Once the cast was back together we received our host families. I was roomed with Jon, our pianist from Colorado, Fernada, from Mexico, and Teresa, from Germany. We also lived with Nikka, who was the promotional representative that set up the city. We stayed in a home with Mama Lorna, papa, and our host brother and sister Mark and Karen, who were our age. We lived in a neighborhood where everyone was hosting UWP students, so we would get to spend a lot of time together throughout the week.
After sweating all day from the immense heat, I got to take a bucket shower in our house. The bucket shower consisted of pouring cold water on yourself using a scoop, which is actually quite refreshing. The worst part of the shower was pouring the cold water on your back and feeling the chills run down your entire spine.
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Tuesday morning was our regional learning day where we got to spend the day in paradise. We took a two hour bus ride to spend the day at the beach and visit the underground river, which has just been voted as the 7th Wonder of Nature.
Once we had lunch, a group of us took a boat to the underground river for a tour. We passed beautiful mountains with the tops covered by clouds and massive rock walls with vegetation growing in breathtaking patterns. After arriving to the area, we walked through the jungle with tropical plants and monkeys swinging from the trees until we came to this clearing that looked like a picture from a postcard. We had arrived to the end of the underground river where the fresh water leaves the caves and meets the sea.
Next, we hopped into a boat and made our way into the underground river, which consisted of a series of caves and caverns that takes four hours by boat to get to the beginning of the river. On our 45 minute tour through the caves, we saw all the marble and limestone structures. As we paddled through the caves, some areas opened up into huge cathedral-like structures several hundred feet high.
After exploring the underground river, we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the ocean, which felt like being in a warm bathtub. We were surrounded by the beautiful mountains covered by a breathtaking fog where beams of light were peaking through the clouds illuminating the trees below. I spent most of my time in the ocean gazing at the beauty surrounding me and thinking about how lucky I am to witness such beauty.
That evening our host family took us to the birthday party of a priest in the village. We arrived to a huge buffet with delicious food. After we had eaten, some people handed us a microphone, and when you hand uppies a microphone, we sing. We ended up singing and dancing for everyone at the party and they could not stop laughing at how much fun we were all having. It was definitely a fun way to end such a relaxing day.
Wednesday was our community impact day where I had the opportunity to visit a school in the jungle. About 35 students took jeepneys two hours through the mountains in the jungle to the coast. A jeepney is a mode of transportation similar to a van with seats on either side of the vehicle. We crammed 15 students into our jeepney and enjoyed a cozy and bumpy ride through the beautiful mountains.
Once we arrived at the school, the children were waiting at the gate with welcome signs and beaming smiles on their faces. The students at the school come from very poor families that live in the area and the children have never been outside of their village.
We began the morning with a welcoming ceremony where some of the children sang and danced for us. We then divided into three groups- one to set up a new library, one to paint a mural, and one to play with the children. I spent the morning playing games with the children and having the time of my life. I have never been good at crazy interactive games with children. I love interacting with the children, but I always have a hard time just letting go and having fun. However, for the first time, I was not worried about making a fool of myself because all I wanted to do was make the kids laugh and have fun. I had a smile on my face the entire morning because I was so happy to see the children having fun.
After playing games for 90 minutes, we got to give the children gifts that had been donated by the Rotary club. We handed each child a colorful notebook, a pencil, and a pencil sharpener. The children were so thrilled to receive their first gift of the day.
Once the children received their gift, we got to choose two students to help us plant trees. My two students took me by the hand and led me to a spot behind the school where two little plants were waiting to be planted. Once I helped the children plant their trees, I heard music, so I danced with my students. The kids were hesitant at first, but once I just went crazy, they joined me and we laughed and laughed.
After planting the trees, we headed back to the front of the school to give the children a new pair of sandals. Some of the students did not have shoes to wear before we had arrived, but each child now had a new colorful pair of shoes to wear to school. I continued dancing with one of my students and tossed him in the air. Seeing the little boy so happy made me forget all the poverty I had been experiencing and helped me remember what it means to be happy. I wanted to spend all day swinging the boy around in my arms, but it was time to move on to our next activity.
The school is located near a beach, so for lunch, we headed down to the beach with the children. As we walked over the hill onto the beach, I felt like time had stopped and I was in a dream. I thought the kind of beauty that was before my eyes could only be seen in dreams, but there I was in paradise with the most precious children. I had to take a few minutes to myself and walk along the beach to reflect on how thankful I was to have such a blessed experience.
