Manila Lessons, Take 1

This is one of 5 blogs about my trip to the Philippines this week. To check out the other blogs, flip through all the blogs titled 'Manila Lessons' (1-5)

50 Lessons I learned (or was reminded of) in the Philippines

1.       “When everything goes according to plan, you’re not pushed to learn more about a destination, or yourself.” –Robert Esrock (Mabuhay Magazine on my flight to the Philippines)

2.       Age is a mentality—from Janelle, the Russian woman I sat by on the plane. She said once she hit 50, she just started counting backwards.

3.       God knows our every step: When I arrived in Manila, I’ll admit I was a bit nervous about connecting with Brittany and all the safety issues I’d heard about in the Philippines. A Filipino in the line next to me started a conversation with me over an empty public-hand-sanitizer dispenser. He asked where I was from, and we connected that his brother used to own a place on the very street I parked in college. Nifty! When I got outside, it turns out that Brit had given me the wrong cell phone number and I was texting who knows who my whereabouts. A random stranger came up to her and asked her if she was looking for a teacher from Macau, and directed her my path. Thank you, empty hand sanitizer dispenser, random stranger, and God for helping us find each other.

4.       McDonalds in the Philippines has a seasonal Double Sundae…which I tried upon recommendation. They also have a sandwich called a McDo (as opposed to a McDon’t…)

5.       Trikes are fun. We took a trike to McDonalds. I felt very Mary Poppins-ish…or was it Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or some other Dick Van Dyke movie?? Anyways, it was a motorcycle with a little car next to it, and we took turns riding 2 to a car and one on the back. Seen here:

6.       Water bottles are essential in foreign countries, and especially ones that are 85 degrees when it’s ‘cool.’ We walked to a store called ‘Sari Sari’ (like Sorry Sorry) down the street that was not so sorry sorry, and bought water the first evening. That bottle was very valuable when chasing youngins.

7.       Cheez Whiz is popular in the Philippines.

8.       “Divine Insanity”: The phrase Brit coined to explain to me how she ended up ‘dropping out’ of college to live and work at an orphanage in the Philippines. I really dislike the term ‘dropping out’ because of its negative connotations, but she did what God led her to do, and now looking back she says she doesn’t know what she was thinking—it was just God. I love when that happens; and it does happen.

9.       Roaches are common in the Philippines (as bugs are common in most tropical places). Suck it up, and move on.

10.   At Christ’s lowest point, He prayed for His enemiesà This was something I learned from the live sermon we watched of Brit’s dad preaching from BLBC in Sheeptown, KY.