The Big Move!!

So I neglected to write a blog post about the fact that WE ALL FOUND HOUSES TO RENT during our last trip to Bataan!! Thanks to those of you who were praying for us! This is my little house:

During our house-hunting trips to Bataan, we were also able to check out the shops out there and determine what is available and what we would need to buy in Manila before we move. We have been busy shopping ever since!! 

Rental properties in the Philippines differ from those in Australia in that 1) there are usually repairs that need to be done prior to moving in, and 2) there is NOTHING in the house (which can make shopping a big job). For example, there is not a single cupboard in my house - not even in the kitchen...  

Miraculously, we were all able to find houses that we could move into without needing to repair first. That is not something you take for granted in this country... So thanks again for praying!! 

Tonight we packed all our stuff into the truck, ready for our big move bright and early tomorrow morning!! I think we're all looking forward to finally getting settled in our own houses and to escaping the pollution in Manila. We're hoping to start language study on Monday. :-)

On This Day...

On this day eight years ago, I embarked on an adventure that would change my life and change me forever. Today marks eight years since the day I left for (and, 5 flights and 36 hours later, arrived in) Paraguay. I had never flown anywhere before then and I had no idea how to navigate my way through an airport. I think I was more concerned about the logistics involved in actually reaching my destination than I was about what I would find once I arrived! Having never been out of Australia before, I didn’t really know what to expect from a foreign country, particularly an obscure little country like Paraguay.

It’s funny how much one’s idea of “normal” can change in just a few short years. When I arrived in Paraguay eight years ago, I mostly took photos of things that seemed abnormal or unusual to me. This picture of people drinking tereré together is one of the photos I took during my first couple of weeks in the country:

Tereré seemed a little strange at first, but it quickly became a normal part of my life.

When I returned to the Manila guest house last week after field conference, I moved into a different guest house apartment and was able to settle in and unpack my suitcase. I also made myself some tereré. It was then I realized that this thing that seems really weird to most of my friends (and that was once a bit weird to me too) now has the power to bring a touch of normality to my life during a time of transition.

This move to the Philippines is very different to that first move eight years ago because the Philippines is now the seventh, rather than the second, country I have spent time in. As my concept of “normal” expands, I find myself taking fewer pictures. An overloaded vehicle or a tangled mess of power lines no longer seem particularly noteworthy; instead, I photograph green vegetation and open spaces when I find them.

This is a picture I took out of the car window when I was in Bataan (a place a few hours out of Manila) earlier this week. I took this picture for two reasons: 1) it’s so different to the concrete jungle of Manila, and 2) it is where I and two other new couples will be moving to learn Tagalog once we find places to live. We are planning another trip out there on Sunday. Please pray that our house-hunting expedition will be successful.