The Philippines

The Philippines: 1 L, 2 P's, colonized by Spain in early 1500's until the 20th century, located in Southeast Asia, made up of 7,000 islands and one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited.

If we spoke to you over Christmas, our original plan was to volunteer in the Philippines to help with relief efforts in places that were destroyed in the super typhoon. But our plans changed and with flights already booked, we decided to travel on the island of Palawan.

Palawan is known for its beautiful beaches, water and diving and is not visited as much as some places in the Philippines such as Boracay and Cebu. It sounded like the perfect place for Michael and I to spend two weeks!

We flew into Manila and took a flight to Puerto Princesa City. Then we visited Port Barton for 4 days, El Nido for 6 days, and back to Puerto Princesa.

Puerto Princesa is the "city" we started in. We spent our first morning walking around town. 

Tricycle-the mode of transportation in Palawan

Walking around Puerto Princesa

After lunch we decided it was time to visit one of the local beaches. As you know, we always miss the sea. It was cloudy the first day, but it was good thing or we would have been fried! 

The next day, we took a bus to Port Barton. That was an experience...after 4 hours of bumpy roads, and stopping at a hundred houses, we made it to our destination. Port Barton is a small fishing village. Not many people stop there on the way to El Nido, but we were glad we did. It's basically one cove with small cottages, inns and restaurants along the beach. The town itself is rural, relaxed and remote. Michael and I didn't wear shoes for four days! The power goes out in the morning, but we didn't need it. I read most places to stay here didn't have AC and thought that was crazy, but we didn't need that either! The sea breeze was perfect. 

Port Barton

The first day we went island hopping. The banca (traditional Philippino boat) took us to a place with great snorkeling, then to Paradise Island for more snorkeling and lunch, and lastly German Island. 

Paradise Island

During our stay the food was amazing!! Every meal we had fresh seafood, fresh veggies, fresh fruit and rice. I was in heaven! Dinners were about 10 dollars total for me and Michael-that included our 1 dollar beers! (and yes, that's in USD!) 

We spent some time relaxing on the beach in Port Barton, which was glorious. While we were on vacation I was able to finish two books (exciting for a teacher who doesn't get the chance to read!) 

Our last destination was El Nido. It's a little bit bigger, but most of the activities were the same such as island hopping and kayaking. We rented kayaks one day and made our way to two islands. The first was just me and Michael; we had the whole beach to ourselves! After some snorkeling (or as my dive husband says, dorkeling) we kayaked to the second island. I hope the photos do it justice!!  

kayaking

The second island

We also went on an island hopping tour. It was a lot busier compared to Port Barton, but the islands were incredible. We saw caves and lagoons and did some dorkeling. 

We stayed in Corong Corong Beach, which is about a 15 minute walk to El Nido. It's famous for the beautiful sunsets. Every night we sat on the porch, had a drink and watched the sunset before heading to town for dinner. 

We're very blessed to be able to visit countries like these, and I hope the job search for next year takes us in a place as stunning as Palawan! 

My plan was to write about Nepal (months ago) and Istanbul, and another post about Kuwait with a neat video I found...I'll get to it Insh'allah before our February trip when we meet Mr. Steve and Mrs. Debbie in Rome, Italy! 

Back to the Grind

I must say, writing this post feels like a difficult task. I loved hearing feedback this summer, but I didn't realize how many people were keeping up with us! Pressure is on! ; ) 

I had an incredible summer!!! Family, friends, food, drinks and of course..

the beach : )

Now we're back in Kuwait. I'm teaching first grade this year-still all boys. I never thought I would end up teaching a primary grade, but I love it!! And I have a really sweet class!

I'm really blessed this year! I have great kids, a collaborative and motivated grade level team, understanding and hardworking administration and an awesome TA!!! I think any fellow teacher understands that all of these rarely line up so well! 

As I've mentioned before, I live in an apartment building that only houses teachers from ACA. This year, I live on 4th floor with our friends. It's like a college dorm again, but instead of talking about studying for tests we're talking about making tests. Just one more reason why it's going to be a great school year!! 

Oh, and have I mentioned the travel??  We leave for Nepal in less than a week! 

We'll be doing a foot hill trek up Poon Hill. 

Fun fact: 

Mt. Mitchell (highest peak in NC) elevation: 2,037m

Poon Hill elevation: 3,210m

Yikes!! I'm used to sea level : ) But they say it's a nice hike through villages and up stone stairs-exhausting, but nice.

I'll update when we get back!

