Conclusion of the B-ball game and more fun stuff.

Well, I’m sorry to all of you who have been religiously checking back to my blog to find out how the story I began would finish. :P I have been so busy since I last checked in with you that blogging landed fairly low on the list of things I needed to accomplish each day. However, today is Saturday, and so I have time to finish my story and fill you in on what’s been happening. First the exciting conclusion….

The noise as we entered the stadium was deafening! Not only were the stands crowded with fans from the game that was currently taking place (there are games all day at this particular arena) but each team has a cheer team. Now, this might not sound all that crazy… trust me, the cheer team consists of AT LEAST 4 bass drums, 6 snare drums, 20 “cheer leaders” and more often than not, about 30 more students who make up a whole cheer section. On the Ateneo team (the school that Kirk plays for) the cheer leaders are mostly guys, all wearing these blue and white sweat suits, who position themselves throughout the stands on the Ateneo side and actually lead all the fans in a few different cheers. They never stop jumping up and down and I don’t know how they don’t lose their voices halfway through the game. Three cheers I know by heart (even after one game) are “GO ATENEO, ONE BIG FIGHT!”, (4 loud bass drum beats with some other snare stuff mixed in then…) “FIGHT!” and finally, “GET THAT BALLLLLLLL!”.

The game itself was very exciting. It was fairly important for Ateneo’s chances of getting into the playoffs that they win. The other team was ahead for the first 2 quarters but never by much. Then in the 3rd quarter we pulled ahead for a little while, then they were ahead again. Then Daisy and I were laughing at the ridiculous commercials that were playing on the middle screen every time there was a break, finally, in the 4th quarter we were tied with about 45 seconds to go and Kirk had two free throw shots. He sank the first one, though the crowd of the opposing team were trying to be as distracting as possible waving around their big yellow noodles. Yes, yes, we did the same thing with our big blue foam hands when it was the other teams shot, but that’s not the point! The point is that those yellow noodles, or maybe the noise, or maybe simply the odds finally got to Kirk and he missed the second shot. The other team took the ball back down the court but good ol’ Ateneo spirit was kicking in and our defense was able to keep them from scoring… for about 33 seconds. Someone (don’t ask me his number, this was my first basketball game I had ever gone to and I didn’t notice stuff like that!) scored a 2 pointer and the opposing team (don’t ask me their name, sheesh!!!) was ahead by 1 point with 12 seconds to go. The ball was brought back down the court as the seconds raced past. Kirk had the ball with about 4 seconds to go. He looked around and I kid you not, shot the ball with 1.5 seconds left and if that buzzer had not been sounding you would have been able to hear the swish of the ball falling through the net… until the stands erupted with cheering fans. Kirk was dogpiled by his team and Daisy and I heard Jeff being congratulated for about 5 days after the shot took place. What a welcome to the Philippines eh?
So, life was laid back for the first few days that we were here. We went to another basketball game on Saturday and did some stuff for visas and such. To tell you all the truth, Daisy and I were finding it hard not to feel upset at the fact that we were not working with the kids yet. We felt useless in a way. This was all discussed on Saturday night and Sunday morning when we had no idea how we were supposed to get to church or who was going or even where. That’s kinda how things work here. Jeff will show up at your door and ask you if you want to maybe go to do… and you either just grab your bag and run or not. Which is what happened on Sunday when it was time to go to church. We went to the local squatter village’s church at the Cuatro Community Center. This is a center that has just been built in the last year with help from the Longs. It is 3 stories tall and operates as the school during the week. Even though I couldn’t understand the sermon, church was good. The songs were in English and it was nice to get to worship for the first time in a couple weeks. Then we were introduced to everyone as two girls who would be helping out at the school.

Later that day we had a meeting which helped us to understand a little more exactly what we would be doing. I would be helping in the 2nd grade classroom and Daisy would be working with the Preschool. We were excited to get to work the next morning and we were able to sleep pretty well. And that is where I shall leave you for now. I need to get some sleep before I spend tomorrow grading papers. Next time I’ll try to write a bit more generally so that you can know more about what’s going on and less about the last 5 seconds of a basketball game. I love and miss you all! Till next time…God Bless!

Second Day Here, First post ever!!!

Magundang Oomaga (spelling probably not correct)

I'm finally here! After all the fundraising, packing (most of which happened within the 9 hours before I got on the plane), and a 30 hour trip to Manila, I am finally entering my first post!! I'm not sure exactly how thorough it will be as it is already 11:30 at night and I should probably hit the hay soon. Don't worry, I don't really sleep on a stack of hay...

Daisy and I had a very long but smooth trip over here. We had a 6 hour layover in San Francisco and a 4 hour layover in Hong Kong which were both brutal but we found a few ways to pass the time. We left Colorado Springs airport at 6:45 am on Tuesday, August 28th and arrived at the condo that we are living in at 1:45 am Wednesday, August 29th (Manila time), 11:45 am Thursday, August 30th (Colorado time). After noticing a small gecko that lives under my bed, I crashed. Needless to say we slept in the next morning.

Our first full day here was awesome! Getting to see the city for the first time was such an experience. After visiting Faith Academy for lunch, we headed into the actual "downtown" area of Manila to watch a basketball game. Kirk Long (the oldest boy of the family that started the orphanage) plays for a local college in Manila and the kids from the orphanage regularly go to his games. So, Jeff Long (the dad), driving with one hand while texting with the other (occasionally pausing to shift into the next gear) maneuvered us through the CRAZY traffic to get to the train station. I was happy to see, as it flashed before my eyes, that ya'll have made my life a pretty good one!

As we got out of the car (kissing the ground and praising God) I couldn't help but notice some of the distinct sights, sounds and smells of the urban jungle I had arrived in. I was told that the strange mechanical horse whinny I heard was only coming from a nearby jeepney! The colors on these cramped modes of transportation are incredible. Decorated with any and everything from Catholic icons to Disney princesses, I have learned that one reason that they look this way is to warn all the other drivers to move out of the way as they are not prone to stopping or obeying any other road rules.

The smell of exhaust was the most overpowering in this area but it didn't seem to bother me. There were so many other things holding my attention that I barely noticed it. We boarded the train for the auditorium where the game would be held and off we went. Okay, I think that's all I can manage tonight, you'll have to tune in next time if you want to know why about 20 different people came up to congratulate Jeff today! Until next time...