We lived to tell the tale...

Yesterday was our first "on our own" day here.  I have to admit, I was a little nervous, but realized we are "city folks" after all, so how hard could it be?  HA!!

We woke around 6:50 am.  Really, this is the strangest thing EVER for this family.  We are evangelists for crying out loud--we sleep in until noon (not really--but Ella usually does!).  Anyway, we are all still working through the jet lag and I'm just glad we slept that late.

After a Skype check-in with our home church, and homeschool completed for Jon, we headed down to catch a cab to the Greenhills Shopping Center.  We were on the lookout for cell phones.  There were a gazillion dozen different shops stands to chose from and finally we found a gal that spoke enough English (that us rednecks could understand) and we proceeded to purchase our "Filipino Phones".  We were able to get 2 new Samsung Galaxy Pockets for 9,600 pesos ($228 US).  We will use them while we are here, then sell them back for "less 1,500 pesos", which should make the phones roughly $30 US for ea for 2 months.  Then, we had to buy minutes.  Wow.  This is no easy feat.  We ended up getting unlimited "smart to smart" for 600 pesos ea, plus unlimited "regular" for 30 pesos ea.  About $15 ea US.  

After that, we found our way back to Bacolod Chicken (Ella and I could easily live off petso every single day) and had lunch while we tried to figure out our new phones.

Still wandering around, we found a Krispy Kreme.  Yes, Jon was thrilled and we strolled over to have a little taste of "home".  Which is odd, because most of our Krispy Kremes are shut down.  :(  A treat indeed!!

Then it was time to head back to apartment, as Bro Flowers was going to send a driver to pick us up to take us to the Bible School for a tour.  On our way, I wanted to stop back in Uni-Mart to get some paper towels.  The ONE thing I wish I had thought of while doing some grocery shopping the other day.  After a little wait in a line for a taxi, we were off.  However, we realized we did not know the address of our apartment.  Yikes.  Luckily, we are able to get in touch with the Dibbles and Annie spoke to the driver and we were able to arrive safe and sound.  Whew.  A close one.

After about a 5 min chance to catch our breaths, Bro Flowers had arrived with a driver to take us to the school.  Bro Flowers gave us the grand tour and much to the delight of my husband and son, we were able to meet Bro Wolfram.  When Jon realized who he was, his eyes lit up and he had this huge goofy grin--he was meeting a real life superhero!  Jon was very impressed and I wish so badly I could have captured that moment on camera.  He was in total awe.

The ACTS Bible School kids thought my kids were the bees knees.  :)  They laughed and played with them and took tons of photos.  They were all surprised that Ella was only 2 and one even mentioned:  "She speaks English!"  HA!  I guess it didn't dawn on him that English was her native language.  They thought she was so strong for a 2 year old because she played so heartily with them.  Jon even got in some "hoop time" with some of the boys as well.  He said, they kept passing the ball to me, but I couldn't really shoot it, so I just kept passing it back and they just kept passing it to me.  He thought it was great that they gave him so much attention.  I am fairly certain, that this visit further strengthened his desire to be a missionary.  He has claimed this burden from a very young age and I was thinking this trip might just be a good indicator of whether or not he could handle it.  After seeing all those kids, I think he was hooked.

I have prayed over my kids regarding this trip, for their safety and protection, but most importantly for their burden and desire to do a work for God would be forever implanted in them.  I want them to be soul winners no matter where that may be.  

Here are some photos of our visit to the Bible School.  As you can see, my kids captured the hearts of many new friends.  

After our visit, we were then dropped off at Robinson's Mall, as it was really too early to head home to sleep.  The trick here is to wear yourself as much as possible so you sleep more soundly at night.  We browsed around and then had dinner at Kenny Roger's Roasters.  More chicken and rice for me.  YAY!  After that, we walked back to the apartment and had NO trouble whatsoever locating it and by 9:30, we were all crashed out.

Today, we seem to be continuing the adjustment to the time change.  Trent is off with Bro Dibble to run a few errands and then later this afternoon he will be meeting with the Superintendent of the PI.  Me and the kids are having a "quiet" day in the apartment, which is much needed.  Ella has been fighting her normal nap and driving us all crazy with her hyperactivity.  She is a pretty high strung kid, but this is just not normal.  I can only assume it is the jet lag and excitement of all the new things there is to do/see here.  So far, I feel like the kids have adjusted fairly well to this "strange land".  They are in good spirits and enjoying all that we've seen and done.  I am so thankful that they have been able to adjust.  It's not easy, but they are little champs!  Until next time...keep on praying for us!