FIRST TRIP TO MANILA, PHILIPPINES: What am I doing?

Gary's Experience:

My plane left Jackson International Airport at 7:15 a.m. on Monday, September 14th. I was both excited and scared to death. I had flown several times before and enjoy flying. It was the destination and the unknown that scared me. I flew in a Continental Express prop plane to Houston, TX. Then flew on a Continental DC-10 to Honolulu. It was exciting to visit a place I had always dreamed of going to, but I didn't get to see anything but the airport. From there I flew Continental Micronesia the rest of the way, with one more stop at Guam.

  A Hawaiian sunset at Honolulu Airport

I had told Connie I would call from Guam to let her know my flight was on schedule. Then we had had a minor problem with the plane in Honolulu, making us an hour late. There went the hour layover at Guam I had counted on using to clean up and prepare for the first meeting. I used the restroom on the plane to freshen up and shave on the last leg of my journey.

Then the moment seemed to be upon me. The plane was landing in Manila. Connie's sister, Yolly, had tried to give me instructions as to what to do once I got to the airport. I hadn't really understood. How hard could it be?walking off the plane and meeting them? Then I found out. In Manila, you don't meet people at the gate. Security is very tight and no one is allowed in the airport except those who are traveling. We were guided through hallways until we came to the immigration section. There we showed our documents and had our passports stamped with a 21 day visa. Then we went to this large area where several long conveyors were. Our luggage would come here. I waited for my two pieces to show up. Finally one did. I continued to watch, and watch, and watch. Finally the belt stopped and I looked around and I was the only one there. I realized that I had just experienced what is joked about all the time. My luggage was missing. Here I was in a foreign land and my luggage was missing. After asking several different people I finally found the right person to report my missing luggage. Later I realized God was working through this?my mind was kept busy enough to not get nervous about the meeting ahead. By the time I was through with the luggage report I realized I was the only one left to go through the dreaded customs inspection. There was just one counter left open, I guessed because it was after 11 p.m. their time. The officer looked at me, asked if I had anything to declare and when I said no, he stamped my form and let me go. That was too easy.

NOW the time had come. I walked out of the airport and followed signs that indicated where the pick-up waiting area was. As I walked down a long ramp I saw the sign with 'D' on it. That was where Yolly had told me to stand. I didn't see anyone near the sign and a little panic built up in me. What if this is a set up? What if they waited and gave up on me? Who do I call? What will I do if they don't pick me up? When I got to the sign I looked around and just up the sidewalk I saw her. She was everything I expected. It wasn't the kind of meeting you see in the movies but after the initial first hellos, it seemed like I was with old friends. By the time we got to Connie's house, we both felt like we had known each other for years.

The next two weeks would go by fast. I would experience many new things. And I would come to love not only this family I had met but the people of the Philippines. There would be 'tricycles', 'jeepneys', traffic jams, smog, people everywhere, and beautiful countryside. It would be hard to leave all this behind.

Tricycles...the major mode of transportation

  A downtown overpass houses a bazaar of shops

Street vendors-a cause for & result of TRAFFIC

   The Edli Apartelle (center), my home for two weeks.

Connie's Experience:

In the process