Semana Santa

                            

Since Maundy Thursday and Good Friday are national holidays we were able to take a short vacation for Holy Week.  We visited a fellow volunteer, Theresa at her site. She just moved into her own house on a bluff, yards from the ocean.  It is a peaceful location because of the constant noise of waves crashing against rocks, friendly neighbors, and the beautiful sunset.  The water is amazingly clear and clean due to being on the tip of the southwestern side of the Panay.  It is truly open ocean when looking across the horizon.  This is different for us since we are located on the east side of the island on a straight looking onto another island. 

We were then able to travel to Anini-y about 30 minutes away from her site.  Here we enjoyed the beach, went snorkeling and explored the mangroves.  The coral was vast and reachable by snorkel, with a huge variety of tropical fish. The mangrove trees were amazing in size and beauty.  We also had the pleasure of walking to the local hot springs to watch the sunset while having a beer.  We were able to celebrate Easter in a peaceful setting, making it a perfect mini vacation. 

Luxury of Refrigeration

We finally saved enough money to buy a refrigerator.  Just in time for the hottest months of the year, April and May.

Every evening we make dinner and make sure we have enough left for our baon (boxed lunch).  With the new freedom of refrigeration we bought some prawns for gumbo. One was as large as Lauren’s hand.  What’s even more amazing we were able to buy these and still stay within our budget of $1.67.  We have such amazing access to cheap seafood and local fruits, which helps make up for what we lack in daily accommodations. 

In season at the moment are mangos, both yellow and green.  The unripen green mangos have the taste of a ripened mango but the texture of an apple.  They are wonderful, especially with a little chili salt.  Next month we will travel to Guimmarus Island (where the sweetest mangos in the world are) for the Mango Festival.  You pay 100 pesos ($2.32) as an entrance fee and get an unlimited supply of mangos to eat. 

Most importantly, with the refrigerator we are able to put our leftover food in a safe place.  As you can see from the photo, we have the rat king dancing about our kitchen.  This is the second rat we have caught this size and there have been 5 others that are a little smaller.  The small trap in the photo is one that Lauren’s parents sent; she thinks there might have been a miscommunication on how big these damn things are.  At least we get access to cheap seafood for the price of dealing with RATS of this size. 

Community Gardens

I’ve been staying busy with the gardens, youth life skills sessions, inspections of our site, and reporting forms. In addition to this, I have been on a crash course of organic farming practices. It’s very enjoyable and the people I work with are very knowledgeable. I've been mainly a carrier of practices from community to community. All four community gardens I have been working on are cleared and planted.  We should have produce to show in a couple of weeks. I also got elected to the Volunteer Advisory Committee as a representative for the Visayas. and am very excited to have a way to help my fellow volunteers.