happy 4th of july

i hope everyone had a happy 4th of july!!! i sure did, the best weekend ever. Erin and I left Guimaras around noon on the 1st. We went to iloilo to have lunch and use the internet before we left for boracay. We went to the grocery store, and stocked up on food -- american food--everything we always took for granted. I know i talk about american food alot, but when we get to eat it, wow, so exciting--especially when all i see all week is pinoy food, like blood soup. Yes it is curdled blood with pork fat -- and that's just one of the more appetizing dishes. So we were in iloilo hanging out, because our bus did not leave until 3am. we watched 2 movies, war of the worlds and a lot like love, just to pass the time. finally around 10pm we went to find some dinner. around 12am we headed to the bus station, thinking back it probably wasn't the smartest idea. there were 5 of us, nicole, erin, karen, lloyd and me, so we felt relatively safe -- besides we can all speak ilonggo fairly well now. we waited there for almost 4 hours, yeah, the bus was on philippine time -- always late. we rode the bust from iloilo to caticlan, which is at the northern part of the island of panay, it took about 4 1/2 hours. then we rode a boat from the caticlan wharf to boracay -- wow -- boracay is amazing. it has white sand beaches and crystal clear water as far as you can see. there are reef's, which we snorkled on all day the 1st day. and there were westerners there, mostly europeans -- so for once i wasn't the only white person on the island, and noone really stared or yelled at us. Some guys in our group met this woman venus, she has a 7.5 million peso house ontop of a hill overlooking the ocean. We got to stay in this huge house all weekend. i haven't seen a real house since i left the US. it had showers and flush toilets. they had plush couches and cable tv with a remote -- all sitting on the most beautiful island i have ever seen. it was a great weekend to celebrate the 4th and just hang out with friends. we swam all day, then at night after a real shower, we went out. boracay looks like a movie set -- all of the restaurants, bars and music stands with live bands are made of bamboo -- with table and chairs set up on the beach made of drift wood. i woke up every morning looking out over the ocean, thinking wow, i can't believe i live here. it was kind of sad to end the best weekend i've had since coming to the PI. we left at 5:30am tuesday the 5th to catch a boat to caticlan-- rode the bus 4 1/2 hours back to iloilo, then hopped the boat to guimaras. so,yeah -- on the way back to guimaras our boat broke down in the middle of the iloilo straight. we sat in this boat with 45 other people, waves crashing up on us for about 30 minutes befor another boat came to tow us in. i should have known not to get on a boat named "the burt and marge". i finally got home around 4:00 pm. such a long day -- i fell asleep around 6:00 and woke up at 8am the next morning. now i am just trying to figure out how to start working -- they still don't know what to do with me here yet. so i just go into my office for a couple of hours each day and take a book or sometimes i just hang out. the value system is very different here. you don't prove yourself on how hard you work or how much you get accomplished -- it's all about making personal relationships. it's so backwards, so i have to force myself to go into this office every day and just hang out -- even if there is nothing to do. i mean theyre not doing anything either -- they are govt workers, why would they need to do work???