Living Above the Clouds

The view from my bedroom window.

I am here! I reached my official site and new home for the next two years. After two long bus rides, I arrived at Mount Data, Bauko; Mt. Provine on Sunday evening.

I think whoever invented the word “breathtaking” must have been standing where I am now. Outside my house, I see the clouds floating among steep cliffs, vegetable terraces, and waterfalls. The road clings to the side of the mountains, winding its way from village to village. The high school I will be teaching at is terraced itself, and is about a 5 minute hike from my house.

It’s cold. The last thing I expected when I heard I was assigned to the Philippines. But the awesome beauty of the place makes up for that. The people are wonderful…all two hundred of them that make up the barangay. The students and teachers are pretty awesome and my host family, once again, is amazing. There are 6 children, but only the youngest (16) is living at home. The others are either working or studying outside the province and come home only to visit during holidays or school breaks.

Today, I made the two hour trip to Bontoc with my supervisor to make courtesy calls to the Governor and Mayor. About 5km from our destination we were met with a landslide blocking the road that must have fallen within seconds of when we saw it. After about half an hour it was cleared enough so we could pass. We made it through, made the turn, and low and behold there was another landslide blocking the road. We could see that the boulders were too big to be moved and after seeing them preparing the dynamite, we decided to walk the remainder of the way to the town. Upon returning, we were stopped by yet another landslide. As it turned out, the highway workers had a flat tire and so we waited nearly two hours while the police struggled to clear the road. In the end, I made it home safe.

It will take some getting used to but I am excited for it. The school was recently equipped with internet, but it is the only web-access within an hour. There is hardly any cell signal, and my first night here the electricity was out. So, basically, it reminds me of my house back home and I love it.

View from my house. You can see the treacherous
road winding back down the mountain. 

Top level of the high school.