Last days in the Philippines

Tues was  another good day…in the afternoon the ladies had pedicures and/or manicures and then a tea.  At the tea I had the opportunity to share some things the Lord has been teaching me…very brief and unplanned but it was a good time.

Stephen, Shannon and Steve in talent show

In the evening was the annual talent show.  It was quite fun.  Several different families sang and there was a humorous skit performed. Stephen, Shannon and another friend (Pami) sang a song and then Steve, Stephen and Shannon sang a beautiful song.  Stephen and Shannon often wash dishes together at home and several years ago started singing together while doing them and it has turned into quite a nice sound.  Shannon (13 yrs old) has started taking voice lessons and has an amazingly beautiful voice.  Stephen has a deep bass voice and the combination was great…as well as fun to hear.  We are so thankful we were able to be here to hear them sing.

At the bonfire

After the talent show we had a bonfire and roasted hot dogs.  It was a beautiful evening with a nice cool breeze and clear enough to see a lot of stars…of course we sang songs around the bonfire too… which I enjoyed a lot.  Steve and I went down memory lane singing a lot of songs we sang when we were younger and sad to say since we were some of the older ones of the group many people did not know our songs!!  I hate that thot but…what can I say…we are getting older!

Worlds largest top

Wed. morning we started the morning by watching the spinning of the worlds largest top.  In order to spin the top, they lift weights to the top of a coconut tree, wind the rope onto the top and let the weights drop.  The top is about 45 pounds and can not be held safely.  There is a life application to the top that was shared with those watching  The meeting time Wed. morning there was a communion service led by from the Word and again I was just glad to be here and be part of that.  

It was followed by a business meeting so the kids, Roger and I went out and played a couple games of coco croquet which is croquet where you use coconuts instead of balls and the mallets are made of bamboo.  It was quite funny as you can imagine the coconuts went all sorts of directions.

Playing Coco Croquet

After lunch we headed home, stopping at a wicker furniture making place, and then stopped to buy mango's by the road …getting home about 3:30.  We all felt kind of let down and tired when we got home…and had a rest and ended the day with a movie and popcorn.

Today is our last day here…. I had a panic moment the other morning thinking about how fast the rest of our time of our trip is going to go by…questions came to my mind…how will I adjust to being home?…what will Roger be doing?...when will I see my kids again?...what will the year to come look like?...how does one top a trip around the world…etc…I felt the Lord saying just take it a day at a time…live with purpose today…and so I choose to do that and so today I feel excited about today and that we are having good family time and will think about tomorrow…tomorrow :).

Mango stand by side of the road

Today we have made sweet rolls, chocolate cheese cake…gone out for lunch and ice cream….  I  have to tell about lunch...we went to a place in the mall that was in a food court and one of the Read's favorite places to eat when they are there.  It was called Reyes BBQ.  I had the grilled salmon...Roger had grilled chicken..we probably should have been more adventuresome and tried some of the stranger things on the menu like grilled turkey tails...or  grilled chicken ass (yes that was really on the menu) or..grilled pusit (see photo).   See the pictures to truly appreciate the items.  We had to go to the beer station to get our soft drinks.  It is interesting that they sell beer in the mall.  

Some of the lunch menu items

Tonight we plan to do a bonfire in the back yard with marshmallows and eat our wonderful dinner with cheese cake for dessert…finish packing…and then hit the bed early…(nothing new about that) to get up early and head to the airport for our 9AM flight to Xiamen, China to see the Teeters!  Wow!!

View over Lake Leguna De Bay

Getting out of Manila

Halo Halo

I guess I did not write about Saturday…we went in the morning to a local bible college graduation where Stephen was going to be singing in a “ManChoir”…but due to traffic we did not get there in time.   Such is life….we went home and watched a performance of the song they were singing on You Tube :)  After we left the school where Stephen sang we went to get some Halo Halo which is a very typical Filipino dessert/snack.  To be honest I could not tell you all the things in it…coconut…. evaporated milk, fruits, tapioca balls, jellies, and Ube (a purple fruit) ice cream and some other things.  Its not really one of my favorite things to eat...but its one of those things you have to do if you come to visit.  Roger enjoyed his and I shared it.  It was way to sweet for me to eat much of it but it was refreshing and cold. 

