joanna in the philippines

Well, I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving yesterday! I hope you all were able to have a special time with your friends and families and whoever it is you spent thanskgiving with! Well, we had a good day! I have been in Manila for a week now, and yesterday Sarah arrived to Manila... She and Emma came on the bus and they will be here for a week because Sarah has a problem with her toe, and she is going to the doctor on Tuesday... its been really painful for her for months now, and so she might need to get the toenail taken off! Ouch! Well, pray for her that it all gets worked out, nothing is worse than a sore toe.... but its cool because I have been able to see her and spend time with her! Today I went with Sarah and Emma to the mall... it was fun to go shopping with my sister!! Well, shopping... that is something we have done very much of... in Manila theres not a whole lot to do other than shopping (Im sure I am wrong) but there are malls EVERYWHERE! And we're talking like HUGE malls... 6 stories malls... tons of stores... even more people. It's crazy.. and even more crazy since Filipinos begin celebrating Christmas in August, so there is loud Christmas music everywhere and decorations up, and the traffic is really bad and there are people just everywhere. Oh well! Its fun, but what a change from the tribe, or even Aritao! Well, our Thanksgiving day was nice... we went to a mall, and then The Epps and I went to a kids movie, which was funny... I think Thea and Koi were in shock the first 30 minutes of the movie from the loud noises and the big screen... it was fun watching them! Then we took a taxi to the bus station and picked up Sarah and Emma... they were in a group of Filipinos and being touched and gawked at... Emma tends to draw that attention... I felt like a rescuer stepping in and grabbing her bag! :) Ha... well, yeah, then we went to Chili's for our T-day dinner... it was great, just like home! It was a good day... but I was thinking about home and everything going on there. Well, I should get going, but just wanted to write quick! Things here are good... Char is still waiting for the baby to come... hoping it is earlier than sooner... Im still hanging with them, taking the kids sometimes so D and C can do Christmas shopping or go to doctors office, or just got on a date! :) But its been fun being over here and meeting all the missionaries at the guest house... lots going on in our Big World! Things we dont even know about lots of time! Well, hope everyone is doing great! Have a good one!

yes, we are waiting. we are finally in Manila and the time has come to wait for the baby to "pop" out... We arrived in Manila last Thursday and since then it has been a time of adjustment to the big city, the over-crowded streets, the LOUD shopping malls, and the people gawking everywhere! What a difference it is to be in Manila than it was to be in the tribe just 2 weeks ago! It took the kids a few days to adjust... but I think we're finally getting used to it now! We have been running around and getting as much Christmas shopping done as we can before the baby might come, so it has been a crazy few days! Manila is nuts... the traffic is crazy and there are malls everywhere, and we're talking HUGE malls! So, there is plenty of shopping to do, and if there is no shopping, well, then the malls are a good air-conditioned place to go take a walk and get the kids out of the guest house! So that is fun! But yeah, it has been fun here. We have eaten a few things in restaurants that we talked about longingly in the tribe for so many weeks :) and its been fun to see the city. There are so many people in Manila... and they all love to look at and touch Thea and Koi. But its been going good. Char is getting closer to the due date, and each day we wonder if it is "the day"... but I just found out today that Sarah will be coming down here with Emma for a week. She has a toe problem and will be having a minor surgery on it... so that will be fun to be with her here for a few days! But yes, we are doing good... its encouraging to see and talk with all the missionaries here at the Guest House coming through... lots of people coming and going, and lots of cool things happening on the mission field, as well as many challenges. Well, sorry theres not a whole lot of exciting things to write! Not a whole lot happening! But I would love to hear from everyone! I hope you all have a GREAT thanksgiving, and know that I am wishing I could be over there to eat some good food too! :) But have fun with your families or wherever it is you will be this next week! God Bless!

