I am on vacation now, we had a long trip getting here, but it's been worth it! We are having lots of fun!! This is mostly just a practice post for Grandma to learn how to blog!!

Urine, blood, stool, BP, IVF computations

We were formed into groups at the beginning of the semester. Our groups "core" consists of myself, Karen and our ever trusty pals Grace and Raymund. This semester, we have made a couple more pretty good friends as well, including Sara, Miles, and Julienne.

They quickly increased their friend status with me by inviting me to a wedding of a friend of theirs during an extended lunch break...... We got to class with a huge food hangover. Pretty cool.

It has been a bit grueling so far, as usual. Karen has luckily completed her Nutrition from MAMC last year (and is enjoying a bit of nah, nah, nah nah-nah at my expense), so her summer semester experience is enviable form my perspective. I have classes Mon, Tue, Wed, from 7:30AM until 6:30pm.... one, two hour break in the middle...

Our first shift of duty fell on a Wednesday evening, so we were up for 27 hours before we went home that morning. That was rugged....

We have duty this week at "Baguio General Hospital", a tertiary medical facility here in Baguio that covers the majority of all medical cases in the region. I am in a group with Grace and Sarah, Karen is in a group with Julienne. We are doing the graveyard shift 11-7 in the Obstetrical ward. It has been my best experience as far as schooling here is concerned. What we are learning each day is equal to an entire semester worth of lecture, I would guess. The women are pretty amazing, and I of course have a new respect for what nearly every woman goes through. If I was a woman and it was up to me, the human race might become extinct in one generation..Haha.. Anyways, we are learning the techniques of IV therapy and calculations, charting, and of course, therapeutic communication and the ins and out of a medical facility. Our CI (clinical instructor) is a young guy, about my age *wink* and though he keeps 'Filipino time", he knows his stuff and has been very good in showing us the "hows and whys" of our trade. I have developed a "working relationship" with the charge nurse as well, and when I started last night, she was quick to take me around and show me some things that I had questioned her about.... She is pretty good at what she does, being the only nurse at times in the entire ward, often having 45+ clients at one time. Amazing amounts of stamina there.

Anyways, I am looking forward to the rest of our practical experience here. So far, so good.

So we just got back from our 6 day vacation to Boracay. As usual, many people don't read this blog that I write in to find out this information, making this blog ever more useless, however, I digress.

We started off going to Manila, and went to Karen's uncle Mike's, where we got the usual 1st class treatment before heading over to road 3 to see Lola and the gang there. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits, the kids were finishing up school for the year. A few San Migs, (actually starting to not mind them now) and back to Mike's to sleep.

The next morning, we were off to the domestic airport, stopping in to McDonald's for "a quick bite". (the food is still the same, salty, greasy a dee-licious) The line at the airport seemed longer and the airport terminal seemed more busy than usual. We then realized that it is "holy week" in the Philippines. In the Philippines, "Holy week" means (for most) more days off work, more eating and more drinking, and often lots of traveling around. We were about to do just that.

The flight by Asian Spirit (the joke goes that you get on the plane as "people" and "land" in "spirit form') was on a 4 prop 30 seater, the ride was smooth and nice about 55 minutes..... We touched down in "Caticlan", the nearest commercial airstrip to Boracay.

Our porter for the Orchid resort we were booked in was there to take us and our belongings through the slight maze like series of procedures to get on the island, and it was nice to just have him point to the various windows and say, "100 pesos", etc. , etc. , instead of walking around in the noon hour sun sweating and trying to figure it all out while dragging your bags everywhere. We got onto the bangka (a type of modified longtail boat with a large pair of outriggers, seen in Hawaii too) and were taken to our delightful room. The place is a great value for Boracay, and the staff were very friendly. I even worked a deal for any referrals from my "flock" of students. We immediately had a few beers and lunch on the beach.


That night, we went to see Karen's Uncle Leonard, who's family practically owns half of Boracay. We had dinner with him and some beers. We learned that his daughter and law Amanda had just given birth and that Boracay is really developing. We saw evidence of that in the 4, yes, 4 Andok's Lechon on the shrot ride to his resort. (more about that gem later) and "D'Mall", what was once the city market, has now "blossomed" into a pretty nice outdoor mall with upscale vendors and restaurants. There are construction projects everywhere, even Tito Leonard's place was radically improvised, with a new pool and cabanas, as well as his former adjacent vacant lot now resided with another large hotel.

