Filipino Funnies

On our way home from Migrante a couple days ago we got out of the jeepney to a blocked off road. Sueña informed us it was a shooting. So we shuffled past the crowd with our heads down kind of concerned that she was not more concerned about it. I mean there were cameras and a bunch of cars all stopped there. And when we got to the other side we asked if it was really a shooting. "Yeah. Movie shooting." Ohhhhhhhhhhh.

Today we went to Baseco, another urban poor community by the sea. We went to teach the kids and sing with them. After trudging through the mud, which contained a lot worse than just dirt and water, we waited for the kids to gather. As they rolled in we made a circle and prayed to open. We sang some Tagalog songs with actions but I had to do it with one hand because my other hand was firmly grasped by a little boy's hand. We split up into groups and I took the third and fourth graders. It was an interesting experience trying to occupy them for 45 minutes. We learned names and went around saying what animal they would want to be. Then we sang a song that the lovely Paige taught me during training. They really enjoyed that. I read from a storybook about Noah's Ark. I was impressed by a couple of them who wanted to read with me. Besides having a strong accent they got most of he words right on their own. They loved the pictures too. We played some games and finally colored pictures of animals. They were so sweet. And the thing I saw the most was that they were all looking out for each other. They shared their snacks and took care of each other. They were fun to work with. I get to do the same thing again next week but at Paranaque. Hopefully it will go a bit smoother and be just as fun.

I bought a mini Tagalog bible the other day. I started to read out of it in my best Filipino impression. All it brought was laughter from Sueña. Apparently I butcher the language. But I'm working on it!

Sueña spent the night earlier this week and so I offered to make her the same dinner I was having, grilled cheese with pepperoni. Never before have I seen a grilled cheese sandwich eaten with a fork and a spoon. The sandwich is easily finger food yet it's just the custom here to eat with your spoon and fork. So that's what she did!

I'm enjoying assimilating into the culture but sometimes it is hard when everyone stare at you. I've never been in a culture where I clearly stood out. Everyone always notices my eyes because no one has blue eyes here. It's a bit uncomfortable but if I notice a stare I try to return it with a "hello".  After all it's only a friendly gesture.

I'm at church from 8:30-4:00 tomorrow. Should be fun!

Week 1- Discerning Purpose

I've been so busy that I haven't had time to write! They keep us pretty scheduled here. I'll touch on a few things from this week.

We went to church at Puno UMC. The service was great and it was nice to have a similarly organized service to those from home. When we got there it was like God had answered our prayers. Literally. The air conditioning hit us like a wave of relief. I'm pretty sure I almost cried. It seems silly but this has been a bit of a rough adjustment. We had air conditioning last week at NCCP and I don't think we knew how lucky we were. By the simple act of having AC the church provided some much needed relief. We will be attending a different church every week. I have decided to keep all of the bulletins to make a collection when I get home. Each week we will share with the youth of the church about what we are doing and why. We have already heard stories of the impact we had on the first group of kids we talked to. (One was a ChemE too! But I didn't find out until after). 

The church was the home church of our "local GJV" Sueña. Sueña is my new Filipina BFF. :D She is with us most every day. She has been taking us on all the public transportation options and making sure we don't get lost. She commutes 2.5 hours every morning and every night to get to us and back home. She spent a couple nights at the Decker home with us because it was too late to go back. She is a full time volunteer and a student deaconess. And also super dedicated! And we love her for it! 

On Monday we got our schedules for the whole time we are here. Thank goodness they put some rest days in because they are keeping us busy! I am always exhausted by the end of the day. We then went to a couple tourist destinations around the city including Fort Santiago and Razil Park. We had a ton of pictures after that excursion. We even walked over a replica of the Philippines which was cool to see it represented in 3D. 

