I Have Arrived

I’m sitting in the living room of my new house in Davao City. I’m tired, a little dizzy, and still adjusting to the fact that I am no longer in America. I’m clean now. I had a bucket shower about two hours ago. Most of my things are put away. It’s hot and humid, but I love it because it reminds me of Africa. It smells the same. 

I left home on Friday. I packed my things, gathered my paperwork and flew to Portland to meet up with the other girls who I will be living with for the next two years. I already love all of them. We spent the weekend in Clatskanie, Oregon. We climbed a mountain, played on a cold beach and just relaxed, got to know each other and enjoyed each other’s company. A wonderful couple, Gary and Lynn Jones put up with us, shuttled us around, and fed us while we were there.

On Monday morning, the group of 11 girls, myself included, boarded the plane heading to Seoul, South Korea. The flight was eleven hours long. I don’t sleep well on planes so you can imagine how tired I was after that. A shorter flight took us Manila where we stayed the night in the airport and our final flight, at four a.m. took us to our new home in Davao City. We’d been traveling for over 36 hours straight. 

We were greeted at the airport by several of the second year students as well as the director of the school Krys McNeil. There were hugs all around as we finally met many of the people that we’d heard so much about. 

We loaded our luggage into the various vehicles that awaited us and then piled into the back of the maternity center ambulance. We all gazed in awe at the city around us. We were happy to finally be in Davao. 

After a short ride from the airport we arrived at our new home. The Orange House at Mercy Maternity Center. We were fed a tasty breakfast of fresh fruit and scones. Then, I took a nap. 

So far I have avoided being sick, which is unusual for me. Usually long plane rides make me throw up at least once, but so far all my food has stayed in my stomach and it looks like it’s going to stay there. So I’m happy about that.