The three of us had a great time in Dumaguete though. We met some wonderful people including two Americans living in Korea, two Swedes, and a group of Filipino singer/songwriters. They were the ones who really made the weekend so memorable. I think if we had been up north with the other volunteers we would have gone through the same range of topics that we invariably always do: work, struggles at work, stupid people at work, things we don't like about being in the Philippines. I am in full support of volunteers being sounding boards for their fellow volunteers, but after a year its time to move to some new conversations.
While in Dumaguete we went snorkeling, which was absolutely amazing. My favorite part about snorkeling is that you pull up to this island and the water is beautiful and see through and all that. But looking at the water I would never have guessed the kind of party going on below. While snorkeling we saw lots of "Nemo fish" some big angel fish, beautiful corals in all the colors of the rainbow. But the best by far was seeing two sea turtles. We saw one and starting following after it, and while moving we saw this huge turtle just hanging out on the seabed. This second turtle was probably around 4 feet long and probably weighed a lot, but it moved through the water like it was flying. It was an unexpected surprise to see something so large move so quickly and so gracefully.
Anyhow, here are some pictures:
The Boulevard in Dumaguete from Silliman University
The Boulevard in Dumaguete from Silliman University
Getting ready to jump in!
You wouldn't guess it, but there's turtles in these waters
Our last adventure was a short hike to see another beautiful waterfall