Rice drying on side of road

In the afternoon we played some games and Rita had arranged for a lady who gives massages to come to the house so for about $5 I got a nice hour-long massage.  Rita and Shannon both had one as well.  I could get spoiled with that.  We also were able to Skype in the afternoon with Lucas and Jamie and see Sam and Sophie…I can’t wait to see them in person!

Scenery on road to Rizal

Sunday was a long day.  We went to church in the morning.  Enjoyed the service a lot (all 2 hours of it) and seeing where the Read’s go to church….came home and ate a quick snacky lunch and then loaded up the car to head to Rizal for the conference.  The ride up took 3 hours and the scenery was beautiful as we went up some mountains and around Laguna de Bay that is a huge lake south of Manila.  There were fields of rice and hillsides of banana trees and mango tree orchards along with coconut trees everywhere.  And along the way was the typical look of small settlements with shops along the road selling the fruits and veggies, Halo Halo stands…rice drying on the side of the road (actually on the road) on sheets of plastic… and the occasional horse rider with baskets on the sides of the horse carrying things to the shops.  It all felt more familiar to me than the crowded city and I thoroughly enjoyed it!!

Street scene in Rizal

We arrived at Rizal Re-creation Center (RCC) about 3 PM and registered and got in our rooms before the first meeting at 4:30.  We had time to walk to the small town of Rizal nearby looking for some flip-flops for Stephen and it was a great way to see a typical small town with more traditional homes and shops.  As we walked we collected a following of children who were very helpful in leading us to the different stores that might carry the flip-flops.

Stephen, Rita, Steve and Shannon at RCC

This organization (that the Reads are with) is not a large one and has a family feel about it…lots of kids running around and relaxed meetings.  The grounds of the place we are staying are beautiful with palm trees all over the place and lots of green grass.  They have a large variety of activities you could do…a large chess game, coconut croquet course, basketball court, beach volleyball area, softball field and 2 swimming pools …one with an amazingly fast and long water slide.  Yes I tried it out and it was a blast!  The mornings are normally meetings and afternoon free.  There are activities planned for the afternoon but they are optional. 

On walk to rice patty's

Yesterday (Monday) afternoon some of us decided to go for a walk through the town and out toward the mountain we could see in the distance.  After a few blocks of shops the road narrowed and was only populated by an occasional house.  Then the road turned into a dirt path…at times just a horse path just narrow enough to walk foot in front of foot.  It was so pretty to be out in the country a bit and see all the different trees and flowers and rice paddy fields.  Some were beautiful bright green and others golden and some were being harvested and dried.   We walked about 40 minutes , crossing a mountain stream and on past a few more homes and across a few fields.  The homes were so simple but for the most part clean and well kept…often with laundry hanging or rice drying in front.  One place we walked by there were several people washing clothes (I imagine it might have been kind of a laundry business) in water from a canal.  They were pounding them with big paddles (like I used to see ladies do in the river when I was growing up) and then they laid them on the grass to dry or over bushes.

Spider found on walk

On the way back the guys stopped and asked some Filipino guys if they would help them knock a big spider down from the tree hanging above their roof…the guys were very friendly and helpful (as Filipinos usually are) and got the spider down.  It was really a funny scene to be honest as grown men “played” with this spider and tried to figure out how close they could get to it without disturbing it to much.  That ended quickly when a woman told us it was poisonous and would cause a high fever if you were bitten. 

Rice Patty's - harvested and being harvested

We had such a good time on the walk and I was so glad we got to go and just get a glimpse of the Philippines I remembered growing up.

When we got back there was a softball game starting up but Shannon and I decided to go to the pool and enjoyed cooling off.  The water was cold but felt great after you got used to it.  And the water slide was amazing…as I already said.


