Quattlebaum.com: July 2008

Today is our first day of orientation. It is going swimmingly. The school is like one big, warm, cuddly family. Truly, everyone is so helpful and friendly it's almost surreal.

Yesterday was my 25th birthday and it was absolutely perfect. As you may know we are currently in the monsoon season. Jordon and I had planned on going on a birthday walk and maybe staging a few LOST photos in the jungle...but alas! a torrential downpour!

I couldn't have been more delighted. I was able to sit inside and read two books. Midway through my first book some of the first years came by to invite us on a shopping trip. Jordon dutifully went and took care of business.

Three hours of mad mental math later Jordon walked back through the door singing happy birthday and carrying a cake of chocolate heaven. Probably the chocolatiest thing in all of creation.

P.S. We are only able to use the internet at school at the moment. Up until today the principal had been logging us in so we were able to use facebook. As it turns out will will no longer have that priviledge until we get the internet at home. So...if you'd like to get a hold of us please reply on this or email us at melissaquattlebaum@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you!

Hello All,

We are loving our new home...but let me start at the beginning. When we first arrived we were taken to a wonderful 5 star hotel for the night, had a wonderful breakfast, met our new coworker Emily, and were supposed to be picked up at 12pm the next morning by the Brent van. The Philippines runs in a very laid back frame of mind punctually, where unexpected things happen, and people inevitably run late. We got picked up at 1:20.

Four hours later after navigating some crazy Manila traffic, we arrived at the school where we were given a brief tour by Ms. Edna, who is sort of like the matriarch of our school..she knows everything..we went to the school's pool, where we met the principal. He's a very nice guy and promptly offered to take the three of us (melissa, me, and the other new girl, Emily) to dinner and a movie. I think his exact words were something to the effect of "Lets grab a drink and some appetizers at this little Indian restaurant, and go watch the Dark Knight." My kind of guy already. We met his wife, and a few other people, and had dinner and a movie for around $8 U.S. We came home around 10pm and fell right asleep.

Waking up this morning was an interesting mix of dogs barking, black birds squawking and the 'tick tick tick' of our air conditioning vent rotating. Needless to say we've been up since around 5am doing things around the house to make it more homey.

Our house is way more than we need. It's lovely. The floor is all white tile, and the kitchen appliances and window air units are all new or like new. We have three bedrooms and two bathrooms, a kitchen and a large utility room downstairs with a washer/dryer and a sliding glass door that leads to our porch. Our water pressure is surprisingly good and we don't have anything to complain about. We have the occasional critter... a couple of bugs and a gecko (to eat the bugs!) that we've affectionately named Mr. G. Echo, in memory of Mr. Echo from Lost. Or Mr. Gecko for short.

Later this evening we'll be going to the market to pick up some necessities such as trash bags, toilet paper, and a trashcan, along with some more food items. That's pretty much it for now. We're working hard to make our house a home, and loving our time here.

Here are a few pictures to help the visual learner...

Just as we were beginning to feel a little uncomfortable in our surroundings we turned on the TV to a glorious sight! LOST made us feel right at home. And it's good news for the future as well...

Here is the front view of our new home. It is a duplex and we're on the left. Jordon is thinking about doing a drawing in paint to help explain the layout.

There's our side. The first window on the left is our room (blue) and the next is the guest room (salmon.)

The downstairs is a large utility room. It is generally used as a play room for children. So maybe we should have a few? We'll see :)

They are still working on our porch outside the sliding glass door. The little machine is our washer and dryer...we'll do very small loads. And that door on the far right is a bathroom. Below this is a picture of our porch and side yard.

We take these stairs up to our main living space.

The door on the left goes downstairs and is made of security glass. The next door down the hall is the bathroom and at the end of the hall is the guest room.

This is the little third bedroom right across the hall from the door downstairs. We have yet to get a mattress for it but of course it's no hurry until we get some guests :).

Here is our shower. The water pressure is reminiscent of The Max.

We have a funny little toilet that likes to close on you when you sit down. We brush our teeth using bottled water.

Here is the guest room. By the time our you come to visit we'll have some bed clothes for you. Jordon's using the closet in the blue room and I'm using the one in here. And we have unpacked since these were taken.