Buwang- Cock Fighting

October 14, 2012

Beautiful roosters and they know they'll be fighting to the death

 

Alex took me to a cock fight here in Inopacan, actually only a few blocks from the house. I’d read about this national passion, like bull fighting in Spain and thought I should experience it even though I thought I’d hate it. It was as horrible as expected but I’m glad I went. I don’t know if I’ll want to ever go again, maybe. It’s a betting thing.

These guys are taking the bets and I had fun dancing with
 this guy at the mini fiesta/dancing in the street

Hindong Caves and Monkeys

October 13, 2012

See the monkey?

Mark and Isaiah leading the way

Alex, Anita, Mark, Raney, Cheryl, Isaiah and I went for an outing to the Hindang Caves where there are wild monkeys. We used the family's 4WD SUV for the trip. It’s about four miles from here; the last mile up a steep rocky road.We took a picnic lunch and hiked up to the first cave area where there was a gorgeous view and a place to eat our food.

Looking out to the Camotes Sea

Wacky pose!

Mark, Anita, Alex, Isaiah, Renay and Cheryl

 

First Trip to Apid and Mohaba, Home of the Mysterious Red Shrimp

October 3, 2012                                 A little back tracking

I made my first trip to our island barangay of Apid, made up of three islands, Mahaba, Apid and Digjo about twenty miles offshore and an hour boat ride or a half hour if we use two engines, ha.

Apid Isdland

Mahaba from Apid

Murals Along the Maasin Waterfront

 These appear to have been done in 2010 around Earth Day. I took photos of my favs and want to share here. I love finding people everywhere who care about protecting and conserving ecosystems and life on this planet as we've known it.

Trip to Maasin

October 6, 2012
Anita asked if I’d like to go to Maasin, the closest ‘city’to Inopacan. I said sure. I want to see this ‘city’. I need to get some pesos from the bank, there's no bank or ATM in Inopacan, and I need a magnifying glass so I can read the maps in my Lonely Planet for the Philippines.

riding in a putt-putt, the guy is peddling 

town center



Pedi-cabs on the waterfront looking south

Looking north on the nice waterfront tree lined walkway and swimming beach

An Day to Swim at Lita's Beach House

September 29, 2012

Ahhhhhh. Saturday. Relax na. Chill na. By the sea in a cool breeze.

eating yummy young coconut jelly with Anita and Lita where the sea comes up to her doorstep

I don't see cats very often but these guys looked good

Walking to Work

Our house is on the corner of the main street that runs through town and the boundary street between the barangsays Tinago and Poblacion. The Villarubin's church is basically across the street two doors down past the gas station. I should get a picture of the gas station. It's nice. Four guys are always on duty sitting around in bright yellow shirts and sunglasses and have great music playing all the time. The church has a loudspeaker system broadcasting mass every morning at 6:00-7:00 except for the month of October it's 4:30-5:30 for some special reason I'm not sure about.

The Walkathon

September 22, 2012
 At 6: oo am, in a pouring lightning/thunder storm, Anita and I joined about two hundred people and the high school marching band/color guard in a seven kilometer walkathon.

me and Anita joining in

Reporting To Work and Getting a Tour

September 21, 2012

This is where Cito and Benji's offices are and where the SB hold lesilative sessions.

Today I reported to the office. Cito took me around to meet all the department heads and I visited with the mayor, Silvestre T. Lumarda.

Made it to Inopacan and Home With the Villarubins

September 20, 2012

Anita, niece Hana, Alex and Anna Marie and look at the
welcome cake they made for me.

Laura Mudge, Andrew Horan and I had to be ready to leave for the airport at 9:30am. It was a very short sleep. The three of us are the only volunteers from batch 271 sited in Leyte and we were able to travel together. The flight to Tacloban took an hour and I must say it was exciting to see the beauty of Leyte from the air. My first impression when stepping off the plane was taking a deep breath of clean smelling fresh air and thinking, YES! Our rides were waiting for us. We said our goodbyes and were off to our permanent sites. The drive to Inopacan with Cito took about three hours. We drove along coastline, up and over a mountain and back down to coastline again. I was very happy to see so little trash everywhere. All the homes, including nipa huts have neat tidy yards, are well maintained and have beautiful flowers. Lush tropical mountains start their climb directly from the coast. The rivers look fresh and clean and their banks are garbage free.

CRM Skit at Swearing In

For those of you who weren't up at 2am to watch the live streaming of swearing in, here's the bit with our little performance.CRM skit performance

Celebrations After Swearing In

Manila Bay across street from Bayview Park Hotel

Manila when it wasn't raining

Swearing In

September 19^th, 2012

This is the big day we've all been waiting for.

CRM ladies