I’m home!
Wendy: Well here I am in the land of plenty. I feel so selfish, but not too much! Eating and napping and reading, doing email, reading, and eating some more . . . that's what my days have been filled with! No patients or kids at my door at 6:00 a.m. No night meds . . . It's great! Everything is so clean and convenient and . . . tasty!
Home
I've been with my parents at their new house here at AIIAS for several days now. Michel is here too (she is teaching at AIIAS elementary now) so it's great having a friend here (more like the sister I never had). Everyone I see on campus tells me I've lost weight (which is a bad thing here), thus I have even more reason and excuse to eat more!
Food
The reverse culture shock is pretty much nil this time, though it's been longer than ever (over a year) since I've even been OFF the mountain (besides my quick trip to Hong Kong a few weeks ago to renew my visa). The only thing that is still a shocker is the food. I rave over every bite at every meal and go crazy in the markets and grocery stores. There are just sooo many choices and so much good food here compared to the mountains!
Helicopter!
I arrived Friday afternoon. My parents met me at the airport and we went straight next door to where we met Dwayne Harris, our future helicopter pilot for Palawan, AND we saw the very, cute little chopper that he will be using for our very own mountains! Yes, this is a new development which we are very excited about. It came about through David Gates and no doubt miracles that have been in the works for years--I guess he just decided we needed a helicopter (which we do!) and so, since he seems to know how to make things happen, he made it happen! It's just a two-seater, but there's also a way they rigged up to strap a stretcher to the outside for patients! I'm excited about the huge possibilities for our project and also for finally having the opportunity for my parents to come visit me now after 4 years! (I wouldn't let them come visit me 'til now because I was afraid they'd suffer permanent damage hiking up there!) (The helicopter isn't quite ready to fly to Palawan yet, so they won't be visiting me any time soon.)
Taco Bell
We went straight to Taco Bell from the airport. Yes, they have a Taco Bell in the Philippines now! It was absolutely delicious. I saved the paper wrappings to take back to David in the mountains so he can at least smell them!
Fellowship
Sabbath we had 20 some friends over for a delicious potluck and wonderful fellowship and singing and looking at pics all afternoon. Helicopter guy came for lunch and spent the night too so we had fun with him. We played games Sat. night and then went to the water park on Sunday. We found out he was having a birthday the next day (29th) so we made a cake later and celebrated. He's a cowboy (literally--or was one) from Montana. My parents were a little nervous at first about the idea of a young kid flying them or me in the mountains, but I think they're a little more reassured now after spending some time with him. He's had quite a bit of flying experience and seems like the responsible sort, not taking any risks or anything like that.
Angel
Tomorrow night my friend Angel comes to visit (Former AFM missionary to Guinea)! We will all leave early the next a.m. for El Nido, a beautiful little beach/resort type place in northern Palawan for a few days. My parents and I have wanted to go there for years. We’ve heard so much about it and are very excited to finally be able to go.
Jungle
On Wednesday I'll take Angel up to my mountains where she will experience jungle life for a couple weeks. I will be dousing her in mosquito repellent faithfully and doing my best to keep her from getting the dreaded Malaria, which is almost inevitable for any visitor. I'm very excited for her visit. We've been talking about this for years.
Alaska
Kiana (my co-missionary and 2 year SM to Palawan) will be leaving Palawan for good on July 13 (I try not to think about it) and meeting us in Alaska the same day. (Her dad is a pastor and mom is a nurse in Alaska). My parents and I have also wanted to go to Alaska for years so we're pretty excited about this too.
Ok, that is the very brief version, though still too long. Hope to be in contact with each of you soon! Hope to see as many of you as possible too!
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