It is a strange sensation being here. It is so completely different so opposite everything that I know as normal in my life at home.

I arrived in Manila just after 4:00am. Even at that early hour the heat and humidity of the island weighs heavy on you body. You almost immediately break into a heavy sweat. Then comes the smell of the place. I find it impossible to describe the smell of Manila. It is a strange combination of sea air, pollution, and rot.
A friend from my class in Boise who gone ahead of me to stay in Manila was to meet me at the airport at 6:00am. Come to find out that the International airport in Manila has a very complicated system of 4 separate terminals. She thought that I was arriving at one terminal when in fact I arrive at another. When I inquired I was told that I should go to the other terminal. Unfortunately so did my friend so we missed each other in passing. After waiting at the second terminal for an hour and without any means to contact her I felt that I had to keep moving so I continued to my rendezvous point with Mercy in Action. When I arrived, Vicki and our other companions were very glad to see me. I was glad to be with someone that I knew and knew where I needed to go next and Vicki was able to contact the gal that had arranged to meet me at the airport so all was well.