On Tuesday we had a unique experience. We visited the urban poor community Paranaque. The community will not exist after 2016 as it is scheduled to be demolished to make way for new flood prevention structures. While some of my group had visited before during training, this was my first experience there. The smell was overwhelming at times. It was a rotten odor that pervaded every corner of the community. The "streets" were narrow pathways that wound in seemingly unrecognizable patterns. It would be easy to get lost in there. We were given the chance to meet one of the families. The woman we met was Tita Rose. While her husband worked on a boat motor behind her we were able to ask her questions with the help of our Tagalog speaking friend from Batis Center for Women, Glen. She used to work as seamstress but went blind in one eye and was unable to stay employed. Her husband runs boats up and down the river, fishing to make a living. That suffices for most of the year but after storms the river is too churned up to fish an income becomes short. There is a plan to relocate them to another community, but there is no river there. I tell this story to put a face on the issue of the cycle of poverty. One of the main issues we are looking at is forced migration in the Philippines. There is a lack of infrastructure to create the jobs necessary to employ all the Filipinos. 28% of the population is unemployed or underemployed. The house we were in is actually built over the river. I could look through the bamboo floor and see the water. I felt a bit voyeuristic looking in on their lives and leaving having done nothing. Who was I to come in and see their lifestyle and leave just as easily? It is sometimes hard to discern the meaning of all of this, of why I have been placed here and why I am doing what I am doing. I think it comes back to being able to share these stories. To bring to light the injustices people face everyday. John 10:10, our focus verse for this mission journey states, "I came that you may have life and have it abundantly." They are living an abundant life in their own right but they are also being oppressed by a corrupt system. So take my story as you will.

This experience was followed by dinner at the Mall of Asia, the biggest mall in Asia. And if you have read my previous posts you will know that the regular Filipino malls are huge.  This could probably rival all the malls in Burlington county put together. And then some. We had dinner and rode the MOA eye (a Ferris wheel that overlooked the mall, the city, and the ocean. It was quite different from the afternoon's experience.

We led the morning devotions time for the UMC headquarters the next day. We shared our experiences and where we were from.

Yesterday was spent at Migrante International. We heard more testimonials of survivors of human trafficking. They were equally compelling as those I heard last week during training.

Today was our day off so I finally had time to write! I mostly caught up on sleep but also saw 22 Jump Street and wrote this blog post.

It's hard here sometimes but I know I have a ton of support coming from everyone back home! I really appreciate all the prayers being sent my way. Pray for an adjustment to the weather. Pray for strength to get through the week. Pray for the three others serving with me, Nicole, Tekeya, and Kosta.

I'll leave you with one of the only phrases I can remember in Tagalog.
Mahal kita.
I love you <3

THIS IS ONLY DAY 1??

EDIT: I fell asleep before I could finish this yesterday. So this is really about yesterday...

Today we left the NCCP to go to our placement sites for the summer.

I haven't stopped moving since I got up this morning.
The day started with packing up so that we could take a taxi to our new home, the Decker Home. The Decker home is formerly a home for retired deaconesses. It is dorm style with the three girls sleeping in the same room. We are all luckily on the first floor because there is no AC. I REPEAT THERE IS NO AIR CONDITIONING. The side effects of which I am feeling right now as I write this blog post.  Let's just say I savor the brief moment every couple seconds when the oscillating fan hits just right. Also the showers are taken with buckets. But I'm making a solid effort to assimilate. I wil be a bucket  shower pro by the end of this. The bugs crawling in my bed and onto me are kind of freaking me out a bit now though....

ANYWAY...
After we got our stuff settled in Decker home we went to a sports festival held with a few Methodist churches in the area. To get there though we used jeepneys. If you don't know what a jeepney is, google it. They are pretty cool and very Filipino. This was one of the things on my list of things to do. So check! After yelling to the driver, "Para po!" we got off and transferred to another jeepney and finally walked a bit to get to the park we were going.

