We're here!

Hey everyone. We're in the Philippines now. We made it with no problems. We were picked up from the airport on Wednesday night and arrived at our hotel around 1 am. We are in Manila which has 15 million people living in it. The city never calms down. At 1 am you would've thought you were in indy rush hour traffic. There aren't really road rules so the driving has been hectic, but it's fun. Yesterday we just spent time getting acclimated to the culture. The two pastors were are working with are Jun and Joel. The best way to describe them is hilarious. They laugh all the time, and their laughter is contagious - even when we don't know what we're laughing about. They feed off of each other too, so it's great.
Everyone here has been really welcoming and sincere. The hotel staff greets us each time they see us with their hand over their heart and a bow of the head. You can't help but smile at their hospitality. The hotel we've been staying at is dorm style - kinda unique. But it's really nice. The food has been good. We've eaten lots of rice and sea food. Yesterday we ate both lunch at supper at SMmall of Asia - the largest mall in Asia. It was really nice food. The meals were cheap - about $7 a person for what would've easily been $10 at home. We like that. The dominant mode of public transportation are tricycles (like motorcylces with side cars) and Jeepneys. We all really wanted to ride in a Jeepney so we were able to do that to supper last night. It was pretty thrilling. It's basically a long jeep with sideways bench seats. I think the idea was picked up after the war when the soldiers left the Jeeps here. They are all really colorful. They make the traffic much louder with horn honks.
Today we are going to a church to play with kids and talk with teenagers. We are all really excited to move from the role of tourist to one of minsitry. It will be a good transition to learning how to relate in ministry to the nationals. Then later this afternoon we are flying (no longer boating) to Cebu where we will be doing more intensive ministry.
One suprising thing here is how much english there is. In all reality there really isn't that much of a language barrier. All the signs and menus are in English and it's almost the dominant language. It helps that we are in a pretty touristy area... although we've seen only a handful of other 'white people'.

Thank you so much for your prayers and please continue to pray with us and for us. We're not suffering with Jetlag too much, but we're lacking in energy. I'm sure working with the kids today will help that (or hinder it, haha). Pray also for continued safety and health. No one has gotten sick yet, which is a praise. The airports were pretty intense about the swine flu. When we landed in Tokyo we had to wait an hour on the ground for quarentine officials to come on the plane and check us out (all 403 passengers). Then they gave everyone masks. No one had it though. It was just kinda humorous. It wasn't an issue when we arrived in the Philippines though. Also, praise God for the wonder and creativity of his creation. It is so different here, and it's actually refreshing to many of us. The colors, smells, sights, tastes, and sounds have us on our toes. In many of the rides we are silent - soaking in our surroundings. It's been awesome.