Apid Snorkel Trip and Lots of Time in the Office

 

I forgot to write about the snorkeling trip to the Apid sanctuary on the 9th. Benji and I were able to hitch a ride on a boat with nurses from the Municipal Medical Health Unit who were going out to administer vaccinations to children.

 

 We spent about four hours snorkeling and it was amazing. The corals were in pretty good shape and there were many fish. We were about 20 meters out where the coral shelf drops about 60 feet with great clarity. How cool it will to go down and explore.  I need to get certified in scuba as soon as possible so Benji and I can do new assessments on the corals, fish and seagrass in all of the sanctuaries here in Inopacan.

Such a cutie. Way cuter than the rest of the dogs on the island

 

Even though I’m still in the first six month ‘honeymoon phase’ of Peace Corps Service I feel like the honey moon is over. My time is becoming more about going to work, spending days sitting in the office, observing the goings on but not understanding much of what’s being said and waiting for directions that don’t come.

My first taste of 'tuba', yummy homemade coconut wine at Chito's house in the outdoor kitchen.
Lemin is on the right. He is one of the small statured Filipinos.
He's very small. His jeans must come from a children's department. 

 I’ve been spending the most time with Lemin in the office. He’s our Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Council (FARMC) Chairman. He speaks good English,Tagolog and Cebuano and its working out for him to be my Cebuao tutor. He asked if I wanted to accompany him to an evening meeting of the Tricycle Drivers’ Organization. These are the motorized motorcycle tricycles. Yes, sure I do! He thought it would be good for me to see how a meeting like this goes and how Filipinos conduct their business. He gave me a translated introduction speech to give and it went very well. I learned some things at this meeting. They have rules about who can operate when and where and consequences(fines) for not following the rules. There’s not enough business for all of them to work every day so they’re forced to take days off.