UPDATE...

I know that it has been over two weeks, maybe even longer since my last blog... a lot has happened since then. I went to the United States to visit my family and friends over Christmas and New Year's, which is part of the reason I didn't write at all... I have A LOT of family and friends... (just kidding, I don't have that many of either, but it still felt like an insufficient amount of time to spend with the people that I have missed since being in Korea.) On January 4th I returned to Korea for about 12 hours, before boarding a plane for the Philippines, where I am presently. I arrived on Friday, and it has been quite an adventure. This is the first decent internet cafe that I have encountered, and it could very well be the last, so I'm not promising anything after this entry, but I'm going to try very hard to update on where I am and what I am up to. At this moment I am sitting in a town called Banaue, which is tucked very high in the Cordillera mountains and it was quite a journey getting here, but it was well worth it. My days begin at 6am and I'm asleep by 9pm, sort of like camping. I have time to read, write, and attempt to plan out where I'm headed next. I have a hotel room that overlooks the Ifuago rice terraces, which are exactly what I came to see. Tomorrow, weather permitting, I will hike further into the mountains to get a better look at these spectacular rice terraces (sort of like shelves in the side of the mountain, carved 2000 years ago). I am very excited to take some pictures and post them! I arrived here this afternoon after a 3.5 hour journey in a vehicle that is referred to as a "Jeepney". As I have been told, Jeepeys only exist in the Philippines, in fact they are made here, and they are these long covered jeeps where they stuff about 12-20 passengers (the more the merrier seems to be the opinion of the drivers). It cost me around 3 dollars to get here from the town where I stayed last night called Sagada. In Sagada I saw hanging coffins, which are exactly what comes to mind: hanging coffins. These coffins are attached to the side of a mountain, rather than buried beneath the earth; this was the practice before Christianity came to the Philippines. The dead bodies were bond in the fetal position before putting them in a somewhat small wood coffin (representing the cycle from birth to death). In order to free the spirit they hang the coffins on the side of a cliff wall, or put them in the light, because light represents goodness, whereas criminals and other "evil" persons were buried on the dark side of the mountain or deep in a cave. These coffins really were worth the 8 hour bus ride on the windiest, steepest road I have ever driven on, in a bus crammed 5 people to a row. The bus ride to which I refer was from a town called Baguio, which is not where I originated... I came from Manila the day before on a 7 hour bus ride which wasn't that bad; however, I arrived here with some sort of stomache sickness which has yet to be diagnosed, which made that bus ride seem a little more hairy than it was. I even had an unfortunate experience in the ladies "restroom" at the bus station in Manila before departure. Luckily, I awoke this morning feeling much better, and I am happy to report that I am able to hold down solid foods, although my appetite is not exactly what it used to be. Now, I know that I have probably thoroughly confused you by telling my story backwards, and I promise to do a better job on my next post. I will give a few overall comments about the Philippines. It reminds me much more of South America than it does of Asia, and I am sure that is mostly due to the fact that it was colonized by the Spanish. The people here have been very very kind and they speak incredible English! The local dialect is an intresting fusion of Spanish, English, and Philipino. Tomorrow I will attempt a hike to the rice terraces and perhaps a waterfall. On Thursday I plan to head down to the islands and experience the tropical islands and scuba diving that I have read a lot about!