Teaching was a pleasure, as always. For a change of scenery I brought both my classes to the church to read. They like it better because they can sit on the floor and get closer to the pictures... plus sitting in a desk isn't very comfortable, and you always want to be comfortable to hear a story! I don't know if I mentioned it before, but the church provides snack and lunch for the students and teachers. We had lunch, and I checked the notebooks of my grade 3 class to make sure they were copying everything down properly. Then I got a text from Ate Treesa, asking me if I'd be up for a trip to an art museum! Even though today is tuesday, and we usually go to Bagong Silang squatter village, I had no plans because the Korean Pastor Khan went back to Korea for a few weeks. So of course I said I'd love to come!
She picked me up just after 3:00 and we we drove straight to this stunning garden/museum called Pinto Art Museum. It's a private place, owned by a neurologist who practices in Makati. I guess he just has a huge passion for art, so two years ago he began building up this beautiful property where he could invite artists to come and enjoy a peaceful environment to be inspired. He succeeded! It's absolutely inspiring. The architecture is original and so.. 'other worldly'. Everywhere you look are angles and shapes, sculptures, lush gardens.. (the whole place is essentially build out of the jungle mountainside!) And then when you go inside, you see many different studios and displays for artwork. They even have a cafe in one garden, and in a separate garden, they have a restaurant and about than ten tables for patrons, so it's very intimate and quiet. The whole point is a serene environment and I really, thoroughly enjoyed it.
We went to go visit her best friend Linda after we left the museum. Linda works with the Zion bible school, a seminary that's moved locations a couple times. But they've just finished building their new school, and it's GORGEOUS! It was so nice, I thought maybe I'd like to become a pastor, just so I could attend haha. The whole place, including Lisa's house is build at the very top of a mountain, so you can look out over all of Manila and even out into the bay. Unfortunately it was a little foggy today so we couldn't see everything clearly, but I could see the bay and the water past the city.. so beautiful. After that we rushed back to Treesa's house for dinner with a lovely couple who just came back from Israel! They are Americans, the husband Scott runs a medical clinic in Antipolo (?) and his wife Cindy is a teacher. Chatting with his wife was really cool, she really seemed to understand my heart and why I didn't go to college right away, and why I'm here. She told me about the direction the clinic is going in- she has dreams and prayers to start a school. She and a couple of the ladies she disciples are already tutoring some students in a sort of summer school. It's really exciting to hear how God is supplying the resources for the needs that she sees in her midst. I'm blessed so much to talk with these different missionaries here who are really living the life that I've dreamed of... It's real for them, it's every day! I'm gaining insight and so much appreciation for them and for how difficult, but rewarding the missionary life is here in the Philippines. This is valuable time, and I feel more and more every day that God is teaching me. I don't know if he's preparing me for the challenges I'll face in my future as a missionary here, or if He's letting me know that I should continue seeking His will elsewhere. All I know, is that this is a time of seeking and finding, reaching and receiving, asking and listening. Something important is happening here in me personally, I can feel it.
After dinner, Treesa, her son Drew, her dog Oreo and I drove to the water tower in her subdivision and we climbed it! It was SO FUN! I think the first level was 70 feet, then we climbed to the very top, where we could stand on top, that must have been 80 to 90 feet! Oh my gosh, I loved it! If it had been daytime, we would have seen way into the mountains, but since it was night we could only see their shadows, and all the city traffic and lights. Still, super cool. I'd like to go back some time when the sun is shining :)
It was 31 degrees today, but felt hotter. The humidity was only 70%, which isn't really that high here. I think it was just the effect of the sun. It's a completely different sun from the one we see in Canada, in case you were wondering. I don't know how my mom is going to react to the heat haha. I hope she makes it out of here okay!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment