Full day number 2

Last night with my roomies Sarah and Beth =( Prepping for our 8 hour drive to Isabela in the morning! Today was another crazy day!! We had to meet in the lobby this morning at 0745 to meet the group! We traveled for what seems like hours on the bus again to have breakfast and see our families we donated for!! The village was in Pampanga! I uploaded pictures below of what it looks like! As soon as we arrived we were blessed respectfully by the children (filipino tradition where someone would grab your hand and touch their forehead)!! There were probably a hundred children all over! They surprised us with entertainment at the beginning, which consisted of the people in the village performing dances and singing! I really wanted to bring the kids home! THEY WERE ADORABLE!!! One especially reminded me of myself when I was a kid! After, they made an AMAZING FILIPINo FEAST FOR US!!!! I felt like I was royalty with the way they were treating us! It really shows how grateful they are for us being there!!!!After dinner we played with the kids and started to prepare with our medical care for our 2 families we were assigned to! I was really nervous, especially being filipino american!! I was grateful I had a translator there with me the whole time!My first family experience was really overwhelming. I had so many thoughts racing through my head! I wanted to make sure I was culturally competent, but at the same time performing medical care proficiently! Make sure you always take off your shoes when entering their homes, unless they say not to! I almost forgot!! Both of my families' husbands were not home, they were working and would not be back for weeks because they were working at another providence! Both of my families also had 4 children so I definitely had to be speedy with my head to toe assessments! I would have to say the most challenging of my day was patient teaching and the wound care for the children! I had villages spying on me when the children were hysterically crying! They probably thought I was torturing them!! After assessments and teaching, I gave them my donations of clothing, toothbrushes, toothpaste, toys, and medicines. The whole family kept hugging and kissing me and thanking me. It took me a lot to hold back my tears!! I felt that "spark" again! The reason why I wanted to become a nurse! Something so simple... I didn't build them a new home, I didn't cure their illnesses, and I did not give them any money. But, it certainly felt like I did. That feeling I never want to lose no matter how bad my life may get or how hard/stressful work is. I have a purpose in this world and I shouldn't think so negatively on things that do not matter. Well, I talked a lot. Time for bed now. Good night. I dont know when I can write on this again because we will be driving for 8 hours to Isabela for our next medical mission! However, I will try and keep in touch! Danielle

Dont make fun of me but I added this last picture because I LOVE SKY LANTERNS WHEN I GET BACK HOME IM DETERMINED TO MAKE ONE!!!!!! I am so happy I finally saw one live and up close! Very unsafe,but so pretty! I need to make sure no houses or people are around when I construct and test mine!

Making like a tree and leafing...

I was blogging offline during our 15 hour flight and completely forgot to upload...

• 3:05pm CST on 1/9/13, somewhere over Minnesota: 



• It's official... we're Manila bound! All 18 of us made it to O'Hare International Airport with our outrageously heavy suitcases in tow. My backpack felt more like a small toddler at 9 kilograms. Several moms and dads and others stuck with us until it was time to move our way to the security gate. We had to have taken 1000 pics before we left. Some shed some tears...which was so adorable. On the other end of the spectrum is Patrick (my husband) who opted for the curbside drop off. Hahaha. I know its early, but all signs say that we are a pretty rambunctious group. Laughing our heads off over a McDonald's lunch, sharing fries and friending each other on Facebook.
• 5:02pm CST on 1/9/13, somewhere over western Canada:

• Just finished a salmon dinner and it was good!! Jordyn (my seatmate) and I were pretty impressed. Only 12 hours and 29 minutes til we land in Hong Kong.

• 6:00am CST on 1/10/13:
• 3 movies, some ipod time, and a little bit of sleep and we have finally made it to Hong Kong!!! Got ourselves something to drink. $27!!! Hong Kong dollars of course. Taking off for Manila in about an hour.

Some pics of our adventure so far:

O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, IL

Lack of space underneath our airplane seats...hardly enough room for my legs and Jordyn's

Our first day!

