Seeing the South China Sea

It's been several days since my last post because I've been traveling. Last Friday all 20 of the PCTs in Northern Luzon traveled by bus to the province of La Union to do our water safety training in the South China Sea. Wow. It finally felt like I was on an island - and it was great!

The water was a delightful shade of teal - and relatively clear. The bottom was covered with rocks - mostly small and smooth, but a few larger ones. The sand was volcanic. It wasn't black, but it was dark and stuck to our feet when we walked on the beach. The beach held more small rocks than seashells, in shades of black, white, grey, red, gold, and green. I only found two very small shells. The water tasted saltier than both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, if that's possible. The breeze was cool in the mornings and felt great at night, too. Palm trees and coconut trees sprinkled the coastline. The volleyball net stood supported by bamboo poles. Up and down the seaside groups of little naked brown bodies were splashing and playing and laughing and squealing. When a couple girls and I strolled along the beach, each time we met a group of kids they would say "Hello! What is your name?" (in English). They laughed and giggled when we replied in Ilokano and asked their names. Simple joy - so sweet.

The water safety training consisted of us watching a power point presentation and then going out 4 at a time in a "banka" (a wooden outrigger boat). We had to jump out of the boat wearing our lifejackets and then climb back into it. Granted, dragging my chubby buns out of the water up the side of a wooden boat with no ladder in the midde of the open sea wasn't a simple feat - I managed nonetheless. And now I know that I can do it if I ever find myself in the open water needing to be rescued!

The accomodations were acceptable, but very basic. We did have an airconditioner in our room, which was nice. Too bad it stopped working the second night. Oh well. I've learned to sleep in spite of the sweat. Just part of the authenticity of my life here, I suppose. SO looking forward to living in the cool mountains though! All in all, it was a really nice break from all the classes and studying that I've been doing. I look forward to visiting the beach again. It will be just about 4 or 5 hours from my permanent site, so feel free to come visit and I'll take you there! (We'll travel by jeepney, of course - which is a cultural experience in itself!)

So, I promised an update on how the party went. Here's the short version. About 70-100 people attended. The goat was roasted and the dog was a false alarm! If it was there, I never saw it. However, there were about twenty different dishes - 5 or 6 were different meats. I stuck to the goat. It was actually very tasty. After dinner we drank some beers and sang videoke. About ten of the other PCTs came to the party, so they were "very honored to have Madam Tracy and her colleagues" in attendance (as Andy, the guest of honor, announced). I continue to find Filipinos to be the most hospitible and gracious people that I have ever encountered. So, after such a sweet introduction, I felt compelled to sing a song simply because they wanted me to so badly. No, my singing voice hasn't improved since I've been here. But here's the deal, everybody in this country sings videoke and LOTS of people sound just like me. So . . . what the heck - might as well laugh at myself and have a good time - everyone else is! Awan ti problemma! (Not a problem).

Well, I guess I'll close for now. Hope all is well with all of you. You're in my heart and thoughts. Sige, baybay! (pronounced seegay, byebye - means okay, goodbye). I'll write more when I can.