Let the rain come down...

Happy New Year sa tanan!! (Everyone) Ryan and I had an amazing New Year's! We met up with several other Peace Corps Volunteers on the island of Bohol. We stayed on Alona Beach on Panglao Island, which is attached to Bohol. It was so much fun!! It was so nice getting to see everyone, hang out, and eat some incredible food! Some friends and I took a tour one day, where we saw the Chocolate hills, tarsiers, and went down the Loboc River Cruise. We also visited the Bee Farm, went snorkeling, and got to be beach bums for a couple of days. Needless to say it was fantastic! It really made all the past hard days worth it! Who knows when are next big adventure will be, but it was great while it lasted.


Being a beach bum on Alona Beach


So on our way home it was raining and the rain did not stop. It made our boat ride pretty interesting, and cold, which is rare in the Philippines, but yes we were cold, because we had gotten soaked trying to get on the boat. Then add the wind and 40-foot waves (aka 2-foot waves) and you get some pretty cold people. Once we arrived in Hilongos it was still raining. Since we were already wet we just walked to get a tryke to go to our house. We finally got to our house, got dry and warm, and settled in for the night. The rain still did not stop and we started getting texts about flooding happening and to stay alert in case we had to evacuate. This got us kinda worried. Where would we go, what do we do, all of that. We have been through floods before, but in a foreign country its a little different. Luckily we stayed high and dry, but as for our road, barangay, and surrounding neighborhoods, they were not so lucky. Our road was completely wiped out and several houses along the highway were in at least 1-2 feet of water. It was weird riding to work seeing all the animals, that I usually never see because they are tied up back in the tress out of sight, right along the highway so they could stay safe. It hasn't rained so far today and I hope it doesn't. I feel very bad for the families with their houses underwater and I hope they catch a break so they can have their houses back. I don't want to worry anyone with this story. We are fine and perfectly safe. We had people in contact with us the whole time to make sure we were ok, so please don't worry. I just wanted to share with you what I experienced today, to let you have a little peek in to why there are again no classes today, lol!!! Oh the Philippines! :)