People Power

Yesterday was declared a national holiday here in the Philippines to mark the 19th Anniversary of the "EDSA People Power Movement". This movement happened when the Filipinos in Manila finally got fed up with the corruption associated with the Ferdinand Marcos regime (you might have heard of his wife, Imelda, who owned 20,000 pairs of shoes) and marched in the streets as a protest. The main street where everybody assembled was called EDSA, and movement is revered as an act that toppled a dictatorial government using non-violent methods.

So, with a day off, I did what any other US citizen would do....taxes (ugg). We did manage to go swimming for awhile, and another family invited us over to their house for dinner and a movie. I still have to finish up the NC and AL state taxes today, but I hope to get these behind me soon so that I can move on to more exciting things!

Our studio apartment

I thought you'd like to be able to see our apartment that Dan is telling you about, so here are a few pictures! As you can see, it is a very nice place, and a perfect environment for us to begin.



Here is our living room area.



Our bedroom/ office:) On the other side of the wall is the living room from the picture above! Notice Cheer Bear on the bed, which I got when I was five was one of the treasure that came to Manila along with a quilt that Dan's great grandmother made!



Our kitchen and back door! Lots of sunshine comes in each and every day!

After Two Weeks

It's hard to believe we just arrived in the Philippines two weeks ago. So many different norms are changing for us, and some days we have to stop and process a lot of things we have experienced--just so that we can adequately adjust.

One of the things that has changed our way of living is that it is more difficult to maintain a household here in Manila than it is in the States. The studio apartment we are in right now is nice, and like most homes, it does not have central A/C, which means that we leave the doors and windows open to create a breeze, or on really warm days, we'll shut the doors and windows and turn on our one window unit. It's not that it is bad, it's just different.

Since we have our windows and doors open all the time, this creates a new problem, what I call "acid dust". Basically, this is pollution that is caused by a combination of diesel fumes and dust that comes from the dry climate (the dry season ends around May). This dust will settle onto everything in your home, and so everything needs to be cleaned on a regular basis. The floors need to be swept and mopped DAILY, even the walls need to be scrubbed every month.

There are some great benefits to having the windows open all the time--it creates a kind of Mayberry effect, where people feel free to drop in and say "hey" and sit down to a glass of water. You also wake up with the rest of the city as the sounds of rumbling cars and chirping birds begin to drift into your house every morning.

Till next time,

Dan

A New Look

What do you think of the new background? Ever since we started brookslanding.com, I thought that it would be cool to tie in some nautical/dock theme. The picture was taken while in Mt. Dora, Florida, during our 2nd Anniversary.

Let us know what you think! We'll turn on the comments so you can rant or rave!

Orientation

Now that we are just about settled into our new apartment, we are going through orientation. Most of the orientation involves meeting with different people in different departments, but occasionally, we get to take "field trips" out to see Manila.

Here, we are standing with other new arrivals at an old Spanish fort in downtown Manila.




We also visited the United States Cemetery, where over 17,000 U.S. soldiers are buried. They died in WWII, defending the Philippines, as well as other Pacific countries.

Bagabag Women's Retreat

The day that we arrived at our northern center, I was invited to attend a women's retreat for the weekend in the beautiful rice terraces of Banaue. (The 8th wonder of the world!) I happily excepted, as long as they didn't mind me being jet lagged! My roommate was Judy who has been a translator for over 40 years. I also had my first ride on a trike, which is a motorcycle with a little cart attached to sit in, on my way back to the retreat center after a visit to town.




All of those ridges are actually rice terraces, build hundreds of years ago along the side of the mountains, and still in use today. This is from a look out point, but we had a similar view from the balcony of our room!



The many faces that I enjoyed getting to know on the retreat!

Sharing My Vision

My first official duty as the "Short-term Personnel Director" was to share with a group of translators, linguists, and support workers my vision of how short-term teams, interns, and churches can impact Bible Translation in the Philippines and throughout Asia.

I also helped lead a discussion with them by "whiteboarding" some fresh ideas about how these short-termers can provide real value in the Bible Translation process.

"So...is anybody here from out of town?"

Our first day in the Philippines

18 months after sending in our initial questionnaires into Wycliffe, we are now finally in our place of ministry!

After landing in the airport in Manila, we were picked up by some friends of ours and taken to our new apartment, where we unpacked. It's modest, but it has A/C, a water filter, and an in-line water heater in the shower, so we are happy.

We were supposed to fly up to our northern translation center today, but there was a crack in the airplane's landing gear, so we drove the 7 hours up instead. A pretty lively trip: we accidentally became a part of a Lunar New Year's Day parade, passed a traditional funeral possession, and we witnessed 20-30 "close calls" that would frighten the average American driver.

Hello from Seoul!

We had a few minutes in between flights to let you all know we have arrived safely in Seoul after our 12 hour plane ride. We had delux seats by sitting in the exit row, and we were on one of only a couple Korean Air planes that have the personal TV's in coach! We didn't realize we'd get those perks! It has been fun for me to just be in the Korean atmosphere for a couple of hours, since just a couple years ago Korea was home for me!

5 more hours until we reach Manila!

Goodbye America

7 hours from now we will be on a plane to Manila. We will leave from Los Angeles 12:10am (Tuesday) and arrive 10:30am on Wednesday (Manila time!) 8:30pm on Tuesday (Central time!)

Our last few days have been spent in Burbank, CA with our close friends. Our friends, Ana and Wilbur came down from Sanfrancisco to see us. We'll be sure to update you soon after we arrive!



Having fun at Universal Studios themepark!

Huntington Beach Training

We have enjoyed our couple days here in Huntington Beach as we have been trying to gain knowledge of how to lead short term teams from John and Shevawn. As you can see it wasn't all work and no fun! We had a great time and feel a lot more prepared!



Our classroom :)

We also stayed with a wonderful couple who have had many connections with Wycliffe, including their kids had previously served in Brazil. They opened their home to us, fed us yummy breakfasts and took us to Rubys, a cafe out on the end of a beautiful pier. We really enjoyed getting to know them.



Our precious hosts!

Goodbye, Alabama

Yesterday, we finished packing up and headed off to the airport to begin the first leg of our trip that will eventually lead us to the Philippines.

(From left to right): Emma, Charlotte, and Molly all line up at the gate to say goodbye.

Yep, that's a lot of luggage! Most airlines only allow two 70 pound bags, a carry-on, and a “personal bag” per person. Ironically, both of my pieces of luggage had to be opened by airport security. What set off the alarm? My two-piece suit and my half-gallon stash of Sonny’s Sweet BBQ Sauce.