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Sunday – Longest Day Ever & Trip Recap

// February 12th, 2006 // No Comments » // Philippines

We got a wake up call at 6 am and had a buffet breakfast on the 31st floor then headed to the airport on a non-aircon bus at 8:45 am. Again we waited on the bus for about 45 minutes before it left. We might still be waiting there if it weren�t for an older Filipino woman getting off and going inside to �raise hell� as she put it.

We went though security again and waited for about 3 hours to board the plane, and then we took off. We flew north almost to Japan, and then caught the jet stream back to the States. We watched 3 movies and ate 2 meals during the 12 hour flight. We landed at 8:50 am US Pacific time and got to baggage claim. Our bags and trunks were the last ones off so we were heading home to RCC at about 11:15 am. I was glad to be home even though the trip prior to Manila was really good. I missed the smell of the U.S. as well as the nice mild humidity we have in SoCal.

This was the longest day of the trip because we got up at 6 am on Sunday, and then I didn’t go to sleep until I was back home in the U.S. until about 11 pm on Sunday night (which is 3 pm on Monday afternoon in the Philippines). For those of you who struggle with math, (don’t be offended, I raised my hand, too) that’s 33 hours straight. I tried to sleep on the plane, but I couldn’t fall asleep for various reasons: person next to me fidgeting, lights coming on for meals, having to get up to let someone out of the row (I was in the aisle seat), and watching movies.

Overall, I really enjoyed the trip. God used several experiences that I had to teach me about Himself and about who I was. Many of them are too personal to share on this website, however I would like to share one.

Being in the jungle away from all the busyness of life was something I had never really experienced. Hearing the loud sounds of millions of crickets and other critters instead of honking car horns and the hum-drum of people talking is something I won’t soon forget. Images of lush green mountains and the smiles of truly happy people are etched in my mind forever. The simplicity of life in the jungle is something that grew on me. It opened up my eyes to see that I place too much importance on “things” in life that are of zero eternal value. Chasing after financial riches, social status, and material possessions is a futile effort. What will it gain me? Well, I have gained money in my life, but I must continually part with it. Will it satisfy me? I have lots of “stuff” but it does not satisfy me because I always want more. True satisfaction and gain can only be found in the salvation that comes from Jesus Christ and the relationship that continually seeks to draw nearer to Him.

I want to close this journal with one of my favorite quotes by Marcel Proust. For all of you who did not take this journey with me, I hope that you are inspired to take a journey of your own very soon.

About the drawing: A good friend of mine in college, Megan, and I were walking one evening and we saw a crape myrtle tree that had shed all but one of its pink blooms on the grass around it. We both noticed it and how beautiful it was. The next time I saw her, she gave the above drawing to me. I have treasured it ever since.

Saturday – Shopping & Airplane Trouble

// February 11th, 2006 // No Comments » // Philippines

Well, we didn’t make it in quite the time I estimated. We got up and had breakfast at 7 am, then the missionary drove us out to his house on the outskirts of Manila. We hung out there for a little while and then Jim, Larry, Steph, and I went shopping with Nerry (missionary’s brother) as our guide. We walked down to the main street where we caught a jeepney ride to a mall. Jim wasn’t happy about going to the mall and decided that he wanted to go to Green Hills where he had gone last year. The missionary didn’t want to take us there on Friday because she said Muslims ran it. We all 5 crammed into a Toyota Corolla taxi and drove to Green Hills, about 25-30 minutes away. We ate lunch at KFC (Kapag Fried Chicken) and then went in and shopped for a few hours.

There were many shops on the two floors, but a lot of them sold the same thing: knock-off clothing (mostly t-shirts), knock-off designer bags, knock-off expensive watches, Filipino food, mobile phones and accessories, and Chinese-style souvenirs. I tried to barter for some shirts, but the girl didn’t come down far enough for me. The same went for a knock-off Rolex watch.

We went back to the missionary’s house for dinner (pork chops, veggies, and rice) and then a quick shower and then off to the airport. The missionary got lost taking us, but we got there in plenty of time. We went through check-in and got all our bags checked in except for the long blue PVC pipe that held the guys’ blowguns. They wanted us to pay an extra $150 excess baggage fee because they said it exceeded the allowed length of a checked item. Larry went and talked to a supervisor, and he allowed us to check the pipe for no extra charge. Then we went to the gate to wait for about an hour and a half.

There are actually five security checkpoints that one has to go through to get on the plane. There is a guy that checks to make sure you have a ticket before you enter the terminal. Then you go through a metal detector, frisk, and x-ray machine at the terminal doors. Then you check your bags, and go through getting your passport stamped. After that you show your passport and boarding pass to another security guard as you go through another metal detector, frisk, and x-ray of your carry-on baggage. Then you head down to the gate, and get in line once again to have your carry-on baggage and shoes go through another x-ray machine and then you get the metal detector wand.

