I made it!

The Journey
- The trip over was an experience in itself. We arrived at the airport at around 8:00 pm for my flight which was scheduled to leave at 10:30. When we got there we realized it was delayed until 1:30am. Which originally seemed really unfortunate and I thought it would be in issue to catch my next flight in Manila. It ended up being really nice though because it was changed from a 16 hour flight with a stop in Guam to a 12 hour flight straight to Manila. Definitely a blessing in disguise, because the 12 hour flight was a really long time to be on a plane, 16 would be crazy. It also gave me a few extra hours to spend with my family before I flew off which was really nice.

I sleep really easily on planes which made it nice, the only problem I realized was that needing to get a full night's sleep on a plane is a little different. Finding positions for your legs, and finding ways to move around when you get sore from being in one position can be tough. My neck was very sore the next day. I managed to make it through though and was very glad it wasn't 16 hours. I talked a little bit to the guy sitting next to me on the plane about what I was doing and just about some different things. I'm so glad that I did because he helped me tremendously when I got to Manila.

When I arrived in the Manila airport I had a very hard time figuring out where to go. The signs were not helpful at all and the people working weren't much help either. I tried to follow people but was just hoping they were going the right way. I got to a split and had no clue which way to go and out of nowhere the man I was sitting by popped up right next to me and told me which way to go. I passed through immigration and went to get my baggage. All of the flights were listed with which baggage claim to go to, except for my flight of course. It wasn't listed anywhere and so I started to look for the people from my flight, but realized most of them were as confused as I was and at all of the baggage claims. So then I saw at baggage claim 4 the guy I sat next to on the plane. I went and asked him if that was the right one and he said it was, they just didn't have our flight listed on it. So I ended up waiting there for a while trying to get my bags and he was asking me about my next flight. He asked me where I needed to go and I told him I wasn't sure exactly, which was another way of saying I have no idea where I'm going. The workers hadn't been very helpful to me at the airport, they could speak English but they didn't seem like they wanted to help me much. So the guy asked for my ticket and he went over to one of the workers and asked them where I needed to go. He came back and told me exactly where I needed to go to get through customs, go up the elevator to the third floor and find my terminal. He helped me so much, and I was so thankful for him. I made it through customs and went up to the third floor and ended up outside.

I realized I had no clue where to go so I asked a worker and they pointed to my right. So I went to my right and after finding nowhere to go asked another worker, who pointed back to my left.  I realized I probably was going to need to find it on my own. I saw that on the other side of where I was there was a place to go back inside so I walked out and around over to there and went up to the person at the gate. I showed him my ticket and he told me I needed to go to terminal 3. Finally some solid advice! I asked him where terminal 3 was and he pointed down the road and said to get a taxi over to there. So I figured if its just down the road I can walk, I don't need a taxi. As I was thinking this a taxi driver grabbed one of my bags and took off across the street to his car. So i figured this guy has my bag I have to go get it from  him, or go with him. He put it in his trunk and so I decided that I guess I would take the taxi. I'm riding along in the taxi and thinking it would be a minute or two over to the terminal. After about 5 minutes of going through the city I started to wonder if he was actually taking me to the airport. Another 5 minutes went by and I really was starting to think about what the best way to get out of certain situations would be. Long story short my first flight was with Philippine Air, my second flight was with Air Phillippines, which are two seperate airlines, and fly out of two seperate airports across town. Who knew? I saw the aiport and the terminal 3 sign and was so relieved that I was actually there. The guy charged me way too much but at that point I was just so overjoyed that I ended up at an airport, and not at one of the many other situations that go through your head in a 15 minute mystery taxi ride.

So I ended up at the airport and was waiting for my flight to be posted on the board. After about half an hour it came up and said it was cancelled. Of course it was, why would it go as planned. It was the only flight on the board that was cancelled or changed in anyway, all the other flights were on time. So I tried to figure out where to go and realized the people here were way more helpful. They pointed me to the place to go. I went up and showed the girl at the desk my confirmation ticket. She looked at it like she had never seen anythig like it before and had no clue what to do with it. So she went back and talked to the head guy and they were looking at it and on the computer for about 5 minutes, which is a long time when you are in panic mode thinking about all the bad things that could happen. Then they printed me another confrimation paper and told me to go to number 17 to get my ticket. I got my ticket and was shown where to go to get on my next flight. I made it over there and waited. I knew I boarded at 10:00 but there were no clocks anywhere, so I just waited hoping I was in the right spot. I was and got bussed out to my plane. The plane ride was really awesome and I got to see so much as we flew over the Philippines and to Caticlan, on the island next to Boracay.

Some shots of Manila over the airport. The city is HUGE. There were houses everywhere and you could see sections of big houses, sections of smaller houses, and sections of shacks. There was smog everywhere and the higher we got in the air  over the city you could barely see anything.

 Flying over the different islands was beautiful. We flew over Boracay right before we landed which was really awesome to see.

When I landed at Caticlan one of the hosts at the jungle barn where I am staying was there with a "Welcome Anderson" sign, I felt like a celebrity or something for a minute. She got me onto a trike and we went over to the jetty port to take a boat over to Boracay.

 The view from the boat. I didn't take anymore pictures because I didn't want to look too much like a tourist. It's about a 5-10 minute ride over to Boracay. I will be making the trip back and forth every week to serve at the feeding sites on the other island.

We made it to Boracay and took another trike over to the jungle barn where I got my room and moved everything in. It's a cozy little room with everything I need including several gecko friends, that love hanging out in my room. They're all over the place and aren't that big of a deal except for night when they are super noisy. The hosts and the other missionaries here have been so awesome and have done so much to help me get adjusted to all the new things and have made it feel as much like home as possible on the other side of the world.

Lessons learned:
Having faith in the midst of uncertainty.
Trusting the path is laid out, even when you can't see it.
Even when you don't know where you are, you know God's is there with you, and he's never lost.
Never jump into a taxi with a guy that stole your bag.

Thank you so much everyone for your prayer and support. There is so much need on this island and I wouldn't be here without all of your support. Thank you for all of the prayer for safe travel, it came in very handy and is appreciated so much.