Er.. Or... Over the ocean and through the clouds...
Back from the Philippines. Meh. It was okay...
Just kidding. It was kinda, sorta, amazing. I'd never been overseas before, and it was just an amazing first experience.
I can't even begin to describe it. The people there are so freaking friendly. Which was the first thing that Jenna and I noticed when we stepped off the plane. Everyone was just "hi!" "hello!" (and not just in the airport).. Granted, that might've just been because we were the only white people around, but it was still cool. And I had to go backwards through security at the airport, because I left my jacket on the other side of immigration, and it was so easy! Flashed my password and a smile, and it was a "yes m'am, let me see what I can do for you!".
And the like, cities, villages, and provences were so interesting, and you could tell immediately that you'd switched from one to another. Manila has high rises that are taller than some of the ones I've ever seen, and some of the grungiest areas as well - with squatters living in areas three feet wide between the tall buildings. And embassys everywhere. I had to walk down the street by myself at 1:30 in the morning, and I felt completely safe - because I was walking past embassys and bulidings with security guards sitting in the street - coming back from a massage, amaaazing.
Got to travel all throughout the northern half of the island of Luzon - landed in Manila, then stayed in Makati for a few days, then went to Subic to the Clark military base (went swimming with dolphins and whales), then went to Alaminos (aka 100 Islands) and got to rent a boat and hang out on our own island for the day and went snorkeling. After that, we went to this cool town of Vigan where we got to ride horse drawn carriages called calesas and walked and rode down cobblestone roads, then we had lunch the next day in Batac with a missionary couple and then we to Burgos to visit a light house. Had some major car problems at the top of the very steep hill (transmission hose cracking and losing all the fluid), and four hours later, as darkness approached, a mechanic came baring a hose and "hydraulic fluid" (which can apparently be a substitute for transmission fluid) and off we went - singing the Indian Jones theme song the whole way! Got to the creepiest hotel of the whole trip in Pagudpug, but the cochroach in the room was so worth it when we woke up in the morning and saw the view. It was amazing. Seriously, something you'd see on a postcard. Amazing. Then we went to Tiguegarao, and stayed in the nicest hotel, and Jenna and I ordered room service all night long... Lol. Then it was off to Banaue to see the Banaue Rice Terraces. Dad and Steve (who were both on motorcycles) took a bumpier road than us girls in the car. Our car started giving us "Transmission Oil Temp" warning lights the whole way, and the guys got stuck at a landslide. We made it to Banaue - just barely - and the boys stayed in some other town. They got to us around noon the next day (after dad having motorcycle problems before leaving), and we decided to go straight to the the rice terraces. But..... Our car wouldn't start. So we had to go find a mechanic.. He came, fixed the car, and we were off! Only for us to get about a half mile down the road.... And the car started making a "clunk, clunk, clunk" sound... So we turned right back around, picking up the mechanic on the way. Found out we were missing three of the four screws holding up our drive shaft. And dad's motorcycle started making a noise too. The guy fixed them again, and so we were off to the rice terraces!! Got up to the terraces.... And it was so foggy we couldn't see a thing. Literally, all we could see was the railing of the platform we were on. Haha... Omg.. It was so funny. God has such a sense of humor. After Banaue, we drove eleven hours back to Makati. Got there around 8 on Friday evening.. We also went to Noah's ark musical when we were in Makati, and went to get a massage (a second one), and got to experience the malls and fish market and.. It was just freaking amazing. Got to visit the Faith Academy, which was awesome.
I'm back home now. And jet lag is quite challenging to get rid of. A 16 hour time difference. And since I've gotten home, on the day I haven't had work, I've been awake until about 2, and waking up around 3:30 or 4:30, then up until 6, then asleep until 11, then falling back asleep to wake up at 2... And on the days I've had work, I've been sleeping between 2 and 4:30, then staying awake until the next night. Work is great on an hour and a half or two of sleep.. Lol. Or like last night, I fell asleep around 2 on the couch, woke up at 4 to go to my room, and couldn't sleep.. So I've been up since then, and it's 10:13, and I need to head to church.
But it is nice to be home.
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