We boarded the plane around 9:45 pm and sat there until around 10:15 pm. The ground perser came on the P.A. and said that there was maintenance that was required on the plane and it wouldn’t be able to fly, so our flight was cancelled and rescheduled to Sunday afternoon at 12:30 pm. They said to deplane and wait for further instructions, so we sat in the terminal for 30 minutes and then they announced that accommodations would be arranged and a shuttle would be ready momentarily. No more announcements were made after this one, so Al started bugging the guy at the desk with a walkie-talkie to find out what was taking so long for the shuttle. After 45 minutes, they gave us a snack (hot dog and soda) and then another 45 minutes, Al found out that there were no more hotel rooms available. The PAL guy was checking into an alternative for the remaining passengers and asked us to be patient and just wait.

Al gathered the team and suggested that we start praying since we weren’t getting anywhere by ourselves. Al prayed and as soon as we said “Amen” (literally) the PAL guy with the walkie-talkie came over and told us there was a shuttle outside waiting to take us to our hotel.

We got on the bus and waited for about 45 minutes more. Two Filipino-American women got upset at the long wait time, so they went back into the terminal and found someone important to yell at until the bus started moving. Then the bus driver drove us to the hotel about 30 minutes away. Everyone got off the bus just in time to figure out that it was the wrong hotel, so everyone got back on the bus and the driver took us about 2 blocks away to the correct hotel. Everyone rushed off the bus to go to the check-in counter, so there were about 100 people crowding 3 people behind the registration desk trying to get checked in. We (Al, Gerry, and me) didn’t get our room for about an hour and a half. We got upstairs and the room was very nice with two bedrooms. Al and Gerry went straight to bed and I waited for a rollaway to show up. The front desk guy promised there would be one in 5 minutes, but it took more like 30 minutes. I went to sleep about 2:45 am.

Friday – Sub-par Shopping & Missed Meet-up

// February 10th, 2006 // No Comments » // Philippines

Today was quite a disappointment. We went to a shopping area next to a huge Catholic church that had about 200 little shops but only 4 different products were sold. I could have bought mobile phone accessories, knock-off designer bags, cheap and ugly looking jewelry, or no-name electronic devices (DVD players, MP3 players, stereo receivers, etc.). I was planning on buying souvenirs for people, so I feel very bad that I won�t be bringing anything back for anybody. There really wasn’t anything that I would have wanted to give someone.

We set up our “meeting place” at Jolly Bee in case any one of the party got separated from the group during the shopping. It was a three story shopping area, and Jolly Bee was on the top floor. The shops on each floor were much like a flea market set up with small booths. The isles were pretty tight, and there were a lot of people shopping. I think we were the only white people in the whole building, so we got quite a few stares.

I took a couple laps around to see if I could find a unique store, then headed back to Jolly Bee to find a missionary eating at a table. I went and sat down with him and said “hi” and then after that we didn’t speak for about 5 minutes. During that time I was taking in all that was going on around me. (I wish I had taken a picture, but it didn’t seem appropriate at the time.) Picture walking through the front door of a McDonald’s to see 50 people standing directly in front of you all waiting to place their order at the counter. There are no lines, just a mob of people elbowing their way to the front. When you look to your right, you see a mostly open-walled room with seating for about 200. There are about 2 empty chairs in the entire room, and about 20 more people with trays of food circling like vultures for a someone to relinquish their seat. There is American music playing over the sound system, but it’s not something you would really notice because there is so much other noise from people talking, timers in the kitchen going off, and announcements of orders that are ready. When you finally find a seat, it seems like every 30 seconds to a minute, you get bumped by someone walking by you in the narrow aisles.

The missionary broke our 5 minutes of silence with a question that I will remember for the rest of my life because of the realization that I came to by answering it. He asked with a smirk, “Don’t you miss the jungle?”

We made an unexpected stop at KFC on the way back to the guesthouse, and that made me late for the 3 pm phone call from Lindsey (a missionary that I met in Colorado and now serving outside of Manila). She didn’t try to call back until 4:30 or 4:45 pm and by then it was too late for her to drive here to hang out. She said the traffic gets really bad on Fridays, so instead of the usual 45 minutes to get here, it would take more like 3 or 4 hours. We chatted on the phone for a little while and then said goodbye. The rest of the evening I sat around in the lounge playing golf on my PSP then checked my email and went to bed to write in my journal.