Today was our first full day in Manila! We got up at 8 am to have breakfast and experience real filipino food!!! Then, we drove awhiles way to the Far East School of Nursing where we met with the nursing students there and took a tour of the hospital attached to the school. It was so different comparing it to our hospital and how much money we spend on air conditioning, decorations, amenities, etc. The hospital and school do not have air conditioning in the hallways, only in the rooms. We then traveled to the Fort Santiago, which was a Hispanic stone fortress(the oldest may I add). Finally, we drove to have dinner at Barbaras, a great tourist spot where we had dinner and watched filipino traditional dances all night!!! Finally we are back at the hotel! Sorry if I sound like i am blabbering. I am so tired and I hope I make sense. I am really trying to write on this blog daily! It is currently 10:52 at night here and tomorrow it will be Saturday for us! We have not had sleep for the past 24 hours so I am ready for bed! good night from the Philippines!!! Tomorrow starts at 7:45 am. oh and ps. Driving here in the Philippines is by far the worst traffic ! I will never complain about Chicago traffic ever again!!!!

We are Manila bound!!!

After 15 hours on a plane to Hong Kong, 2 hour lay over, and then another 2 hour plane ride to Manila. We are finally here!!!! It's a shame its 3:31 AM because we cannot sleep!!! Our rooms are really nice here at the Joya Lofts and Towers!!!!its going to be a shock when we get up north and the hotels start looking a little more different!! I am rooming with Beth and Sarah. We are all getting accustomed to being here and getting in touch with our families right now. Time for showers and going to bed! Waking up at 8 AM and then going to the Far Eastern Nursing school. Good night US! Until the next time!!! Good night from the Philippines!! Danielle

THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME!

WEll guys! The time has finally arrived. I am getting my last minute things together! Arriving in O'Hare airport at 11 am where we will be going on our 15 hour flight to Hong Kong!!!!!! ahhhh (brought lots of books for this flight)! . FInally, 2 hour flight to the Philippines from Hong Kong! Stay tuned in our journey!!!! We will try to update this blog daily, otherwise we will have multiple blogs in one day!!! Stay classy America! We will see you shortly!!!

Thank you!

Student nurses from both Addison & Chicago Campuses

With less than 24 hours until we take off, reality has started to creep in. Both the Chicago Campus and Addison Campus students got together yesterday to participate in "Packing Day". From 10am until past 1pm, we took stuff out of boxes, bagged meds like pharmacy techs, sorted clothes, filled our suitcases, and weighed our bags (over and over and over). 50 pound maximums are so restricting!!!

Looking around the room, it was amazing to see the sheer amount of donations we each brought in -- from clothes, shoes, and toys to much needed medications for cough, flu, vitamins, and allergies. The room was PACKED with these important items because of great friends and family who supported us each. Gigi, our professor for Community Nursing and leader of our trip, even mentioned how incredible the amount and quality of our donations were.

16+ foot long table completely full of medications waiting to be bagged

I do want to personally thank everybody who donated to both Danielle and myself, as well as to my fellow teammates. My MVP's: Kevin Evangelista for the best Secret Santa gifts, Diane for her generosity, and to my niece Ava who donated a good portion of her savings (not really, but it was alot!). Because of each of you, we are arriving in Manila very well-equipped.

Now that the packing is done and over with, our suitcases sit quietly in the corner of the room and I sit here eagerly awaiting 2pm tomorrow...I quickly remember that I'm going to be gone for 16 days. Days that I'll miss sleeping in my own bed, miss ordering a pizza on Football Sunday, miss my dog, miss seeing my friends, miss tutoring, miss my family especially my beautiful niece (Hi, Ava!), and miss my husband. While I can't forecast what the next 2 and a half weeks will consist of, these next 16 days are going to count for something...something amazing for the 18 of us going on this trip.

Stay tuned for blog updates, photos, and who knows what! Both Danielle and I can't wait to share our experiences with you all.

Danielle

Aileen

Last night thoughts before we leave for the trip of a lifetime!

Spent these last few days with close friends and family! I could not have it any other way! Going to bed at a decent hour and enjoying it because I have a feeling sleep is going to be very rare! Good night US!