Summertime

Tomorrow at 2:45pm I will officially be on summer break!

The past two weeks have been a blur. May 30th was my class's end of year party. After that, none of the students came to school. So the past two weeks have been spent cleaning, packing and planning for next year.

Tomorrow night we catch a flight to Amsterdam. We'll spend three days there, then I'll fly home and Michael will be Alaska bound. I have never been to Europe, so I'm glad my first city will be Amsterdam. I've heard it is beautiful and relaxing. We're looking forward to seeing the Anne Frank museum and riding bikes through the city!

But I really can't wait to get back to North Carolina and on the beach!!!

This past week has been incredibly dusty and averaging 110 F. The dust gives you headaches, sore throat, dry skin and it's brutal on contacts! So yes, I'm looking forward to the humidity : )

And of course, I cannot wait to see my family and friends! Five sleeps and I'll be stateside! See y'all soon!!

Family

I had a very interesting conversation with a seventh grader I tutor who is studying for his social studies exam. The question was "Describe Ancient Roman family structure." We talked about how its very similar to Kuwait-three generations in a household.

Me: In America, it's just the mom, dad and kids.
Student: What about grandparents and cousins?
Me: The grandparents live by themselves and cousins live with their parents.
Student: What about the nannies?
Me: Well, we don't have nannies.
Student: Why?
Me: Well it's very rare to have nannies or maids. it's expensive.
Student: Then who washes the dishes?
Me: [holding back a giggle] The mom or the kids. Sometimes the dad.
Student: [blank stare]
Me: Kids usually have weekly chores like dusting, mopping, folding laundry...

We spent another 10 minutes discussing chores and allowances.

His question was so genuine. He has grown up in a house with 15 family members: parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. Plus at least five nannies, a few drivers and other help. We had to tutor at a different table today, because the table we normally sit at was set up for family lunch. There were place settings for 20 people. Just a regular Saturday lunch. I think most families in America only do that a few times a year!

He said on Saturdays, his cousins like to play a big football game. But they don't have a yard-just a tiled outside area beside the basement. And it's going to be 109 today! I wonder how different their childhood would be if nature was a part of play. We rolled around in the grass, climbed trees, went to the beach, played in the sand and water. In the south, winters are mild and if you're from the north you enjoyed playing the snow. I know I say it all the time-but this is the hardest part of living in Kuwait.

Only 3 weeks left!

Bali

It's hard to blog, knowing I'll be home in 6 weeks!

For spring break Michael and I went with five friends to Bali.

The travel time was longer than our other trips we've taken. It was 12 hours in the air. We flew Etihad which is a nice airline and very comfortable. Each flight was delayed so we didn't have any layovers. We arrived at Uns Hotel in Kuta Beach Friday night. The town is pretty touristy, especially for surfers. The beach is okay-a bit of trash, but we were just happy to be at the beach! The restaurant right beside Uns is The Balcony, where we ate every meal. Their margaritas and seafood was delicious! Most of our time was spent by the pool getting sun.

On Tuesday we went white water rafting. It was our first time, so we didn't know what to expect. The guides just give you a helmet, life jacket and paddle and walk you down a steep 400m to the river. Before we got in the raft, we had to learn the commands: forward, back, and my favorite Boom Boom!! That means your about to hit a rock-lean in the middle of the raft so you don't fall out. I was terrified most of the way. We would come to a part of the river with rapids, paddle hard, and then relax a few minutes before the next rapids. That's when we would look around and realize we're in a beautiful jungle!

When it was done they fed us soup, fried rice, egg, prawn chips and fried noodles. I ate every bit of it! 

We slept the whole was back!

After Kuta Beach, we headed to Ubud. If you've read Eat Pray Love, you know all about it! Michael found a beautiful villa a little bit outside of Ubud in the middle of rice paddies.

We spent more time by the pool, got massages, visited Monkey forest and took a 40km bike tour down a volcano. The bike tour was my favorite part!

 We started by visiting a coffee plantation. We learned all about Luwak coffee which is special....the coffee beans are eaten by little mammals called luwaks, digested and collected again.

The coffee after it's been eaten. 

We all tried it. It just tasted like coffee, but apparently it can be  pretty expensive in the states. 

The bike tour was all downhill, through villages and rice paddies.

The photos don't do it justice! It was the brightest green I have ever seen!

This part was towards the end and was my favorite-palm trees on both sides. 

After our adventure, we had a home cooked Balinese lunch..more like feast! It was delicious!

