Monday afternoon however, I wrote this Sunday afternoon in . In Manila the capital city of the Philippines. A big city. The last time I wrote it was Wednesday which was the last night at my home-stay. We had a big day which was a heap of fun. When we finally got dropped of at the university when the day was over Carly and I walked to our home stay... I got a beer. We had supper and she went to bed fairly early. However, I decided to go out and play a few games of pool with the family. It was such a great last night. Even though there was a language barrier between us all at times we found a way to communicate and they all felt like family. It kind of sucked, just as I was getting to know my family, get into a routine and start to feel rested it was over-- I do wish the stay here in the Philippines was longer. I love it here and I know I will come back. How can I not when I was shown such welcoming. I will miss the children, every day when I came home they were all there to welcome me. I will miss my home stay family and all the little moments that meant so much... washing dishes together, the beach, going for walks, laughs and meals together. I am not sure if it was life changing for me,maybe I don't realize it at the moment or something. However, if not life changing I know that I have grown in more ways then one. I have come to know more of who I am which I guess could be life changing in some way or another... All of life's moments can be life changing if you let them... if you allow it you ca grow and learn more about who you are and what you want in life.
Thursday morning I got up and went for a run with Alberto, my home-stays cousin. Lanie (my home-stay mum) came as well but went on her bike. We went to the airport and had breakfast with Lanie's younger brother Danny and then went home. We went to the mall to pick up a few things and then finished getting packed and such. We headed to the university at 1:30pm and had presentations and some discussions. The evening was a farewell and thank-you dinner with lots of local Philippine food. I tried baloute (I don't know how to spell it) anyways I will never eat it again... I don't even want to explain what it was because the thought of it makes me feel ill. Basically it is a hard boiled duck egg with the duck fetus still in it. So, when you crack it open you drink the juice which is ok... but then you can see this partially formed baby duck... with hair and everything... I didn't eat the whole thing, just a piece but that was it... I was sweating and gaging. Hahahaha I swallowed a little bit... egg and baby duck-- never again!!! I lost my appetite and it had taken a few days for me to forget the image of it. Everything else has been super delicious even the pig intestine!!!!
We took an over night bus to Manila which actually wasn't to bad... had the day to relax at the hotel which was nice and then had dinner here. Saturday was a pretty busy day visiting museums and going on a walking tour of the history of Manila. There is a lot of history here in the city and in the Philippines. If you have been reading my blogs you should really read about the history here... the walking tour had one of the top guides in the city and lets just say he left quite an impression on a few of us.
Now it is Sunday. We got up and went to church and a few of us skipped out on the mall to come back to the hotel and chill. We had Subway for lunch which was a nice comfort. I loved the home cooked food here in the Philippines but I will admit if you are not staying with a family or doing your own cooking it is hard to find good, healthy food. I mean you can but man there a huge western influence here (American)-- if you know the history you would understand why. They love food here and love sugar! Pop and cake for breakfast sometimes!!! And the only healthy option at the school canteen was a banana everything else was junk food. It was a bit depressing. It almost seems backwards because in Canada we are changing the system so that food is being taken out of schools but over here it is everywhere!!!!!! I've been pretty good at staying away from it but it sucks sometimes when its the only option-- that or be hungry which I have chosen a few times. Unlike Malaysia where there was a variety of ethnic foods to choose from (a bit more here in the city) in Laoag where we were living not so much-- Basically Philippine and American. It was interesting to learn that many South East Asian countries don't consider the Philippines to be Asian because of their religious beliefs and the large American influence. Very interesting.
Anyways, flying to Thailand tomorrow!! I am super stoked. Will write more soon. Love you all. xoxoxoxox -Nikki :)
Mom
10/23/2012 01:26:44 am

OK - I think I would have passed on the duck egg and the pig intestine. Gotta give a credit for giving it a try. Sounds like some of the food that they have on Survivor. That is where this season has been filimed.

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