A whole other world...

"You can either see yourself as a wave in the ocean or you can see yourself as the ocean."

- Oprah Winfrey

Before you start reading this post just press play and listen to "Under the Sea" as you read.

     

     Last week was our school summer vacation! The kids really needed a break, and I probably needed one even more.  Here is the teacher's celebratory "the kids are the parents problem for a week" drinks.

I decided to visit the Philippines for my week of freedom.  When I originally bought my flights I was supposed to fly out at 9:00PM, arrive in Manila at 2:00AM, and then fly to Coron ( a smaller island) at 6:50AM.  Unfortunately the airline changed my first flight so I didn't leave Korea until 3:00AM.  Luckily I booked through a website that actually had super helpful customer service and I was able to push back my second flight.  All in all though I did not arrive to my final destination until 3:00PM Saturday, after having worked the previous day and being awake all night.  But the airport had a cinnabon, so that made it all worth it!

You also know that when they bring out the plane with propellers you are going somewhere really cool!

I finally arrived in Coron! The Philippines is made up of 7,107 islands! I say I went to Coron, but Coron Island is actually protected indigenous land and only available to visit in the daytime by boat.  I actually stayed on Busuanga Island but the area is known as Coron to the tourists.

The attractions here are the island hopping tours! You hop on a boat in the morning and they take you to reefs, lakes, and beaches.

On my boat there was a really fun group of 8 of us.  There were two South African woman, an English couple, a Dutch family and their daughter, and me.

It was unfortunately a bit cloudy and sprinkled on and off throughout the day.  But that didn't dampen the beauty of the limestone cliffs or greenery surrounding the crystal clear turquoise water!

This is the most famous view in Coron and the most photographed spot.

Originally, I was supposed to have 2.5 days in Coron but with my flight delay I ended up with about 1.5 so unfortunately I was only able to spend one day island hopping.  Then I flew back to Manila, then took a bus and a boat to Puerta Galera.

The reason for going to the Philippines was because there was cheap and beautiful scuba diving.  So I started my Open water certification!

I told my students they should feel bad for me because I had to read a textbook and take tests on my vacation! Let me tell you this manual is a very dull read and no one looks that happy to be cleaning their equipment.

I also somehow managed to tear up the skin on my knuckles.   This was the worst because every time I put on or took off my wet-suit it would make it worse.  I tried to buy band-aids and it was one of the funniest situations.  The women wouldn't sell me the whole box, I had to buy them individually and tell her how many I wanted.  

But it was so worth it! As part of your certification you have to complete 4 dives with your instructor and show that you can complete some skills, such as taking off and putting back on your equipment under water and knowing what to do if you run out of air. 

The very first day we had just started our first dive and I saw a sea turtle!!!!! It was so magical and I almost wanted to cry! Unfortunately we did not have the camera that day and didn't see any other turtles during my dives.

I stayed at a guest house right above the dive shop and this was my view.

I was so lucky that my instructor brought along his GoPro camera so I could have some pictures under the water! Otherwise I would have taken maybe 5 pictures the whole trip!

He also took really cool videos! A couple things about the video: The black thing he zooms in on is actually an octopus trying to camouflage.  The second fish is a puffer fish, I think it looks super cute! Then there are leaf fish.  The big one is actually the female and the smaller black on is the male.  After that I am swimming around some shipwrecks! My parents commented on me holding my arms in.  For scuba diving you are supposed to only use your feet to move but I kept using my arms so my instructor told me to clasp my hands together to stop myself.   The last fish shown are the poisonous lion fish and the last cute one is called a moth fish.  The boat motor sound matches up perfectly to how the little fish is zooming around!

Scuba diving was so unreal! I am so glad I did it! It is amazing the amount of life under the sea!  I was also surprised by all the amazing vibrant colors of the coral and other plants.  Its funny because my instructor kept saying well when you get additional certifications or when you buy your equipment and at first I just laughed.  Now I'm trying to figure out when I can get my next certification! For now I can dive 18 meters or 60 feet.  

Australia was supposed to be my 35 country visited but because Lindsey and I snuck Macau in there, Australia will be my 36th country visited.  I now have 10 weeks left in Korea! Its crazy how fast 3 years have flown by.  But I think I've done pretty well for myself here.  The only country left not colored in, in this region is North Korea, which I have no interest in visiting.