Things are going well here on the other side of the world. : ) Yesterday I met with the Elementary Principal and we talked about a time frame for splitting the Kindergarten class into two. This week I have been teaching Music and Math, next week I will add Bible all week and then a Science lesson or two. Then, the following week, September 3^rd, we will split the class. It will be so nice to have my own classroom!! I am excited to establish the kind of classroom discipline, reward system, and routines that I have envisioned – we will see if they work out.

I took pictures of some of the students today – they are all so cute!!

This is On Yu – she is such a sweetie!!

This is Grace and Aaron.

Oh, and I’m also considering, and will probably be involved in the school’s cheer/dance team. The current coach of the team (a 1st grade teacher) was ecstatic when she learned that I cheered in college. She has no cheer or stunt experience, so she wants me to be the cheer coach and lead practice on Mondays, and then she will do the other two practices. I think it will be fun and I will probably help out!!

Oh, my phone number (if you have a calling card and wish to call) is 63-2-658-2707 (that’s with the country code and city code already in it). I do have access to vonage, so if we set up a time I can call you.

My mailing address (it’s just the school’s address – that’s your best bet):

Faith Academy

MCPO Box 2016
0706 Makati City
Philippines

God Bless!!

Sunday in Manila

Manila, Philippines is very different. It’s just been today that walking around I am able to notice new things because part of the culture shock has lessened. The Philippines has around 30 million people in it, and Manila alone is home to 18 million. Over half of the population in the Philippines is in Manila!

I can see the high population as we drive around and walk around. Traffic here is crazy. I’ve seen it before in China – it is the same. Basically, to merge into traffic you don’t bother to look back or even use your blinker really. All you do is honk to let people know you are there and make sure you don’t hit someone in front of you. That’s what everyone else does. And there is ALWAYS a LOT of traffic!!

I went to a huge church today – Greenhills Christian Fellowship (GCF). They like acronyms – we have a GCF, CCF, VCF, and I don’t know what else! The churches they have here are mega-churches for the most partly, pretty contemporary. Since I come from a background of going to a small church, I don’t think I really like a large church. In some ways it seems to showy and not real. Maybe that’s just my first impression.

It was really fun to watch the church pianist!! She really got into the music and I think it helped that she was right in front of the drum set! They had a piano, drum set, keyboard, bass guitarist, and acoustic guitarist and then the 6 singers. The songs were either very upbeat (with clapping all the way through) or the opposite. We had a couple of slow songs that were really slow – not really anything in between. They love songs, though!! There was a group of kids that danced to a song and it was really good – “Ain’t no Rock.”

After the service we went to Megamall! It’s a HUGE mall (and I think I’ve said that before). The smells in the Philippines are very pungent, even walking around in the mall. I was able to get quite a few ingredients and I’m looking forward to experimenting with recipes! (yes, there is a grocery store at the bottom of every mall and there are a dozen malls in the downtown area)

 

While in the mall we heard Indonesian music playing live in the basement. They were dressed in traditional clothing. I took some pictures and video.

 

Tomorrow is the start of another school week! We have inservice on Monday and “Back to School,” afternoon, which is when the parents of the students come check us out. I better go get some rest!

 

God bless!!

 

 

my classroom

 

 

Hello everyone!! Things are going well for me!

I had one day to prepare before the start of school and I found out then that for the first few weeks we are combining the Kindergarten classes into one, so Sam and I could team-teach, until I’m more ready. This has been so nice! The first day I was only able to just get started working on my room and get to know the school a little bit.

Then, Tuesday we had our first day of school. Out of the 21 signed up, only 18 came but with all the boys in the class, it was enough to keep both of us busy at times. We have some rambunctious boys and I had to step in to discipline. We had to “practice” walking quietly in the halls a couple of times and when they couldn’t keep their hands to themselves, their punishment was to hold the hand of one of their teachers. The boys did not like this at all, except one, haha.

We have a merianda time, which is snack time and then lunch. School starts at 7:15 and goes till 2:15. So once we have lunch the rest of the school day goes by quickly.

