Katibawasan FallsHappy Canadian Independence Day!
We have one month and one day left in the Philippines, and it seems like the time we've had has passed really quickly. We're well into the rainy season, and it's been raining every day. There are frequent brown-outs as well, but they rarely last more than a few minutes.
On Tuesday, I was in my sleeping quarters when I heard the kids yelling about something outside. I looked around, and they all were staring out to sea. There were two waterspouts (tornadoes) not too far out in the ocean. It was a little scary to contemplate what would have happened if they had come a little closer, but apparently they rarely if at all come onto land.
On Wednesday, there was a fruit give-away for the students. It's mulberry season as well as cashew season. The cashew nut actually sits on top of the cashew fruit, which resembles a small, yellow bell pepper. So the end result was mulberry stains all over the staff room floor, and kids with stained faces and stained hands. It was quite an experience. I've included pictures of it in my previous entry.
Anthony, Steve and I have continued our ping-pong tournament. I'm wondering whether they'll be able to beat me before we leave the Philippines.
On Thursday, the grade 5/6 class had its second story presentation, which turned out very well. The kids seem to understand the stories a little bit better. On Friday, Wilvin left for the weekend a little bit early, and I covered his Grade 4 speech class. Fridays are tongue twister days, and each student presented two tongue twisters. The Grade 4 class is very willing to participate and contribute, and we even read the tongue twisters backwards. Teaching a class of 14 students by yourself is a sometimes daunting task, and I can't imagine how the public school teachers here can deal with class sizes upwards of 30 or 40.
Yesterday, I tried to get my computer fixed. The keyboard is broken, and will type multiple letters when I press certain keys. I rode on the back of a motorcycle, swerving through traffic along the main road, and went to Richard's house. Richard is the man who owns the internet cafe in town and is the expert on all computer issues on the island. He works for the civil government as their computer specialist. But even he couldn't fix my keyboard, so I'll just have to get it fixed when I return to North Carolina.
This weekend, we were going to climb Mount Hibok-Hibok, which is one of the main volcanoes on the island. We went to the Department of Tourism, and then to the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, where we were told that we would have to pay to climb the mountain as well as for a guide. We decided that we would go to the Katibawasan waterfall instead.
This morning after breakfast, we headed over to the waterfall. After walking up an extremely steep road, we made it. Katibawasan waterfall is a gigantic waterfall surrounded by trees. There is a pool of water at the bottom where one can swim and take pictures. Anthony, Steve and I found some inner tubes (salbabidas) and lazed around for awhile. I've included some pictures, but pictures truly don't do it justice.
2 comments:
This is great! Your writings are very descriptive, which really helps the reader get a better idea of what it is really like there. I must say, some of the things you have written are quite funny. I have enjoyed reading all your entries. And of course, I love the pictures!!!!
Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!
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