Adventures in Manila Pt 1

I'm blogging from the OMF guesthouse in Manila . . . and I shouldn't really be. But I do find that writing down what's been going on when things are a bit intense helps me process and unwind.

So here are a few highlights of the last three days.

I left for the airport straight after church, travelled the 1 ½ hrs on three trains, and went through all the procedures for catching an overseas flight. No real hitches! Phew!

In the midst of it all I realised that it really was only about the fifth time that I've flown overseas on my own. Usually I've been with family or at least one other person!

Where I'm spending my days.

My chief concern was the plan to link up with someone from the UK who landed at a different terminal and to catch a taxi together (for about an hour). Getting public transport in a country I'm unfamiliar with is not something I'm super confident about! But we eventually managed, not only to get our electronic communication to connect, but also to find a taxi that wasn't going to charge us an arm and a leg.

The workshop started Monday morning. It is about mobilising people for mission using social media and the web. I was surprised to find that I'm a bit further along in what I know than many of those at the workshop, but still I know (and continue to have found out) that there is much, much more I could potentially learn or do. I think that's the challenging part of it. What you can do seems almost unlimited. You could certainly spend far more hours of the day than I have, doing it.

View out our bedroom window. There's a not-so-quiet
10-lane road in front of that church!

My notes are full of action points and things to further investigate. I'm certainly not bored. After all, there aren't too many all-day meetings that you can go to when you can "fool around" on Facebook, while totally being on-task!

I had the yummiest fruit for lunch today: mango! Something that is a rarely enjoyed treat in Japan. These were just perfect.

Screen shot from my phone from early afternoon.

But sleep is something I've struggled with, as usual when I'm away. First night I tried to sleep in the muggy heat (long story about the aircon that I decided not to put on). 

Last night my roommate and I decided the air con was a good idea and I slept a lot better, but was woken at 5am with torrential rain. 

5am is my body clock's 6am, about when I'd usually get up on a Tuesday, so it isn't surprising to me. But I've been "going" with little break now for about 15 hours, so I really need to call it quits. Workshops like this are really stimulating. So many ideas, so much to learn. It is hard to switch off. And, of course, I've got other things going on too (I was proofreading between sessions today and answering emails also).

The rain continued to periodically pour down torrentially all day. Apparently there was flooding in various areas of Manila, but we are high and dry. I haven't even been outside since Sunday!

There's much more I could write, but really, really I need to go to bed.