Books, boards, cocks and crooks

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Hello everyone! Not so many words this month but loads of pictures. First up is more about the books for Ibuan school scheme followed by some illegal fishing then the surf contest, cock fighting and finally a coup attempt.

A big thank you to everyone who has already sent in donations for books and other teaching supplies at Ibuan primary school. The totaliser (who remembers Blue Peter appeals?) has already been extended past the 20,000 peso mark (250 pounds). A re-arranged schedule means that I will be back there on the 5th of December for photographing the Christmas greetings, a management inspection upset the original plans. A few people have really got into the spirit of things and decided not to send any cards at all this year which is great.

For anyone who has a Pay Pal account you can also use that to send donations - all you need is my email address and to have or create a pay pal account. www.paypal.co.uk is the place to go. Otherwise the direct bank account transfer is working well just email me for details.


Demonstrating that environmental protection laws can be enforced the police apprehended a medium sized fishing boat that was operating in the municipal waters of Lanuza. The local fisherman were very happy (no outsiders stealing their fish) and the boat tied up near my house has provided a fun diving platform for the local kids. Its good to see the law being implemented. It’s a common comment that the Philippines has great laws but very poor implementation.


The big event of the year in Lanuza is the surf contest. This year the weather came good with a solid swell and only a sprinkle of rain. I wasn’t a competitor but did my fair share of organizing and judging. The judging was fun (the power!!) but needed concentration especially as the heats were kicked off at 6am each morning to take advantage of the best waves. As well as the surfing we had live music every night and of course the bikini contest. Best band of the week award had to go to a 11 piece reggae act, they just kept on playing and had the whole town dancing, the trombone player was very cool. I am getting better on the board myself but the skill shown by Filipino and foreign surfers alike was spectacular.

Showing less skill as a teacher I took Maria out to try surfing. We couldn’t use the normal surfing area because of the contest so headed down the beach a bit instead. The waves were hollow and heavy and there was a strong current pulling down the coast - not ideal for a first try! Anyway after a long paddle everything ended well and we gave the guys in the judging tower a good laugh as they were able to watch (and write about) the whole lesson.

For the non surfers there were a variety of events including a 2 cock derby cock fight. Since coming to the Philippines I haven’t been to see the cock fighting being frankly a bit squeamish about the idea. I couldn’t leave without seeing it once though as its so deeply at the core of the rural Philippines. This seemed like a good chance. The fights themselves are quick, sometimes bloody and always grim. The fun bit is watching the betting before each fight and trying to work out what is going on - we never did! Lots of money changes hands in these events with a months wages going on one 20 second fight not being unusual. The betting is very often with money that the families cannot afford to lose.


To finish the blog with some excitement we had a bizarre coup attempt on Thursday 29th Nov when some military top brass lead by a senator barricaded themselves in a 5 star hotel in Manila. The idea was to spark a general uprising within the military against the president. What they got was a tank in the lobby and a few canisters of tear gas. It was all over in a few hours with no big showdown. During this I was sat with the other VSOs in a hotel just a short distance away. We found ourselves in the centre of things as ex president Estrada (who himself was overthrown in a coup) dropped into the hotel for lunch along with his entourage. Never a dull moment!


Another blog very soon as I have info from the school and a weekend away to catch up on.
I hope your all well
Have fun
Matt

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Photos

Children at the school
It was a chaotic day at the school repairing for a inspection. We added to the fun by poking around and taking pictures

Ibuan children
kids just hanging around at home

Illegal fishing boat busted
Its good to see the law in action not just policies. This boat was caught fishing inside municipal waters without a permit.

In the hot seat
Jackson, Matt and Matt judging the mens shortboard quater finals.

Short and tall
Maria posing with my surfboard

Surf lessons
After watching me take Maria out for her first try at surfing the judges in the tower posted this notice on my door. Needless to say it was not the best first surf lesson!

Ten toes
Small waves, big style

Punta left
Matt (not me but a top Aussie surfer bloke) getting some good waves. He made it out of this one!!!!!

Board number 2
After snapping his longboard Jackson tries out a bamboo single fin

Cock pit
This is where cocks go to stop crowing

Feathers flying
Here its on top but the white one lost - some people won big money on this fight

Comments

[Linda McGinley]

T-shirt
Nice to see the jogscotland tee-shirt in the photo Matt! Great to see your latest blog, too. Best wishes. Linda x