Goats, Chickens, and Dogs

Sometimes I wonder how anyone can sleep in my community!!! In my backyard, I have about 10 chickens that squack, cluck, and cock-a-doodle-do all night and day! It's amazing how many livestock animals are in the community. Another trainee in Vista Hill has a cow, some goats, and pigs in her backyard. It's so funny, the other night we all went to a basketball game and during a timeout, some chickens ran across the court! The next animal was a dog.

Dogs! They're everywhere too! My family owns three, but are quick to point out that they are really the neighbor's dogs, but they like to live on their porch. Another trainee has a dog that follows him everywhere. We went on a hike two days ago, up into the mountains and the dog went all the way with us. There are always dogs barking. It may sound like I'm complaining, but I'm really just amazed at the animal population!

After our hike, we were invited to an educational seminar about how to raise goats. Never in a million years did I think that I would attend a meeting about goats that was spoken in Ilokano! It was a learning experience though. Before Filipinos begin any of their gatherings, they make everyone stand up and introduce themselves. Then a prayer is said and the Philippine national anthem is sung. In the middle of the seminar, they stopped what they were doing so an ice breaker could be done! Filipinos love ice breakers and incorporate them into everything. It's really quite amusing.

UPDATE: The cold showers are becoming more comfortable. The time it takes for me to "pump myself up" to dump that bucket of cold water over my head is getting shorter!