q: consequences of a case of lethargy?

a: another long post! Hang in there! It's five days' worth!

The past few days have been long, some because they were busy, the others because they went at a much slower pace than I am accustomed to at school (i.e. living in the eye of a hurricane).

Friday was Independence Day here.
In the morning, we went out to a neighboring village community and had coffee with some M women there. They welcomed us into their square, cinder block house with a fancy buffet cabinet (stuffed with all their cookware and dishware and complete with a t.v.) all along one wall and two rooms off to the side. The two elderly women there were both hajji, so it was incredible to be able to ask them questions about their experience during the pilgrimage and how their faith impacted their daily lives. The team members were very patient translators! It was an incredible experience I will not soon forget.
Oh, and I had my first sip of black coffee there. Granted, it was more sugar than coffee, because one of the other interns was gracious enough to make the sugar/coffee ratio ridiculously large!
I've also been sipping soda every once in a while when there is no filtered water or juice available.
Oh what I won't do to relate and survive here! Haha. Actually, that's really not saying much!

Classes were all out for the day on Friday, but this did not really affect the university students, as they were still not in school. We stayed home in the afternoon and got a few things done around the house. My friend became sick, so we tried to lay low and let her sleep as much as possible. That translated to me doing a lot of reading!


Saturday was spent in the city! My friend was feeling better, and we were getting a stir crazy (to put in mildly) so we were happy to be out and roaming around! It was good to reconnect with the team, as always. We went through the large market in the center of town, where you can find just about any fresh product harvested or slaughtered in this area, from calamansi (like key limes) to freshly stuffed sausages. In the clothing section I found two gorgeous scarves for my sister!


Sunday: My friend and I went to a house church on campus which serves some of the student body, faculty, and our team members. There was probably around 30 or so people there that morning. I was asked to share a testimony for a few minutes, but was fortunate enough to have had a few days forewarning! (Cindi, you said it was coming! You were right! :) ) The people seemed to be encouraged by the story of what God has been doing in my heart the last year, and I was able to chat with the pastor and an elder afterward. After a meal there (SWEET STICKY RICE for dessert!!!! Couldn't get enough of it!), we said goodbye to some dear teammates of ours who will be taking a sabbatical. I will miss them immensely.

Monday morning brought the weekly regimen of the team meeting in the city. Though the house where we meet is filled with many faces, some more familiar than others, it is already set as one of the highlights of my week. Seeing everyone together come from all the cities and remote villages of the work here to be together is always makes for a happy day! :)

Over the weekend and on Monday, I was feeling very exhausted for most of the day. (Hence, no blogging.) The overwhelming sense of physical lethargy seems to have passed now, praise God! Health is a very precarious and precious thing! Please pray for my health! The nice thing is, I have been taking the mornings and evenings at a slower rate, which makes for some good long devotional times!


Today was spent lying low as I didn't leave the house, but that didn't mean that I had nothing to do! I did quite a bit of prep work for advertising our tutoring center's open house on Thursday and a campus "American BBQ" (put on by a team from the States who is visiting) on Friday. I designed fliers/tickets, printed them, and cut out by hand and numbered all 300 of them! My conclusion: I need to take some tips from my sister or an advanced class on Word! Heehee!
I also got to skype my family for an hour and a half! !!! !!! !!! ;)

The two-and-a-half week mark has hit. I'm starting to dive into new territory: by the end of this week, it will mark the longest I've ever been out of the country at one time!

I have a meeting now, so I should go, but I will try to post some pictures next time. Pictures always make reading more palatable, I think. Heehee. Especially in textbooks. Amen?