Underground River

For our last day on the island of Palawan, we decided to do something special. We decided to visit the Underground River. 

The Underground River is located about 30 miles north of Puerto. The park has a limestone karst mountain landscape with an 5 mile navigable underground river. A distinguishing feature of the river is that it winds through a cave before flowing directly into the West Philippine Sea. It includes major formations of stalactites and stalagmites, and several large chambers.

I had heard about the Underground River the last time I was in the Philippines but I never had a chance to visit. This time around, I made it a point to try and visit, especially because on November 11, 2011, it was chosen as one of the New7Wonders of Nature.

So LeAnne and I made reservations and early Wednesday morning we headed to the Underground River. When we woke up, it was pouring rain. According to Merilyn, it had been raining nonstop in Puerto for the last 2 weeks and that we were lucky we were visiting the "Underground River". lol. Well, I wasn't much looking forward to spending the day outside in the rain, so LeAnne and I prayed that it would stop raining, just long enough for us to enjoy our time at the Underground River. As we drove the, much to my surprise, hour drive there, it continued to rain. But as we neared the National Park, it stopped raining and the sun came out. Praise God!

 When we arrived, we took a boat to this little island where the River is located. Then you hike through the woods for a bit and then you come to the River. The cavern where you begin the tour was gorgeous! The water was so pretty. At this point you have to put on Lifejackets and Hardhats and then you climb into a boat with a tour guide.

It is really dark inside the cave (obviously) so the person at the front of the boat has a Flood Light and thats what you use to see all the different rock formations inside. I was actually very impressed, they had SOO many different formations of rock that strongly resembled numerous things: For example there was a Candle, the Last supper, Side profile of Jesus' face, a naked woman, etc. It was very unique. There were also many bats inside...that was kinda creepy. lol.

The River is 5 miles long, however, they are only allowed to bring you .8 miles inside. Its probably, ultimately due to a time constraint. That way they can get tourists in and out as quickly as possible. But anyways, at the .8 mile mark they turn around and take you back where you started from. From here we headed back to the shore to catch our boat back. LeAnne and I really wanted to swim, but our tour guide said that we had to head back for lunch, but that we could probably swim there.

We headed back to the mainland, where they had a buffet lunch served. It would have been REALLY good....had we not been vegetarians...lol. LeAnne and I were able to enjoy some rice, greens, and bananas....Delicious! lol. Afterwards, we asked the other members of our group, how long we were staying? They answered "I'm pretty sure we're leaving once we're done eating". We were really bummed because, as I stated before, we really wanted to swim. So we finished our lunch quickly and went to the beach, just to take pictures. But of course, we couldn't stop there and we ended up playing in the water for awhile. The waves were HUGE and we were so tempted to go farther out to face them, but we didn't want to be soaking wet on the drive home, so we contained ourselves.

LeAnne had a bit of an accident. lol, jk.

When everyone else was done eating, the tour guide came to retrieve us from the beach (whoops...lol) and we headed back to the shuttle for our ride to Puerto. Right as we got to the shuttle, it started to rain again. God is WAY to good to us. In fact, He then turned the rain off again when we stopped to take pictures at this cute little gift shop.

He even intervened for us, once again. On the drive back, I started getting the money together to pay for our trip and I realized I was short by 500 php. I tried to text Merilyn to meet us at the pick up spot with the rest of our money, but my phone ran out of load (All phones in the Philippines are 'pay as you go'). So here we were, no phone to text for help and not enough money to pay for the trip. I didn't know what to do. LeAnne and I prayed until we reached our stopping point. When we got there the tour guide informed us that since we booked our trip through someone else that we were suppose to give our money to Merilyn to give to the other person. Praise God! I had no idea how He was going to help us with that one, but He got us through! It was amazing! 

Afterwards, we stayed in town and made a couple last visits to NCCC and Ima's :). Of course, by this time, it was pouring rain once again. So we spent the night running from place to place in the pouring rain. It was actually really fun. It was the perfect way to spend our last day in Palawan.

"...All things were created through Him and for Him."

~Colossians 1:16b

Our Mission Family

I think I speak for everyone when I say, the end of ANY traveling adventure is filled with mixed emotions. 

You're sad that the adventure is over and you have to return to reality...but at the same time you're happy to get back to the routines of reality. 

However, when your travels are stretched over a couple months, your daily routines of reality take on a different meaning and soon your traveling adventures become your reality, and the people you surround yourself with during these travels, go from being "those cool people you met that one time you went to the Philippines" to your Family members that you aren't quite sure how you'll live without.

If you don't already know these people...you obviously haven't been reading my blog ;) But I would like to take this time to introduce the people who have made our mission trip such an amazing experience.

Wendy and Dwayne

Dwayne and Wendy Harris are the founders of the PAMAS project. They met in the mission field. He was a helicopter pilot and she was a Nurse. Long story short, they were married in April of 2008 and decided to join their ministries and work as missionaries here in the Philippines. They started their mission on the island of Palawan and then in 2010 decided to expand their mission and start a 2nd project in Santiago, Isabela, Philippines which is located in Northern Luzon.

