Well December has come and gone. It was a great month, although at times it was definitely tough. So it started out with Ryan's World HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Event, which I helped with. We had planned to have tree planting in the morning, but that didn't work out so we continued on with our candle light vigil. We had over 150 students show up for the event. We also showed a film called "Power of You" which is an awesome film in the national language, Tagalog, which allows the viewers to decide which path to take and how to confront the issues dealing with sex, STI's, and HIV. While showing this film we had tons of passerby's stop and watch the film; we probably had over 250 at that point watching in the town square. We had a little presentation to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and then we had candle lighting and releasing of lanterns. It was a great event and I think it greatly benefited the entire community.


After our World AIDS event I was invited to help participate in another World AIDS event, but this time on another island completely. I traveled to the island of Panay and to the town of Kalibo, which is very close to the "World renown Boracay". Anyways I was able to work with three wonderful ladies in helping educate a classroom of over 200 students about the facts of HIV/AIDS. We then participated in a parade (sadsad in the local dialect), which unfortunately was raining the entire time, but was still successful. This was the 11th year this community has put on the event and I was very grateful to be a part of it. The town of Kalibo has a wonderful health unit and some awesome volunteers throughout the town. I know that their event will only get more and more support while also educating their community.


After I returned it was time to get into Christmas Party mood. We had our classroom's christmas party, which was awkward at first, b/c no one would let me do anything I just had to sit there and look pretty. But it eventually got a lot better. We played some fun games and I even got a few gifts from some of my students. We played this one game where two people paired up and had to go down an obstacle course with a tomato between their forheads. My partner was my counterpart and it was a lot of fun!


After my party I went to Ryan's work's party. If you want to see how much fun he had, check out him new blog post!

After school got out for the holidays, Ryan and I headed up to Northern Luzon with a few other volunteers. We went to three different towns/cities: Baguio, Sagada, and Banaue. It was AMAZING! The weather was fantastic and the food was phenomenal. While we were in Sagada we got to go on an intense caving trip, which was crazy fun. We went on a couple of hikes and got to relax with great friends. (side note: I was still sad and missed my family very much on Christmas, but am super excited b/c I will get to see them this coming Christmas!) After Sagada we headed to Banaue to hike through the rice terraces. It was incredible! The rice terraces are SO old and amazingly well made. It was an intense but spectacular Christmas vacation and I'm sad it's over.



Now it's back to school and back to routines. Hopefully I will be able to start my soccer club this month, but we will have to see b/c it is rainy season. Hope everyone is doing well. Miss you all but we will see you later this year! Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year :)