Once we had lunch all the children ran into the ocean to swim. The cast was unaware that we would have the chance to swim again, so none of us brought proper swimming attire. However, it did not matter because we all ran into the ocean after the children in our jeans, shorts, and shirts. We spent the next 90 minutes swimming with the children and they loved having us join them in the ocean. Every UWP student had two or three children hanging on each arm and around their neck. They used us as launch pads to climb on our shoulders and jump into the water. Two little boys clung onto me and I threw them into the water and twirled them around as fast as I could. Near the end of our time in the water I held the two boys, one on each side, and sang to them. I closed my eyes so I could remember this moment for the rest of my life.
We got out of the ocean and headed to the shore to give the children one more gift. Most of the children did not know how to brush their teeth, so we taught them how to brush and gave them new tooth brushes and tooth paste. The children and their families were so excited to be able to brush their teeth and they thought it looked like fun.
It was hard saying goodbye to the children. I gave the little boy that I danced with a big hug and it was hard to let him go. It was so incredible to spend time playing with the children, but I know that I am the fortunate one who has changed because of the impact those children had on me. I had been hoping for a humbling experience for several weeks now and spending the day with those children brought me such joy and humility. I was praying for a humbling experience because I sometimes get so consumed in the life I live that I forget about what truly makes me happy in life. And surrounding myself with some of my closest friends and the most beautiful children reminded me that what makes me happiest is seeing those around me happy.
That evening Ate Karen and Cuyo Mark, which means older sister and brother, took me, Teresa, Jon, and Fernanda to the boardwalk to meet a bunch of other uppies for a special Philippino delicacy. Karen and Mark were so excited to introduce us to balut, which is a fertilized duck egg. I had mentally been preparing myself to try balut ever since we left the United States, but when the time actually came, I freaked out a little bit.
We got to the boardwalk and Karen went to find a man selling balut. Karen explained to us that we could just swallow the egg, but when she came back with the eggs, they were way to large to even attempt to swallow them. It was then that I began to panic.
I watched several other cast mates eat the balut and watching their faces did not put me at ease for my turn. I was gagging just thinking about putting a baby duck in my mouth and eating it. However, Karen brought my manhood into the experience and said "in order to be a man, you must eat balut." So it was time for me to man up and go for it.
I took an egg, which was still warm from being boiled and I cracked the top of the egg. Before you eat the egg, you have to suck the juice out. Danny from Mexico, Max from Germany, and I cheered to our manhood and drank the juice. I had a rather difficult time not gagging, but I kept going. Next I peeled off the shell to find a large bird like creature with what appeared to be veins covering the bird. Karen said that our ducks were 17 days old, which to me means that I was about to eat a straight up baby duck. I took a deep breath, dipped the egg in salt, closed my eyes, and took a bite.
I was surprised to find that it was not as bad as I had expected. It was rather chewy, but, thankfully, it still tasted like I was eating a hard boiled egg. It was all mind over matter and I eventually earned my manhood by finishing the whole egg.
With a new pep in my step, all of us headed to a tiki bar to celebrate our vocal instructor, John's, birthday. We arrived and the majority of the cast was already there celebrating. One thing I have learned about our groups is that anytime more than 10 of us are together, we tend to take over places, and that is what we did at the bar. We heard live music playing on stage, so it did not take us more than a few seconds to decide that we needed to be on the stage dancing. We ended up singing and dancing all night long and it was a great way to end such a treasured day.
Thursday was an internal day for the cast. During the morning, I was in a dance workshop where I learned one of the Mexican dances for our Mexican medley in the show. During the afternoon, we had a couple education workshops and talked about how we are doing as a cast. It can be difficult sometimes traveling with 100 people for six months, so it's always nice to be able to talk as a cast and understand how we are all feeling. Having time to talk together always brings us closer as a cast and makes us stronger.
Friday was show day in Puerto Princesa and our performance was a birthday gift for the beloved mayor of the city and he was also our sponsor. We rehearsed all morning and afternoon and were supposed to perform at 7pm. However, our show did not end up starting until 8pm because the Philippino people are not so time conscious as we are in the United States...and living in such a beautiful paradise, I wouldn't worry about time either. We ended up performing for 4500 people who loved the show and wanted to take so many pictures with us afterwards. My host family brought me a special gift that they had made for me. It was a shirt that had my name in big letters on the front. Below my name was a huge heart followed by their last name. The back of the shirt said the slogan of the Philippines-"everything is more fun in the Philippines." The gift was a sign that I had become part of their family and it was so special to know that I had become their brother in such a short time.
The Heredero family will always have a special place in my heart because of the kindness, generosity, and love that they showed me during my short week with them. It was extremely difficult to give them one final hug and say goodbye, but I took comfort in knowing that I would come back to the Philippines to see them all once again. They are a special family and I will make plans to visit them again someday. I took away from them a better understanding of what it means to give of yourself and to love and welcome a stranger into your family
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