We ended the evening playing games and going to bed early (nothing new there). 

Yard in Rizal Re-Creation Center

Yard in Rizal Re-Creation Center

Down Memory Lane

At Greenhills Shopping Center

Wednesday, Rita, Roger and I went in the morning to a shopping center called Greenhills Shopping Center.  Its about 10 miles from their house and it took us a bit over an hour and that was good time.  I have to say the traffic here may take the prize for being the worst so far on this trip.  Not only is there a lot of it but also it seems that no one really knows rules of the road or if they do they are totally ignoring them…and you have a lot of motorcycles…jeepneys (public transport) that are in and out and all over…and the occasional “trike” which is a motorcycle with covered seat on the side for riders.  Some of the roads we were on were 3 lanes that turn into 4 or 5 when people don’t observe the lane lines.

Travel in Manila

So we arrived at Greenhills and I was amazed to see that Unimart (a mini super walmart type store) was still there and really had remained quite the same.  It was stocked with a lot more variety than 35 yrs ago and there were a lot of American food products on the shelf….of course you pay more for them than you would at Walmart but it’s a nice option if you are missing a taste of “home”.  I have to say I am not missing food from home yet but was very excited to see the mangos…ripe and green and guavas….that I have been craving.

Eating Vietnamese

Steve had a meeting nearby early that morning so was able to meet us for lunch and walk around the shopping center that is a huge mall now instead of a small strip mall. We were looking for somewhere to get my glasses fixed as the glue that held a little piece of the earpiece to my lenses had come off.  We were told repeatedly that it could not be fixed and I needed new glasses.  But later Roger was able to find some glue and glue it!  Yeah!!

Shop selling Pearls

We enjoyed going to an area that was full of pearl shops…freshwater and deep-sea pearls.  They were beautiful to look at and had some nice jewelry.  I went for the freshwater ones because they were so cheap and got a couple necklaces… I am not a huge jewelry person but it has been a fun thing to buy along the way on the trip because they are small and lightweight.  We enjoyed lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant because we have not had that taste yet.  Steve, Rita and I ordered soup and Roger a noodle and curry dish.

Enjoying Choir Practice at Faith Academy

When we left the mall we battled the traffic back to Faith Academy to pick up the kids from school.  We arrived a few minutes early so decided to take Chicken and go interrupt Stephen’s choir class.  The teacher loved having Chicken there and agreed to get a picture of the choir with him and also allowed whoever agreed to sing the solo parts in their last song to hold Chicken.  He was a huge hit and there was no lack for soloists.  We also got to join the choir as they practiced singing thru the Amen song.  Talk about bringing back memories:)

Steve and Rita congratulating an award winner

The next day (Thurs) we went in the morning to a nearby school that provides a good education for many of the kids in the area that can’t afford school and also provides schooling for a nearby orphanage.  Rita is involved there helping to write curriculum so was asked to speak at their “stepping up” ceremony.  It is the end of their year so they were being promoted and recognized for different achievements in an attempt to keep kids motivated to stay in school.  Drop out rate is very high here.  It was fun to see the school and hear Rita speak in Tagalog (with Steve interpreting for us) and just the different culture of that type of ceremony.  At the end we met a Filipino couple (who support the ministry and are on the board) who had an interesting story…. He is captain of a bulk transport ship that sails all over the world and a strong believer.  He was telling us about a time his ship was attacked by some pirates and they had stolen $37 thousand dollars and were getting ready to take he and the crew on shore and he asked the Father to please not allow them to take him to land.  Right after that request the pirates started leaving the ship and  looked up at him and said never mind…we don’t need you so you can stay and off they went.  He is quite bold about his faith and has a captive audience in his crew.  I love hearing stories like that …again…we have an amazing Father.