We had the opportunity to visit the 2nd PAMAS project for 3 weeks during our trip. We stayed with Wendy and Dwayne had so much fun. (Well, except for the whole...malaria thing...that wasn't so fun :/ ) Wendy is a very inspirational person and every time I'm around her, I feel inspired to do more with my life.

Danny, Rovelyn (Ging), and Haddie

Back on the island of Palawan, we have the rest of our family. Danny is a good ol' southern boy, from Tennesee and Ging is a cute, little Filipina who grew up on the island of Mindanao. They met and were married in 2008 and then decided to return to Ging's homeland as missionaries. Along the way, they had little baby Haddie, who is a never-ending source of enjoyment! They now serve as Field Director for the Palawan project and are expecting their 2nd child in February of 2012.

I was kinda bummed that I wasn't able to spend as much time with them during this trip. Our paths never really crossed. But the times I did spend with them were a lot of fun. Haddie is seriously my joy, she is the perfect combination of cute, sassy, and sweet. If I ever have kids (doubtful, but in a hypothetical situation) I hope I have 5 just like Haddie. ;)

JoJo, Siena, Skye, and Ping-ping

During my last stay in the Philippines, Ging had asked her brother to come to the project to help as a handy-man. He didn't want to leave his wife behind with BOTH kids. So he brought Skye with him to Palawan. JoJo was such a hard worker and he did SOO much for our project. Skye spent most of the time being Haddie's punching bag, but since she was already an older sister, she was use to that and just embraced it. I spent the next 4 months trying to win Skye over, but never really did. She would never talk to me or let me take a picture of her without her crying hysterically. This time, when arriving in October, I was excited to see that their family was together again. Siena (pronounced Sheena) and Ping-ping had come to Palawan. They are now taking missionary training classes so that they can live as missionaries up in Calbunacan.

We fell in love with Siena the moment we met her. She was so kind and patient and always willing to help (she does alot of the translating for Tanya's Childrens Programs). She would always make extra food and then bring it over to the house to share with us. We always really appreciated that. During this trip, Skye finally warmed up to me! Though I never got a nice, posed picture of her, she no longer cries when I take pictures of her AND she would actually talk to us at times and "tickle" us when we would least expect it. Ping-ping started out being afraid of us. She wouldn't even come near us unless her mother was nearby. We vowed to change that by the end of our trip. Soon, she started coming near us, but would never speak or touch us...she would just stare. When we would leave on trips, her mother would tell us that she would run all over the house trying to find us, and would always question where we were. So, as far as we're concerned...We TOTALLY won her over ;) We loved that little family!

The Ukrainians

Andriy and Tanya along with their daughter, Anzhela (pronounced Angela) joined the PAMAS mission in 2009. I am constantly amazed when I think back on their commitment to this mission. Can you imagine, selling everything you have and quitting your job to become a missionary in the Philippines? To top it all off, you can't speak the native language there OR the language of the Missionaries that you'll be living with. Honestly, I don't know that I could have done it...but this family, in my opinion, really defied the odds. Together they worked hard and studied English and now speak it FLUENTLY. Anzhela went to a Filipino grade school and now speaks Tagalog. This adorable, 8-year old, girl speaks Russian, Ukrainian, English, and Tagalog FLUENTLY! (And apparently she really enjoys watching Dora the Explorer so now she is learning Spanish as well...Oy Vey!) Not only is the overcoming of their language barrier inspiring but their dedication to this mission is also very heart-warming.

Every moment spent with this family, I am so thankful that I know them. They are so kind and giving, even though at times, they have nothing to give. They are living proof that hard work and dedication pay off and that Home is where you make it. When I'm with these people, there is never a dull moment. That is what I love most about them and what I will miss most.

Roy, Shielah, Elaika Joy (EJ), and John Micheal (JM)

*Sigh* What could I possibly say about this amazing family that hasn't already been said?? Roy and Shielah have been missionaries their entire married lives. They worked for PFM for 10 years, spending 7 of those years on the island of Bancalaan. Then they moved to Cavite where they were field coordinators of PFM. They finally decided to leave PFM because they wanted to spend more time together as a family. Wendy invited them to join PAMAS and they accepted, and PRAISE THE LORD they did because this project would never be the same without them. Both Roy and Shielah have medical backgrounds (Roy Nurses Assitant and Shielah RN) they also are very good speakers and evangelists. 

Roy and Shielah were kind enough to open their home to us during our stay in Palawan. Honestly, I couldn't imagine it ANY other way. Everyday was such a blessing, even when we had nothing going on. Days when we would stay at the kitchen table, LONG after we were done eating, just talking to Shielah or sitting in bed playing computer games with EJ and JM or listening to Roy sing songs...just slightly off key ;), are some of our most treasured memories from this trip. This family, more or less, adopted us the last couple months and being apart of their family taught us SOO much and we are SOOO blessed to know them!

