At the beginning of March I headed to Manila to help facilitate a training for the new batch of PCVs. This training was called Project Design Management. Overall the training was great and I think all the facilitators did an amazing job. It was nice to get to meet the new batch and see how they are doing in regards to the Peace Corps life. It was weird hearing their issues and remembering that was what I was thinking a year ago! It's crazy how fast time does fly.

So once I got back to site I felt like I had one million and one things to do. I got home on Tuesday night and on Wed. I had to conduct our last "Reading Club" for the year. That was fun. The students I worked with were so great and I really hope that I get to work with them again next year.

Then that weekend Ryan and I finally got to hold the Healthy Mind and Body Youth Camp that we, mainly Ryan, had been planning since last December. There were a few road bumps at the start, but overall it was an amazing training. We had around 45 out of school youth show up, which was great. We talked about HIV/AIDS, STI's, Nutrition, Gender Awareness, the Reproductive System, and we played a few different sports. It was an overnight camp, so we were able to share the tradition of Smore's with everyone, which they loved! It was a great experience and I'm glad it finally happened :)

Right before the camp Ryan and I had not been feeling so hot, we both had colds, so for the next few days we stayed in bed and got some rest. We though we were sick it was nice to rest for a while.

Then that next weekend we set out again and continued work on our HIV/AIDS grant, by planting close to 300 trees to represent the youth living with HIV in the Philippines. We had about 20 youth show up to help us plat the trees, and we got to meet a few new people. It was a great time getting to know them and spend some time with them, but man it was HOT! We tried to stay in the shade as much as possible, but even so it was a scorcher.

Ryan also decided to get Scuba certified. This has been something he has been thinking about for a while and I'm glad he finally got to do it. He went to a town North of us where they held the training, and on the last day they were going out to this island called Digyo. I was able to join them and see this beautiful island. Ryan had a great time diving (He went down 60ft!!!) and I had fun watching. Then when we arrived back at shore Ryan found out he is pretty famous. Ask him about this, and hopefully he will put this in his blog too. Haha.

Then to wrap March up we had Graduation and the annual Senior trip. Graduation was great. I was so proud of the students. Most of them had worked hard to finish the year and really tried, at least in our class, to learn something new. I was able to help pass out the diplomas this year, which was so fun. It was rewarding for me to be able to tell the students I had worked with Congratulations. I hope it meant something to them too.

Lastly was the Senior trip. So apparently every year the graduating students go to a town South of us to hike this mountain called Hanginon. This year I was invited to join them. We met up at 2 AM, and headed off on our journey. It was so fun hanging out with the students, and all their energy, and seeing Leyte/Southern Leyte from such a beautiful view. The hike was hard, a lot of inclines, but it was fun and I'm so glad I got to join.





Now it's on to April. Until next time. Take care. We love y'all and miss you tons! <3