WELCOME TO THE PHILIPPINES

I am officially in Manila safe and sound. In true Rebecca fashion however I had a rather challenging traveling experience. My first flight was cancelled, my second flight was delayed, and due to the first cancellation my reservation for my second flight was cancelled which created further delay. Due to the delays I had a 30 minute layover in Japan, which resulted in a speedy walk from one terminal to another. My reservation for that was also cancelled, though I was still able to board on time. However, due to all of these problems my luggage never made it to Manila. So I have been wearing the same clothes since Sunday (It is now Wednesday here). I heard the news this morning though that the airport called and has my luggage so hopefully by tonight I will have clean cloths.
     Now to talk about the AMAZING city of Manila. Yesterday was our first full day of exploring the city. We ate breakfast at a local restaurant. We ate rice (for Breakfast! what?) along with various poultry. We then got to visit a local college campus that our directors daughter attends. From there we visited a local living community in the slums, which was beyond an incredible experience, there were some ADORABLE children. After a quick rest we took a bus and jeepke (A local taxi of sorts) to another campus described as the Harvard of the Philippines. It was an beautiful campus, bigger than Ohio State (I know, I was shocked that was even possible). We attended a Nav Night for the college students and enjoyed their extreme enthusiasm. To wrap up the night a few of us ate Balut, which for those who don't know is a chicken egg which has been fertilized and grown for 17 days. GROSS, but did i really come all the way to the Philippines to not try some of the delicacies (google balut, and i promise you will not want to eat an egg for a week). But for those skeptics out there who don't believe that I would try such a thing I got footage on a camera for proof :)
     So it is bright and early on Wednesday today, and we have huge decisions to make. We can chose to serve in the Slums and live in their community (WHAT AN OPPORTUNITY!) or we can live on the college campus and serve the college students. Both options are amazing, and both will be glorifying it is just a matter of making a decision that will both challenge me, and let me play to my strengths at the same time. At the moment I am lean towards the slums but by the end of today I will have made my decision for sure.
   I am running short on time now though and I have a few other things to get done this morning, but I will hopefully have an update to everyone by next Sunday to let you know how everything is going.
(Please ignore an major typos, I don't have time to proof read)