The people you meet during your travels can either make or break your trip. I think its safe to say, that the people we met during this adventure have MADE our trip. The time we spent with them over the last couple of months are memories that we will cherish for many years to come. 

As the sadness came over us on our shuttle ride to Puerto, we found ourselves questioning how this could happen. How can you fall in love with people you've know for 1/21 of your lifetime?? How can people make such an impression on you in such a short amount of time? How can you be on your way Home, back to your Family and Loved ones, while at the same time, feel like you've just left them behind?

So many questions, but in the end I remembered the heart-warming quote by Dr. Suess: "Don't cry because its over. Smile because it happened." It made me realize that I would much rather be feeling this pain for leaving them all, then to never have known them. 

"Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart."

~1 Peter 1:22

Last day in Brookes...

Our last day in Brookes was blur.

I was looking forward to a leisurely day, surrounded by good friends and good food; but, as the song says, 'Two outta Three ain't bad." Tanya and Andriy were coming to town and planned to spend our last day with us! The night before we were talking about what we wanted to eat for our last meal in Brookes. We went back and forth between rice dishes and pancit. But then Tanya said, "You know what sounds good? Pierogies." "YES, Please!! That sounds perfect!" Ok....so pierogi's are not necessarily a Filipino menu item...but we've enjoyed 3 months of Filipino food...I think we've paid our due :) 

So early the next morning Tanya showed up with all the ingredients to make Pierogies. "Ok, but in order to do this, you girls are going to have to help me." She told us at the start. "No problem, we've got nothing better to do." was our reply. After all, we only had a couple things left to throw in our suitcases till we were completely packed. (......sorry Tanya :/....) 

I mashed the potatoes....that was the extent of my help in the kitchen that day. :/

After packing the rest of our stuff, we remember that we had to run into town to get a couple souvenirs. Quick 10 minute job, right? Ha, ha. We stopped by a couple different shops and then did a quick walk by the sea shore, then had to stop and say goodbye to Michel and Andrew. Finally after an hour of walking around town, we walked back to the blue house for our last 5 hours in Brookes. 

When we arrived, we were happy to see some special guests had dropped by. Baby Samantha and Baby Allison along with their father and one of their older brothers had stopped by. I learned that baby Allison had a fever of 40 C/ 104 F. I went to hold her and she was so hot you could warm milk on her forehead. We learned that their mother, Norvena, hadn't been doing so well. She isn't able to take care of the kids anymore, leaving Dad to either make arrangements or not go to work, which in return, starves the whole family. 

Meanwhile, the babies aren't getting as much milk as they need and the milk they do recieve is generic and does not give them the nutrients they need, so they are becoming more malnourished everyday. We donated some money to get them a box or so of formula, it will only last them about 3 weeks, but its a start. We made up a bottle and brought it over to little Samantha, she practically grabbed the bottle right out of Shielah's hand, she was SOO hungry. :( 

Roy and Shielah went to town to buy baby Samantha and Allison some medicine, while I attempted to calm Allison and feed her, and LeAnne worked hard, to make up the end of our bargain, by helping Tanya. Baby Allison went down pretty easily, but Samantha was still fussing a little bit. So laid Allison down on the bed and I attempted to do the same for Sam, didn't work out as easily. :/ Then EJ, JM, and Angela came home from school and helped to entertain her, so she finally stopped crying.

Finally we were able to put both babies down and enjoy a nice lunch together. The pierogies turned out PERFECTLY, Shielah also made a Filipino egg roll, which was one of our favorite foods here. We spent most of our time before, during, and after lunch trying to get a picture of JM, but that little boy was being so stubborn. LOL, But it was fun trying! :)

After lunch, we said goodbye to the babies and family, My "internal mom" started freaking out when I saw how the babies were transported to and from town. The family rode in the tricycle, and the babies were laid on the metal seat of the side car. :( After prayer for a safe travel home, I said my goodbyes to my namesake baby and watched them drive away, my heart just breaking. I pray God will provide a way for me to help them grow up and live a comfortable life in someway.

After that we said goodbye to the kids, as they had to return to school. They were so giggly and giddy, they were more interested in taking silly pictures (with the exception of JM who wouldn't take ANY pictures, lol.). It was almost as if it were any other day...and at that moment, it was fun to pretend that it was just any other day. Finally they all climbed on the motorcycle with Andriy to drive back to school, and just like that, our precious gems drove out of our life.

Roy wanted a picture on his motorbike...lol.

Afterwards, we went inside to made the finishing touches on our packing and then Roy, Shielah, Tanya, and Andriy walked us to the shuttle station. As we headed out the door of the Blue Apartment, it began to rain...as if to set the mood for the rest of the day. :(

We loaded our things into the shuttle and then said our final goodbyes. After a prayer, hugs, and a few tears, we finally climbed into the shuttle for our long, and Last of many, 4 hour shuttle drive to Puerto. While driving, I was trying to think of where the day went...how can 9 hours of your life, slip by without you realizing, and suddenly become a memory? If today taught me anything, it is this.....Goodbyes STILL really suck :(

"Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you."

~2 Corinthians 13:11