Upon arrival we were introduced (via the loud speakers) and were immediately requested to be in people's pictures. At first it felt a bit as if we were on display. After all, the culture of the Philippines is almost 100% Filipinos. This ying yang of color that showed up was new and interesting to them. We smiled through the first few. Then started complaining how it hurts to smile for that long as the 10th camera was passed forward to take the picture and the nearest person hopped in the picture prompting another picture to be taken. We had officially entered the selfie capital of the world. I am not being dramatic or using the lovely literary device that is called hyperbole. We were in at least 1,000 photos. Easily. I let Sueña, our lovely guide and good friend you will be hearing more about soon, take my camera. It came back with 3x as many pictures as I had taken the whole past week within a span of a few minutes. If we got paid for very photo we were in I'm pretty sure I could retire.

But I digress. We were there to play sports after all. (No selfie taking is not a sport). First we watched  Konstant, my fellow GJV, play basketball with the guys. Nicole and I participated in an interesting relay where we stacked cups and chewed this sour bubble gum until we could blow a bubble. Needless to say, we were the victims of racism when we were relegated to the "white" team as opposed to the orange or green team. I thought it was funny. Then it was lunch time. We went to KFC where of course rice was served with our meals. Spaghetti was also an option. It was mostly just a relief to sit in the air conditioning. On out way back to the park we rode in tricycles. They are motorcycles with side cars where we sat. It was definitely an experience. One where I felt I was putting my life in someone else's hands. But it was fun and you know when in Manila do as the Filipinos do. After an afternoon with some intense volleyball games we finally returned to the Decker home for some much needed rest.

Showering in the evening was done with cold water and buckets. But because it is very hot in the house the cool water was very refreshing. I didn't want to get out! Since I fell asleep writing this I can reflect that it was a bit difficult to sleep in the heat. It is a constant struggle to cool down and stop sweating in this place. But God is good and will provide for my needs (which obviously does not include AC!).

A Reflection on Friends

I haven't written in a few days so let's catch up.

So we did some more training. And then ate. And then some more training. And took a break (with food). And then some more training and more food and then training again and then bed. We did this basically all week. It was interesting and we learned a lot, but most of it will probably be discussed when I write about the work I will be doing so I will save you from all the specific details.

On Wednesday night, we drove (for only 2 hours!) to go out to dinner. I will write about the lovely experience others had because I was quite sick for most of the night. :( But the food was amazing (so they told me). It included a bunch of different seafood dishes including crabs, clams, muscles, shrimp, and multiple kinds of fish served many different ways.  Pretty sure there was a pork dish and maybe even a chicken dish. To say that there was a lot of food would be an understatement. Dinner was folłwed by a performance of traditional Filipino dances. There were many times in the dances where the Spanish influence was obvious both in style and dress. They invited us up on stage to try the traditional Filipino dance. I did not dance but I had the pleasure of watching all my fellow GJVs try it. It was done between two long sticks that the men tapped on the ground to the beat as the partners hopped in and out of the middle in time with the beat. It was funny to watch everyone start slow, get faster and then misplace a foot or lose count and have to stop and let the next person try. Overall, it was a great cultural experience.

What I wanted to reflect on today, the day we said goodbye to volunteers going to different placements in Japan and Manila, was the wonderful experience I had meeting all the great people who are now out serving as Global Justice Volunteers.

6 countries
17 volunteers
1 fantastic week of deep conversations and new friendships.

It presented an interesting dynamic having a global presence at our training. We were able to hear prayers in Tagalog, Russian, Swahili, and Portuguese which was moving to say the least. We also had a diverse presence from the United States. Five people went to/are attending a Historically Black College or University. People came from Florida, Texas, Michigan, and Virginia. (And of course I'm repping the NJ!) In the span of a week I have opened my eyes to other cultures, and not just the Filipino culture that I was expecting. 

It's not often you can discuss the political unrest for the world cup in Brazil with a Brazilian and then discuss your views on same sex marriage with a Russian all in one day. It amazed me how easy it was to think deep thoughts and have these conversations with people I had just met.  We were able to talk freely an openly without fear of judgement. The girls in my room (and the other room too) had "girl talk" and we all talked about our families, schooling, and other travel experiences. I know that every single person who I trained with is highly capable of being successful both this summer and in the future. I see plenty of great pastors and missionaries. Shout out to my engineers too! I have made some great friends already and I can't wait to hear all their volunteering stories! Please keep them in your prayers as well as they go out to do God's work.

