We made it! We have finally arrived in Manila, Philippines and we are pooped!!! We began our trek across the world when our plane took off from LAX at 1:45 AM Monday morning and now we are at last able to rest at 3:35 PM Tuesday afternoon (12:30 AM for most of you.) We had a very uneventful 14-hour trip from Los Angeles to Hong Kong, a 2-hour layover there, and then a 2-hour flight to Manila. Maycie was exceptional despite the little cold she has, but we already knew she was exceptional : ) That was such a blessing for us as we were able to relax and not worry about being the "family with the annoying crying baby" on the plane. The airline was so good to us, helping carry all our luggage, making Maycie smile and finding comfortable spots to hang out on the airplane. We couldn’t have asked for a more smooth, nice, and enjoyable flight.
When we arrived in Manila we went straight to baggage claim, picked up our six giant pieces of luggage. Then it was off to immigration where we were concerned about a document we were missing that proved we had an outbound flight (thus allowing us to get a tourist visa until we can get a work visa). The agent stamped our passports with a smile and never even asked for outbound flight receipts! Customs took about 30 seconds and we were done!
We walked out to the curb where our friends, who are also new to the country, were waiting for us after an adventure of their own trying to find their way around the crowded streets to our terminal. We hopped in a car with Jason and Jonie and were on the road just 20 minutes after our plane pulled up to the gate! We stopped for a quick bite to eat at the "Costco" of Manila and headed on to our home for the next few weeks while we look for an apartment.
As I write, Maycie is completely konked out and Brian and I are doing everything we can to stay awake!
Thank you all so much for your prayers. We definitely felt them as this has been one of the easiest trips we’ve ever made. (By easy I mean physically easy). There were so many opportunities for things to go very, very wrong, but instead God saw fit to make them go perfectly right. Thanks again for joining us in prayer!