Anyway, we hit Jonah's for the best shakes in town, and took in the booming nightlife a bit before retiring.

Next morning, we were up and after breakfast decided to catch some rays (I got a few too many, Karen apparently did not get enough), get coconut oil massages and chill the heck out. We had dinner at an Indian restaurant and an apple pie crepe in the mall, walked around then back to our room.

The next day, Tito Leonard found a vacant room in his resort, so we moved to his place. The requisite shake at Jonah's, then, we went snorkeling. We got our own boat and guide and set out. Our first stop was nice, but the weather at that moment was unfortunately not cooperating and the wind created waves that made the snorkeling a bit rough. (I am a fair weather water sport kind of guy). We did see some beautiful coral and fish though). Then, we went around the other side to "Puka Beach" were the world gets its puka shells for the necklaces.

Then, we went to the other snorkeling area and had a good session there, as the weather had calmed down and you could just relax and enjoy yourself. I was smart and wore a t-shirt while snorkeling, Karen was not and suffered a rare (for her) sunburn. We were both pretty wiped out from the activity and sun all day, so we retired to our room early and polished off the left overs from our Indian food and called it a day.

The next day was interesting. Leonard had just opened his cock fighting arena and we were invited to attend the opening event.

Cock fighting is hugely popular in the Philippines, and though some may find it cruel, the connoisseurs will tell you that Filipino versions of it are more humane as the roosters are all equipped with very lethal and large blades that generally end the fight in under a minute, as opposed to other regions that employ small puncture wounds, keeping the match going for several minutes. At any rate, the venue was brand new, seating about 500 spectators and an air conditioned VIP box where we sat. By the time we got there, the festivities were under way. Money was literally flying around as match after match took place. I wasn't feeling the urge to bet, and after a couple hours and a few scotches and beers, we set out to have dinner on the beach..We went to one of the hundred or so "Eat all you can" seafood buffets for a whopping 300 pesos each. (6USD).. The mozerella and pineapple baked oysters were my favorite selection of the evening.

We were offered a dune buggy for our use, and decided to go exploring around the Island. We ended up getting flagged down by a guide to the "bat caves". We were off, and after a 10 minute hike, we weaved our way down a very large, completely black, stinky and noisy (shrieks from said bats) cave. When we got to the bottom, we were able to see tens of thousands of bats.. The cave is adjacent to the ocean, and as I put my feet in the water, the guide said, "Sir, you aren't afraid of coral snakes are you?" The smile kind of died on my face as he shone the flashlight about 2 meters away from me, and low and behold, a 3 foot long black and turquoise banded coral snake was making his way in the opposite direction. Karen pretty well freaked (as you can see by the "smile" in her picture). He claimed that these are not the poisonous types, but we didn't really want to find out either way. Further research on my part has revealed no species of the "non venomous" types that we apparently encountered. Under another rock was a rather large coral snake, and at that point, it was time to go. now.

So we did. It was CSI night, and after the sun and fun, I just picked up BBQ chicken (from Andok's), coleslaw and rice and we retired early.

We got the buggy again after our Jonah's fix and struck out again, this time equipped with our own mask and snorkels, hell bent on finding a decent spot. We pretty well struck out, and ended up on puka beach again. It was still ok, and though it wasn't the best snorkeling, we still had a fun and had a nice small lunch of garlic and honey prawns on rice that we split, because we had purchased two 1 kilo lobsters for dinner that night. We rode around and saw some of the interesting and undeveloped parts of the island before getting back and watching the sunset, got coconut oil massages and some great pictures of what Boracay looks like as the sun goes down.

We went back to our room,



cleaned up, and went back to our Cabana to eat these two magnificent bugs with rice and a couple of glasses of white wine. It was the best lobster I have had.




The next day, we got ready to leave, had one last shake and then got a shuttle to the port and ferried across to the airport. the flight was delayed and it was real busy, but we finally got our flight on a 4 engined jet and in 35 minutes we touched down in manila, where her uncle Mike was waiting for us to take us to the bus terminal. We "walked on" to a bus (the terminal was packed) rather than opting for the purchase in advance "sucker" route and in 6 short hours, we made it home.

my xmas/new years blog

Hi everyone! (haha, there are probably two people reading this thing!)

Xmas break is over and we are back in school. I thought i would give some details about our vacation. Karen's mom and the Manila clan was here in Baguio, we had a good time going to the "sights" of Baguio like Mine's View Park, Burnham park, SM, and all that.

