Day 8: El Nido

A gigantic thanks goes out to Aaron for uploading all of my pictures last night and putting them all in order for me!  The internet here has a horrible connection! I'm a lucky girl to have him around! Thank you A! :)

  

Yesterday morning, I woke up and flipped the switch to turn on the light and was reminded that there is no electricity here until 2:00pm!  It was a bit comical, as I sifted, blindly, through my backpack to find clothes for the day!  After I got ready, I headed over to the El Nido Art Boutique and Cafe for breakfast and plopped down at a table with a dog laying nearby!

As you can see, it's slow season around here! 

After breakfast, I had nice long skype conversations with my mom and Aaron, which made my day, and then headed out into town to explore!  El Nido is a very small beach town, which has just recently became a backpacking destination.  The people here are incredibly poor... 

Here are some random pictures that I took throughout the day.  A momma and baby goat outside a woman's tiny home/ shop.

This woman was washing her family's clothing on a piece of scrap wood. 

The local El Nido public bus...

A very creative way to grow a garden!

This family was laughing together when I spotted them in an alleyway on my walk through town!  

The local convenience store... 

In the Philippines, they make pink eggs!  The pink signifies that they have been hard boiled in extremely salty water, and they taste like salt with a side of egg, if you know what I mean!  Gala actually told me about them. She had bought them a while back, thinking they were cute, because they were pink!

The children here are creative with the games they play and the things they do to occupy their time!

Here's the beach front and my hotel, Cashew Mangas, is on the left with the yellow trim. 

I sat on the deck of my hotel for a while this afternoon, just taking in the sights of the area!  The limestone cliffs are stunning!

Here's my humble abode!  --1,100 pesos a night (about $24.00)

The local ice cream man!  As much as I wanted to buy some, I refrained!  I was a very good girl today!

This little girl was doing her homework on this bench outside her home, while her brother and his friends played with marbles nearby.

I ate lunch at the Art Cafe!  I love that place!  Their vegetable stir fry was delicious!  As I was eating, Pinky, the manager came over and said, "Jill, did you know your eating a luffa!"  I asked, "What?!!!"  She explained to me that there is a gorge (sp?) that grows here that they put in their vegetable stir fry, where, if it grows to maturity becomes very rough, and is used in making luffas (YES, the things you use in the shower!)  So, I ate a luffa today!  I'm not sick yet! :)

The Art Cafe!

Could these boys be any cuter!  I asked if I could take their picture and they got right into this pose!  i love the hand on the chin thing!  So Rico Suave!

I took a long walk tonight, and on my way back, snapped this picture of the beach front during low tide.

There are hundreds of stray dogs everywhere!  Bob Barker would be very disapointed that their dogs are not being spayed and neutered!  As you can see, they are fond of each other!

These 2 were so fond of each other that they were stuck together for about 5 minutes... You know what that means! hahaha 

I decided it was about time for dinner, so I walked down the beach towards a darling little restaurant that had been set up on the sand and was surrounded by tiki torches and bamboo flags!   

I asked a couple who had just ordered if they had eaten there before.  They said no, but hoped that it was good.  I decided to plop down at the table next to them and within about 5 minutes they asked if I'd like to join them!  Which was a pleasant surprise.  :)  I didn't have to have a romantic candlelit dinner, on the beach, all alone!

Thank you Greg and Maria!

We all chatted over delicious food about their stay in Boracay and they talked about how they watched this Korean show on the hotel TV about this couple!  They said, "The TV show host said that the couple was from the US, but they definitely weren't.  They were French Canadian!"  I asked, "Really?  What did they look like?"  Her response, "He was dark and she was blonde!"  hahahhahah!  As it turns out, they saw the show with Jess and Carlos!  So, a couple from Ireland saw the show about Jess and Carlos on a TV in Boracay, Philippines!  And now they were eating dinner with me, one of their best friends, on a beach in another place!!  Small world huh?!  They were really great and we laughed and chatted about life!  It was the perfect way to end my 1st official day in El Nido! 

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