Long time, no see! Yes, I am still alive and kicking over here in the Philippines, but have not been so successful at the blogging thing recently. So, I decided it is far past time and I will submit a brief update of the past four months...(and due to internet speeds and loading pictures, slightly out of order.)

We'll start with October...

October brought International Week with it, an annual celebration in the Elementary School. Each day had a theme, culminating in a parade of continents.

There was "Animal Day"

(Yes, that's me, as a panda. This was quite embarrassing, especially since I had some of my international friends from church coming to speak that day to my 5th graders. I looked a bit, well, different. They might've said scary. )

International Food Fest

And a day to dress in a national costume.

It was a fun week, but I definitely appreciated having a break the following week!

More to come soon...

Yes, school has officially begun, and I am starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by stuff. It wasn't too bad until today, when I looked at my schedule and realized I've been instructed to do 45 minutes of stuff in 25 minutes. Maybe with adults these things can happen, but with ten year olds, not so much.

Aside from all of that, I am really enjoying my class this year. There are, of course, a few that can't sit still, or seem to find that "quiet, inside" voice, but all in all, they're a fun group. Only 16 so far, though of course, that could change. They're also a pretty bright bunch, and I anticipate a fairly good and much less frustrating year. Thanks to all those who have been praying!

We had a three-day weekend, due to yet another national holiday, so I took the opportunity to head back to Puerto Galera for a diving weekend with my friends from Brent Int'l School. Friday night I drove out to the school to stay the night with Christy and Wendy, which took a 3 1/2 hour drive! I wasn't quite expecting to arrive at midnight! Anyway, we went off to bed straight away and got up before the sun to head out to the beach.

Upon arrival, no one wanted to dive. Shocking. What were they thinking? But, since I wanted to spend time with them, I joined a hike over the mountain, where we hung out at a more private beach resort for the day.

And onto important matters...the diving! Did a couple dives over the weekend, and confirmed that, yes, PG really is a fantastic place to dive. The 3x I've been there have all been amazing. This time I saw pygmy seahorses for the first time, ever! I knew they were tiny, but the reality of just how small they were escaped me until Monday morning!

This little guy is greatly magnified for the photo. I love my macro magnifying lense! Can you see the seahorse?

Can you find the two of them?

A HUGE nudibranch

A pretty little shrimp. Is that redundant?

Gorgeous!

So I was driving home from Wisconsin and decided to try out a suggestion of "fun things to do" I'd read about recently. I also happened to be in the car with my friend Ann, who is usually game for my crazy ideas.

Now, watch the video...

We were actually meant to be inside the fence with the cows, but due to unknown electric fences, barbed wire, trespassing laws, and farmers with shotguns, we modified the instructions to fit our needs. In the article I read, it says the cows will make a circle around you. Now I just need to make friends with a farmer.

Anyway, it was hilarious to watch the cows come galloping over to see what was going on! And we tried this a couple more times. Give it a go and let me know how it turns out for you!

Thursday morning: The Eco-Divers boat...sadly chugging off for a day at Coral Island, without me.

Ah, back home in Manila again. Ok, now that the nostalgic feeling is over, I'm already missing my little island paradise. thursday morning began the return jpurney, a reverse of my adventures a month ago.I boarded the "speedboat" to the mainland, where I caught a bus for a 6 hour ride BACK to KL. This morning I awoke at 3 am in order to get to the airport in Kuala Lumpur to catch my 7:30 flight back to the Philippines. Upon arrival, I boarded yet another bus to ride down to Manila, where I waited for a friend who fought thru hordes of traffic to come pick me up at the bus station. After all of that, I'm now ready to be back sitting in the dive shop or plunging to the depths, rather than facing traffic and city life. Blech.

My course finished, officially, on Tuesday night when I finished my dive site map and my instructor, Tom, "verified it adequate". My DMT (dive master trainee) partner, Shelly (He is a guy, so don't be confused by the name and long hair. Blame the Dutch.) and I had one last dive together on the house reef Wednesday afternoon...

Here I am, carefully inspecting the rare saddleback anemonefish nest, while Shelly had a bite to eat at the Purple Table Coral Restaurant

And of course, the classic self-taking photo...underwater

New wildlife came into the picture when the boys found a lovely python lurking about our chalets...

...so we all had to get a picture with the lil' cutie. Shelly was a bit nervous about the whole idea

My last night, with Tom, my instructor (FYI, he's 20, not 14 as originally suspected!) and Shelly

Me and "the boys", my companions for the last month:

Tim (UK), Tom (UK),Shelly (Netherlands), Ludo (France), Ewan (Malaysia)

More underwater pics to come soon...