What I Miss From Home... What I Love About the Phils...

What I Miss From "Home" (Being a missionary kid, I'm not alway sure of where home is, but  I'm referring to Colorado in this case):

• Friends and family
• Traffic rules being followed
• Cooler and less humid weather
• Drinkable running water
• The speed and convenience of life 
• Friends' weddings and engagements
• Understanding language and culture (for the most part)
• Not being the new kid (I don't feel this way anymore, but it became a bit exhausting to be on such a steep learning curve for the first few months)
• My mom's cooking
• Cheese and nuts! (They are very expensive here)
• Fresh milk 
• The clean air in CO (let's just say there is quite a bit of smog in Manila)
• Walmart
• Redbox
• Pandora

What I Love About the Philippines:

• Faith Academy and its staff and students
• The warm culture and kind hospitality
• The beauty ~ beaches, rice fields, people, mountains, volcanos, islands, fish, tree houses
• The perspective many people have on life
• People walking everywhere and catching public transportation
• The low price tag on many things (well, mainly labor)
• The opportunities and ministries 
• The hearts of my students and their parents who work with the needy
• Being able to help the needy all around (although I know there are many in need in the States, it is more visible here)
• Filipinos being so willing to help ~ whether it is jump starting a car or jacking up a vehicle to pull it out of a drainage system.
• People's door steps being literally on the road. 
• The basketball games that take place on the road that have to pause every time a car drives up. These games are complete with uniforms and a referee.
• Mangos and other tropical fruit
• The diversity - the nice metropolitan areas to the informal settlements
• (The geckos, cockroaches, mouse, spiders, and ANTS that happily share our home with us - I'm not sure how much I love these creatures)