Life in the Philippines ...
Well I arrived safe and sound last week and here is a pic of my new temporary surroundings. This is the guest house here in Manila and is just a hive of activity of people coming and going all the time. Some of the stories of people experiences so far have just been amazing and it has been great to have had an opportunity to briefly get to know other Wycliffe people who have spent much of their lives doing translation work out here.Most of the time however I am taking part in the orientation process and a major section of this is clearing the government quarantine for my visa extension. So far I’ve trekked numerous times to the local medical lab to have blood taken, chest x-rays and give lots of samples. Most of the results came back fine apart from one that suggested that I was close to death with a fever. Thankfully this was just a contaminated sample and the next day my results indicated a miraculous recovery.
So tomorrow it's off to the visa office with all my medical results so I can extend the visa. Once that is complete I'll then concentrate on finishing the orientation, getting a local drivers license and then heading down south to the Mindanao branch where I'll be working.
