Market Day...
Yesterday we encountered the market in the local town of Iriga City. It was a wonderful, though slightly stinky, experience. (well, it was actually VERY stinky, but it was such an exciting chance to see Philippine culture!) I was a little hesitant to take pictures, but when I did someone always asked me to take one of them! The Philippines are full of very friendly people. Though they can sometimes be shy, we have an automatic celebrity status and almost everywhere we go people call out things like "Hello, Mam!" or "Whoa!" or "Americans!" I'm sure it gets old after a while. I felt really awkward at first, but I enjoy the chance to smile and say hello. This was inside the fish market... Piles and piles of fish! It was later in the day, so very smelly but not too crowded. I asked this sweet woman if I could take her picture, and she laughed and covered her mouth in embarrassed excitement afterward :)

No, that is not a mask behind them... it actually is a real pig's head! This man was a little more outgoing -- he asked me to take his picture. It is technically a meat market, but this is one of few stalls that was not entirely fish.
Steve bought some seaweed here... but it wasn't quite what he expected and we ended up not eating it... I'm up for trying new things, but if Steve's not willing to eat it I don't feel a compelling need to outdo him ;)

After a good night's sleep we headed out again, to try to track down our luggage (still no success) and do a little more sightseeing. The Hagens are fortunate to have 4-Wheel drive for their adventures... Steve was determined to make it up this hill in the mud...
He and Matt ended up having to push, but we made it!
It was worth the road and the fairly steep, slick hike...
... to see this gorgeous waterfall!

(although, if you'll look closely, you'll see the rain pouring down on Matt's swim!)

We were all exhausted as we left the shadow of yet another volcanic mountain!

(Mikayla was sleeping on my shoulder as I snapped this one!)

They were revived long enough for Steve to show Matt his favorite little wakeboarding haunt, too... even Mikayla participates!

We have really enjoyed all these fun times, getting our questions answered, and meeting the people Jen and Steve look to for guidance and moral support. But we are really looking forward to meeting the people they plan to reach. We will keep you posted!! Please pray for our safety, clarity in the decision whether to come long term, and our physical and emotional ability to make it through two more weeks of adventures and a whirlwind, jet-lagged three days before returning to Wisconsin for more training! We are really enjoying our time here, but now that I know how hard jet lag can hit, I am a little nervous about getting back to school in time for Matt's bus training!

The kiddos were up for an adventure! They led the way across this bridge to Cagsaua Cathedral

People are still carrying on everyday life right underneath the volcano...
We went past reconstruction to explore an ancient catholic church
(in the volcano's shadow)
The workmen ask tourists for contributions

After leaving here we saw more beauty and devastation, went to a several hour long prayer/ fellowship meeting of local missionaries, went to the mall for some supplies for the Hagens, went out to dinner (the restaurant had toilet paper and soap, and we all ate for around $12), and stopped at the market for groceries on the way home. We were exhausted! I actually fell asleep during prayer! I didn't know jet lag could be so brutal, but we were generally successful in staying awake and thus we fell much better today.

Mikayla and Chloe were, as always, fast friends... I'm afraid Ben may have been disappointed, though -- he was expecting Matt, myself, and a purple dog from Clifford! (named Cleo)
The Hagens had a busy day planned to help combat jet lag! We immediately went to a beautiful mountaintop to view the airport and the volcanic mountain that ended up taking to many lives last fall. You can see the areas where the mudside slid down the mountain...
... and how populated this area is!

It took out whole villages along what used to be a little stream.

We've reached the Philippines!!!!

We have had a very exciting trip so far!

DAY 1-3

We were so touched to have so many people we cared about to see us off. Before we left I asked Emma if there was anything in particular she wanted Chloe to find out about for her, and Emma said, "Umm... I want to know everyshing..." We don't know where to start!

We got to the airport and waited... and waited... and waited. (We were at the airport 6 hours before our plane ever took off...) We ended up checking the bags I had so carefully packed into carry-on size, since delays meant we would be sprinting to catch a plane in LA at 1:30 in the morning hauling three backpacks, the Hagen's computer, and a very sleepy girl! Matt commended me for my foresight in grabbing a couple pair of underwear, swimsuit, and change of clothes before checking them... And it's a good thing, because nearly four days later we still haven't seen them! (That's right... NONE of our suitcases are here or even accounted for... Jen & Steve have been very gracious to try contacting the airport repeatedly, but so far to no avail.)

Once we got on the plane in LA we sat back, caught our breath, and settled in for the 15 hour flight to Hong Kong. Matt and Chloe especially enjoyed the complimentary ramen noodles on the flight ;) We tried our best to sleep. but it was awfully hard! (My hip has been bothering me a lot with all the sitting, so please pray that this will not interfere with our visit and that I will not be too distracted or have headaches, etc., that sometimes result from the consequent back/ neck aches.) We were pretty ready to get off the plane by about 2 hours into it, but Chloe did a great job and we had some fun times with her.

Chloe pointed out the sunrise as soon as it was the least bit noticable... then we watched it progress and then saw the misty mountains and the gorgeous city of Hong Kong unveiled through fluffy white clouds! It was quite an adventure. We also enjoyed a two hour break before getting back on a plane for 2 more hours to Manila.

We stayed at a guest house there. We saw our first spider -- the size of Laney's head!!!! -- and Matt killed a 4" cockroach in the night. Chloe was a little unsure what we'd gotten into! But we were so blessed to be able to meet several of the staff and to spend some time with Steve and Jen's bosses, the Harveys. They were so sweet to not only show us around their company, but also to take us to the Mall of Asia (That's Chloe with her new underwear, since we were running out of clean options!) and to dinner. It is a very interesting city and we enjoyed the Harveys. They got to laugh at us as the jet lag set in! We went to the supermarket for Matt to buy deodorant and Chloe, who had fallen asleep in the car and at dinner, was so tired she appeared drugged. The poor thing was stumbling, bowing her head, and rolling her eyes! A lady in the store actually asked if she was alright. "Well," said Matt, "we haven't really slept in 2 days... And we just flew half way around the world... and we really need deodorant..." Obviously, it was starting to hit him, too!

We got up and left by 5:15 am to board our last flight. We flew in to a gorgeous airport where the Hagens were waiting for us and met them with teary hellos. It is SO exciting to be here with them, to meet the people they work with and experience the culture that surrounds them!