieved to feel the Air conditioning. Once my bag was secured with rope above the dog's cage we were off!!!!

The journey was good and not too bumpy! After 3 hours we arrived at the ferry terminal and boarded the boat to Calapan. The ride was a little rough - good job I don't get too sea sick lots of waves banging against the side of the boat and a lot of rocking side to side for 2 and half hours!! Lets just say I was glad to see dry land and be back on the van heading for Ruel.

Everyone was so welcoming when I arrived at the Ruel House. Especially the children who ran over with arms open wide and big smiles. They are adorable and I am so looking forward to spending time with them and getting to know them. By this time my eyes were refusing to stay open any longer and bed was calling. When I first arrived my room was very bare just a bunk bed and set of drawers but it didnt take long for me to make it feel more like home with my photographs. Here begins my new life for the next 6 months!