In case you didn’t realize it, 

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day

Thursday was St. Patricks Day and we celebrated it in style with an Irish evening.  Rita is Irish through and through so it was a fun time celebrating in a way we never had.  The “down under” (Doty family that live downstairs of their house) people came up for a dinner of Irish stew, Irish bread and corn on the cob.  It was really quite nice. We had chocolate cake with a shamrock decoration on top for dessert and a  devotional using some of St Patrick’s testimony and  ended the evening with watching a very old video of the River Dance that was quite impressive.

Corrie, Babe, Jan, Cila and Helen chatting on the back veranda

So that brings me to Friday which was quite an emotional day for me but oh so good.  We took a trip out to the “province” to see some of the Filipinos I grew up with.  We stopped on the way to pick up Corrie who joined our family when I was in high school.  She lives in the Manila area and her life is ministry…she has such a heart to serve the Father.  She lives in  a very poor area near the lake that flooded terribly a couple years ago.  Her house had water in it for over a month.  Her husband died a year ago and she has a 12 and 13 year old boy to raise on her own.  One of the first things she told me when she got in the car was how thankful the Lord brought my mom and dad to the Philippines because knowing the Lord had changed her life and she could not live without him in her life.  She also told me how her mom died when she was very young and my mom treated her as a daughter and nurtured her.  It was so touching to me to hear these things because when I was here I was a child and this was just my home and life and I did not see a lot of the impact of lives being changed…cause kids just don’t see those things a lot of times…to busy living and playing. 

View on road to Sumapa

The trip to Sumapa took about and hour and half (it used to take about 3 hours) due to a nice newer road.  We arrived at Helen’s house and tho it recently had been renovated it was still familiar inside.  I say inside because last I had been there it was surrounded by farm land and small houses but now it was incased in apartment buildings and other homes.  It was still all familiar tho in an odd sort of way and it was so fun to see Helen, Babe, Cila and Mario and his wife Emma.  The women who are between my age and about 10 yrs older were part of our family when I was growing up and like sisters to me so it was really fun to see them again…frozen in my mind as young women…but we all had aged without really changing…funny how that happens.

Babe, Jan and Cila

Jan, Roger, Helen, Corrie, Mario and Emma

We talked about some memories and looked at pictures I had brought of our family and then had lunch with them.  There were a lot of different foods as they tried to remember what I liked to eat.  One lady  (Daisy) who was not able to come had sent green mango because she remembered I loved them…talk about a good memory.  We were only able to stay about 3 hours but they were precious and I am so thankful for that time.  As we left my heart was filled with emotion that was hard to sort through…joy, gratefulness, grief, compassion, and just an overall feeling of being richly blessed for having been able to grow up here and known these people and how it all had an impact on me even tho it was relatively a short portion of my life.

Jan - "I know you miss your mom.  I lived here away from my mom"

We got back to Manila a few minutes before time to pick up Stephen from school…I just have to interject a bit about this nephew of mine.  He was staying after school late because he was teaching Hebrew to other students who wanted to learn it.  Stephen is very gifted in languages and has a strong interest in older languages and a few years ago began teaching himself Greek and Hebrew.   He is quite fluent in both languages and it will be interesting to see where the Father leads him in the future with this gift.

So we got to school early and enjoyed sitting on the benches in the center of campus surrounded by all sorts of trees and bushes.  Steve was able to lie down on a bench and nap and I had fun with Chicken taking some crazy pictures.

I promise I'm going for the AW Root Beer

Sorry Steve

The kids are officially on spring break now…yeah!  Tomorrow we go to a conference with them till Wed.  we are looking forward to getting to spend more time hanging out with Stephen and Shannon.  Since it was Friday night we had movie night with popcorn…oh… but before that we were able to Skype with Eileen and it was such a great connection we ended up being on line a couple hours.  She sat at the table while we had dinner and just had a fun time chatting with her.  I can’t help but be excited knowing we will be with her in 2 weeks…which means we will also get to see Lucas , Jamie, Sam and Sophie in 3 weeks!!!