Tomorrow is gonna be a long day. If we get up at 6 am Saturday, and land at LAX 10 am Sunday, then that will be 28 hours of being awake, not including the drive back to Temecula.

Thursday – Goodbyes in Puerto & Boredom in Manila

// February 9th, 2006 // No Comments » // Philippines

We got up early and loaded the L3 so a missionary could check all the bags and get our boarding passes. We waited around at the guesthouse for 3 hours saying goodbyes and taking group pictures. I also saw that Andy and some Filipino guys were digging a septic hole for the guesthouse. Then we headed over to the airport. I had to fight back the tears as Andy, Sam, and Sandy watched us head into the terminal.

We got to Manila and a missionary met us there and got some vans to take us to the guesthouse. Carol, Ed, and Liezel parted company with the rest of the group, so now it’s down to Gerry, Al, Jim, Larry, Steph, and me. We got to the guesthouse in Manila and just sat around for the rest of the evening. It would have been much better to stay in Puerto for another day instead of spending two days in Manila.

Wednesday – Dos Palmas & Shakey’s Pizza

// February 8th, 2006 // No Comments » // Philippines

Today we got up at 7 am and ate breakfast before leaving for Dos Palmas. Phil told us a joke on our way to the dock: “Why is Wyoming so windy? Because Utah sucks, and Nebraska blows.” We took a nice boat ride across Puerto Bay to the little island and stayed until 4 pm. The day was nice. I sat on a bamboo swing for a while and wrote in my journal while taking in the beautiful view. After that, I went for a swim in the pool, then ate lunch–a buffet style lunch with what seemed to be typical Filipino food.

After lunch, we took the kayaks out and Andy started tipping me over. It was very easy to tip someone in a kayak over as long as you could get both your hands on the nose or tail of the kayak. I’m not sure if it’s supposed to be called a bow and stern since it’s a seagoing vessel, but you get the idea. I could barely get back in my kayak before he’d circle around and tip me over again. Not that I really minded since the water wasn’t very deep at all (about chest-high) and a refreshing 78 degrees. We caught up with Liezel and Steph in a double kayak and Andy tipped them over, too. Then Jim and Larry paddled up in a double kayak and Andy, of course, paddled over to them and tipped them over, also. Jim got really upset because he had some special pictures of his daughters in his wallet that got wet because he had it in his shorts pocket. Andy apologized but it didn’t really seem like that made it any better for Jim.

We packed up and got on the boat back to Puerto around 4 pm. The seas were pretty rough and Andy was standing in the back of the boat holding onto a short hutch. The plywood roof was about even with his forehead and when we hit a wave he banged his head into it making a gash about 4 inches long. It was not his day as he had other bad luck issues at Dos Palmas.

We went to Shakey’s Pizza for dinner and the pizza was pretty average. It was 550 pesos ($10.52) for the large, so it was a pretty good deal compared to the U.S. We went home and went to bed pretty much right after sorting out where our luggage was going to go in the trunks.

Tuesday – Restless Night & Travel Back to Puerto Princesa

// February 7th, 2006 // No Comments » // Philippines

I had a hard time falling asleep last night. I prayed a lot so maybe that was what God was keeping me up for. I prayed for many things. I asked for patience and wisdom. I want God to fill me with His spirit and make Casey decrease and Him increase in me. I no longer want my will, but only God’s will.

We thought Sam, Andy and I were gonna be the last flight, but Sandy came across the river and yelled back to the house that we were the second flight and to get our butts over there so Gary could take off. Flying out of the village today was a little bumpy, but it was still fun flying over the island again. Both Sam and I got a little weak in the stomach, but once we landed and got some banana bread and juice in us, we were ok. Caleb (The pilot’s 6-year-old son) talked our ears off while we waited for the last flight to come in. When it arrived, we packed up the bus and headed for Puerto.

I sat near the front of the bus from the airfield to Puerto. It took about 4 hours and 45 minutes to get there. Every once in a while Ike (the driver) would stop to check the bus and his text messages. It only made me nervous when he would do that while driving and passing in the oncoming traffic lane. I noticed that there was a phrase painted on all of the bridges that read “Beat The Odds“. I’m assuming this meant that the odds were against the drivers to get across the bridge. Kinda funny, I thought.

After dinner in Puerto, Sam, Andy, and I went into town looking for an Internet cafe. First we got some Starbuck’s-style coffee at a place called Itoy. The first ‘net cafe we went to didn’t have room for us. The second one was closed and didn’t allow drinks inside anyway. The third and final one had a really slow 50kbps speed but we just accepted it. I wasn’t able to load my website for some reason, so I used mail2web to check my email, then we went home. It was fun hanging out with Sam and Andy.

