And So It Begins...

Well, I’m here in Cebu. I can’t even begin to tell you how strange it is to be in another country. But, I think I’m starting to get used to being away from home, family, friends, and everything familiar, At least I pray that I am. We didn’t have the internet for about 3 days, and I know that doesn’t seem like a long time, but it was quite possibly the longest 3 days of my life. But, enough of the depressing stuff…here’s the story.
We flew out on Thursday, the 23 of September 2010. That Monday Michelle’s dad and Keven Todd were able to give us blessings, of comfort, and protection. They were beautiful I hear. I was only able to stay for mine, seeing as how the girls from work had planned a goodbye dinner for me that night. My blessing spoke of the 2 things I needed to hear more than anything else; that I’m making the right decision, and have known that from early on. And that my mom and Mandy would be watched over while we are gone. Also, that I will be able to become a beacon to the saints and the people over there. That statement gave me goose bumps, because my mom said the exact same thing to me a couple weeks previous to that beautiful blessing. The rest of my blessing spoke of missionary work, and that I am going to be able to help to spread the Gospel. How awesome is that?! But, it also is exciting! And, the knowledge that my Father in Heaven wants me to be here is the greatest comfort I have received this past week.
So, we left the beautiful Cache Valley at 3:00ish on Thursday…After we weighed all of the luggage, all 10 pieces. Mine was 17 lbs over and I therefore had to go through my stuff and leave things behind. I put my extra towels, soap, toothpaste, blow dryer, straws, shoes, and other random things (like my bopit I intended to introduce to the Asians) into a box to await my return. Sad stuff!
Next we met for dinner in Layton, with Michelle’s family and my Aunt Terry. Once we reached the airport we had to check all 10 large suitcases. Sitation #1…The scale we used at home was off. Solution #1…Go through almost every suitcase and take out the nonessentials to be shipped off at a later date. Way too many tears, not enough hugs, and one giant prayer circle later we were off to security. My wonderful family waited outside the security ribbons for one final wave. We made it to our gate about 20 minutes before takeoff. Situation #2…As the airplane began to taxi away from the building, the auxiliary power cut off. The pilot assured us that we didn’t really need that power to fly, that it was just for the taxi process. Solution #2… That’s awesome, and I’m sure you believe that, however, from where I was sitting, I couldn’t help but laugh at the situation. What a way to start a transpacific flight! The complications with the power delayed us and we don’t know the LAX airport, but we made it to our gate in just enough time to buy some drinks and board.
Once we were on the plane I heard my first word from a Filipino, Ma Buhy. It means welcome. And we heard it a lot on the rest of our trip. Now, our original seats were not together. There were 2 seats and 3 seats together. Normally that’s great, but unfortunately, we had 2 small children with us, and that’s not an ideal situation. Thankfully the airline moved us to the back of the plane where there was extra room for all of us. Awesome! Situation #3…our 17 hour flight took place on an old airplane, with no TVs. Solution #3…Drug the children with Benadryl so that they will sleep for 8 hours. And then we just got to put on the headphones and watch the small screen 10 rows up and pretend you speak Filipino. They fed us dinner once we leveled out. It was some rice with some form of chicken, a roll, CHOCOLATE PUDDING, and some noodle awesomeness. I didn’t know what most of it was, but you better believe I ate it all. When everyone is asleep, they walk around and hand our water, and some peanuts. A few hours later they hand out cookies and a nasty sandwich…for real, I couldn’t even choke it down, I shoved it in an empty cup and waited until morning to throw it away. (Pointer…Don’t drink a lot unless you are super skinny. Cuz the bathrooms are so small on those big planes that you can barely find room to pull down your pants. And DO NOT drop any change on the floor, because you’ll have to leave the lavatory to retrieve it.) Now, in case you are wondering why I know all of this I’ll end your confusion. It’s because I am a snorer and was afraid to disturb the whole plane so I didn’t sleep till Michelle was awake and could tell me if I needed to wake up. They served a fake omelet, sausage of some meat variety, and a muffin for breakfast. Then they pass around hot towels, which pretty much rocked my world.
We left the plane in Manila and I kid you not, my hair instantly started to frizz! It was massive…and we were only in the terminal! THE PHILIPPINES ARE SO FREAKING HOT!!! And yes, it’s instant heat/humidity! We must have been quite a spectacle because everyone stared at us, and brought little kids to get a closer look, much like you would at the gorilla window in the zoo. Kaitlyn and Brycen just turned around and waved. They got their hair touched by just about everyone. Strange custom…When you go through security you separate into genders, and are patted down (My first foreign touching). Our next flight went by without a hitch, and I caught my first glimpse of our new island as we landed. A quick trip through customs and we were on our way. Keven Todd’s coworkers picked us up, we loaded all of our luggage into one van, and the people into a second and drove from Maktan island to Cebu island. We unloaded our suitcases, realized we had nothing, including water, fans, or any idea of where to buy food. But Rishee and Marvin came to our rescue. Though it seemed to be a whole other day, it was only a few hours before we were back in our condo, and asleep.
We weren’t able to find church the next day, the number we were given in Utah was non existent. But after a week of waiting for things to get fixed around the house, and attempting to cook in this country, things are starting to settle down. It’s still just as hot, but it’s not too bad in front of the fan. And I'm starting to taste the food I've heard so much about! Like "Lechon" and "Hanging Rice" (it's rice cooked in intricatly folded coconut leaves) which was amazing! I think this is going to be some sort of awesome…though I’m not really sure what kind. Contrary to my first week freak outs…and tears…I am excited to start this chapter of my life. I have no idea what is going to happen, even from day to day, but have no fear…I’ll keep you posted.