Well, we are back in Aritao finally! Thanks to everyone who was praying! For a minute there I wasn't sure that we were going to be able to get a plane into Valley Cove before the typhoon came that hit yesterday, but thankfully we did. Sorry I haven't written as much as I would like, I know there are lots of you that check this often, and I wish I could have had more for you in the past couple weeks... but for some reason I wasn't able to upload any blogs in the tribe, so I had to wait to get out, so SORRY! But now there is TONS of power and TONS of water and TONS of toilet paper, so I will be able to do lots more things the way I like to ;). Ha! Well, last week was a long week... Don and Char decided early in the week to try to fly out of the tribe earlier than Friday when we had planned, mainly since the weather was looking a bit sketchy and also because Char was getting ready to get out of the tribe and closer to the hospital... the baby is definitely on its way!! So we tried to get out Wednesday, but SIL had to cancel because the pilot was going to be in Manila. So then we planned for Thursday, and got all packed up and ready... and then the waiting. Thursday morning didn't look very promising. It was cloudy and rainy, and we sat by the window listening for the airplane but it never came. I guess the pilot had to turn around at the mountains because it wasn't clear enough... so that was a big bummer! That day we kind of bummed around, since it rained most of the day. Later that afternoon we went on a hike into the jungle looking for some caves, but we didn't have enough time to find them before it got dark, but it was fun to go on one last jungle hike. Then we went to bed praying that the next morning would be clear and sunny so the pilot could land and we could fly out. We had been living out of suitcases for a few days and with everything mostly packed up, so we were anxious to leave. Well, Friday morning came, and it was a breath of fresh air to see blue skies!!! There were some clouds, but we were praying and hoping for the best, and let me tell you, the sound of the airplane coming was AWESOME! It was cool... tons of the Agta and Ilokano came out to see the airplane land, and we said lots of goodbyes and took lots of pictures and unpacked supplies then repacked our bags, and before we knew it we were in the plane and taking off... it was sad to see the people one last time and then fly by their houses and see it all get farther away. I really really LOVED the people and even Valley Cove itself... well... when we got to the SIL base an hour later, it was SO fun to see Markus and Sarah and Levi and Emma there to welcome us... Sarah had a sign and was jumping up and down, Ha! I really was SO happy to be back with them, so the past few days have been fun catching up on the last 6 weeks, and playing with my neice and nephew... Although my stomach isn't quite used to all this excitement and new food... I havent been feeling too well today, but neither has Thea, and so I think we will all have a worm treatment party tomorrow to rid ourselves of all the yummy worms we have acquired during our time in the tribe... Ha... sounds gross, but apparently its the "norm" here! Well, we also had a typhoon come through yesterday ( a reason we needed to get out) and it really wasn't so bad... the wind and rain picked up for awhile, but it passed pretty quickly. We were glad to be in Aritao though to go through it! Okay, well, we leave on Friday for Manila to get ready for the third Epp baby to come into this world, so now the countdown begins... there always seems to be a countdown! :) But I hope everyone is well... thanks again once more for praying!!! And I will write soon, and maybe get a few pictures up!

p.s.- one more thing, for all of you who email me... I changed my email today, it is now this: joanna.meisel@gmail.com Sorry... but just want everyone to know, I have had the other one for like 12 years and I thought it was about time to get a new one!

hey there... well, I have been having some major technical difficulties, so this blog is over a week old... so sorry everyone! It has been a LONG time...