First Days in Manila, Visit to Faith

Manila

So….I grew up in the Philippines…many a yr ago!  I came when I was 6 years old and left when I was 17…came back after my first year in college…35 years ago!  Needless to say a few things have changed around here.

Streets of Manila

Roger and I arrived Sunday afternoon and were greeted at the airport by my brother Steve and niece Shannon.  As we drove to their house, which is outside the main downtown part of Manila, I looked for familiar sights.  The sights were familiar…sounds familiar…people looked so familiar …smells were familiar….but there was not one thing I recognized.  The city has grown so much it made me sad.  I was overwhelmed by the miles of new buildings …even a new road to avoid the downtown area.  It was so nice to arrive at the Read’s home.  It is a  spacious house in a quiet neighborhood with woods behind them.  The house is actually 3 stories and there is a family that live downstairs. 

Sunset from Steve and Rita's

As we were sitting around talking we looked outside and saw a gorgeous sunset.  We all ran upstairs to the balcony and thanked the Lord for welcoming us there with a gorgeous sunset.  I guess it is not such a common occurrence.

Courtyard at Faith

Steve and Rita looking at hill they lived on during Typhon

The first day here (Monday) we went up to Faith Academy…the school I graduated from.  I just walked around saying “wow…wow…wow”  So much has changed in 35 yrs!  Well of course it has but it was way beyond what I imagined.   They have added buildings....a pool and new dorms.  Everything  seemed to have changed except the gym and soccer field.  It was so strange walking around the campus and having memories flood my mind where I could see, and feel and hear things, conversations, a joke…in certain spots….and see it clearly and feel the emotions I felt during that memory…very strange!  At the end of our time there we ended up going to the library and then I really went down memory lane looking at old year books and school newspapers.  It was fun…but oh so strange.  Roger kept asking me how I was feeling and I kept saying overwhelmed… or I just don’t know how I feel.  Its a lot to process and I am a slow processor of things so maybe more will come later on that subject…and maybe not.

A beautiful painting by a Faith student

One cool thing we did was stop by the art department to say hi to a good friend of Steve Keefer.  Dave French met us years ago and told us we influenced his coming to Faith to work by telling him about my brother Steve who worked at Faith and was a single guy then (as was David at that time)  He and my brother Steve ended up being roommates and then eventually Steve Keefer and David became roommates…and all are happily married now.  Anyway it was amazing to think how we don’t even remember the conversations we had with David and yet it had an impact on him… how many other conversations do we have in life that we are not aware of the results…only the Father knows!    We were also excited to see the new state of the art room that they had there.  Some of the paintings the students were producing were amazing to see. 

In the evening Steve, Roger and I went for a walk around the neighborhood.  Just nice to get out and see what is in the neighborhood.

View from Steve and Rita's balcony

We are still adjusting a bit to time change…Dubai is 4 hours behind Manila so we struggle a bit to go to sleep…sleep fine but then struggle to wake up…par for the course when traveling like this.  Just a tidbit I have not talked about before.  When we fly on overnight flights and sleep only a few hours at night you would think that we would be tired enough to sleep the next night without problem…but somehow your inner clock says no I don’t want to wake up at 7AM…its only 3AM on this clock.  It takes a few days to adjust but we will get there. 

View of Mania from Faith Academy

So today we got up and going and went with Steve to birthing clinic that some people from their organization are working on.  Right now it is in a small house…has been for quite a few years and see about 100 ladies a day.  But as they receive money for it they are building a 3 story large clinic and hope to be finished soon…I should say sooner than later as they only build as they receive funds.  We walked into the clinic main room which was about 10x10 ft…there were 2 beds and one mattress on the floor.  On one bed a lady was having a ultrasound done…other bed had a woman in labor and the mattress had a woman who had given birth a few hours earlier and was nursing her baby.  She would go home about 6 to 8 hours after giving birth.  Needless to say there is a need for the larger clinic.  The yard of the house was full of women sitting in chairs waiting to be seen for checkups or maybe even in labor.  I have to say I was blown away at the work being done with so little to work with. 

