(With limited internet, this isn’t being posted when I would have liked to. So this was meant to be posted about 2 weeks ago)
This past week has been one of the busiest, and most unique weeks of my life. Here is what has happened.
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A week ago:
I was packing in in Deriamba Nicaragua. We said a tearful goodbye to our family there and started our trek to the airport where we would spend the next night getting ready for a flight the next day. Halloween also just so happened to fall on travel day, so naturally we traveled the entire day in costumes. Characters on my team included Elsa and Ana from Frozen, Katnis, Captain Jack Sparrow, a monk, and my self, the Joker. We traveled the whole day, and had skits and all sorts of competition and other festivities at the airport. Now let me tell you this, getting dressed in full makeup as the joker in an international airport is a little bit nerve racking… Especially when the head of security walks in on you in the bathroom while you are putting it on… But he was cool, and said I looked “sweet!” Later that night tho, Kayla (Jack Sparrow) and I where rocking it, we even got pulled out of line by 2 of the security guards so that he could take pictures with us! THEN, the next day we boarded the flight to the good ol’ US!
Saturday:
We boarded the flight and took a 4 hour flight from Managua Nicaragua to Atlanta, had a 2 hour layover, then used the next 6 hours flying over the states to have our layover in Los Angeles California accompanied by the main dude from Guardian go the Galaxies… So you know we where safe…
Layover:
Ohhhhh layover… How I will never forget you… So Adam is from the LA area, he wanted to rent a car so that he could go take a quick visit to his mom’s house, then we where going to explore the town! While we where there:
In-N-Out:
Being in Cali, naturally we had to go to the craze of the west. It is insane how popular that place is there! Probably one of the most crowded, busy restaurants I have ever seen. Next,
Dropped Adam off and looked for a place to send off packages, and chilled in a Jack in the Box parking lot until he was done.
Got Boboa Tea:
In what I swear looking like what I would think to be Hong Kong. Chinese characters,
asian markets and Asians EVERYWHERE! And it was so delicious, I ended up getting the mango slush #yum
Applied for a Job:
As we sat and enjoyed our Boboa Tea, we realized there was not a single looking white person there at that part of town being in seemingly china town, so out of curiosity, we wanted to see what people would say if I tried to apply for a job…
Strolled down Hollywood lane at nearly 1 o’clock in the morning.
Giving Up on shipping:
As we finally give up on the night, and accept there is no way to ship a package, we finally find a self service station at approximately 3 in the morning and took the next 2 hours trying to get supplies and figure out how to ship things… Then there was just enough time to sleep in the car for the next couple hours.
On the bus ride back to the airport, I get a call saying “Hey, it looks like some bags have been stolen, you need to get back here. Long story short, some druggy stole Soly’s pack and the only thing he wanted was 2 pairs of shirts and all of his malaria meds…
Sunday:
We discovered that our flight had ben delayed 6 hours and now we would not be leaving until 4 in the after noon.
Traveled 17 hours and we finally made it to the Philippines at about 2 am
This was my view every morning:
Monday:
Stayed on a GORGEOUS rooftop where I got to see the Sun rise and set every day. Every night I got to fall asleep while looking at the incredibly complex, yet beautiful metal jungle known as Manilla.
Tuesday:
Repeat
Wednesday
Picked up by our contacts by a 10 seater “Jeepney” and stuffed 17 people + bags… THAT was an experience… I will hopefully not do it again, but I wouldn’t ever trade that experience for a nice double decker. Once we got out of the city I got to ride on the back hanging off with one foot on the bumper in order to save space, and we got to ride through country side, city markets, mountains and some of the most beautiful scenery while trying to hold on for my life!
Today:
We got to travel to bumper to bumper, city living, all the way out to the gorgeous mountains of San Mateo… This place is gorgeous… I am literally in the Mountain Biking Capital of the Philippines and the world largest 10 commandments tablet is literally in my backyard. We are staying at Grow Internation witch is a recreational compound where they take the inner city boys, and bring them to a place where they can be loved on and where they have a place and an opportunity to get to know Jesus. I am completely blown away the the amazing people they have here. The people are beautiful and everyone is sooooo kind. I love it here. Ryan is the main ministry contact that we are dealing with and two boys named Imil and Noi, age 19 and 17 are alwas helping, working at hand. And I am so excited to see what is in store for this next month. I feel so blessed to be here. Tomorrow is my birthday, and I think that it is such a cool gift from God in that in the month of my birthday is the first month I get to go to apart of the world that I have ALWAYS wanted to come, ASIA!, and I am here : )
I know we can make an Impact here, its just a matter of time before God comes seeping through and I am so excited to be apart of it.
Thanks again for everyone who reads these and is keeping up with me!
Ethan.
