24 February 2009
We were all tired from our trips, so after fixing ourselves, we all went to sleep. I shared the room with Malou, while brother and Gerald shared the room, while the rest of the girls - Jill, Pia, and Debbie occupied the other room. I told Malou I would try to wake up as early as I could, so I could check if there’s a good visual of the sunrise from the house.
I did wake up at around 5:30AM, but I went down nearly 6AM. I decided to take my morning shower already so when everybody wakes up, I don’t have to “line up”. There were heavy clouds, so no sunrise pictures for me that day, but I was able to enjoy seeing how a new day unfolded:
Jill, one of Malou’s groupmates in Singles for Christ Qatar said that our host left us some snacks in case we get hungry in the middle of the night or that early morning, but they left a message that they would bring some heavy breakfast at 8AM. When everybody was awake, we gathered together for a thanksgiving prayer - led by my brother and we went to eat our pre-breakfast.
The house where we stayed at belonged to our host’s cousin. Our host and Jill were officemates in Qatar, and since both of them were here in the Philippines, he asked if the SFC members in Qatar who attended the SFC International Conference in Cebu would do a side trip in his hometown. Actually, brother and I weren’t part of the group (SFC Qatar), but Malou invited us to come with them so we all could fly back to Manila together.
At a little past 8AM, our host tito Bingbong and his wife arrived with our breakfast. Soon after, their sons arrived for all of us to share breakfast. A very hearty and heavy breakfast made more delicious with stories about the community (tito Bingbong and his wife are part of Couples for Christ). A little rest, then all of us hit the road.
This day is going to be a very hectic one for us, but we were all prepared.
*** Jenn ***