Banana's at local market

In the afternoon Rita and I headed to a local market to have a look around for fabric and were not very successful.  But after that we went the Hypermart (their equivalent to our Wal-Mart) and did some grocery shopping.  It was fun to see (as it has been in every place we have gone) the different things available and how much they cost compared to home.  As we checked out we were told that we won a prize….not sure if a special number came up on the receipt or we just spent the right amount but we were escorted to the food court where we received a styrofoam container with rice and one small chicken kebab in it.  I have to say it hit my funny bone…I think I was hoping for a months worth of free groceries or something like that.  It gave me a good laugh anyway and a fun outing with Rita.

The days are flying by fast…I hate it when that happens…I know the time will be gone before we know it…but I will try to take it a day at time…so hard for me to do.

Videos from Dubai - Desert Safari and Fountain

We are currently sitting in the Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia airport waiting for our flight to Manila.  It was a long night in one of the more cramped planes we have been on during this trip.  Malaysia Airlines is rated five stars but our experience would put them at the bottom of our list.  About 4:00 AM local time Jan cupped her hands around her face and looked out the window and saw one of the most beautiful display of stars she has seen in years.  It was so clear and the stars were so bright.  Definitely the highlight of the flight.

Desert Safari

We would like to share a couple of videos with you from our trip to Dubai.  The first link is to a video showing the fun we had during the desert safari a week ago.  We have tried to upload it to YouTube but have been unable to.  Enjoy!  We did.  The link is Sharjah Desert Safari.

Fountain

The second link is to one of the more beautiful fountains we have seen.  Watch closely and see if you can see chicken enjoying he fountain also.  The link is Dubai Fountain Show by Night

Last Blog from Sharjah

Saturday…

Postcard of Dubai Aerial View

On Thursday we slept late…caught up on emails….then headed our to the area where they have a lot of shops with nuts and dried fruit and stocked on some nuts for our trip.  On the way there we smelled some bread and saw a small shop with a window where you ordered the bread.  It was naan right out of the brick oven…amazing!!  So yummy….

At Chili's

Enjoying ColdStone

When we got back we decided to go to the mall just to walk around and have a nice meal.   It was such a hot day at 11am that we thot it would be nice to enjoy the air-conditioning.  It starts getting a lot hotter from here on out…getting up to 120-140F…I can’t imagine how that feels.  We got to the mall about 2:30 and started walking.  We were enjoying the walking more than the window shopping.  It is a huge mall!  About 3:30 we were getting hungry so found a Chili’s and decided it would be nice to have a taste of home.  I have to say I totally enjoyed it from the first bite of chips and salsa and ate way to many.  I got homesick for Ben and Sarah because we often meet at Chilies when we meet for lunch near where they work.

We managed to walk around that mall till 8pm (with the help of Cold Stone) when we caught the free hotel shuttle back to the hotel.

We met up in the morning on Friday with 2 of the retreat attendees to go to a church (Redeemer church) that meets in a hotel at the mall we had been to the day before.  The 2 women live in Nigeria and are taking a bit of a vacation before going home (they left last night).  It was great to see the wide variety of nationalities that meet together there.  After the service we went to the food court with a lady from the church that had come to the retreat as well.  It was interesting to see the wide mix of nationalities there as well. :)  Only about 10% of the people who live here in Dubai are actually Emirates.  So you see a lot of Filipinos, Indonesians, Indians and people from other surrounding countries…Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, etc.  We had interesting conversation learning a bit more from this lady who has lived here for 6 yrs.

Scarf's at Dubai Souk

After that we went to the old Dubai Souk that is down near the Creek (river).  I was so sad that many of the stores we had seen when we walked thru it with the bus tour group were closed.  There were a lot of fabric stores I was hoping to see….at least for photos because they were so beautiful.  Since Friday is their holy day that may be why they were closed but there were a lot of souvenir type stores to see that were interesting but I can’t buy another thing!!!! Our luggage is full.   

