Taya made it safe & sound to the Philippines. First she went to the Manila MTC where she was supposed to study for an additional 3 weeks, but to everyone's surprise, they sent all the missionaries out into the field after just one week there.
The flight to Manila was tough. It was over 14 hours & Taya said all the blood rushed to her feet causing them to swell really big. Luckily, the swelling went down after one day.
Her first official area in the Philippines was Catabban which is a very small rural area. They live in the middle of nowhere & walk several miles a day visiting & serving people. There were a lot of things she quickly learned she needed to get used to. Cold showers (or bucket showers), no toilet seats, no toilet paper (just a bucket with a ladle to wash yourself), lots of rats, spiders the size of a large banana, & geckos that like to steal your food & hide it in stockpiles around the apartment. Their kitchen is outside. She washes her clothes by hand. It definitely threw her into a new world.
But she is trying really hard to be positive, treat her experiences as adventures, & find the positive in what she is doing. She is such a beautiful soul & works so hard.
She's had 2 sets of companions so far in Catabban. She was put in a trio (with 2 other Americans) for the first 2 weeks, then she got her first trainer on her birthday (Sept 25). She will for sure be in Catabban for 5-6 weeks. She will find out the end of October if she is staying there another 6 weeks or moving to a new area.
