Last day in Baguio... and A-go-o

We got up early this morning to drive down the mountain to Agoo (pronounced A-go-o) to Jasmine's beach house. A-go-o is a very small fishing community with basically no tourism, so it was AMAZING to see- so raw, and exactly what I imagined a typical Filipino fishing town to be. The drive was gorgeous! We drove past several small communities along the way and saw craftsmen woodcarvers who supply the local markets. When we arrived in Ag-go-o we drove down a long city center street lined with motorized tricycles and hundreds of people, and dozends of stray dogs. It was amazing... but really difficult to describe.

We arrived at Jasmine's house and had a snack in her tree-house before having a traditional Filipino lunch- Adobo (chicken in a soy-sauce broth with potatoes-delicious!), Tortang Talong (eggplant) and Squid- with her family. SOOOO DELICIOUS! After lunch we walked to the beach and for once the sun came out and graced us with its presence. I even got a tan!

We went swimming for a bit, but the water was pretty murky with mud and debris from all the wind and rain over the past week. After the swim, I went for a walk down the beach to check out some of the local fisherman's boats. I took a photo of two goats tied up to a tree, and an Ox who was working the rice field nearby. As I was taking some pictures of the fishing boats, I noticed some children starring at me from a distance. I walked a bit closer to get a picture of them and they started calling out to me... HEY-LO LADY!! and waving.. I waved back and they started walking closer to me. It was hilarious because they were clearly nervous of the tall, white, blue-eyed, yellow-haired lady in the bikini- this may have been a first for them. They would run up a few steps and wave, and yell out, HIIIIIIIIIIIIIII, then they'd get nervous and retreat back again. As they got closer to me, I noticed one girl had a digital camera and was taking pictures of me! They eventually felt comfortable enough to stand about a foot away from me. They just stood there star-struck and the crazy looking albino, and kept yelling out at me, hi laaaaaaady... and giggling to themselves. I started walking back towards the beach where Regi and Jasmine were, and quickly realized they were following me. It was halarious- I felt like a celebrity dealing with the paparatzi...

On a side note, I was looking through my photos later in the van, and realized that not only were the kids starring at me, but behind them, then entire town had stopped and were gawking at me. Later, Jasmine's mom explained that there are never any caucasian women in the village, only men- and even they are rare. She also said that they often associate caucasian women to celebrities, and may have thought I was famous or something... too funny!

We had to leave the beach shortly after that because they were all staning on the rocks staring at me and waving.. hahaha! We began walking down the road towards Jasmine's house and the kids followed us all the way there like little stray dogs. I couldn't understand what they were saying, but Jasmine translated "Hi Lady- give me present?" They were so cute, I wished I had my canadian flag tatoos with me to give them. Oh well, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have similar experiences in Indonesia.

Speaking of which I leave for Jakarta tomorrow evening. I will stay in the airport hotel for the first night since I arrive after midnight, but on Monday I am travelling to Cianjur to stay at the Canjur homestay and participate in their volunteer program. Check out their website: www.cianjuradventure.com looks so aweome! Starting Tuesday, I will be volunteering 2-3 hours/day helping to teach english at a local school. I am super excited to do that, and it will be an awesome addition to my resume when I get home.

Anyway, I really should get to bed cause I've got to pack and and make sure my luggage is airport proof and that I have everything I'll need for the day. I still haven't got any emails from any of you... jerks... get on it! ;-) xo