Sticky Love

We've been in Manila for almost 1 week now. Today is our sabbath, so we are spending the day in the air conditioning bliss of a huge mall in the city. We are really starting to settle into life in the Botocan slum community, though not sure if the heat will ever become comfortable.

Three other girls and I are staying with a very nice family that is on the wealthier end of the neighborhood. They have a daughter that is about our age that speaks perfect English and is really nice. She is the leader for the youth group of one of the 2 churches in the neighborhood. The four of us are sharing a room - 1 on the bed and 3 on the floor. We've had a few unwanted visitors, but really not many. We are so grateful for the luxuries of our host family's home - a toilet seat and a shower head, which none of the other interns have.

We spent the last two days visiting with different families in the neighborhood in intern pairs. Kyle and I visited with a very large family, which includes parents, 10 grown kids, and several grandkids. Not all of the 10 grown kids live there, but LOTS of people live in this house. They have the second and third floors on this structure and looks and feels like a tree house. The floors and wooden and connected by very step wooden stairs. We chatted with a few of the sisters using our VERY limited Tagalog and their slightly less limited English. We also played LOTS of games - which drew in at least a dozen of the neighborhood kids, and we also ate lunch and dinner with the family on the floor of the tree house. At one point, I was legitimately afraid that the structure was going to collapse with the chaotic jumping of 15+ kids and adults!

We have felt very welcome in the Botocan community. We know several of the families and ALL of the kids! Everyone is super friendly and loving and they really make us feel like family. We are doing our best to learn the language! The neighborhood guys finally got our 6'5" intern Dan on the basketball court last night! Basketball is huge here and it was so fun to watch and cheer on the teams!

Please pray for energy to continue to engage with the community! Also... the heat is really crazy and I'm breaking out in all kinds of nasty rashes from the heat and constant touching and grabbing of all the kiddos. Thanks for your prayers and support! I feel so blessed to be here! :)