Philippines Days 6-10: A Tropical Blur

Saturday, my 6th day in Bora, was the Swedes’ last night in town. They would leave Sunday morning bright and early at 5:30am. Yuck. The five of us went to a delicious buffet out on the beach and then sat under the stars at Charlh’s Bar listening to the bands play Eagles tunes until about midnight and then called it an early night.

By this time I’m just spending every day laying out on the beach, reading a book or finding good places to eat. Sunday, my 7th day, Rosie, Scott, and I went to Red Coconut for a pizza dinner and then we were just walking around, thinking about having a drink somewhere when we ran into Scott’s friend, another teacher in Busan. He was with about 6 other people he’d picked up along the way, including 2 Spanish guys, and some other teachers from different parts of Korea. We all ended up hanging out at Summer Place, where I danced the night away yet again. I think this is about the time I realized how small Boracay is, and how many people I already knew, even though the Swedes were gone. I couldn’t go anywhere without seeing somebody I had already met or hung out with earlier on in the trip, a DJ, a guy who sings at Charlh’s Bar, people we’d met at Cocomangas or Summer Place already. And that was only after a week.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday are all kind of a blur of beach and sun. I did get a massage on the beach, and eat quite a few American Breakfasts during that time, but by the end, I was ready to be back in Busan with my friends. Or better yet, hopping a plane back home to Texas to see my loved ones, but you can’t always get what you want.

After a short flight to Manila, I met a friend of Marcus’s from college who lives in Manila, and we went to dinner during my 6 hour layover there. I didn’t see much of Manila, but that’s okay. There’s always next time. My flight left at 3:35am and was to land in Busan at 8:00am. I had planned to sleep during that time, but I wasn’t able to because of the very worst thing about my trip: extreme turbulence. It was awful. I felt motion sick for 2 days because of it. Luckily I had the time to recuperate before school starting back up again. And I was reunited with my friends! And it felt so good.