It's the Final Countdown...

T-minus 15 hours until I leave for the Manila airport.

It's totally crazy, and I still don't feel like it's real. I've been packing all morning, and now I'm just trying to stop being so hot. Today, of course, is one of the hottest days since we've been there...plus it's like 200% humidity. I just finished eating lunch, and soon I'll be going out to play with and say goodbye to the street kids. It kills me to think that today will be the last day that I see them, and it kills me even more to know that they won't really understand the fact that I'm not coming back to play with them. It's been a really emotional past couple days, so the fact that I'm exhausted and fighting off an almost cold isn't really helping. :/

Yesterday, Valley View basically shut down the school for us. They held this Farewell Ceremony in the morning, and it was incredible. They had the American teachers wear traditional Filipino outfits, which I have pictures of on facebook. We had to read a little phrase or proverb in Tagalog, and then the rest of the hour was dedicated to honoring us. They gave us a lot of gifts, and showed us their appreciation for us. It was definitely unlike anything I've ever experienced. Every time I turned around to wear my class was sitting, almost every single girl in my class was crying. And not just crying - sobbing. It killed me to think that I have to leave them, and that there's a very slim chance that I'll ever see them again. I got a picture of the class though, and a lot of pictures and videos on my camera, so that will definitely help.

I'm heading out to play with the street kids soon...and I know that that's going to be really hard. It's going to be even harder to know that they won't really understand the fact that I'm leaving and not coming back. It's going to be a struggle to get across to them that I love them and will miss them, even though they speak really broken English. I just have to trust that God will take care of them, and that God will somehow make it possible for me to get that message across from them. I definitely feel at peace about leaving them, even though I know it's going to be so hard. It probably won't hit me until that first week that I'm home, so prayer for that week would be great!

We're leaving for the airport around 2 AM, and most of us are going to try to stay awake through the night. It'll be interesting to see how that works out! I'm starting to get more excited about going home, since it's starting to seem more real. As much as I want to stay here with these kids and in this beautiful country, I'm definitely ready to come home.

Thank you so much for all your prayers over the course of the past month. I've definitely felt them and appreciated them! Here's our flight plan, just so you can keep track of me while I'm traveling :)

Departure: (1.23.11) 6:15 AM Manila Time (13 hours ahead of Eastern time) from Manila (MNL)
Arrival: (1.23.11) 10:40 AM Eastern time in Detroit (DTW)
Travel time: 15 hours 20 minutes

Departure: (1.23.11) 1:45 PM Eastern time from Detroit (DTW)
Arrival: (1.23.11) 3:03 PM Eastern time in Indy (IND)
Travel Time: 1 hour 18 minutes

Love you all!!
-Kristen

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." (James 1:2-3)