I'm sitting here in the tile-floored lobby of the SEND International Guest House in Metro Manila. I boarded a Boeing 777 from O'Hare headed for Tokyo, Japan at 12:00pm on Friday, June 6. I knew that there were two other guys who were on the flight headed to the Philippines with SEND as well. Thankfully, at one point on the 13 hour flight to Tokyo Japan, I happened to recognize one of them when he got up to get something out of his carry-on. It was encouraging to know I wasn't flying half way around the world completely on my own!
When we arrived in Tokyo, we enjoyed the incredible quiet and order of the airport after such a long flight. It was fascinating to me to notice how culture is so apparent even in an international airport. Even the stewardesses looked uniform and professional with their tailored suits, colorful neck scarves, and hair pulled back in a neat bun!
After four hours of waiting we were allowed to board our Boeing 747 for the four and a half hour flight to Manila. I was nodding off before we even left the runway. We touched down in Manila at 10:00 pm local time (10:00 am on Saturday, June 7th, Central time). What a jolt to come from the Tokyo aiport to the Manila airport! The Manila airport was mass confusion. When we got of the plane we were herded into a huge room where we waited en mass to go through customs. No neat lines, just a sea of sweaty, noisy, smiling people.
I was rather nervous going through customs because while on the plane I realized I had two canisters of pepper spray in my checked* luggage. I had read on the United Airlines flight that we took for Chicago to Tokyo that pepper spray was a prohibited item and was not to be in either our carry on baggage or checked baggage and was not to be taken through customs. I realized on the plane that I could either worry about it or hand it over to the Lord and give Him the opportunity to prove once more how faithful He is. Thankfully, He did just that. The customs official just laughed when I set the pepper spray in front of him and said, "You must be expecting some excitment here!" He then handed the spray back to me and let me proceed through the rest of customs. I was so relieved!
At 12:00 pm we finally made our way out to the departure/arrival pick up area. Like everywhere I've been in the Philippines so far, it was crowded, hot and smelled like exhaust. We met up with a representative of SEND and he drove us to the SEND guest house. The ride was madness. People were hanging out of open "jeepneys" and Alex, the representative, told us there are only two rules of driving in the Philippines: don't hit someone and don't get hit yourself! When we arrived at the guest house I was given my own room and had access to a hot shower, which was sorely needed!
I'll be here at the guest house until Tuesday. Then I will take a four hour bus trip up to the city of Baguio where I will spend the rest of my time here in the Philippines. Thanks so much for your prayers for safe travel. I could feel the Lord looking out for me as he directed me to find the other short termers on the flight to Tokyo and enabled me to pass through customs without any trouble. Please pray that I will learn to humbly adjust to the culture here.
When we arrived in Tokyo, we enjoyed the incredible quiet and order of the airport after such a long flight. It was fascinating to me to notice how culture is so apparent even in an international airport. Even the stewardesses looked uniform and professional with their tailored suits, colorful neck scarves, and hair pulled back in a neat bun!
After four hours of waiting we were allowed to board our Boeing 747 for the four and a half hour flight to Manila. I was nodding off before we even left the runway. We touched down in Manila at 10:00 pm local time (10:00 am on Saturday, June 7th, Central time). What a jolt to come from the Tokyo aiport to the Manila airport! The Manila airport was mass confusion. When we got of the plane we were herded into a huge room where we waited en mass to go through customs. No neat lines, just a sea of sweaty, noisy, smiling people.
I was rather nervous going through customs because while on the plane I realized I had two canisters of pepper spray in my checked* luggage. I had read on the United Airlines flight that we took for Chicago to Tokyo that pepper spray was a prohibited item and was not to be in either our carry on baggage or checked baggage and was not to be taken through customs. I realized on the plane that I could either worry about it or hand it over to the Lord and give Him the opportunity to prove once more how faithful He is. Thankfully, He did just that. The customs official just laughed when I set the pepper spray in front of him and said, "You must be expecting some excitment here!" He then handed the spray back to me and let me proceed through the rest of customs. I was so relieved!
At 12:00 pm we finally made our way out to the departure/arrival pick up area. Like everywhere I've been in the Philippines so far, it was crowded, hot and smelled like exhaust. We met up with a representative of SEND and he drove us to the SEND guest house. The ride was madness. People were hanging out of open "jeepneys" and Alex, the representative, told us there are only two rules of driving in the Philippines: don't hit someone and don't get hit yourself! When we arrived at the guest house I was given my own room and had access to a hot shower, which was sorely needed!
I'll be here at the guest house until Tuesday. Then I will take a four hour bus trip up to the city of Baguio where I will spend the rest of my time here in the Philippines. Thanks so much for your prayers for safe travel. I could feel the Lord looking out for me as he directed me to find the other short termers on the flight to Tokyo and enabled me to pass through customs without any trouble. Please pray that I will learn to humbly adjust to the culture here.
7 comments:
Oh Miss Gingrich, so funny about the pepper spray. I'm glad it turned out all right. And your description of the jeepneys is really funny.
Praying for you,
Ken
Audrey, I'm so glad you made it there safely! I'm praying for you! Love you! Meredith
oh my, you would try to take pepper spray in your carry on. well, i guess i should say succeed at taking pepper spray in your carry on! unreal. thanks for the updates. i love seeing your heart in what is going on. you will be an amazing leader for the women you get to disciple this summer. keep your mind on jesus. he will always satisfy.
Whoops. In my state of sleep deprivation I made things a bit more exciting than they actually were. The pepper spray was in my checked baggage not my carry on. Haha. That really would have been miracle!
I was glad to hear you made it there. Your blog is very fun to read. You are so descriptive. You could write a book! You'll be great working with the women there! I'm praying for you!
Claudia Brown
Audrey I am so excited for you!!! It makes me think of going to Croatia - all the waiting and the airports and everything and trying not to be nervous :) - YAY! And that is so great you had other people kind of with you to make you feel a little better. Looking forward to what will happen while you're there!!!
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