Early days in pictures...

The view from our hotel apartment. We're on the 23rd floor.

The hotel playroom. Thank God for it. You got in my swiping your key card.

I will never make fun of Americans for going to other countries and eating American food again. Yes, this is Outback by the mall. When all the food tastes different, and you're all exhausted with that, you get Outback.

View of the pool from the breakfast buffet.

Just some diplomatic corps kids sitting in the grass at the U.S. Embassy, waiting for a ride. :)

Always a new adventure...

Hotel breakfast buffet...notice the pancit on my plate

Soooo, looks like we're moving into our condo early. We were supposed to be here for 3 weeks while our place was being prepared, but another family of five didn't get their visas in time, so we now get their condo, and they get ours when they come. Same building, just two floors up. Talk about whiplash. :) We had unpacked all of our things, sure that we would be here for awhile. Nobody is over jet lag yet.

But I had been thinking by the pool that day that it might seem like a long, weird vacation to us to stay here for 3 weeks. Ben had been sad that a little boy his age hadn't responded to his request to be friends because he didn't speak English. Maybe living in a place with a lot of other English speaking kids will provide some helpful security we can use to launch out from. 

God knows best. He has a plan, though I don't feel ready to do things like deal with the cable company and try out a yaya (that's an extra set of hands with the boys.)

We went to the Embassy today to deal with some paperwork, and Evan left his Pokemon cards. He thought he'd left them in the first shuttle van that picked us up from the hotel. (Newcomers get shuttle service a good bit in the beginning.) Wailing ensued when he realized it. I asked the driver of the shuttle on the way back about it, and I got to listen to him radio around looking for the cards in Tagalog. "Gibberish gibberish 'Pokémon' gibberish 'Mrs. Bragdon' gibberish gibberish." :) The cards were recovered, BTW, to much rejoicing.

The ride back to the hotel was hot and in crowded stop and go traffic. We were all melting and queasy by the time we arrived. It's about 95 degrees right now. This is the hottest time of the year here. The traffic really is as bad as everyone was saying. That was the low point of the day for me.

But we will see our new place tomorrow, and our sponsors will take us around our new area. I'm hoping for the best. Right now I feel like an actor in a crazy comedy/drama, and I'm trying to laugh. What will happen next? It's all so surreal.

This may be my last post for awhile because we're losing our lovely hotel Internet. So I'll see you when I see you. Peace out.

Early days...

Hi, all! Well, we made it to Manila. It was 24 hours of travel time all told, and we slept very little of that, but individual screens on the backs of plane seats made it all better. Thank you, Delta!

Our first leg was to Detroit, second leg to Tokyo, and then Tokyo to Manila. Each of us had a carry on suitcase and a backpack, and I was proud of how well the boys did carrying their own loads. We were fully baggaged, with 10 50 lb. checked bags. We'll be living out of these bags, potentially for several months, so it mattered that we packed to the hilt.

When we hit Tokyo, reality started setting in. I wanted to run back onto the nice, American plane and beg the nice, American pilot to take me home. I love the United States! Just kidding, y'all. I can't do this. I wanted to turn back, but the reality is that there is no turning back. Our house is rented out, and the work contracts have been signed.

We got to Manila, and the embassy sent vans for us and our luggage. It was so helpful after such a long travel time. We drove off to our hotel apartment, and the warm night and the smell of diesel didn't lead to me feeling a lot better about things.

The next morning, I thought I was going to have a panic attack, I was so stressed. I felt afraid to leave the hotel, but we all went out to explore, and that experience turned it all around for me. I discovered I can walk to a mall with a grocery store. There's a Lego store where the boys can build. It isn't hard to find, and most signs are in English. I found a book of trees of the Philippines to use for school. Even the smells and the air felt better to me than the night before. Yes, this is a large, polluted city, but I can get out in it. The boys and I aren't going to be stuck in the apartment. This is manageable.

The local people are what make all the difference. They love children, and my boys get lots of smiles and pats on the head. Most can speak some English, and even though we are the only blonde haired and blue eyed people we usually see, we don't get stared at much more than we do in the U.S. :)

We're gonna be OK. Early days are adjustment days, and it's just going to be emotionally up and down for awhile. Prayers appreciated.