Today I woke up with one less tooth in my mouth….Happy Easter to me. I didn’t realize the Easter Bunny moonlighted as the Tooth Fairy. Don’t ask me how it happened because it was there when I brushed my teeth the night before and when I fell asleep. Technically, it was a crown that covered my tooth but nonetheless there is a large hole in the back of my mouth…Just another bizarre moment in my random life. Thankfully, Erin, the hygienist at my dentist office checks her Facebook messages on Holy weekend. She assured me that my tooth/hole will be fine and she has already schedule an appointment for me when I return. Thanks Erin!
Anywho, Happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it. Easter along with all Christian holidays is festively celebrated in the Philippines…along with the English language, the American’s left behind (when the Philippines was an American colony) the religious practice of Christianity…and more specifically, Roman Catholicism…84% of Filipinos are practicing Roman Catholics (according to the guide book)…WOW…I think that is more than those practicing in Rome!
So, we arrived in Moalboal a few days ago…the Philippines has been a fast moving trip. We first arrived in Manila, spent one day, then got on a flight to CEBU, stayed there one day before taking a bus to Moalboal. The bus ride was fantastic…it was jam packed with people, no A/C (but the windows were down, whew), there was even a live rooster on board (boy, do I love a good rooster on a hot bus) and the best part is I made a new friend, Fatima. She was this adorable 20 year old girl who was sitting next to me. She was on a little holiday vacation with some friends from the Children of Mary organization that she belongs too. She was a wonderful resource, she pointed out everything on our drive….and she and many of the other passengers made the sign of the cross every time we passed a Catholic church…notice above that I said “practicing.” In every taxi, bus, push cart, tricycle, any mode of transportation we’ve ridden in while in the Philippines has had some sort of religious memento hanging from the rear-view mirror and the driver and/or passengers make the sign of the cross when we pass the Catholic church…it is kind of comforting to know that the Lord is with us.
Moalboal is a little beach town known for diving. I had planned to get my scuba diving certification while I was here but sad to say, I’m having a difficult time achieving this goal. We scouted out the local dive shops on our first day and decided to go with the CEBU dive shop. Tommy and Anna are already certified so they bought a package that contained five dives each…I on the other hand am trying to get certified in three days, over a holiday weekend….luckily at the CEBU dive shop there is a lovely Frenchman who said he would teach me. He gave me the book to read and study the first night…specifically, three chapters and then we would discuss them the next day…I read the whole book…that is how ambitious I was about this. So the next day, we sailed through the class work. I passed all the written tests and then it was time to hit the water. I love to swim, I really enjoyed snorkeling and I’m an adventurous person at heart so I figured I would love scuba diving…wrong! I hated every minute of it… I can’t explain it…I just really, really did not enjoy it. The first dive we weren’t in the water but a half hour. Guilliaume (my teacher) thought if I took a break, had some lunch, maybe a nap I might like it better. So we tried it again later in the afternoon and I liked it even less. Guilliaume said I could quit if I wanted to but also said he would be patient and work with me if I decided to give it another shot….which of course I did because I hate to quit things…especially if I don’t really give it a fair chance. So today, we tried it again…I think I might be liking it a little better at this point but I’m still not enjoying it like I do most activities. I have a little head cold and cannot get my ears to equalize so that could be part of it…but overall I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack while under the water. Guilliaume tried a few tricks to see if my ears would pop so we could get this process in motion…he had me take off the mask and breath in through the regulator and out through my nose…then he had me take off the tank and gadgets that go with it and only wear the mask, snorkel and fins and dive down to the bottom and try to get them to pop but no such luck… At this point I have to complete several dives to get certified and I have one day left to do it…I’m not sure there is enough time, especially if my ears won’t cooperate…BUT on the bright side I can always finish the certification at the next town or back in the states since I’m a third of the way finished.
I do have to give major kudos to Guilliaume though…if I was him, trying to teach a student as stubborn and difficult as I was being during this whole process…I would have swam to the beach and said figure it out yourself…but he has been awesome and more patient that I could ever be. I guess that is why he is the teacher and I am the student.
When we arrived in Moalboal and checked into our hostel we were greeted with a big surprise….we were their 1000 guest…so they had a party and we were the guests of honor! The girls who own and operate the hostel are wonderful…and the kids are so cute…I want to take them home with me. Check out their little faces!
Additional Photos: Moalboal
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