I am here!! After 33 hours at LAX and 25 hours on planes, I made it! I have been here for about 4 days and am loving it. I have been able to stay on Faith Academy's campus for the last few nights in one of the boarding homes. It has been so fun to venture around and check out the campus that I will be spending most of my time at. I am anxious to get into my classroom and start decorating, organizing, and arranging things!
The city of Manila is huge, full of people, and very busy. I love driving around and seeing what life is like here. The traffic is crazy and lots of things are happening on the sides of the streets. The school is outside of the city in a gorgeous area. If you look off to one side of campus you will see a beautiful view of the city. If you look to your other side, you'll see amazing hills of green. It's the best of both worlds. :)
Here are some things that have either surprised me or that are different from the US:
1. The humidity. I knew this was coming, but it is pretty intense. The first time I went outside to take pictures, I had to bring a rag with me to continuously wipe off my lens. I also had to come back inside and take my camera apart while holding it in front of a fan to dry it out.
2. Air conditioning is room by room and it is usually only turned on in the bedrooms of a house. One thing I am having to get used to is humidity outside AND inside.
3. McDonald's, Burger King, and other restaurants serve spaghetti, fried chicken, and rice. Apparently, Filipinos love to go out and get spaghetti for special occasions. :) Also, a meal at McDonald's is about $3.
4. Bugs. Like very large cockroaches in my shower.
5. Pesos instead of dollars. I have enjoyed trying to make the conversions in my head and it is fun to buy things with their colorful money! The conversion is about P41=$1
6. It gets dark at like 6:30. Very different from a Kansas summer!
Well, those are the things that stand out right now. I am sure there will be plenty more! Let me know if you have any specific questions :)
wow .... sorry about so many hours in LAX!! But so glad Leah and you were able to connect for part of the time. I'm proud of you positive attitude! I love the post about Spaghetti at McDonalds. You will have to keep posting the different cultural things as you encounter them before they become NORMAL to you!!
ReplyDeletePraying for a good time of settling in!
Ruth
Congrats Nicole on a strong start with only humidity and cockroaches in the negative catagory!! You are already looking for the blessings! And there will be many, many! The early close to the Equator, sunset really stumped me too. So it's hot out, like summer, but where did the long summer evening go?!! May the Lord be near! Jody
ReplyDeleteI am so very proud of you! Thank you for sharing all of this with us :) It's so fun to live vicariously through your adventures! Praying for you always
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