Last Half of July

I haven't written for a while because life has been busy. Well busy meaning that it is not easy to get to the internet cafe, if I had a computer in my room with an internet connection I would have happily written every night but since that is not the case I am learning to remain a bit more secluded from the rest of the world outside of the Philippines.

My trip to Boracay was good. It is so beautiful there. I went sailing with the group that I came with everyday. Line and I made friends with some sailors and therefore got to see more of the interior of the island that tourists do not usually get to see. We did some snorkling but the current was so strong that we needed to hang on to a rope while snorkling so that we were not separated from the boat. I also went to an island called Crystal Cave or Crystal Cove, depending on who you talk to. This is a neat island which you must pay to enter and then on the island there are 2 big caves with water in them that you can check out and crawl through, it was cool. The last night we were there we did a sunset sail. We sailed away from Boracay before sunset and then were supposed to sail back. However.... the wind died on us while we were still far away from shore so we had an interesting time paddling back. All of us girls took a turn paddling and the guys did a good job too of course, that is what they do.

Line and I did karaoke with Johnny and Marvin one night and then got to go to a house party the next night with the guys. We had a good time, it is intersting to see the different houses here and everyone treated us really good. The group we were with were like a family and they were quite willing to have us join in. On the actual beach though where all the tourists are it is a bit of gong show where you need to refuse to buy things all the time. I do enjoy bartering though and bought some stuff there.

I was really ready to come home from Boracay but made the trip on my own because the other girls wanted to stay a day longer and I needed to go back and teach. For the most part I don't mind traveling on my own. Someone thinks they need to be my friend on each think I ride but I usually don't mind. I made a rule that I don't give out my cell phone number unless I know the person for a least 2 days so I just say no a lot, not meaning to be mean but it's kinda hard to keep up with people you only met for 15 minutes!!
On my way home though I was tired and therefore made a bad decision. The driver of a trike lied to me and charged me way too much money. Oh well, I learned my lesson and it won't happen again.

There was a death in my host family's family. The brother of my host father died and so I am learning what a funeral and mourning period here looks like for a Catholic family. The funeral is on Sunday and all week there has been a "prayer vigil" time at the family's place in the next baranguy of Sugod. So I've headed out to Sugod the last 3 nights. It is different because we usually don't go anywhere in the evening and it is kind of nice to have somewhere to go. There is another Canadian, Andoy, who I go talk to sometimes. The prayer vigil isn't bad. People go and pray near the coffin but outside lots of tables are set up and people play lots of games, like a new version of janitor that I love and bingo and stuff like that. So it's a pretty fun get together. However, sometimes it's a bit daunting. People like to look at me but not necessarily talk to me because then they need to speak English and in front of other people too, so sometimes I just go for a walk or have some space. The funeral is on Sunday so we'll see how that goes.

Teaching has been great. The kids especially love music and PE with me cause I am just crazy and have a lot of fun with them. I taught them how to play Duck Duck Goose and a variation of Rock Paper Scissors with running and they love both games.
I discovered yesterday that not only do the kids like looking at white skin but they also want to touch me. haha. I gave a high five to 1 kid in grade 4 and suddenly I had to go through the whole classroom and let them give me a high five. Oh well, maybe white skin will be less exciting after. haha.

I went to a born-again church on Sunday and had a really good time. Most of the worship was in Tagalog but some were in English. I got to play the drums and guitar after the service and was invited to be on the worship team for next Sunday which I am pretty excited about.

Today I got to attend the Quiz Bee which is a competition of numerous elementary schools around to see who the brightest students are. My students were happy to have me come (even though none of the teachers talk to me) but the highlight for me was the tricycle drive here where we had 16 people on a tricycele, it was pretty amazing. The engine of one dirtbike carrying 16 people. I wanted to take a picture but was on the inside... alas.

Funeral this weekend... Boracay next week again with a new volunteer.... should be fun!