"For precious is their blood in his sight..."

Sorry I kind of neglected the blog over the weekend...this weekend was nuts! Let me just tell you...

Friday. 
Friday was quite possibly one of the best nights I've had here so far. The group of Taylor students that observes at Valley View was invited to go to a "concert" with a few of the teachers. We were all SO excited to go, because we were really excited to hang out with the great faculty at VVA. As we were waiting outside, Alexandra (the little girl from the volleyball game) came charging toward me, arms outstretched, huge smile on her face. I of course picked her up for a while, and she gave me a huge hug and multiple kisses. It feels so good that although she may not remember me, she remembers my face and how much I love her. After I held her for a while, she got down and was wandering around saying hi to some of the other members of the group. When he noticed I was free, Rosalino came running up to me and jumped into my arms and just buried his head into my neck. He's definitely a cuddler. :) So I held him for a while, and then it was time for us to go. I called Alexandra, and she came trotting back over to me. I told her I had to go, and she gave me a huge hug and yet another big wet kiss on the cheek. I looked at her and said "Mahal kita!" which means "I love you!" in Tagalog. She had a huge smile on her face and gave me another hug. It was beautiful. :) We got into the van, and to my surprise, my teacher (Teacher Ruth) and her son were coming with us! I was so excited to get to hang out with her outside of school, and she seemed really excited to see me as well. The "concert" that we went to turned out to be a high school musical. But it wasn't just any musical...it was Christian. And not just Christian...it was GLEE. It was absolutely adorable, and we all had a blast. After the concerts, the teachers took us to this outdoor mall/food court thing and just kept handing us food to try. We were all really adventurous, and ended up trying some really great food! (I'm still not sure what I exactly I ate that night.) The atmosphere was great. There was a live band, and we were all singing at the top of our lungs and having the time of our lives. It was so great to get to know each other and our teachers on a deeper level.

Saturday.
Saturday we went to an American - Filipino memorial cemetery. Being the huge history/WW2 nerd that I am, I absolutely loved it. (I'm in the process of putting up pictures now, don't worry!) It reminded me a lot of Pearl Harbor in the sense that it had a huge memorial with the names of all the fallen or missing soldiers. The day was kind of overcast, so that definitely added to the atmosphere. After that, we went to Green Hills mall, which is a huge mall where we could barter and get knock off stuff...it was great! We had to keep our bags really close, because pick-pocketing is a big concern there. We all made off with some really great deals though, and it was a lot of fun!

Sunday.
Sunday was probably the longest day of my life. We left our house at 6:00 AM to catch a ferry around 8 that took us to Corregidor Island, which I was again extremely excited to go to. This island was a huge part in the war in the Pacific during WW2, and we spent a good portion of our day there. We toured almost all of the island on a trolley (that was a replica of the ones they used during the war), and looked at some monuments and ruins of what was left of the island after the bombings during the war. It was SO COOL! It was another overcast day, so that definitely added to the effect. We got to go through a tunnel that was used as a sort of shelter when all of the intense bombing was started and where the soldiers stayed during attacks. It was really incredible to get to see some of the ruins of old barracks, batteries and other buildings, and even get to walk around through some of them! After we left Corregidor, we went to the Mall of Asia. It's like the Mall of America, but bigger. We walked around for about an hour, ate dinner in small groups and then came home. It was such a great night. There was a group of 6 girls (including myself) that I ate with, and had such an amazing time. We talked, laughed, and bonded - and it was exactly what we all needed. :)


Monday.
Today didn't start out as the greatest day of my life. I woke up and was exhausted (along with pretty much everyone in our group). School wasn't super exciting, and I didn't do a whole lot today. But after school, on my way home, Alexandra, Rosalino, and Adrian (3 of the kids that I've gotten closest to since we've been here) came RUNNING up to me, and just about knocked me over when they saw me. They walked me to the gate, gave me a huge hug and I told them I would see them later. Around 4 some of us went outside to play with the street kids. I was keeping my eyes open for "my" 3 kids, but I didn't see them anywhere. I was disappointed, but didn't let that keep my from playing with the kids that were there. After about half an hour of being outside, I felt a tap on my back and one of the Taylor girls saying my name. I turn around, and there with a HUGE grin on her face and arms stretched up towards me, was Alexandra. I picked her up, spun her around, and called her beautiful in Tagalog, which is "maganda." She kept hugging me and kissing me and seemed so excited to see me. I held her for a while, and then I felt a tug on my shirt. And there, with his crooked smile with a few of his front teeth missing, was Adrian. I got so excited to see him, I didn't even realize that most of our "regular" kids had come back! We were so excited, and stayed outside until around 5. We even made a few new friends! There was a little boy named Randall that literally did not let go of my hand for about 20 minutes. Whether I was walking somewhere, holding a kid, giving someone a piggy back ride, he was by my side holding my hand. There was another girl named Mary Grace, and she was holding my other hand for most of the afternoon. She was absolutely beautiful and had a huge smile on her face. These kids are absolutely beautiful, and it's going to be so hard for me to say goodbye to them on Thursday, or Saturday if I get outside to see them. It's also going to be hard because when I say goodbye to them for the last time, it will be hard for them to understand that when I leave, it's forever. It's definitely going to be bittersweet to leave. It's going to be so so hard, so prayer for the end of this week is greatly appreciated!


Thank you so much for all of your prayers and support while I've been on this trip. This week is going to be a tough one, so prayers are appreciated!


Love and miss you all very much! 


-Kristen-


"When hard pressed, I cried to the LORD; he brought me into a spacious place. The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?" (Psalm 118:5-6)