new year, new place

2017

2016 sure flew by, many people on social media couldn’t wait for the year to be over as it was noted as one of the worst years but as I reflected ono the past year, a lot of good happened. New Years in 2016 was when I got the news that I was invited to serve in the Peace Corps so I already knew that year would be different for me.  I graduated college in 2016, moved halfway across the world, learned a new language and met amazing people who would soon become my close friends.

I rang in the New Year with some of my fellow batch mates in Bohol, a couple of islands away from my site.  For the first three months at our site, we aren’t allowed to travel so planning a trip for New Years was the first time many of us got to explore areas outside our site and be reunited with one another.  To get to Bohol was a journey in itself.  My site mate and I set out to the airport early in the morning to catch a 3 hr van ride then a shuttle to our nearest airport in Iloilo City.  From Iloilo we took a hour flight to Cebu then hopped on a 2hr ferry from Cebu to Bohol and finally another van ride to our hostel we were staying at on Panglao, a smaller island off of Bohol.

Our days consisted of some (much) needed relaxation by the beach, lots of tropical drinks, exploring the island and using our language skills to connect with the locals!

2016 held a lot of new experiences for me and I’m sure 2017 will be as I continue my journey in the Philippines and in the Peace Corps.

Cheers to the New Year!