Beach Day!

Officially finished with four weeks of school, officially half way done!!! Yay!
We were studying up till now with two fun girls from Germany. They were only doing one month, so yesterday was their last day. To celebrate that they finished, and to say goodbye, our teachers gave us the day off school and planned a trip the nearby island of Samal, where the nicer beaches are.
A 10 peso ferry ride (25 cents :))....

This housing belongs to a people group known as the Badjoa. The Badjoa are very poor, often don't speak good Visayan (and thus even the Filipino midwives have trouble communicating with them), don't have a clear concept of time; in other words, they won't know their birthday, how old they are, or their due date. Generally in society, they are very looked down on. The midwives at the clinic treat them very well, and sometimes even refer to them as 'Goodjoa' as a way of reversing the stereotypes about them.

Two of our teachers, Ma'am Melit and Ma'am Gigi :)

Filipinos love little games that are awkward or embarrassing, and so much fun!

Sharing game prizes with little Badjao boys

Coconut trees!!

 And true Filipino style, some karaoke!

Emily and Elizabeth giving food to a Badjao father and son, and checking out the trinkets they were selling.

And one of the four babies born on my shift at the clinic today!!

Baby!

Every weekend, we each do one observe shift in the clinic. This is the highlight of my week!
Yesterday, I had my third shift.
It was AMAZING! Again!
Had the privilege of watching three new lives enter the world!!
Forgive this picture, it is horrible quality, but nevertheless:

This little girl was adorably cute, as was her mother! So thankful that I had the chance to see her make her appearance!

That is all. Just happy.

Love, Becca

Santa Ana Wharf

For the past two Saturdays, Emily and I have gone biking.

{Biking is an excellent way to explore the city, provided you can avoid death in crazy traffic!}

I found an old bike behind our house which someone had left behind. It had flat tires, but thankfully we have wonderful guards at the clinic, who are happy to help in these matters. A couple days later, I had a bike in perfect condition. [Except it squeaks, but whatever, beggars can't be choosers]

We have been a lot of places, but my favorite is Santa Ana Wharf.

 This poor community has houses on stilts, which don't look particularly sturdy. The water/sand/mud around this area is filthy; however....

 ...that didn't deter these little fellas from rompin around.
**But honestly, if the Pacific Ocean was your backyard, wouldn't you?**

These goats just live here in this dust. I don't know what they eat or drink, or who milks and takes care of them, but it makes me happy to ride by them. 

And of course a selfie...

On another note: I would love, love, love to receive a box, package, or just a good ole letter in the mail.

Letters & Regular Mail                           Packages or Boxes

Rebecca Boekee                                      Rebecca Boekee

Mercy Maternity Center                         Mercy Maternity Center

PO Box 81227                                        #10 First Opal Street

Davao City, 8000                                    (Near Corner Velosa/Dakudao,

Philippines                                              Obrero/Agdao)

                                                                Davao City 8000

                                                                Philippines

In Which We Attempt Visayan and Public Transportation

This week we hit language school hard core!

Our brains are just a little exhausted, and perhaps a little overwhelmed!
Very excited that its the weekend! Very excited to be done with this school in seven weeks! And very excited to be fluent!
We are learning Visayan, which is the dialect spoken in this province.
We're having a lot of fun practicing with Filipinos. We often end up laughing at ourselves with them, but they love it!

To get to the school we take public transportation in the form of jeepneys. These are like mini-buses. They are about 12-15 feet long and have a bench along each side.
We ride these for an hour and a half each way. We are now experts at the routes to the other side of the city :)
These jeepneys are bouncy, crammed (especially because we ride during rush hour), dirty, hot, and the smell of all the fumes here is really strong! (I don't think anyone here has heard of a catalytic convertor, let alone used one.)

These are my fellow newcomers, on the jeepney!

                       
                        Mary Ellen and I!

This morning we were a bit early, so we took a walk down the road, as a few of the girls were looking for Buko juice (coconut juice). We did not find that (although we did find a lady who promised to get us some on Monday :)) but we did find a shoe repair fellow. Elizabeth happened to have a pair of Birkenstocks that were coming apart, and he fixed them while we waited! It cost her 20 pesos, which is 50 cents! :)

This is a view from a bridge over Bankerohan River, which we go over every day. It's really incredible to see it in real life with the mountain in the background - pictures don't do justice!

I cannot take photo creds for any of the following pictures, but thanks to the other girls for them!

This one is a bit blurry, but again, the inside of a jeepney.

 The path we walk down off the main road to get to the school.

We sometimes come here to eat lunch, or just to walk. This is a bay of the pacific ocean, surrounded by mountains - how awesome is that!!

Selfie! Emily and I on the jeepney.

(Ahem, no, I did not take this picture, and yes, I got it off google)
This is a typical jeepney. They come in various arrays of decoration. Some are simpler than this, but a lot are quite 'fancy'! :)

That is all for now!!
Have a good weekend!!!!!!!

Love, Becca