Hello Everyone! Well, the time in the tribe is coming to an end… I know, SAD! We have been here for about 6-7 weeks or so, and in this time Don and Char have been able to spend many hours in language study and relationship building. The kids and I have collected many shells and read many books. We have gone on a bunch of hikes and seen just a glimpse of God’s awesome creation that sometimes takes my breath away. It has been such a special time here in Valley Cove, and I will be quite sad as that little plane takes off and this little world in the middle of nowhere begins to get smaller and smaller until I won’t see it again. Hmm… okay, this is really sad. Well, lets see… it has been a long time since I have written! Sorry! Last week was a good week of language and all… we played a bunch of volleyball with the Agta, and as usual, had a blast doing it! The ladies here are so much fun! J Thursday I began feeling a little sick, and I haven’t really felt good since then. I have a bad head cold and a sore throat. It hurts pretty bad, but I am just hoping and praying that it will soon pass… But Don has the same thing, and Char has been up and down with feeling well, so we are all kinda trying to get better. Friday was a fun day though. Some of the Agta invited us to go hiking with them to a place where they like to go to catch and eat hermit crabs. They also go bahot fishing, which is like fishing for fish in the coral using a long rod with a sharp end on one end and a big rubber band/shooter thing on the other end. It seems pretty hard. Well, it was cool to be invited to go, and so we all got ready early in the morning and waited until they came to get us. So off we went… 5 of us and a bunch of them. We were trying to make sure we could keep up with them, with pregnant Char and 4 yr old Thea and Don carrying Koi on his back… we were doing good! They just stopped and waited a few times for us all to get back together… but it was a long hike… we hiked north this time, every other hike I have been on has been to the south, and it was so pretty walking by the coast… they said it was about an hours hike away. Well, two and a half hours later, we arrived at the spot! It was beautiful! There was a waterfall right on the ocean, not a huge one though, and then it was all smooth rock/coral to where the ocean crashed on the rocks. No sandy beach this time, but so pretty! The water was so blue in the ocean, and I LOVE all the huge rocks where the waves hit, so I was loving it! So, we got there, and first thing the Agta ladies did was begin to make their fires. Well, that day we were going to try to be as much like the Agta as possible. I mean, it wouldn’t be right if we pulled out our big sandwiches, chips, and bag of cookies while they ate their rice (not like we have that anyways J So we brought a pot and some rice and two cans of tuna. J So, Char and I began to look around at the ladies who already had their fires going, and neither of us had a clue how to make a fire! Ha… well, at least I didn’t! So, I tried to look busy looking for firewood, and I guess one of the ladies felt sorry for me as I attempted the “Tee-Pee” form of a fire, because she came over and put 3 rocks in place, put the firewood down where it needed to be, and then started the fire… in like 2 minutes! HA… Char said something like “We are really white” and they laughed and we laughed and the moment was over… Thank God! Ha… it was funny though… So Char got the rice cooking and then my friend Aming asked me to go swimming in the waterfall with her… I wasn’t sure if it was a joke or not, but I went, and it was so fun… it was pretty small, and freezing cold, but it felt like a cold-hot tub with jets… it was fun! Then the men came back, with all their fish they caught! Wow, these people are amazing! I guess the Agta are known as the Ocean People… and it was neat to watch them just go out and catch a bunch of fish and then cook them up for lunch! Well…. While we were waiting for the guys, the ladies started eating the hermit crabs… thank God they didn’t offer Char or I one… I don’t know if I could have done it, but Koi-Koi, our little tribal boy, happened to love them, so he ate them all up! Ha… it was quite interesting. Well, then the guys came back, all with their colorful ocean fish, and began cooking. It was so funny… its so hard to catch fish, and Don didn’t catch any that day, and so as they all began cooking their fish, Don pulled out the can of tuna and was like “Here is MY catch of the day…” We were laughing so hard… Oped, one of the guys, gave us 5 little fish (we think that’s what he did, we weren’t too sure) but we had no clue how to cook them, so we left them where he put them and eventually they shared some cooked fish with us! J Ha… it was funny… but the fish was so yummy! It was whole fish, with everything left on it, and we had two kinds: one was just cooked over the fire, and the other was boiled with onions. Those Agta sure know how to cook fish! So, after lunch the men went fishing more, and the kids went swimming, and I took pictures! Lots of them! We eventually started to head home in the late afternoon. We were going to hike back with one of the families (Oped and his wife, who is one of Char’s language helpers). Everyone else was going to stay there overnight. So, we began the long hike home, but this time we were going to take a different trail up and over the mountain instead of along the coast. Well, it was probably the hardest hike I have gone on yet… mainly because I kept getting stuck in the mud… and the first time I did I almost pulled Don in the mud AND I lost a sandal! Ha… so I had to walk barefoot until we remembered Don had an extra pair of sandals in the backpack… well, I have big feet, but those shoes were like HUGE and since I had mud up past my ankles, I could hardly keep from sliding everywhere… well, I thought that wearing my good shoe along with one of Don’s shoes would be better, so I tried that, and it worked alright until I got stuck in the mud again and my OTHER good shoe broke! Oh man… we were laughing so hard, and I think the Oped probably thought I was a big loser! Ha… well, I ended up walking barefoot a lot of the rest of the way home… so my feet were sore the next day. We also had to ride a small banka, which is kinda like a canoe with bamboo on the sides to stable it (they use these for transport in the ocean). The tide had come in and we had to cross a river that was quite deep, so the guys swam over and borrowed the banka and picked us up and rowed us across… It was fun! I was glad that I got the chance to ride a banka while I was here! Well, we had a fun time on that day… it was tough, but it was so cool to be able to go with the Agta and see how they do things! I know the Epps were excited about going along with them! Well, ever since that day I have been sick… so nothing extremely exciting has happened! But… WE ARE PLANNING ON FLYING TOMORROW… so be praying for good weather. It is a day earlier than we were planning, but the weather hasn’t been very good… actually we were going to try to fly out today, but it didn’t work with the pilots, and also it has rained all yesterday and today, so the weather wouldn’t have allowed the planes to land. So, be praying that the storm will pass and the weather will clear and the plane can land tomorrow morning around 8:30… I cannot believe that it is time to go already! I have had such a great time here… but we have much to look forward to with Char having her baby and my family in Aritao. Should be fun! Thanks for praying, and I will write when I am in Aritao, unless we get stuck here for a few more days! Joanna <><