tales of an island hopping beach bum

May 6, 2011

Oh Borocay, how I have mixed feelings about you. You were extremely beautiful yes and I had an amazing time, but I don’t know it just wasn’t me.

As much as the mountains had us feeling like we weren’t in Kansas any more Boracay had that feeling in a very different way. To be fair, a lot of it is timing. I’m not the kind of person that enjoys tourist destinations in the peak of their tourists’ season. Boracay is a hard-core tourist destination. There are people that go straight there off the plane, turn around get on the plane and leave the Philippines not seeing anything else of this country. Those people choose to do that this time of year. So it wasn’t so much Borocay that I didn’t like but the feeling like a tourist I had while there. Here is how wonderful Borocay can be though.

Beach Getaway: Monday we flew ourselves there got there just after sunset, found our room and then had some good food.

Island Hopping: On Tuesday H set us up on an island hopping snorkeling tour. We slathered on the sunscreen and hopped in the boat. The first place was a little choppy which made for not as fun snorkeling but there was lots of fish still the same. Even puffer fish spottings. The next stop was much calmer. We got to see more fish, and some corals. After this spot we went to lunch on a gorgeous beach with very few people (much more my scene). Then we went back to the water one more time. This time when we went snorkeling H was very surprised to see sea snakes. After calming her down we all got in. This place had manmade frames to help promote coral growth (most of the corals we saw were very much dead), more fish, starfish, and those snakes. We were actually kind of lucky to see the snakes, they are very skittish. We got back just in time for the gorgeous sunset then went to dinner. A very good day.

Beach Bumming: On Wednesday we did nothing. Which is what one does on a white sand beach right? It was nice, we set up on some beach chairs and lazed the day away. The water is so clear in Borocay. We walked out to our shoulders in water and could still see our toes. Which is amazing considering how many people visit Boracay. We hung out there all day. Grabbed food when we wanted, laughed, read, slept, everything you do at a beach.

Going Home: We took our time waking up, went to the airport and sat around and waited. That is the Reader’s Digest version. You can read more details in another blog post, keeping this one on the shorter side!

Love the Philippines!

where is my tan, and other quandaries

October 31, 2010
How is that tomorrow is November. I mean really, this is so baffling to me. Things I found noteworthy for October:
• I really want to know why I am not more tan. I brought 2 long sleeve shirts that never get worn when the sun is shining. I walk everywhere. So why aren’t I darker?
• Are my feet tan or is that dirt? Will my feet ever be clean in the next 2 years?
• Is this finally the end of the three a.m. wake up calls? October is the month for Our Lady Fatima, the patron saint of the Philippines. Which means every morning at the chapel right across from my window they bang some sort of bell drum annoying thing to call people to the dawn rosary. I’m going to bed tonight with bated breath in hopes it ends now. I think it may not though because of tomorrow being All Souls Day and Tuesday being All Saints Day. And what does that even mean? Is it just a fancier way of saying Memorial Day? And do those days have dawn rosaries also?
• I went to the beach on Friday and it was amazing. We went on a hike and then rolled in some waves. Quite a nice day. Today we are going to the beach, on Halloween. The weather is amazing and it is the end of October. Where is the snow and blow? And it isn’t even the hot season here.
• It is however the rainy season. Why is it that we never have water when it has been raining a lot? And will my shoes ever really dry out?
• If you were to have a regional fish why would you choose one with so many bones?
• Why are the puppies here so darn cute?
• And most noteworthy. I’m almost done with being a PCT. How did that even happen?

dem bones dem bones

September 5, 2010
today was the first day i was not hot all day. we woke up early and the family went to the beach. we ate breakfast at the beach and then two of my cluster were just walking along and joined us about the time first meryenda was about to go down. at this point it was kind of warm so the three of us went into the ocean. we got our special strip of ocean (being a good 6 inches taller than all the other swimmers) and kind of rode the current down a ways and came back to the hut we were set up. then ate meryenda number two. did some studying to a nice cool beach breeze. after some studying they had some boiled peanuts (a new favorite of mine). then we three had to leave in order to go to our interview. when i got home they had lunch waiting for me so i ate again but this time all alone. got dolled up and we headed to the interview.
the interview! the higher ups showed up and they had some amazing treats from cebua (a place that is amazing but impossible for us to go to any sooner than february) (also, for those costco shoppers, if you buy the bags of dried mangoes that say philippines all big on the bag, those are cebu mangoes) and we partook then did our interviews one by one two at a time. the interviews are set up under the pretense for them to pick which one of the sites we will be going to. but here is what it really is; they know our sites, they’ve known our sites, they are just making sure we are still a good fit. the set of questions for everyone are all on the same piece of paper but not one of us had similar interviews. they so know! we won’t know results until october.
she made sure i still wanted rural, check (as long as i can have a modern bathroom…or not). she asked if it was ok that i was two hours away from a mall, check (and welcome to my whole childhood). asked if i would be willing to use sports to enhance english through out the whole community not just the school, check. if i wanted a small school, check (even though all i know is small is less than 1,000 students, so it could still be a big school). then they asked questions about how i saw supervisors and what if my supervisor was very set in her ways and an outstanding principal. i said i was flexible but still had a backbone. she loved that and compared me to bamboo! then she asked about counterparts. parts plural. i said that sounded good to me. she loved me. and even went to say that she could tell i was very boney. she said i was strong, funny, and hopeful, and said that the backbone, funny bone, and wishbone are the most important bones.
the other four interviews were nothing like that. so they so know. which is tough to chew on. i just want to know.