Fun Filled Day 4

We started this morning with a worship service with the people from NCCP (national council of churches in the Philippines and also where we are staying). There were musical instruments, new songs, prayer, and presentations. We heard from the General Secretary of the NCCP, Rev. Fr. Rex RB Reyes Jr.. He spoke on the many different programs within NCCP including typhoon relief and HIV/AIDS advocacy. We were also treated to a performance by Teatro Ekumenikal, a theater group that promotes justice and peace. The performance was a very moving piece that dealt with the issues of migration. It gave me goosebumps it was so good!

We got the chance to go back to the mall before lunch. I was able to get some local foods to try including ube bread. The mall is only a 5-10 min walk from where we are staying for training. It is quite the experience every time we go.

Then it was lots of training. I've learned a lot about the structure of the Methodist Church and Global Ministries. I will spare you all the details. Let me know if you want to borrow my notes. ;)

We prepared short presentations for the night session based on some games we played after the training portion. We sang a camp song that my friend Paige taught us for our presentation. Something about fruit and Jesus and branches. :P The night session was full of fun. I laughed so hard at points. We were dancing and singing and playing games. It was a very enjoyable experience.  

One of the songs we sang in Filipino translated to, "I am happy because I am with you." I am so happy because I am here with all these wonderful people. We have deep conversations and I have been exposed to the cultures of several different countries represented in our group. And we are starting to get to know each other well. We received a schedule for the week so it looks like tomorrow is filled with more training. But now it's time to sleep. 

Days 2 and 3

Let's just say I skipped writing yesterday because of jet lag. Even now I'm laying in bed exhausted. 12 hours is a big time difference. 

I want to start with an observation from the airplane coming into Manila. The city seemed to sparkle from above. It was not like any other city. There was very little light pollution. In fact, driving back from the airport, I was wondering where all the street lights were. But the lights I saw from the air twinkled as if they were the night sky with the stars. 

Yesterday I got to experience the "grocery". I use quotations because it was really a mall. And when I say mall I mean super mega ultra deluxe mall, complete with a full grocery store, food court, shops, and a giant stage (in case you wanted to attend a dance party after picking up your milk and eggs).  The luxury of this structure was evident by all the fancy brands carried inside. There are two or three just like it within 10 minutes of where I am staying. 

This was starkly contrasted by this afternoon's experience. We were split into two groups to go on exposure trips. The other group went to visit an urban poor community. Looking at some of the pictures it was hard to believe people lived that way. Houses were built over the water because they don't own any land. Yet the sentiment the others brought back was one of hope an determination to escape the situation. There were plenty of smiles to go around. I went with a group to Migrante International. This organization is an advocate for migrant workers. The Philippines export around 5,000 people a day to work in other countries. And that's just the documented workers. Human trafficking is a big issue that the Filipino government is failing to address. Because there is so much money to be made, there is a lot of corruption and very little help for migrant workers in distress. We heard from 3 survivors of human trafficking. It was great to hear their stories yet scary to think that so many more are not that lucky. 6-10 Filipino workers arrive back in the Philippines in coffins everyday. Workers can be exploited and forced to work ridiculous hours with little food and sleep. There were several horror stories we heard about all the experiences the human trafficking victims had. And human trafficking doesn't just occur in the Philippines. Workers are exploited in several countries including the United States. This was a very eye opening experience that helped to focus why I was here. These people are not given the opportunity to live life abundantly. They are in need of advocates to inform them and help them exercise their rights so they are not exploited. Many of the workers that go abroad are very brave and hardworking. They are the bread winners of the family making much more than they could at home, but less than their counterparts in the countries they go to. If you would like to learn more information about Migrante International you can check them out on Facebook. They also have a website which may or may not be currently down. http://migranteinternational.org

