Quick update. Lauren and I are fine. We both live in areas that are relatively safe and not prone to flood. Also, Lauren does not have internet at her site for those trying to reach her.

 

 

 

 

 

The Aeta

 The elder at 82

Tagalog Scrabble

Ang mga Kabigan sa Poblacion

 Some of Alan's friends in Poblacion

 Lauren's most recent adventure was going to the Pawegan (Sea Turtles) conservation center.  The view from the outdoor learning center is stunning.  This is one of the locations in the Philippines that sea turtles come to lay their eggs.  These sea turtles will lay their eggs in the Philippines and travel from Guam to Malaysia looking for food (talk about efficient swimmers).

For the Coral Reef Assessment the weather, to say the least, could have been better.  Her motion sickness was tested this day and she surprisingly did very well through the boat ride. 2 hours in the rough ocean with rain. You can see the measuring tape placed on the coral bed.  They had to read what was under the measuring tape every .25cm for 50m.  They collected 200 data points in the rain and turbulence that morning.  Lauren had a great time, but I’m sure you can all imagine some of the choice words she had to say about the conditions.

Another exciting event was going to the market to identify fish.  As you can see, there aren’t many health standards that have to be followed in these markets.  As you walk by, water is dripping off the tables onto your feet. Lauren recommends shorts and flip-flops. Just hose yourself off once you get home.

Lauren has also been busy with Mangrove, Sea Grass, and Coral Reef Assessments.  For the most part it has been a great experience.  A Mangrove is pretty much a swamp so you can imagine her trudging through this.  At one point she was surrounded by 7 foot Nipa Palms wondering if this was some sort of a joke.  These shots are pretty typical. You can see where the blue ocean meets the brown river. 

 

TAGA-DISCO and other randoms

 

What a week. Lauren is here and we had a wonderful evening here in Poblacion. We walked down to the White Coral Resort to go to a birthday party for a volunteers 90 year old host grandmother. We shared a bottle of "wine" on the beach and had a wonderful time. We stayed out really late, 10:30pm.

Earlier this week I helped conduct a community discussion and helped develop a community project in which we will buy, cook, and serve a healthy meal for about 100 indigenous school children next week. The kicker is my group had to conduct this discussion in about 60% Tagalog, 20% Spanish, and 20% English. Good thing it was a group effort. Between the 9 of here in Poblacion we are at least able to somewhat communicate. Strange to think we have only been speaking this language of a couple of weeks. We have our Language Proficiency Interview in less than 5 weeks, so we all have to buckle down and study and more importantly go out in the community and just speak to people till you get it right.

Lauren's group has been measuring coral, looking at turtles, and drinking beer. It sounds like a lot of fun, but they seem to drink their weight in sea water every day. It sounds physically draining.

We are both happy and healthy. We miss our family and friends. More to come.   

 

 

My room