Monday – Loose Ends & Painful Realizations

// February 6th, 2006 // No Comments » // Philippines

Today was very slow. We didn’t have much work to do so the work day went very slow and boring. One of the missionaries, Liezel, Carol, and Stephanie flew out with some cargo today so that we wouldn’t have so many flights tomorrow to get everyone and everything out. I took a lot of pictures of the kids (Jiri) today as they were watching a slideshow of old pictures on a missionary’s computer. The older boys wanted me to take some pictures of them by the plane, so I happily obliged them. Then an elder Palawano man insisted on having some younger girls take pictures with Gerry, and it was a very awkward situation. The girls couldn’t refuse because he was an elder, yet they were very embarrassed and shy.

We had mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, fried tuna, rice and cucumbers for dinner. Sam, Andy, and I washed the dishes and talked about girls. Andy thought it was so strange how American guys have so many girlfriends and kiss girls before they marry them. Later in the conversation, Sam mentioned that he knew he was going to marry a girl that was already his friend. A female missionary chimed in and said that “she wasn’t eavesdropping” but she knew exactly what he was talking about and it was true for her and her husband also. They “just knew” when they met each other that it was the one God wanted them to be with.

The missionary downloaded all of my photos on his PowerBook and then showed us a lot of the pics from his iPhoto library. It was very interesting to see how he and his wife looked when they first moved here 26 years ago. Their girls are grown now, and look just like their mom.

After dinner and the picture show, Andy and I played a game of chess. I took his queen early in the game (probably on my 3rd or 4th move) but then made several mistakes that led to him winning. I can’t say it was only my mistakes that led to my defeat because he is a very good player. It’s very frustrating to lose when I used to be so much better. It’s only the second time I’ve played chess since I was 13 or so. That’s 14 years ago! It’s clearly an issue with my pride because I feel the same frustration when I try to play basketball and can’t go more than one point without having to stop for air. It’s like, I know that I would be able to beat the person if I were in good shape. However, I’m not in shape so I lose and that’s hard for me because I grew up winning all the time. But what do I expect? I don’t practice, so I’m not good. No surprise there. I just have to get used to not being an athlete anymore.

I have some weather numbers that I wanted to write down. One of the missionaries has an electric thermometer that also measures humidity. On Wednesday this week in the sun it was 107 degrees F with 47% humidity. In the house (shade) it was 92 degrees F with 85% humidity. Quite a climate to work in. That was the normal afternoon climate on days that it didn’t rain or wasn’t cloudy. It made work on the roof less desirable than in the house, but thankfully God gave us a pleasant breeze every once in a while on the hot days, and even a few rain baths that were blessings in disguise.

Sunday – Jungle Hike & Evolution Debate

// February 5th, 2006 // No Comments » // Philippines

We went to church and heard some more white testimonies. Even though Sandy and Larry (seated behind me) kept prodding me to get up and share my story, I didn’t feel any leading from God to do so.

After lunch, Jun Jun took some of us on a hike to what we thought was a nearby waterfall. After hiking for an hour and 45 minutes we realized it was farther than we were led to believe it would be. At first it was just an uphill trail, but the last half-mile was dense jungle uphill without even a hint of a trail. The waterfall was ok, but we only stayed there for about 10 minutes because it was getting dark and it would take about 2 hours to get back to the village. I was very bitter on the way up because I kept stepping in water or mud, and then my feet would slide off of my sandals so that I couldn’t get traction to stay on my feet. Then I decided to go barefoot and that worked better while walking on the mud trail, but it was not possible to go barefoot after the trail ended because of the lolo (thorn bushes). The thorns were like an inch-long sewing needle and densely covered all the branches of each thorn bush. They were very painful when stepped on, mostly because you never stepped on just one, you usually stepped on 7 or 8 at a time because it was a branch that was laying on the ground. The hike would have been 100% better if I would have had shoes on instead of sandals. I also had my camera and was trying to “baby” it so my agility was much lower than normal. On the way back I had a much better attitude. Mostly because it wasn’t as hot and humid now that the sun was almost down, and also because we were hiking downhill. I felt like Indiana Jones in The Temple of Doom when I saw this enormous tree in the jungle. Although I didn’t find any golden treasures in the jungle, I discovered that the jungle, itself, is a very beautiful and valuable treasure.

