just another week in the PI

Yeah, so just another week in the PI. my supervisor was out of town for monday and tuesday, so i had no work to do, which was good, because i wasn't feeling well. So monday i went to the beach with Erin -- we swam and laid out. I'll never get used to how we have to swim; shirt and shorts -- no bathing suits, they are uber conservative. So needless to say, my farmers tan is kickin. I came down with hives this week, i don't know where i got them or what they are from. I have a medical book with all of the diseases they have here, i went through all of them. At one point i was convinced that i had typhoid, giardia, scabies, or denghae fever. but turns out it was just an allergic reaction to something, no cool diseases yet. so the rest of the week was pretty slow, i only had one day of work. erin and i have language class together every wednesday -- it's great we get to make cookies, out teacher has an oven, not many people do here -- it's a total luxury item. Ovens here are really small, probably half the size of an oven in the states. So this weeks class was us learning how to yell at people when they are trying to rip us off -- which happens alot, because they think that we are ignorant tourists. the trike drivers are the worst, a trip that only costs 7 pesos, they try to charge 40. Yeah, until i break out my ilonggo -- indi, syiete ka pesos sa st theresa, kamahal bastos ka!!! nagaestar ako upod si ti viol para duha ka tuig, ko kabalou tagpila ang plete, syiete ka pesos !!! You should see their faces in confusion, why is this white kana speaking to me in ilonggo, and how does she know the fare. they have stopped trying to rip me off, and they all know where i live now, so they drop me off right at my doorstep with out me even having to tell them. but when other kana's come to visit me, they still try to rip them off. they suck. i am in iloilo city now, its a little after 3pm on friday. we are catching a 3am bus to caticlan -- the northern part of panay island -- takes about 4 hours. then we are taking a boat over to boracay island for the 4th of july. it's a total tourist destination, so lots of westerners -- we can wear our bathing suits and not eat rice. well i may still wear my tank top, i still have hives. YUK!!!