Yeah! We're home. There is much to fill in since my last post. Computer access is always very spotty during our annual trip to the D.C. area each spring. I'll give it a shot...
After we left Mexico we flew back to the D.C. area and stayed the night with some friends. Andrey spent the following day at the headquarters office of his job in some kind of training. I got the day to myself but had the task of getting to the hotel where we stayed during the annual prayer gathering (the main reason for going to DC every spring). A coworker of Andrey lent me his Ford Ranger truck. My job was to bring all four of our heavy bags down three flights of stairs into the cold rain and into the truck. I did this, one by one while thinking of how silly I would look doing something like this in the Philippines. I realized how thankful I was for life in the Philippines where there are porters to help you carry stuff. Yeah, I know I sound lazy but it made me appreciate life in the Philippines.
I learned that being in a big city without a cell phone driving on massive freeways that I don't know in the rain in a truck with an unfamiliar clutch is somewhat intimidating. I kind of forgot how to interact with drivers in the U.S. No honking, that's for sure unless you really want to piss somebody off. I was shocked - completely surprised when someone stopped and gave me space to make a U-turn to get ahead of him in a long line up at a traffic light. Shocked. What is this? I also find I'm nervous going through intersections with a green light. I'm scared to just blow through them, anticipating and expecting someone to pull out in front of me. People in the U.S., not always I realize, actually stop and wait at read lights. These are a few ways in which I experience culture strain when I come the U.S.
I made it to the Sheraton after all. That's the hotel where the prayer gathering was. We stayed there for three nights. The prayer gathering was FANTASTIC. This is where 900 people came together to prayer for the work around the world. Andrey's parents, sister and brother-in-law joined us and we had several good times together. It was very great having them there.
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Andrey and me with Lisa & Mike (beloved sister and brother-in-law)
Mom, I stole this photo from your blog, I trust you don't mind :)I can't share a ton about it here but I can tell you that the prayer gathering is a big highlight for us each year. It enables us to step back and get a bigger picture of why we are in Cebu. Plus, being around so many people who support and pray for us is AWESOME. We go away feeling exhausted at first, especially for Andrey since it's a lot of work for him, but overall hugely encouraged and refreshed. I get a chance to hang out with the other spouses of the directors serving around the world - in India, Africa, South America, Southeast Asia - and Andrey gets to spend a week afterward in a beautiful location on the Chesapeake Bay with the rest of the overseas field office directors. The spouses also joined them there for the first two days of the week. I reveled in the fresh, cold air and ample open space to enjoy outdoors. What a privilege to be a part of this organization and this work. They take great care of us!
While Andrey was at the rest of Team Week, as it's called, I stayed at Sean & Shannon's house in Virginia. Sean & Shannon lived in Thailand while we were there and we became very close with them and their kids. A friend of mine from Thailand, who now lives in NYC, came to visit for two days while I was there. I took her to see the cherry blossoms and the monuments and the White House. I am very Metro savvy now. I love getting around on the subway in DC. I also spent a day at the Arlington Cemetery with spouses of other directors - a British woman who will soon be moving to India and a politician from Zambia. I felt the most proud of my country being there with foreigners. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be a very good tour guide as my level of knowledge of historical facts is sadly scanty. Shameful even. I blame it on my not-so-great public school experience and having probably one of the worst history teachers who actually convinced me that history wasn't practical or of any importance to our lives today. Or at least that is what I gained from class that consisted of copying his notes from the overhead projector instead of him teaching us anything interesting. I now think differently. I'm getting better though and learning more, little by little. It was a gorgeous, sunny day and I learned even more about the cemetery, as it was my third visit there. My cousin is buried there.
The last portion of our visit to America was spent in a cabin in rural West Virginia with Sean & Shannon and their two kids. Sadly, our camera bit the dust and so I currently have no photos of our time there. I'm hoping to get some from Shannon later. We spent four nights in a lovely wood cabin right near a river. On the first of our three full days we took a four hour hike through the Dolly Sods Wilderness. It was a beautiful, sunny and warm day. When the kids got tired of walking Sean told them stories to get them through. Katherine got to ride in a kid carrier backpack on Sean. That also helped. We stopped along the way and ate our packed lunch. So fun!
Dolly Sod's Wilderness (photo taken from
here)
The next two days were spent either in the cabin or outside by the river for short periods of time because a storm came in and it SNOWED! It snowed for 36 hours and dropped at least 6 inches of powdery snow. It was beautiful. Snow is still quite a novelty for me so although I was a little worried about whether we'd get out of there, I was more excited about seeing it snow outside. We had a fire going constantly and I did lots of reading and relaxing. We did get out a few times to play in the snow. We even built a fire by the river while it was snowing and then Sean went fishing in the river. It was a gorgeous place to relax.
Early yesterday morning when we packed up and left we weren't sure we'd get out. The cabin is deep in a valley so we had some distance to travel uphill. After one scary 5-point-turn at the base of a hill we found an alternate route that got us out to a main road. The road was snow covered and icy and we remained in a winter scene for about an hour and then suddenly it looked like spring again. We made it to the airport on time, early even.
We had an easy trip back to Cebu on Korean Airlines. DC-Seoul-Cebu. It was the best itinerary we've ever had. Every time we travel like this we try to enjoy every bit of it, being just the two of us because we can't help but wonder if it will be our last trip without children and extra stuff to tote around. We watched three movies, ate several meals and slept quite a bit. We're enjoying it while it lasts because something tells us (hmmm, let's say families with kids sitting near us and every one else we know who travel with kids) that traveling just won't be the same. Although we really look forward to being parents, here's to living in the moment and being grateful for today!
It's great to be back in Cebu.
