thesheepishmidwife: December 2014

I hope and pray that wherever you are in your part of the world your Christmas is a special one.

Last night I was sitting up on our roof contemplating how this year is a historical one for me. Not just because I am in the Philippines and having a tropical Christmas but because it is the first Christmas I am spending away from home. I have spent 21 Christmases in Vavenby, British Columbia on Aveley Ranch in the home I grew up in. There is definitely some homesickness going on but that is to be expected. My love to all of you at home!

Now here is to Christmas number 1 in the Philippines. But I am jumping ahead of myself; it has been awhile since I have updated my blog so I better bring you all up to speed. In my last post I told you all about Bugnay. Well, after Bugnay it was time to do the final steps to get my missionary visa…..

The saga of the photo and fingerprinting for Visa

The last stage for getting our visa involves a trip to Manila to get our photo ID and fingerprinting. However this is no small feat since Manila is a 12 hour night bus ride from Tabuk city. There was an idea that I could get all of my needed material from the much closer city of Tuguegarao because they had the special fingerprinting machine. So I had submitted a letter to the Manila immigration office asking if I could get my photo and fingerprinting in Tuguegarao. When I returned from Bugnay I had letter saying basically that they were giving me permission to get my photo and fingerprinting in the said city. So off I went to Tuguegarao, to get this complete. However when I arrived, the bottom line was that they could not complete the task. So then they had to write another letter for me to take to Manila explaining that although the Manila immigration office had given them permission to get these things done, they were not able to process them. This whole thing took awhile but meanwhile I met some very interesting Christian people from Ghana. After this was done and I texted the person who was helping with the whole process about what happened I was instructed to get to Manila that week. Fortunately one of the other midwife volunteers, Deborah, said she would go with me. For those of you who know me really well, you can just imagine me, a farm girl from little tiny Vavenby going to Manila by myself.

The Manila trip

Instead of taking the 12 hour night bus, doing our deed, and then taking the next 12 hour night bus home that same night, we decided to make use of the long trip and try and enjoy it and see some of Manila. So we found an inexpensive hotel and stayed over night. We enjoyed the luxury of hot showers and a very comfortable bed, and Western food (not that I don’t like Philippine food, it actually is very good, but it is fun to eat food from your homeland, which one tends to crave) And yes we even took in a movie. We got to see some beautiful historical sites in Manila and explored a beautiful mall. I even found almond milk! Following are a few pictures. Oh and do you want to know the ironic thing? I didn't time it, but the Immigration task probably only took around 12 minutes to get my photo and fingerprints. Yep, that’s right 12 hours for 12 minutes. Or actually it was 24 hours for 12 minutes. But, we enjoyed our time very much!

In the courtyard of an old Church

old fortress ruins

A Manila skyline

fun in the ruins

a fancy Manila mall

The end result was a good one, I now have my visa! So it all feels very official now!

One of the most interesting things about taking the two trips so close together, first to Bugnay and then to Manila and being in Tabuk in between, was to see the vast culture difference between a mountain village and the capital of the Philippines. There is really no way to stereotype the culture here because it is beautifully different everywhere you go.

So that was November.

Clinical hours increase!

December brought regular shifts in the clinic. I now have three shifts a week. The funny thing is that so far there has not been one birth on my shift. So the other night after one of my shifts where nothing happened I asked the night shift if I could stay. That night there were two births that I got to be in on. Both births were an honor to be a part of and went very well. By the end of it all I was tired from having been up for so long but I was also very happy.

I definitely still have a LOT to learn but I think that small bits of progress are being made. While I was holding the newborn baby at 5 in the morning it struck me at this amazing road and journey I am on. It is so hard to imagine myself as a midwife because of how important and grand it seems. But God keeps confirming in little ways that this is where He wants me. I could definitely use prayer for confidence and knowledge increase.

Work load increases!

The first assignment is out of the way and the second one (which is much larger and overwhelming) has been received. There will be lots of memorization of concepts and probably lots of pots of tea in the office to keep me going. Please pray that I keep focused and get things done on time.

Fun December things

We had a wonderful baking party at our Directress'’ house for the staff Christmas party. It was quite a scene; cookies coming out of the oven, pots simmering, bread being kneaded and incredible smells. Did I mention we got homemade pizza afterwards?

On the 19^th we had our Christmas party. There was a LOT of wonderful tasty food. I ate far too much. There were lots of amusing games that followed! It was a very enjoyable evening.
prier to the party

the big spread

Philippine version of the Pinata! no worries it's not as dangerous as it looks!

Tonight being Christmas eve there will be a gathering for a Christmas movie party and tomorrow will find us with a small gift exchange among the foreigners. My understanding is there will also be a brunch and we intend to get together for a dinner. I will let you know how it all turns out in the next update!

P.S. VCC has sent me a package that has not yet arrived; I am told that Canada post is in the process of an investigation. Please pray that it arrives eventually. Not just for my sake but for the time, effort and money everyone at the church put into it.

Once again

Merry Christmas dear Family and Friends! And a Happy New year! you all mean so much to me