July 26th - 28th

It has been a crazy, yet fun few days.


Saturday I met up with one of the IDEA admin, Lee. He is Denis' assistant, meaning #2 within IDEA. He is American and has been working with IDEA for two years. He picked up me, the 5 French volunteers along with his mother from Virginia and his two sons, who are 4 and 6. He gave us a pretty thorough and VERY adventurous tour of the island. We left BDA and went to a very large tree. Pretty exciting huh? The tree's "wingspan" probably covers the size of a football field and the trunk is maybe a little smaller than the base of the Space Needle.


Then we went to the oldest coral church in Asia. It was originally built in the late 1500's and is still standing. I think it's amazing they used coral to build it. Our third stop was to the Python exhibit. Pongy, the Python, is the largest python in the world. She is 20 years old and over 400 pounds. They allowed us to go into the cage to pet her and take pictures. I was initially a little fearful... it's a python! But then realized, the snake actually cannot move to fast because of it's size. However, when I was having my picture taken, as you can see, the snake moved or spasmed where I was touching it. Yes, I let out a small yelp and quickly left the cage.



Our next stop was supposed to be the Loboc River, a river we often take a cruise on with our barrio students. Prior to arriving at the river, Lee noticed some rice farmers planting rice. Looking for new experiences for us "foreigners" he pulled over and asked the farmers if we could help. Off went my sandals, a little reluctantly I might add, and in went my feet... into the mud and caribou feces. We walked along the mud path in which our feet consistently sunk into the mud quite a few inches. Feeling the mug between my toes... it honestly made me laugh. Then we walked through the rice paddy, which was again walking through several inches of mud with a layer of water on top. This is a picture of a rice bundle. They gather these up for easy transport, and then replant them in an empty lot to grow into larger plants, which then produce rice. We developed quite a audience along the side of the road... us crazy Americans! My next picture is of my feet, you know how I like my feet pictures. This is while walking back to the road along the mud path.



When we arrived at the road, a Filipino man was getting our attention in offering for us to wash our very muddy feet in his store. While standing in line to wash my feet, one of the workers in the store was holding a tarsier, the smallest primate in the world. You can only find these primates on the island of Bohol. Every year I enjoy seeing these odd looking animals. I was SO excited when the man told me that I could hold the tarsier, and he would take a picture. It's little feet were very similar to a frogs feet... the shape but also texture. They were a little sticky and I guess that would make sense since they climb trees and hold onto vertical branches for hours at a time.





As we departed, we then went on the Loboc river cruise, where we stopped to play on a rope swing. I did not participate because I didn't bring my swimming suit. I was a little bummed, but I got some great pictures of the others. We then went up to the falls and back to the Nut Huts. This is a restaurant near the river. We pulled the boat up to the shore and walked very steep stairs for about 10 minutes to a restaurant literally in the middle of the jungle. We ate lunch here and then went back down the stairs to head back to the boat and then back to our van.



Later along the trip, we stopped at a Butterfly exhibit. They had a few butterflies, nothing compared to the butterfly exhibit at the Seattle Center. They told us that with the typhoon 7 weeks ago they had a lot of damage and a lot of the butterflies escaped. Our next stop was the Chocolate Hills. I had already been here with the American team once before, but it's always a fun place to go. I had my picture taken of me jumping on top of a hill... it's a fun picture. I'll have to scan it and download it when I get home.


We were all tired after a full day, but Lee had seen an advertisement for a swimming pool. We followed the sign for what seemed like more than 2km... which is what the sign said. We went through thick mud and clay and we were very nervous about getting the van stuck... Lee wanted to continue. The road was under construction in many areas, but Lee was convinced more and more he wanted to find the pool. Eventually, after asking directions several times, we found it. A pool, in the middle of a barrio, it was SO odd! Again, I watched the group swim and then we headed back home. It was a long, exhausting day but SOOO fun!


That evening I spent preparing my sermon for the next day. I had been asked to preach at the Deaf church. I spoke on the Lord's unfailing love. It was so great how everything came together so smoothly during preparation. It was interesting how the enemy really tried to not have Sunday church work out. The students and teachers who attend the church get picked up at 9:30. But there was a substitute driver that day, and he didn't know he was picking up SO many students. He was also supposed to take a group of students to the Catholic church. He made one run to the Catholic church, went and picked up the bigger van and then came back for us. Church starts at 10:15 but we did not arrive until after 11. They waited for us though. We had a great worship set and then I got up to preach. It again went SO smoothly. I felt comfortable and felt natural being up there encouraging the students and teachers of the Lord's love. It was SO fun! Here is a picture of the church in the background and most of the students and teachers.

After church Emison, her boyfriend, and I hung out again. It was my last big shopping day for souvenirs and they helped me find things as well as carry them. It was fun just hanging out and socializing. Right now is Sandugo Festival time. We did go to Sandugo market. The last few years it has been on the pier and had over a hundred stalls full of... basically junk. It's fun to go to and there are usually a few good places to buy jewelry. But in the past few years there has been a lot of crime. Men get drunk and then they kill each other and then throw the bodies in the water, off the pier. I guess it happened so often last year they had to shut it down early and this year they moved it near the mall. The three of us ventured over to the market, but it wasn't worth seeing. There were about 15 stalls, all full of junk. Used clothing for about $0.50 a piece and pirated movies... none which I recognized. We went back to the mall where there were a lot more stalls, but with nice souvenirs, products made in Bohol. I was very impressed with the quality of the items as well as the prices. It was fun to look at all the different handicrafts from Bohol, especially with my friends here. We hung out for quite some time and even went into the city as well. Eventually I became extremely exhausted. I had been on my feet, walking around for two days. I went home and crashed. It was fun two days... crazy at time, fun a lot of fun!

Now, less than a week here! Agh! I was actually thinking about this yesterday and became sad to leave. I will definitely miss being here, with all my friends and the students. This year I have been able to spend A LOT more time with them. More intimate time. It's been a great experience and I will miss them a lot.