Once I got my duty at school done, we joined Karen's family in Manila, by this time, her dad had arrived. For Karen's birthday, I got her an Ipod nano, in pink. We went to one of our favorite African/Middle Eastern restaurants in Manila, sat on pillows and ate. I found a funny picture of me in there so I put it in for chuckles. Xmas dinner was at the condo that Maria and Paul had rented for the week. lots of preperations were made and an astounding number of presents were laid out. Everyone arrived and we ate and drank and opened all the presents. I got a bunch of clothing (is there a hint in that?) and Karen got me an awesome Invicta watch. I got her a pair of earrings and a super thick bathrobe.

I got my cell phone pick-pocketed the day before x-mas in a grocery store. I truly don't like it in Manila. Not saying that something like that is commonplace, but we don't gt that in Baguio. (or at least on a much smaller scale)

Next, Karen and I went back home, followed by Paul and Maria. We then began the twisty scenic 7 hour bus ride to Sagada. We saw some real beautiful sights that the pictures do not do justice. The rice terraces are spectacular, whole mountains carved out in shelves for growing rice. We got to Segada that evening and found a clean quiet little mountain village. We walked into "town" and ate dinner at the Yogurt House. All the food was fabulous. Fresh produce, herbs and yogurt really made this place memorable.

The next day, we went out for an early breakfast, got a walking guide and set out on a four hour treck. We first crossed the city cemetary, which opened to a place called 'echo valley" (for obvious reasons) Across from where we were standing were the famous "Hanging Coffins" where people through ropes over rock formations and hang their coffins over the side of cliffs. We then set out across rice paddies to visit the waterfall area where we had a much needed cool off. We swam and relaxed there for a while before heading out to The cave with an underground river and cut our own bamboo walking sticks.We got back to our room, and after a quick nap, set out for dinner at the much anticipated "Log Cabin" where we were to be enthralled with the European cuisine, set menu (we needed reservations) and atmosphere. Well, the atmosphere was great, but the service was reminiscent of a cafeteria, dropping the food down in front of us within seconds of arriving, and the food, well lets say it left you "wanting". Flavor. We all had a good chuckle about that, went over to the Yogurt House and while they all had coffee and dessert, I had dinner again. (fabulous).

The next morning, the ladies got in room massages while the gents guy talked, we then had a quick bite for breakfast and set out to go back home to Baguio. That night we ate at the quickly becoming our favorite place "Le Petit Cafe" (other names are also available). Karens Mom and Dad left the next day after setting us up with some nice racks and shelving stuff, (we are in need of shelf space here).

The next day (New Years Eve), we went to San Fernando with our Persian friends and cooked/ate/swam and chilled out in our own little "resort" with a nice big pool area, BBQ and beach huts. We had a great time, got a little tipsy and really ate a lot of good food, mostly prepared by our favorite chef, Saeed. Al's new car seemed to fail him (by his standard) as he was not able to go the usual "ludicrous speed" ( that he is most comfortable driving. In all, we had a great time, and plan on making that a monthly endeavor. The whole cost for each person is somewhere around 20 bucks....

Anyways, that was about it, we missed our friends Ray, Grace and Kristina this trip (they went home for the holidays), but plan on getting back on the same page with them as quickly as possible.

After some soul searching and an abrupt reminder

I have decided to begin to post here again. May I humbly apologize for the lack of content here. I really should try harder.

Well, we have a "super" typhoon heading our way http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20061129/sc_afp/weatherphilippines
I had a trip to Pangasinan planned, a nice seaside town in a cheapo resort, but we are not too eager to be "trapped in Pangasinan" if the proverbial feces hits the oscillating airflow apparatus.

not sure if I should start being alarmed at this point. I got some bad news, my mom is NOT buying the house that she just decided to buy as Southwest is once again threatening to drop their Albuquerque center. I hope that they don't just threaten to do this and do it already so my beloved nearly 60 year old mother can move to Phoenix where she can hopefully almost buy a house there until they threaten to drop Phoenix, then it will be on to San Antonio and finally by 2017, they will close their final res center and people will simply inject themselves with the reservation serum and automatically book flights from them via DNA strand and satellite feed. /end sarcastic, bitter rant

Talked to Rinah and my Dad and some friends from Victoria, they are anywhere from 8" to 2 feet of snow, depending on whom you ask. I think that those who must "enjoy" the snow due to obligation probably have a lower opinion of it than those who can watch it's wonderful splendor from the inside of a cozy warm locale. Rumor has it that the City of Victoria has sold their snow plows, and people are getting stranded and freaking out. I was there during the blizzard of '96, and I can't imagine that they have not maintained a snow clearing procedure, in spite of the past low snow falls. I miss snowboarding, but living/working in Utah kind of cured me of the snow bug that was rarely satiated in Northern California and Victoria.

