OUTreach #2 - to Palet via Kapalong, Gupitan

Getting ready to leave thIS is how we ride 2.5 hours up into the mountains.. as we went I wore my hiking boots and kakhi pants. unFORTunately, we got stuck in one of the mud ruts we passed through. It seemed like an eternity as we sat there, tittering on 2 wheels, when in reality in was probably only a second before the bike starting tipping. The heavy bag of food was attached to the left side, and over we went - all 3 of us catching it with our feet, but not having enough strength to keep it up, I was FORced to put BOTh boots ankle deep in mud. hahaa, it was fun, i guess. At least I didn't have to worry about getting dirty after that. On the way home I opted for sandals to speed up and down the hills, fly past embankments and 'round corners so fast it would make your toes curl, if nothing more than to keep my flip-flops on! I got pretty good at jumping off the back of the bike, if ever stuck so the driver could do his thing up front.

We stayed the first 2 nights, in Lanang, FLorida. Here Ermie, Michelle, Serena, Mary Jean, and Guang-guang pose while eating dinner the first night in the village - fresh (and I do mean frESh) chicken soup and rice, and bananas for desert.

This is the room we slept in the first 2 nights - on woven mats atop the wood floor, under a blue mosquito net! It was pretty cold. But after sleeping on such hard surfaces, I don't like my own bunk bed.. I woke up sorer this morning than any Other morning this week! The precious little children were CONstantly peeking in, staring at what we were doing, even if we weren't doing much of anything! We went to their school in the evening and played "teacher" (i was the teacher =D) and, when it was time to leave, they struck up a song unexpectedly "goodbye my tea-cher, good-bye! goodbye me tea-cher, good-bye! It was incredible, aaaand made me want to actually bE their teacher. How cOOL would it be to be the village grade school teacher?! ..there's sO much to dO in life!

Serena brought plasticine for the kids to play with, and we had SUCh a great time sculpting things. It's cool to see what "they" come up with to make, as opposed to what we would think of. One little boy held up what looked like a bowl (we'd make each other guess), but I was wrong...he'd made the toilet bowl in the outhouse! hahaa. aweee.

WHile we give the women prenatal care, the mEN are all about having their blood pressure checked.. as the feared "high blood" is talked about quite frequently. Needless to say, I took a lOT of blood pressures.