joanna in the philippines

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!