Greetings from Boracay!

Hello Everyone that reads this. This is a post by me Beth and its probably going to be a long one. But Ill break it down into sections.
1. Boracay--Right now I am in Boracay. This is a resort town south of San Agustin. I arrived here on Saturday July 17. We (the other volunteers and I) are here for my birthday, renew visas, and to see the sights. My day started early at 4 in the morning. I have had to take several modes of transportation in order to get here. First a 30 minute trike ride from Carmen (a barangay of San Agustin) to San Agustin. Then a 2 hour jeepney ride to Looc. On the jeepney ride we fit 30+ people and 20 sacks of broken coconuts. They use the coconuts to make soap and oils. From Looc we got on a small boat and traveled for 4 hours to Boracay. I then spent the rest of the day swimming and lying around on the beach.

2. Typhoon--Andrew thanks for your concern about the storm and I. It missed were I was staying. We just had two days of a steady rain. The storm did pass through Manila. Kleyns and Smits were with out power for 48 hours but other wise all right. It was the lowest catorgory storm.

3. Transportation--In the Philippines I have experienced many modes of transportation. They are all over crowded and would be deemed unsafe in the States. Did you know that motorcycles can fit 5 adults? or a trike can hold 15 people? Jeepneys also are interesting to ride in. Basically there is no limit to the amount of people that they can hold. People just hang on to the sides. I wish i could post pictures of them but I guess you will have to wait until I return.

4. Church--I have been unable to attend church as of yet. In San Agustin there is only the Roman Catholic church. Last weekend I tried to attend a Protestant church but no one showed up at the time on the sign. Tomorrow I have found a Bapist church in Boracay to attend and the service is in English which will be nice. I hope that everything works out. I am really looking forward to the last weekend in July when I get to attend our church there.

5. Carmen Feista--Thursday and Friday (July 15 and 16) I attended a feista in Carmen. This was in honor of their patron saint Mary. Thursday night was a cultural show. The native dress is so wonderfully designed. We also got to see traditional dances. Friday morning started early with Mass. It was all in Visayan so I did not understand what was going on. It also did not help that I do not know much about Mass to begin with. After Mass we met the Bishop (I think). He took us to the area where the contest was to be held. My friends Kristi, Nicole, and I were asked to judge. This contest was a dance contest after the Sabwagan tradition. This is a ritual where the people throw flowers to a statue of the Virgin Mary in an act of gratiude for her goodness. (Yes I know there is a lot of false theology in this but I am a guest of honor and sometimes you just have to go with the flow). After the contest we got to have roast pig. It was so good. I ate way to much. Later that night we went to the beauty pageant. Once again we where guest of honor. It ran pretty much like ones in the states.

6. Cleaning the river-- Part of my job is working in the public health office. One of the projects that we started on is cleaning out the river that runs next to town. It is so full of trash and weeds and dead animals that it is not running anymore. This was not something I was looking forward to. There is glass everywhere and no one has proper shoes. Most workers were wearing flip-flops. We took down a tree with machetes that should have used a chain saw. This is going to be an on going project with a cleaning of the river every Thursday. I wish there was a way for me to get out of working it but there is not.

7. Public Health--Other things that I do in the public health office is clinic visits in the morning and immunizations. During the clinic visits I take vitals and try to get the chief complaint. This interview process takes place right in the waiting room. There is no privacy here at all. Immunizations is a process that takes place during the first week of every month. It was a week of crying children. I am glad it is done.

8. Hospital--I am learning so much in the hospital. Hands on experience is the best way to learn. This is also a really tough place to be. They have so little. No xray, no blood transfusions, no surgery. We only use gloves to deliver babies. Delivering babies is something I really enjoy. Which is a good thing because there is another baby born pretty much everyday. Even though I am done with my OB rotation at school I had not seen a delivery yet. Well very quickly into my time here I got the chance to see one. Well I also delivered (caught) the baby. Talk about learning on your feet. Here it is normal for the nurses to deliver. The doctors only deliver if it is the mother's first child or there are complications. I also have had the opportunity to practice my IV skills. Here it is very important to get the IV in on the first try because if you do not you have to use the same needle--not sanitary at all. I my first chance to practice my skills was on a dehydrated 3 month old. I was so glad to get it in.

9. Food-- The food here is amazing. We have fish and rice for almost every meal but it is so good. I am trying to learn how to cook so I can bring back the taste to the States

Well Im all typed out and its nearly time for supper. Thank you all for your prayers and concerns.