Day 1 and 2 at IFL

Hello!! I am soo sorry I don't have pictures- I am having trouble uploading them.

I made it here safely! Pat was there to pick me up and as we drove home I learned more of what I have been called here to do: I will be the diagnostic reading teacher. I am to find a way to assess the reading levels of students from preschool through 12th grade, then develop a program to assist them. I am also to come up with a reading incentive program. I don't know how to do any of this. It is a good thing God does! Whom He calls, He equips!

When I arrived, there was a birthday lunch for a guy named Rex. He is from a surrounding city, I think. While we were eating and talking, a little girl named Marisol started looking at my arm and all the freckles. By the end of lunch, she was in my lap. Later in the day when I was getting a tour, she called me "Ninong." This is the name for godmother. As I have seen her around, she keeps saying to everyone, "That's my Ninong!" She is three years old.

This place smells bad! Haha! I think that is what you get when it is the middle of a farm. There are dogs and cats everywhere. I don't quite know why. :-)

Everything looks dirty by American standards, but it is actually quite clean. There is not air conditioning in most rooms- only in the offices and the faculty room (teacher's lounge). There are fans everywhere. I do not have a shower or a sink. There is a faucet that I turn on to fill up a bucket, then dip water out of the bucket to shower. I learned that with a good washcloth, an effective shower can be taken with less than a liter of water. But that's not washing your hair or using soap. I might need two liters for that. I'll try it out tonight. Haha!

It hasn't really sunk in yet that I'm not just visiting. I"m LIVING here now. And yet, I already don't want to leave. I am just so comfortable.

I have my own bedroom. The apartment/dorm I am in will have two other girls and a couple from England coming to stay soon. Right now, my new friend Roselle is staying with me just to keep me company. She is 24. But she is not my travel mate. My travel mate is somewhere else in the Philippines now.

"Tita" Pat has already mentioned me getting my driver's license! I don't think so!! At least not yet! But seeing how everyone drives here, I think I could eventually work up the courage.

There are 75 students living here and around 200 students attend the school. They are from the surrounding community.

I have seen the wild pigs, cockroaches, and spiders here so far. My room has a beautiful view of some famous mountain that I can't remember the name of.

The food is rice and lots of varieties of pork. It is very good.

Today, I started learning the curriculum that is here. It is very good! I wish we had it in the states! I need a DRA kit or something that I can use as one. Does anyone have any suggestions? I really need to start assessing the reading levels of these children. I know I will be able to work without it, but it will be so much easier if I have something!

I was so intent on finding an assessment tool today that I skipped lunch. I also got to talk to my friends and dad on Skype today. WHAT A BLESSING!!!!!! I think the hardest part of being here is not being able to share my day with them. But I keep singing that God is worthy of leaving/ changing everything.

I ate lunch in my room with Roselle, then we went to SM- the mall. There is a supermarket inside the mall!! We took a jeep-nee there. I bought a purse to sling across for when I go out. We also ate halo-halo, a traditional desert/snack from here. It was very good, but I made a great mess of it! It is ice, ice cream, and various fruits. You mix it all together before you eat it. I sloshed it everywhere!

It is so weird to be called out and offered certain things just because of the color of my skin. We have so many cultures in America, I have learned to not see skin color. I have not seen anyone else with freckles here. I was cat called and waved at everywhere we went today. I know I will get used to this, but it was strange since it was the first time. We rode a jipnee and a tricycle to get home. I never would have made that journey without a native!

When we got back, I took a nap and now I am updating here! :-)

I met a lady named Cheryl who teaches interpretive dance here. She wants me to help her! She said, "You are an answer to my prayers!" I don't know what I am getting into! Haha! There is a competition with the other IFL schools in November that we will make dances for.

Paige asked me what God has spoken to me since I have been here. He has said that He is proud of me, and that He is my companion. I am so grateful that even in the absence of phone calls and my normal fellowship, He never leaves me and is a better companion than any human can ever be. He has also shown me that obedience is the key to security.