Pashmina ???

One of the ladies that had come to church with us came with us on our exploring and she enjoyed seeing a different area than the mall and enjoyed the shopping and looking.  It was fun to get to spend more time with her and hear about what she is doing and where she lives.  We decided to take the water taxi back across the creek (as opposed to regular taxi) and then we walked the mile back to the mall to catch the shuttle.  It was an interesting walk along the wharf area on the creek and seeing some boats that were loading products to take to…who knows where.  They say they go to Iran, Pakistan, India, Iraq …etc.  They are not huge ships…more like large wooden dhows.  It was fascinating to see and I would have loved to go exploring among them.  You could tell people also lived on the boats.

We got back to mall and found a coffee shop and had a sandwich (with feet propped up) and drink before heading home.

Saying our goodbyes

So this morning we are going to go out to say goodbye to our new friend Shakr and Roger decided to give him one of his Swiss army knives as a gift.  (Did I mention he gave me a necklace to remember his country by?)  I looked him in the eye and said I will never forget you and he said the same…the Father has put him in my heart. 

Not sure what these were but they are beautiful

This is Roger wrapping up the day.  On the way to the Blue Souk we saw a sign to an animal and bird market so we walked through it and saw all kinds of birds and animals for pets including hunting Falcons.  We did not know they had so many pets here but there were lizards, rabbits, parrots, chickens, fish, love birds, canary's and many more.

Next post, Manila

Touring Dubai with our new Friend

Chicken Tour Guide

Concerned Chicken

We are glad to announce a new partner in our travels.  Grace and Gail adopted our new friend while they were here and they wanted him to experience the Middle East and other places they may travel.  When they met us, they asked if we would allow this new friend to travel with us until we return to the US.  After getting acquainted, we decided to take Chicken with us.  Chicken brings a new perspective to each thing we do and you can look forward to not only “Where in the World???” but also seeing if you can find Chicken in the pictures and events.  There will be a new icon to the left with Chicken’s pictures if you are interested in seeing more.

Thursday….

So its time for me to do some catch up and get back into the swing of blogging as I have been extremely busy…but I feel a pulling inside me to sit and write and reflect on all that has gone on the last couple days. 

As I wrote the last time I was on a bus heading out of Dubai to visit friends of one of the ladies here with us.  It was a 2 hour ride and even tho I was blogging I was looking out the window at the same time as I wrote (multi talented…I know) and watching the city turn to desert, seeing a herd of camel walking along…being amazed at the highway system in the middle of this desert…. seeing camel crossing signs along the road…even saw some hang gliders and wondered how in earth they got up in the air….i saw them come down but most places I have seen them (like in South Africa along the  coast) they have a  cliff to jump off.  Why are they beautiful and fascinating to watch?  I think it is something I have to do someday…did I just say that? 

Dinner in Al Ain

When we arrived in Al Ain we saw the Oasis Hospital where these friends worked.  It is an amazing story how years ago it was started with the blessing of the sheik of the area even tho it was agreed before hand that it would have a Biblical mission statement. Another Sheik has recently given millions to build a bigger facility that is now under construction.  After that we went and saw a new women and children’s hospital not yet open and then went to the friends home.  They were so hospitable to open their home to 27 of us for dinner.  They had a spread of yummy food very typical to this area of the world.  We sat outside in the beautifully landscaped and decorated back yard and enjoyed the cool evening relaxing after a long day.  It was short tho and we loaded up and headed back to the hotel and got home after 10.