On a happier note, the food here has been excellent. My eggplant omelet thing this morning was top notch. Yet when they served us fried chicken at the church I was pretty excited for some normalcy. We got to experience the church service at the University of the Philippines. Everyone was very welcoming to us. The service was very similar to the ones I am used to. I knew most of the hymns and luckily it was in English. Afterwards, they served us an unexpected lunch. And I guess they like food here because we had another lunch waiting for us when we got back. I am slowly mastering the art of eating with a spoon and a fork. I was trying to watch some of the locals eat to see how they did it, but I determined there is not really a method. Cut with the spoon. Eat with the fork or the spoon. Keep switching which hand you hold the spoon and the fork in. I mostly just hold the spoon while I eat with the fork, but hey! At least I'm trying!

The Philippines are so beautiful. All the greenery and flowers brighten up the city. Driving around today we got to see more of the city. I can't wait to keep exploring the area in the coming weeks!

Thoughts On a Plane to Manila

Initial apologies for the length of this post. I had 12 hours on a plane to kill...feel free to scan but there's some good stuff in here. I promise. :)

Contrary to some travel websites, it is not necessary to arrive at the airport three hours before your international flight. In fact the two and a half hours I left turned into three hours when my first plane was delayed an additional half hour. So after lots of sitting in PHL I was finally on my way by 1:20pm. The Philadelphia skyline was so beautiful as we took off, just slightly blurred by the thin cloud cover between me and the city.
Once arriving in Detroit, I spent all of two minutes in the airport, the amount of time it took to walk down five gates over to my connecting flight that would take me to Nagoya Japan and then to Manila. It was a miracle that the plane was parked so close as the delay had cut my layover time down to less than forty minutes (which is not very long at all in terms of catching a flight). When the lady scanned my ticket it beeped and she had to go into the system to cancel the seat they had reserved for me on the next flight in the expectation that I was going to miss the flight because of my other flight's delay. Let's just say that it is quite the miracle that everything worked out the way it did. It's nice to know someone's looking out for me up there.
When I walked on the plane for the first time I was still recovering from the panic I had experienced thinking I wouldn't make my flight. As someone who has flown a fair bit, I have flown on many different planes. Little tiny ones, medium sized ones, and what I used to consider large planes. But I had never before walked onto a 400 passenger Boeing 747. It is basically the cruise ship of airplanes. I mean there are two floors! Unfortunately, the extra space is for all the extra people and I am just as squished as on a regular flight.
Maybe it's because I am a non-Asian person heading to Asia or maybe it's my Gospel bracelet that I am wearing, or maybe it's both, but when I sat down the person sitting next to me asked if I was a missionary. My response, "Yeah I guess I kind of am." I mean I knew I was going on a mission trip, but I never really associated it with being a missionary. I mean when I went to Roanoke last summer with REACH I didn't think of myself as a missionary. I was just a church kid going to rebuild some houses. And still, until he asked me that question I guess I thought I was still that church kid going to volunteer just this time in another country. But the question made me think a bit deeper about what I'm doing.  I've made a conscious decision to spend almost all my time away from school sharing what I believe in order to help others. And I'm okay with that.
I've met two people who are also GJV so far. Because I was one of the last people on the flight, one was a fleeting hello as I walked past their seat in my trudge to the back of this huge plane. The other is sitting in the row in front of me. It's nice to know there are others here with me. I look forward to getting to know the other volunteers as well throughout the training the next couple weeks.
I don't know when I will have the connection to post this, but I currently have 6 hours and 39 minutes left in my flight to Japan. And I believe another 3 hour flight from there to Manila. I want to leave you with a thought that I got from my blonde brownie wrapper from my in meal flight. At the end of the ingredient list it said, "Made with love." And if they can make their brownies with love I think we can all do the little things (and even the big things) with the love of Christ in our hearts.
Written with love,
Brielle

Movie list:
Monuments men
Forrest Gump
The little mermaid
Frozen!!!!

Sent from my iPod