On Wednesday, I and the rest of the DTS crew when island hopping to Snake Island, about 1-hour bangka-ride off of Honda Bay. The island has it's name from the long winding sandbar jutting out of one side. We rented a few snorkels and swam above the coral reef, where we could see literally hundred of fish of all sorts of colors. If you feed them bread, they will it nibble it right out of your fingers. I have seen beneath the sea in pictures and in nature videos, but it doesn't compare to seeing it in real life. I took [View Full Entry]

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There's not a whole lot that I could write about and grab any attention from this past week. It's been delightfully slow here. Last night we had a birthday cake and movie night for two of our aging residents. It was a fantastic hoot of a time. Anyways, on to more entertaining things... In exactly a week, I will beginning outreach phase. It's a vague term, yes, but I will try to describe it, at least what it will mean for me. First of all, we will be relocating to another part of Palawan for some time. Perhaps 2 weeks. Then [View Full Entry]

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As part of DTS, we went for two weeks to an area of Palawan called Ransang, where we did minor outreach to tribes in the mountain. This is journal-ized description of those days. Saturday, Feb 02/08 We left the Santa Lourdes base at 3AM. I walked with half the group for about 45 minutes to the highway and more, until we got picked up by the multi-cab who took the first group to the bus stop. The bus ride was typical at first, but then got pretty bumpy as we approached more remote areas. These buses are built like army tanks. [View Full Entry]

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Pictures: Sabang & The Underground River 1 Sabang & The Underground River 2 Last weekend, as previously hoped, me and two others from the base went to the Underground River in Sabang. When we hopped off our tricycle to Brgy, we faced the option of riding the top of a jeepney or taking an air conditioned bus. Without a moment’s hesitation, I chose the natural A/C atop the jeepney. The others wanted the adventure too, so we climbed th [View Full Entry]

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Pictures: The Croc Farm Last weekend, three others from the DTS and I went to the crocodile farm and animal reserve. It was not half bad, despite the fact that the crocs were not in the wild but rather secured within the cold confines of plastic tubs and concrete walls. Obviously, this is where an endangered animal had to be to saved from the obliteration of it’s race, but I didn’t really sense the viciousness I hoped I would. I like to experience things for what they are, and viewing ferocious animal [View Full Entry]

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OK, I seriously do not have much to write this week. We learned how to study the Bible this week. We had team-building activities on Friday afternoon. I was mad at several people this week, and then God thwarted me for it afterwards. Severe sleep deprivation and falling asleep in class found their way into the week as well. We had a Summer Of Service team from Australia come and stay with us for a few days, so the extra 15 people made for an exceptionally busy base. I'm considering getting a tattoo. Perhaps in the dumpsite. I've gotten comments from [View Full Entry]

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Warning: Due to the fact that not much happened physically, I will probably talk a lot about what happened in my brain (don't worry, there's always something going on in my brain). Usually I save this for my personal blog, but I need some material, and if what it spits out doesn't scare you away, you will at least know me better. Consider my openness a treat. I don't have much to write. Sorry to any faithful readers, who are either living vicariously through me, enjoy a story or two a week, or just want to know what I am up [View Full Entry]

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It's been a while since I've written, not because I haven't had the time, but because my last visit to an Internet cafe was a last-minute excursion. If I hadn't so many emails and messages to respond to, I would have written it there, but the computer access at the base is the only reason I am able to do as much as I do. So this is me pre-writing my blog to recap the past two weeks. Christmas and New Year's On December 24th, in the morning, the DTS helped the staff host a Christmas party for HANDS, one of [View Full Entry]

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Kalabaw River Expedition Last week was a busy one for the students -- as I'm sure it was for the staff. Near the beginning of the week, I had already set my heart on going to the beach and I'd be darned if anything was gonna stop me from going. Others had ditched on similar plans the weekend before, and this time I was planning to go by myself. I worked hard to get everything done before the weekend, and already saw the hope of freedom on Friday afternoon. That first chance I had on Friday afternoon, I went for a [View Full Entry]

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Things here have been pretty quiet this last week, in terms of activity. Paradoxically, it's been getting noisier and noisier by the day, it seems. Sleep is a luxury here because of it. Take for example: - Geckos croaking in my bedroom, who make their squeak-toy sound any time of day or night. - Up to 3 street dogs vocalizing across the hillside at each other in the middle of the night at high volume. One in particular tends to howl as if doing the deed with another dog. This one is particularly sleep-intrusive, for obvious reasons. - Roosters. 6:30AM is [View Full Entry]

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