Michael and his friend stayed a few more days. They went to a small coastal town called Tulamben. They rented scooters, went to a cockfight and lots of diving. Michael said the diving was nice. They dove two wrecks, a couple of reefs and a wall- all shore dives. And old Balinese ladies carried two sets of equipment on their heads down the beach...including air tanks.


Bali was never on my list of places to visit, but I'm glad we went.

Safari in Tanzania

Winter break was unbelievable!

We flew into Kilimanjaro airport in Tanzania. I wish I had taken a photo of the mountain. Kilimanjaro is huge and almost looks out of place. We stayed in Arusha that night and started our safari the following morning.

 

I really wasn't sure what to expect from the safari. I always pictured older couples with tan hats, vests and binoculars hanging out of a truck. It turned out to be an incredible experience!

1. The Animals

Everyone asks if you saw the Big Five - African elephant, Cape buffalo, black rhino, lion and leopard. We saw all but the rhino, and many more!

Turned out one of my favorite animals to see (I know because I took a hundred photos of them) was the African elephant. 

The most beautiful was the leopard. The picture just does not do it justice. It's coat looked like it had been painted on and it shimmered.

My favorite moment was when we saw a lion and lioness on the side of the road, enjoying the shade. Our guide said they come to this area for one week to mate, and the only shade is on the side of the trails. We stopped, opened our windows and took photos. At one point the lion got up, looked right at Michael and walked toward the truck. The guide started rolling his window up as fast as his could, and Michael got one shot, then slammed his window shut! This was the photo:

I also loved watching the animals interact. in the Serengeti, you see wildebeests and zebras for miles! Thousands and thousands of them, eating grass and drinking water. Sometimes they look up at the truck and move from the trail. One time we looked and saw 30 zebras all looking up in the same direction, not moving. A lioness was laying in the grass about 70 yards away. It was so cool! 

2. The camping

The only other time I've been camping was for one night in the desert, so we're counting this as my first time camping! We stayed on campsites, had great food, bathrooms and showers. The first night was near Lake Manyara, the second in the Serengeti and the last on the Ngorogoro crater rim. The second and third night I woke up around 2AM. The first was because of a baby elephant and hyenas  and on the crater rim a Cape buffalo was eating grass right beside our tent! I could see his shadow! (a little scary) 

3. Spending hours in a truck

When we decided to do a safari, my first concern was spending so much time riding around. I thought it would be boring, but I was wrong! The change in habitats was amazing. For example, driving from Lake Manyara to the Serengeti took us around the Ngorogoro Crater. We saw lush forests, green rolling hills, and dusty grasslands. Also, we only had one other person with us on the safari, so we had plenty of room in the truck and good company.

We checked "Safari" off our bucket list! On the last day we thought, "When will we ever see animals like this again?" 

The next post will be about our trip to Zanzibar!

Random Updates

I wish I updated more, but I feel there is nothing interesting enough right now to dedicate a whole blog post to. So unfortunately today you'll just get my random updates and thoughts.

I went to Bahrain 2 weeks ago! It was completely last minute-I booked the night before! I went with four other girls and it was a great time. I think it was the company that made it so much fun rather than the country. It is very similar to Kuwait, but less conservative. It was a nice weekend away.

Travel updates:

**In 6 days Michael will be home.

**In 2 weeks we will be on a plane to Tanzania for a safari.

**In 3 weeks we will fly to Zanzibar for a tropical beach vacation with mom and dad.

**In April it's Spring Break in Bali.

**In May we're heading to Dubai for a long weekend.

**In June we're making a 3 night stop in Amsterdam, then heading back to NC!!

**In July we'll visit friends in Canada.

**The next post will be about August : )

We are so blessed to be able to do so much travelling over the next 6 months. I would have never dreamed of living in the middle east, but it has been an amazing experience. The location has allowed us to go to places that I have always wanted to go, and some places I never thought about. So far I have been to 8 countries. My goal is 30 before 30!

Teachers can relate to this: We need a break!! The teachers need it and the kids need it! We're on week 15 and still have 2 weeks to go! Fortunately, next week we have a field trip, a school wide Sports Day and a project presentation day, so it will fly by! ....I hope : )

I think the only thing that has kept me sane this past month has been yoga and Insanity. I like working out....when I actually do it! Living in an apartment building with all of your friends and coworkers is great, because we can motivate each other to workout-and the gym is downstairs! Insanity workouts are a blast and I've fallen in love with yoga!

Well those are my random updates. I'll write another before Winter Break!