Monday, July 6th - Road work & Loboc Elementary

The materials for the road were promised to arrive today, so our team set out to complete the second half of the road. We arrived and the middle section where we were to pour concrete, needed to be emptied of about 3 inches of clay and rock. We had a few shovels, and a few "spears" that we used to "rota till" the dirt to get it loosened enough to shovel. We finished the digging and sat down for a much needed break. It was very hot and muggy today, typical after the monsoon storm we had the previous night. The materials that we needed for the concrete never showed up. We were bummed as we were anticipating to finish the project today and see it to completion.

We went back to the house, got cleaned up and took off for the Loboc River. Loboc is a town near us, that is located along the exterior road of the island. The Loboc River is seen from our house and has boats that take tours down to the falls and back. In the past few years they have set up a tourist shopping area where we were able to shop for our last Bohol souvenirs. We then went to Loboc Elementary, our biggest group of about 300 kids. I was thankful for our large group of 30! We played games, played games and played games. We don't even attempt to do crafts... we have in the past and have learned not to. Our dramas were great and the staff at this school provided snacks when we were done. It's always a joy going to this school as we were blessed again this year to hear the Loboc Choir sing. They are a National Treasure and have traveled all over the world performing and winning contests. I saw them when they came to Seattle a few years ago, and they have even performed at the White House! We always make a point to hear them when we are in Bohol. They were wonderful!

After we left, Joshua surprised us with a dinner "float" on the Loboc River. We had wanted to float down the river and eat dinner, but we were too early for that, so we floated on the shore, eating dinner. We had the opportunity to eat several Filipino foods, most of which I've tried before, but didn't care to experience again. I stuck to the rice, pancit and chicken. It was a crazy past few days, and we were all looking forward to our rest day tomorrow, our first one!