I'M NOT LISTENING

Some awesome things I've caught myself saying the past few days:


*Francisco, take the plastic bag off your head!

*Get you feet off the window!

*Don't jump out the window!

*Keep your arms inside the window!

*Don't spit in the classroom!


I mean, I've said good things too, but these stick out the most in my head.

Marshmellow Friends

Prom 2010

Third Year Students

Graduating Class 2010

The end of the school year is quickly approaching, which means that PROM is in the air! Last night was the big night for the third and fourth year students. This was my second prom, and by far the coolest thing for me personally, was the fact that I...after so many months of being in country and show at thing up early...I mean, American time... for everything... actually arrived around the same time as the other teachers (a cool 19 minutes behind schedule)!

Did you hear me?! Yes, it's true! I used to wonder how everybody knew when to show up late at the same time, and I have adapted well enough to be late with the best of them! I think this shows some real personal growth, right?! :)



Prom was fun yet again. It was probably even more fun this year due to the fact that I had actually gotten a chance to teach and get to know the students who were this year's Third Year Class. So all my "sheets OF PAPER" boys were dressed up, including Rainier who was rocking a baby pink suit and title "Star of the Night." His costar was Queenie, who had a beautiful lavender ballgown. They were a cute little pair of peeps.



Really, the only sad part of the night was when I realized that I wasn't going to get to see my second year students dress up for Prom 2011. Guess we'll just have to set up some type of live Internet stream...cause yep, big news, Inopacan is supposed to get Internet within the next few months!

Sinulog Pictures

Each group that presents will have a Queen that is always holding a Santo Nino figure.

Costumes are AMAZING!

I think, and you can totally correct me if I'm wrong, but these might be "the heathens" before Santo Nino was introduced to the islands. Whoever they were, they were hilarious and fun to pose with.

One of the queens

The parade lasted for 9 hours as bands, dance troops and floats marched through Cebu City.

These were girls who were just about to preform at the grandstand where they would be judged. All presentation stops at noon for a lunch break. I loved their flowers!

Sinulog always has the best performers. Costumes, routines, and precision is key.

Saturday night during Sinulog. IT WAS PACKED!!

Mass on Saturday night of Sinulog. I've never been in such a densely packed crowd before. At the end of the service, the priests lead the crowd with "Viva Senior Santo Nino!" or "Viva Pit Senior!"

The men here are wearing malongs, which are found more in the Mindanao region of the country.

i don't know who 'they' is

They say that there are two seasons here, the dry season and the wet season. They say that the wet season is from October to June, and the rest is dry. I guess there's some general truth to this. As I've said before in other posts, there were points during January that were sunless for over a week stretch, but once the sun breaks through the weather could be any other day during that dry season. The only truth that I think you can say about the weather here is that no matter what month, you can count on it being hot.

Connie's Hot Scale:

November- December: It's Hot
January: Can't walk to school without Sweating Hot
February-March- It's so Frickin' Hot
April-July: I'll Drive 3 hours to Taclobon just to sit in the Airconditioned Mall Hot
August-October: I Think I can Make it till the New Year Hot

solution: halo halo.

don't knock cockfighting until you've lived next to a guy with over a dozen roosters in his front yard

I can't prove it, but while I was gone for Christmas vacation, I think the rooster population on my street may have quadrupled. This is probably the biggest hurdle I've had to get over since returning . I quickly readjusted to lack of aircon, crowded transportation, and work, but man, these roosters are about to drive me crazy. I've taken to counting the number of crows I hear in a 60 second time period. The other day, it was 9pm, and I heard 9 calls. Then at 11pm, I heard 10 calls. When it was 4:30 am the next morning, I got up to 35 rooster crows. It's almost like a continuous rooster call, because by the time one rooster finished, three other have already started.

My solution: Let's up the cockfighting folks.

Let's take a drive

Last Saturday we took a walk, so this Saturday, let's take a drive.

I've been in the Philippines for 17 months, I think, and riding the buses are normal now. For example, I didn't blink an eye this morning when I got onto one of the smaller buses that runs up and down the coast of Leyte, and joined 33 other people that were on the bus that was built for 24. I thought nothing of the entire back bench of the bus being filled from floor to ceiling with old pig feed bags (basically plastic burlap bags) that were stuffed with seaweed. The guy smoking next to me on the bus didn't really bother me, ok, well maybe a little, but at least he was right next to the window and most of the smoke got carried away with the wind. I liked seeing the traveling salesmen who were hauling their pots to sell, from town to town, hoping to come home with pockets full and hands empty. And I was excited when the kid in front of me turned on his cellphone to play music... and even more excited when the music Low.

And finally, it was fun because this bus scored high on my "How Filipino is my Ride?" game. Points are given for the number of rosaries, stuffed animals, Christmas lights, other religious figures, draperies, music, and number of livestock that can be seen in the vehicle. As you've gathered from above, music was present, but it wasn't Low, so the points were not as high. The bus did have 2 rosaries hanging, so that was double points, and it also had a Sto. Nino figure. The draperies were floral print and hung above the windshield, but sadly no Christmas lights were plugged in to work off the brake lights. On the bright side however, there were multiple stuffed animals suction cupped below the drapes. All in all, a high scorer!

My mom and sister are supposed to be visiting in April, I can't wait to play this game with them. :)

Tra-la-la-la!

So I was hanging out at the school's canteen today before the 10 minute recess began, drinking some buko juice, and got to see one of the funniest mosquito slaps ever. There's one lady who comes to the school everyday to sell the best bananque ever. She's really sweet, I like her a lot. She was standing behind her bamboo table that was piled high with delicious treats when Swynford, one of the second year students, walked up to her. She says, "Come closer. Closer." He hesitantly inches forward, not sure what's going on, when all of a sudden WHAM! Out of nowhere, the sweet banaque lady slaps him on the cheek. Swynford kind of had this look of shock, like, "What did I do?! I just wanted some bananauqe!" She brings her hand away, and in the center of her palm is the splatter of blood from the mosquito that had been on his cheek. I start laughing because for some reason this is the funniest thing I've seen all day, the lady chuckles, and Swynford is left wiping off the aftermath from his face with this look of horror. In short, Bananaque Lady saves the day!