After dinner, Gerry and Stephanie got into a debate over evolution. Gerry was trying to “shove” his belief down Steph’s throat, which only made her more defensive and resistant. Then one of the missionaries got involved and brought some sound theology to the table but was still “shoving” it in. Steph sounded confused and misled but open-minded for the most part. It seems there is a lot going on in her mind right now and it’s a bit of a mess. Maybe all she needs is some love and support from friends and family while she sorts it all out. I’ve never been in a debate (or even heard of a debate) in which one party is convinced by aggressive arguing to change his/her viewpoint/belief. Therefore, it seemed wise not to get involved in the debate since all it seemed to be accomplishing was division among the team. I mean, it wasn’t like Stephanie’s salvation depended on whether or not she believed evolution was possible or not, but to hear the debate, you’d think the salvation of all humankind was on the line.

Saturday – Ridgecaps, Revelations, & The B52 is Silenced

// February 4th, 2006 // No Comments » // Philippines

Andreas and I finished putting on all the ridgecaps and screwing down any remaining sheets. We were putting about 16 screws on each ridgecap, but about half way through, we realized how short we were on screws, so we cut that number in half. I started looking around in the grass for extra screws and found about 20. It worked out that we got everything screwed in just right. We ran out of ridge caps, so we used a narrow piece of Metalplas instead for the last ridge. It actually looked better than the real ridge caps. It wasn’t like we could run down to Home Depot and pick up some more screws and ridgecaps, so we had to start making due with what we had.

Sandy and Larry built a brace/support on the roof for 3 solar panels. When it was almost done, one of the missionaries came out of the house and looked up to the roof and said, “I don’t think 4 panels will fit on that.” Sandy swore that the missionary told him 3 panels, and the missionary swore he told him 4 panels. It was a classic misunderstanding that was actually quite humorous to witness. For some reason, I get a real kick out of the way people look at each other (especially during a misunderstanding) and how their body language reveals their thoughts and mood. Sandy and Larry cracked a few jokes about it, then joyfully (and quite cleverly) made an extension to fit the 4 panels and all was well.

Before I went on the roof, Gerry and I were working on the shower pan, and he asked me if I had a girlfriend. I said yes, and then he started to share with me some advice about girls and relationships. He shared that God will not bless a person if he/she doesn’t obey Him. If He asks someone to do something (like break off a relationship), then he/she has to do it. God has someone for everyone and if we don’t let Him bring him/her into our lives then it’s our disobedience that is to blame. God takes stuff away from us and it might hurt but it is always because He has something better for our lives. We can’t always see where or why, but He is always faithful. It could also be to purge something from our lives that is standing in the way of our relationship with Him. Gerry also mentioned that as soon as God asks someone to move on from a relationship, that relationship is dead and it will never become pleasing to God. It won’t be “fixed” or ever turn into something fruitful. Gerry’s past experiences gave him wisdom that he has now passed on to me, and I now pass it on to whoever reads this.

We had burritos for dinner and they were really good. After dinner, Sandy made a confession to Gerry and me about the “B52 fan”. It was Sandy who had the loud fan on while sleeping in the room right next to Gerry and Jim the whole time. Sandy said that Gerry and Jim were getting ready to “string me up” and he couldn’t let them do that to me, so he finally came clean and admitted to them that it was his fan after all. Gerry apologized for chastising me for two days and nights about the fan that wasn’t mine, and I forgave him.

Friday – Von Schnitzel, Wolfenhousen, & The Return of the B52

// February 3rd, 2006 // No Comments » // Philippines

Last night was frustratingly hot and I rolled around for probably 2 hours before it cooled off enough to fall asleep I made my usual midnight potty break, which is annoying, but not the end of the world. Gerry and Jim reminded me again that I was not to turn on my loud “B52 fan” because it kept them awake all last night again. I told them that I didn’t have it on last night and it took me a long time to fall asleep because I didn’t have it on.

We finished the roof today, except for the ridge caps. We’ll be done with that tomorrow and I’m sure we’ll make significant progress on the shower pan. I’m not sure what else needs to be done to the water tower but I think it’s almost complete. Andreas, Sam, and Gerry were working together as a team today, and Gerry kept calling everything a “von schnitzel”. Andreas said “schnitzel” was like a steak and it didn’t make sense the way Gerry was using it. Then Gerry started saying “wolfenhousen” and Andy said that wasn’t even a word in German. That didn’t stop Gerry from using it, though.

Sam, Andreas, and I talked after dinner for a long time about churches and denominations. We exchanged ideas about how church unity could be accomplished. I shared my vision for home churches, and Andreas didn’t like it. He really likes his Mennonite church of 400 back in Germany. He doesn’t want a huge gathering. He was very wary of uniting a large body and said it was because Germans have had a bad history of large radical changes. Stephanie flew into the village today and I’m not sure why she came here after being in Menti with the medical team. Maybe it was to help out with any medical needs here in this village.