Monday, June 18, 2012

Day 22: Philippines Independence


The day started bright and early in the company of our Catigbian host families.  After a quick farewell and some pleasant exchanges, the group convened at the Catigbian municipal hall for the celebration of the Philippines 114th Independence Day.  We got to interact with the community, meet the mayor and barangay leaders, as well as see some truly great cultural dances, one of which we got to participate in.  Shortly thereafter, we rode our trusty steed of a bus to the local demonstration farm to witness first-hand how locals harvest Kalabasa and additional fruits and vegetables.  Following that stop, we headed to an ecotourism park to indulge in a delicious Filipino lunch while also having the luxury of fishing in the mayor’s privately owned ponds.  After fishing, we furthered our education of sustainability by visiting the local vermiculture compost facility.  After another encounter with our old acquaintance the African night crawler, we shipped back to Process Bohol to rest and relax by either sleeping or reading.  With our batteries charged, we embarked on the new adventure of visiting one of Bohol’s original jewellery crafters, where some of us bought gifts and souvenirs after seeing how the jewellery was made.  From there, it was a short drive to our dinner destination, the organic Bohol Bee Farm, where we were fortunate enough to see a demonstration of edible flowers and the honey harvesting process. Some of us were brave enough to hold a bee shelf and not get stung! Dinner was very very very delicious. With some lasagna that reminded us of home and some heavenly spreads, we satiated our hunger and discussed our experience with the Process members.  As only seems fitting, we topped the day off by visiting the Bohol Bee Farm’s souvenier shop and got ice cream that boasted a variety of flavors such as: Malongay, Mango, Ube, and Chocolate. It was tasty.

--Ray and Kelly

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