Steven: July 10th

Well I'm back after an unprecedented leave of absence from blogging. Much has transpired since my last entry, so allow me to bring you all up to speed.

Lately T-bone and I have been playing some hoops with a few of the teachers. We sprint up this steep hill to a concrete court, or the battlefield, then the games begin. I enjoy the competition, although I can tell the Filipinos get frustrated at my height and see it is an unfair advantage. Afterwards sometimes we get some young coconuts back at the school. Downing the sweet coconut water after sweating off five lbs in the hot tropical sun is quite an experience.

My sign language ability has been growing by leaps and bounds, thanks to the assistance of all the great teachers up here. Anirose has been especially helpful to me, frequently quizzing me with mercilessness. In return I quiz her on the Spanish language, which she is quickly learning.

Wildlife continues to be a constant source of entertainment. The other night when I got into the shower there was a nice, big toad in there with me. Jade Emperor told me it was harmless but then later corrected himself and said it might be poisonous... Big spiders are the main nuisance in my sleeping quarters, ants aren't that much of a problem at the school (unless you leave something with sugar out).

The other day, as aforementioned, Trevor and I gave a rousing talk about nutrition. I thought it went over fairly well, with some talk about things like physical fitness and natural herbs. My favorite part of the ceremony was the parade at the beginning. T-bone put on some music and the kids started to get their dance swerve on. At then end we were presented with a certificate and some deluxe T-shirts that will certainly see some serious wear back in the states. Although mine is a little tight (mind you it's and XL by Filipino standards).

I've been having a lot of fun teaching guitar to Joseph (a teacher) and the kids. They are all very eager to learn about the instrument, especially when it comes to playing pop songs. Most of the songs they like I am not familiar with but I've downloaded a few and will start to teach them not that I can listen to them. I think it would be great to put on a concert before Trevor and I leave disembark early next month.

Speaking of leaving. It's funny how when I first got here all I could think about was going home. Now I actually don't want to leave and know it will be extremely hard to say goodbye. It's such a simple life right now and surrounded by people whose company I enjoy. I'll definitely have to plan a return visit before the end of the year.

In other news, last Thursday night we had a swarm of flying termites invade the school buildings. Inexplicably, some of the kids decided to feast upon the creatures. Upon inquiry, I was told that they tasted like 'milk'. OK, well I seriously doubt that but they seemed to really enjoy eating the little guys. I politely declined the cuisine.

Finally, I managed to get the achievement test for grades 1-6 in science and math. So I'll be going over those as well as getting them to the teachers. This way they'll have an easy way to gauge what they're doing against what the public schools here on the island are doing. Maybe they can even adapt the tests and administer them to the kids at the school as a diagnostic tool.
The tests certainly need some revisions though, as some of the questions are esoteric and/or nonsensical.

Thanks for continuing to read the site. Feel free to ask me any questions.