First Day in Philippines

Participating in SEA-Teacher Program is an honor, once in a life time chance, for me. I‘d like to share my experiences here.

I arrived in NAIA International Airport on August 6^th at 1:20 am. After filling a form in the immigration counter, I walked to the arrival hall. It’s early in the morning, but there were many people there. I was not worried even though I traveled alone. I tried to contact Michelia, the other students assigned in PSU. She was already waiting for the university staff to fetch us. We waited for nearly an hour. Then, Sir Mike, a staff from PSU, came bringing a paper with our names. He took us to a hotel and let us rest for the rest of the night. 

In the morning, Sir Tom and Ms Vanesa knocked our door and told us that we were going to get our breakfast with other students who just arrived. We ate at McDonals near the airtport. After that we waited for other students to arrive. It took hours because many of the flights were delayed. Finally at 3 PM, all students arrived and we took photo with Mam Sally. She gave us flower to hold while our photo was captured.

28 SEA-Teachers at NAIA International Airport with Mam Sally and Sir Ramil

We then headed to PSU Main Campus in Lingayen. We stopped in a rest area to get our lunch. Nimas, Michelia and I decided to pray first. However, we didn’t find a place to pray because there isn’t any praying room for Moslem around. We finally prayed on the sidewalk behind our bus. We use my shirt as replacement to praying rug. We arrived in Lingayen at 10 PM, and we stayed in a hotel. Because nearly a day without Internet connection, we all were busy with Wifi and our phone immediately. After talking with families and friends, I went to bed. It was a tiring day but memorable.

Posted in: Feelings, Motivasi dan Inspirasi, SEA-Teacher Batch 4