Our wonderful friends are our best cure against the insanity of what is Philippine Education. I could bore you to tears the problems faced by students here, but suffice to say that for some reason, it seems to be OK to just change the schedule on an hourly basis some 8-10k students on a whim. Oops, gotta stop ranting. Anyways, my good friend Raymund is ever helpful in many ways and I hope to be able to be a coworker of his one day.

Our Persian friends downstairs are hosting another bash. They are really fun loving, energetic and thoughtful people. All enrolled as dentists in my school, they have such an interesting and at times happy and sad view of the world. Not oppressively negative mind you, just the kind of outlook that comes when you have a ridiculously hard headed, foolish, dictatorial and oppressive regime in charge of how you chose to pray or not to your God, among other astounding rules. Your penalty could easily be your life and though they love their country, I think that many will never return if given the chance. I can't blame them for that. Anyways, if tradition is held tonight, the shin-dig will not go into full swing until about 10pm when the BBQ will be lit, and the drinks will come out. I have some Chivas Regal (my favorite blended scotch) to wow them with. The world standard of "good scotch" seems to be JW Black Label, though I can't dispute it is good, I favor the smoothness of Chivas, though after a couple, I could easily drink almost anything and not know (or care)... Anyways, the menu will often include saffron (imported from Iran, and yes, it is the best) marinated chicken and meats, an herbed rice and several salads, pickled veggies like garlic, my favorite, and tons of exotic sweets and whatnot.

Well, thats about it for now, Kaern and I are really looking forward to the Xmas break and her mom and dad are visiting. We can't wait.

Almost home

Well, we are all packed up and cleaned up, and ready to hit the road. Just in time, too. It's getting much, much hotter with each week. Last night it was rather inescapable... It will be great to get some fresh air and see everyone. Karen Is REAL excited about coming home. She misses everyone a lot, and I am happy for her to be going back for summer. We have things in order for our school in Baguio next year, so all we have to do when we come back is to find an apartment.. (shouldn't be too hard)

I finally got my cr-- stuff together for my immigration "situation". That was yet another lesson that I am forced to learn the hard way. But they say it builds character. .......

New Year

We had our New years party at Karen's families home. It was quite a party. The whole neighborhood shuts down then everyone starts blowing crap up. The fireworks are pretty much non stop and the noise was absolutely deafening, but fun. The kids appeared to have a blast, and the adults all had beer and whatnot. It was a good time, and the hangover wasn't too bad. Now we are back in school, I really can't wait to get this 1st year out of the way. I feel Baguio will be an even better move, but for now, I will slug it out.

Many lessons learned

As usual, I brashly walked into another painful lesson that I had to learn the hard way......Filipino meteorology.... It would seem that the weather that we had for the past month was in no way indicative of the weather we were to have on Saturday night. It slowly and steadily rained for the entire party. Not to be out done, the food and drink arrived two hours late. We were saved by the graciousness of our guests, who seemed to enjoy our company regardless of the bribery of enticing imbibments. Eventually, there were large tarpaulins made available and we rigged up some tents on the roof and ate and drank anyway. It turned out to be probably more memorable in the long run. I hope my guests will look back on the event fondly, I am still shake my head with the "timing" issue of the rain, something that I obviously had no control over...
This is the week of Pre-Final exams, so we are to be examined and then released early, we are in good spirits as any students is being allowed to play "hookey". I have my Algebra test tomorrow, it is on word problems and linear equations. So far this is my most difficult area of the class. Karen is usually eager to help me in my studies, but she has not yet offered to help in this particular occasion, I think she must share the universal disdain for word problems that everyone else has. If I can figure it out, I will post some pics of the party and general life here... Maybe one of me in uniform!

The Party

We are having a party tomorrow. Gonna get some good eats supplied mostly by Karen's family. (Her uncle is a caterer and her other Aunt is also going to make some stuff. In all, we should have 60+ guests at our rooftop shin-dig. An interesting mix of people, karaoke, booze and food. We spent the day basically working out the details and fine tuning our operation. Tomorrow should be a breeze. I will be charging up the camera to take lots of pictures. Check here for them!