Dance competition - 1

My photos - in the dark of the tented area, do not do the costumes justice and in no way can you feel the energy of the night. What a party!

Discon Davao 2009

The district conference has begun. We opened the event at the Central Bank with a parade of presidents. AG's, DG's, PDG's and dignitaries. Afterwards, we found our party shoes and headed to the Waterfront Insular Hotel where we convinced the New Hampshire team that they should join us in our dance. Of course, we had no idea just how grand of a night we were in for. The weather (it was outdoors) was VERY HOT...and I do not mean a little - I mean, sweat completely through my hair, all my clothes, you can't get enough water hot. That didn't stop us from drinking and dancing and enjoying the evening though. Photos to follow

The Discon has begun!

We are seeing old friends and making new ones - photos to follow! Tonight is Mardi Gras themed so it ought to be grand. Keep watch for more.

GSE on their own - relaxing on a free day

oh my - these are wild times!!

Panabo fish cages

We had some unscheduled time on our way out of Panabo and were asked if we were interested in seeing the fish cages. We all agreed - it was a must do event. I was totally interested to learn about their processes and how it compared to what little I know about our fish hatcheries, and it was a fascinating morning adventure.

We boated out to the collection of fish cages, owned by different private people. We unloaded onto the somewhat precarious walkway of the cage - only to find out later we were visiting a newer set that had no hand rails - yet - they were coming soon.

The fish are fed quite regularly and in each net/cage, they are able to produce and grow a substantially larger quantity of fish than in the traditional fish ponds which are still in use many places in the Philippines. We saw milk fish, but it was my understanding that they are already using them for shrimp and will expand as they can. It is a costly venture to set them up, but they seemed well worth the effort.

Sportsfest!

Here they are - the photos from Sportsfest where Ryan rocked the house. We all had a great time and though there really is no similar event in District 5100 Rotary, it really was a full day of fellowship and building friendships that we will not soon forget. we have many, many more photos and will hopefully be able to post a few additional ones soon. But these were too good to pass up on.

Need a little faster internet...so please,

hang on dear readers - though the team is back in Davao City after our excellent adventures in Tagum, Mati and Panabo, I do not have wireless so I will be unable to upload photos from my laptop to the blog for a couple more days - the hotel we will be staying at later in the week should have wireless. There are some amazing shots from "Sportsfest", our trip to the fish traps/growing areas and more surprises on their way...so please check back soon.

Though you will continue to see me post and rave on about the amazing foods - fish and fruits and such, I echo Trish's comments that it is the people, the friends we are making along our journey that have been the absolute highlight of this trip.

Though we miss our friends and loved ones back home, we will have stories to last a good long time, and we are all so grateful for this opportunity. More soon.