Every Wednesday Kindergarten doesn’t have school – which has its positives and negatives. This week it allowed me to re-arrange my classroom. Now it truly feels like MY classroom.

first two days

Saturday, August 11, 2007

1:16am – I made it!! Going through customs was a little stressful, but not that bad. I ran into another family that was coming back to Faith Academy so they helped guide me through. I med up with Dave Clinton and his wife, Michele, at the airport and they drove me to the condos. They live at the basement level and I live on the 3^rd floor.

 

The condo I live in is so nice and roomy! As soon as I laid all my stuff down I got some ice to put on my swollen ankles/feet. I also discovered I had poison ivy. My legs were bothering me on the plane flight, but I couldn’t really see them until I got to the condo. I really wasn’t tired at that point, but it was 1:30am and I knew I should sleep.

 

Sunday, August 12, 2007

8:10am – I slept for 4 hours solid, woke up, then decided to try to sleep some more. This morning I went and explored everything in the condo. As I looked I realized I was blessed – there were many things I wouldn’t even thought of bringing if I tried to furnish my own condo. But right after I said “It’s so cool” and went to get my camera to take pictures, I looked at my camera and saw the recent pictures I had taken at home and started crying.

 

5:22pm – This afternoon I went with Michele to a mall. The driving is crazy, reminds me a lot of China – you don’t look behind but just plow ahead (and use your horn a lot if people are getting in your way). It’s way to aggressive for me to be driving!

 

They have LOTS of malls here and they are really nice. The first thing we did was go exchange money. I had 5 $100 bills I wanted to exchange for pesos. Which ended up being 22,700 pesos – a lot of money!! So, Michele told me to stick the 1000peso bills in my bra. “Are you serious?” I asked. But she was, so I did and put the smaller bills in my purse. The awkward thing was that when I paid for my groceries and other items later, I retrieved the cash from my bra, but she said the Pilipino women do it all the time.

 

I bought my cell phone for 2000 pesos, which is a great deal. I also got a phone card for 20 hours of dial-up internet. Then we went to the grocery store. As we entered we had to check our others shopping bags in (they wouldn’t let you take it in to the grocery store). The smells and sights within the grocery store (in the meat section) made me slightly nauseous. It was so hard to keep making the conversions in my head to try and determine if it was a good price for the item, or if it was more than I wanted to spend.

 

9:23pm – I didn’t think I was going out again, but the two girls who live next to me: Michelle (who works for First Love) and Kate (4^th grade teacher at Faith) stopped by and asked if I wanted to go with them to a mall cause Kate wanted to buy a guitar. So I did. We first stopped at Faith Academy – this was the first time I have seen it! The view up there is gorgeous!! I was able to peek in and see some of my room, but it was locked. I could see boxes of stuff, which I will have to unload tomorrow. Yikes! only a day to get ready.

 

So, then we went to this other mall. It seemed about as big as the Mall of America!! There were two main sections to the mall and it was more upscale than anything I’ve seen yet. They had Starbucks, Pizza Hut, Ace Hardware, and other stores I recognized. We even past an Outback Steakhouse on our way there!! We ate at Pizza Hut for dinner – very good. All three of us split a pizza for less than 500 pesos, which is less than $10.

 

While walking around the mall, the three of us girls had to be pretty careful watching our purses though. At one point I noticed a guy slightly following Kate on my left and then a guy coming up to Michelle on her right. Kate noticed it also and moved me forward and toward Michelle as she looked over her shoulder. She said, “at least they know we are aware of them now.” And they did and stopped follow us after that.

Well, I’m off to bed, cause I start on my room in the morning!

God bless!!

Dear friends,

 

I have exciting news! As a result of having over 90 % of my support raised, my plane flight is booked and I will be leaving this Friday, August 10^th, at noon!! Manila here I come! I will arrive the evening of Saturday, June 11^th and have a couple days before school starts to get settled and catch up.

 

Thanks so much for your part in helping me go!

 

Some of you who have pledged monthly support have asked about the specific period of time to support me. I will be there 10 months, from August through the end of May (I fly back on June 1). So I am needing 10 months of support. It would be helpful if the 10^th payment can be in by May 1. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

I will have access to the internet there so you can email me. When I get there, I will figure out other ways for you to keep in touch (mailing address, phone, etc.) and will let you know. I will also work to keep my blog up-to-date.

 

I appreciate your prayers as I embark on this adventure!

 

God Bless,

Betsy Barfield

 

Email – betsy.barfield@gmail.com