Still Young

Lately I feel as if I spend a lot of time waiting here.  Waiting for Zach to come, then waiting for our Christmas trip, then waiting for my mom to visit, then waiting till I go home, waiting for the doctor to arrive, waiting for January to start, waiting for Monday, for Tuesday, for Sabbath, for the next week to begin....

Isn't it funny how that works?  I have wished time and time again that I could just live in the present, enjoying every moment that passes.  My time here is so short, and yet it feels like it will last a thousand more years.  Time is a funny thing, and since I have lived in the Philippines it has felt even more funny.  Ah, the waiting game.  My least favorite game, yet the one that I play the most often.  

Earlier this week we took a day off and went with the Adventist Youth to the Burgos Lighthouse, the Rock Formations, and Kaangrian Falls.  They were all fun, but Kaangrian was absolutely beautiful.  Pool after pool cascade into more pools, creating this beautiful layer of waterfalls.  We clamored up and down the falls, jumping off cliffs and climbing up the jungle vines. Then we swam down the river, climbing down the next falls and letting the cool, blue water rush over us.  Leaves would fall into the river and the sunlight would filter through the tropical trees, and I felt like I was in Colorado mixed with the place that Timon and Pumba live in The Lion King.  

We have spent a lot of time this week with the AY; they helped us out with VBS and spent the night almost every night.  We had a popcorn party and played Sardines around the church, running and tripping over hospital construction supplies.  There are several AYs:  Rhea, (Rizal's daughter and the one we see the most) Krystel and Karan (sisters who are 18 and 20; Karan has an adorable little daughter named Sum-Sum) Carina (the quietest one, she lives across the street), Dave, Zernon, (two jokester guys), and Cliff (a nurse who helps out in the clinic).  They are all our age and quite fun to hang out with.  The other day we were playing with our new kitten (named Sundae;  she got shook by a dog a couple days ago and has been a little special since...) and Krystel smiled at her and goes, "that is a cat."  Katelyn and I burst out laughing at the random, obvious statement.  It's statements like these that make me love hanging out with them.  We have met so many nice, fun people these last few weeks; especially the kids.  We have a new gaggle of girls 11-14 years old who have nicknamed me "graduation" because my birthday falls during graduation time for them (March).

Sometimes when we go visiting, people ask me how old I am.  When I tell them that I am 20 years old, they almost always say, "Ah, still young."  It always makes me smile a little bit.  Sometimes I forget that I am still so young.  I like the sound of it, though.  "Still young."  It reminds me of being at Kaangrian, jumping over rocks and climbing up the vines, I felt like my body could do anything and go anywhere.  I wish that were always the case!  

In other news, I am going to start teaching piano lessons once everyone gets back from Christmas break. I have eleven students signed up and am anxious to see how it will go.  Heather, Emily, and I leave for Manila on the 23rd and will be there until the first of January.  We hope to find some fun stuff to do.  After that, January will hit and we will start the downhill slope towards home.  Our doctor arrives on the 12th of January and we are all very anxious for him to come and to get some medical experience.  

 The rice fields early in the morning

 VBS

 Clockwise from bottom: Rhea, Krystel, Katelyn, Emily, Heather, Me

 Little RJ

 During a funeral service, right before the burial

 Me, Karan, and Katelyn at the rock formations

 Me on top of the rock formation

 Kaangrian Falls

For now, though, I'm still playing that waiting game and living my "young" life.  Here's some pics of what we've been up to!  

Warm Winter Evening

84 degrees tonight.  The warmest December 2 I can remember having.
But it's a nice warmth...even though I miss the Christmas-y feeling that I usually get this time of year from the cold and coziness of a crackling fire and the warm glow of my family's living room...I still like this summer warmth, the clearest of clear sunny days and bright blue sky, and at night sparkling stars.   I am always hot, and usually sweating, but I am warm and have bare feet and I like it.

Today we brought Nieves down from her hill-top home so that she could see the visiting doctor.  Heather and I got a trike and found our way to her barangay.  We clamored up the even roots and steps to her house and found her eating papaya and laughing.  Her pregnant daughter-in-law was in the kitchen; she came out and smiled at us, her hands resting on her hips, her belly huge.  She is due in about a week.  Nieves had her prosthetic leg on already and had been waiting for us.  We helped her with her crutches and one of her young relatives helped her down the slippery rock steps.  Heather and I flitted nervously behind her, ready to catch if she fell.

Later, Nieves told me of her life and the places she had been.  She is only in her late fifties, but looks older than that.  Losing her leg to diabetes has aged her, I think.  She was a nanny for a wealthy Indian family for nearly 30 years and has visited Singapore, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, New York City, Paris, London, Rome, Switzerland....she talks about the places with such a faraway look in her eyes and a slight smile on her face that I can tell she misses it, I can tell she feels resigned to her fate of not having health anymore.  But she looks peaceful, and smiles a gap-toothed smile at me.  She looks sad and wise, like she has seen pain but has accepted it.

Late in the afternoon we walk down to the beach.  The sun is getting low in the sky, but still very bright. We walk south, squinting at the sun's reflection off the ocean.  We walk to where a river runs into the ocean.  Many men are down by the river, stripped down to their underwear and fishing for the tiny fish.  They lift their green, gossamer nets into the river and swing them back up; the sun shines through them and they look like glittering kites.  A little boy peers at us from his perch on a beached fishing boat.  "I love you too!" He shouts over and over at us.  That's one way of being optimistic...

I can hear the crickets outside my window, and if I look directly out I can seen Orion perfectly, my favorite constellation.  It is a winter constellation, and I have to remind myself that it is Winter, and that it is some kind of Christmas, here, too.  Even in my shorts and t-shirt, it is Christmas.