Kumusta

Greetings from Manila! We arrived safe and sound despite some typhoon action in the area. Nora and I had a pretty painless journey, probably my easiest voyage to Asia yet! On our long flight to Nagoya, Japan we each had a row to ourselves and were able to stretch out and catch some zzz's. Who needs first class when you can get 3 seats for the price of one! During my flight to Manila the lady next to me had a cockroach crawling on her hair so there was some excitement while the flight attendants tried to catch it as she slept...

Anyhow, the layovers were short, our baggage arrived and I was so excited to see my aunt and cousin-in-law Cherry at the airport! My mom's sister, Auntie Baby (aka Tita Bernie), lives nearby in Quezon City and she has already taken such good care of us. I'm really excited about the chance to spend more time with her and my other relatives here since my usual visits are quick and busy.  Nora and I were welcomed at the hotel by Julie and Diana who arrived the night before and it was great to reunite. I have a feeling these girls are really going to make this trip for me and I'm glad we're in it together. 

And it's a good thing we have each other because we've already had situations where we just need to laugh about a situation to not lose our minds! Nora and I are sharing a little studio hotel room and the first thing we noticed was that one of the walls has what appears to be BLOODY HANDPRINTS all over it. Hmmmm. That is a little freaky but I can't dwell on that too long or I really scare myself. We are already apartment hunting so hopefully we'll find the permanent digs soon!

Our first day we went straight to school to meet the dean and faculty, register for classes, and get special study permits for our stay. The actual completion of these tasks involved a lot of running around between buildings (in the blazing heat and humidity...yikes), stopping for extra passport pictures, and endless form completion where we basically wrote the same information over and over again. It was a much longer day than expected and our tasks weren't handled very efficiently but I guess that's to be expected here sometimes. We did have a lovely welcome breakfast complete with an array of puto (little cakes made of rice) and egg McMuffins that they bought to remind us of home, ha! 

So, I rushed to get to Manila in time for the start of classes on August 12th (missing an important wedding and hanging with my favorite groomsman boooo) and as it turns out, classes have been delayed a week. The reason? H1N1 (aka swine flu)! I guess a bunch of people in the school have it ("too many to count") so the start of the semester was pushed back. This is worrisome on many levels. I guess it gives us extra time to settle in, recover from jet lag, and find a place to live. Look at me focusing on the positive in the face of H1N1 adversity. 

On another positive note, I discovered the nearby mega mall where I have a feeling we'll pass the time with their lovely air conditioning and endless food options. I got a new cell phone so I can stay in touch with my peeps here and abroad, and ended the day with a mango peach shake which turned out to be dinner....we got back to the hotel and fell asleep. Silly jet lag! I slept 4 hours and woke up at 11pm...I'm going to have a hard time adjusting I think. The area around our hotel is pretty noisy so sleep is often interrupted. Oh, and not just by traffic chaos...we hear a rooster crowing at all hours and I would like to know where it's hiding out considering we're on the 14th floor of this building! 

Alright, time to attempt another sleep sesh. Pray that tomorrow is a successful day of apartment hunting, I'm ready for this to feel like home! Sending giant half filipina hugs your way!