Worlds tallest Building

The next morning (tues) we had another meeting time debriefing…or talking over the things we had heard and learned during our conference.  I might just say that the conference time for me was amazing.  Being able to greet the ladies who came weary, grieving, hurting.... love on them…pamper them…listen to amazing teaching with them…sing with them…talk to our Father with them and have them leave us refreshed and renewed is the coolest thing ever.  These women work in the Mideast and to hear some of their stories was amazing.  Just a glimpse would be that besides homesickness…transition…cultural difference…losses on many levels…personal attacks…attacks on friends…struggles with living in a male dominated society…in spite of these things these women love the people in this part of the world.  I have come to love them as well in the short time I have been here.  There are 2 in particular that I will remember for the rest of my life…and I will daily lift them to the Father …that they would seek truth and find it and it will set them free…one is Shakr …the man Roger befriended.  We have enjoyed many contacts with him and just love going to his shop and talking to him.  Another is one I will call W who is definitely seeking truth.  I know in the states we have a stereotype of Arabs and it is such a small group that would actually fit in that box from what we have heard and seen ourselves.  I know I will never forget this time here and exposure to a new culture as I know “I got sand in my sandals” as I learned of many of the wonderful qualities of these people in this part of the world.

Enough rambling about that…on to the next day :)

Gould Souk

So…on Tuesday at noon we got on another bus for a tour of Dubai.  It was fun…and long…and I am glad we did it but it definitely was not the way Roger and I like to tour but for a day it was great!  As we drove around the guide told us a lot of the history of Dubai and the different buildings around which was interesting.  So much development has taken place just since 1996 when they made property available to outsiders.  

Boat taxi ride

Fountain Show

Jumeriah Beach

It is a huge city and very modern….we began to tease our guide who was actually Iranian (only about 20% of the population of the UAE are actually Emirates) how he kept saying everything is the biggest and best in the world…I may be true but it sounded funny and was giving Texas some major competition.  They have the largest gold ring in the world according to the Guinness book of records (it was huge…like it would have fit my waist!) and my thought was…why?  I got the impression mostly just because they could and they want to be biggest and best!!  They have largest mall in the world with 1800 stores…and a mall with a ski resort in it…tallest building in the world…7 star hotel shaped like a sail boat (you have to pay just to go inside and see it)…etc etc..  We stopped at Jumeriah beach area, stopped at the Atlantis Hotel on Jumeriah Palm (man made palm shaped islands) … spent a few minutes walking on Jumeriah beach right nest to Burg Al Arab ($7,000/night 7 star hotel) … went to the an area called the gold souk (market) and spice souk…went on a water taxi to cross the river (they call it Dubai Creek) and walked to a museum on the history of Dubai.  Walking there we went thru Old Dubai Souk where Roger and I will definitely go back to…that is our kind of shopping!  After the museum we went to the largest mall…walked thru it briskly…saw the huge aquarium there and then saw a huge water show at the fountain which is at the base of the tallest building in the world…spent a bit of time at starbucks …got on the bus and were taken to the place where we got on a boat for a dinner cruise.  It was 8:30pm and we were all ready to sit in the open and enjoy a nice meal watching the lights of the city go by.  It was a very enjoyable time but by 10:30 when we got on the bus to head back we were all ready to get back to our beds and crash. 

Part of Dubai Skyline

Wednesday morning...we were scheduled to have another meeting but since the stores are closed in the afternoon we switched our meeting till 2 so ladies would have time to do last minute shopping.  Roger and I went with some to the souk he had met Shakr in and we went to his shop.  He was so glad we brought in some business and while we were there many other tourist were coming in.  I think when there is someone in a shop they thing it must be a good place to shop so they would come in and look around.  Shakr was telling Roger he needed to come in every day to help his business…needless to say because of relationship built he gave us all great prices….bartering here is a must so the ladies that came with us were happy with their prices and having Roger along to barter for them.  Of course we were also served tea while there which is fun!  We were all back together for one more meeting and then they ordered pizza in one of the rooms and people began departing to the airport.  Goodbyes are so hard for me…it was so cool to get to know new ladies…and reconnect with some that were on the retreat I went on in Mexico.

Dubai Skyline

So Roger and I are the only ones left.  When we were making our plans for our trip I warned Roger that the conference would be exhausting and I would love to have a couple days to relax and process things before moving on so that is what we are doing.  We will be here till Saturday evening.  So lots of time to relax…wander the souks…and who knows what else.