There was little excitement planned for the day, and this was not such a bad thing.
Still feeling exhausted from the previous day’s romp with the jellyfish, we were keen on doing as little as possible for the last day we were here.
We woke up, had breakfast, struggled until noon to keep ourselves entertained, and made our way over to the internet cafe.
It was empty in the “Art Cafe”, and we spread ourselves out, taking up three tables (much to the chigrin of the owner and employees). I ordered some french fries (the best in the Philippines) and Scott and Joao ordered seafood salad and pizza.
We were poised and ready for passing the time, yet even with all of this “time”, I still didn’t have much done by the end of the day.
As the systems that they are using (including Ubuntu Linux) are all sort of “my thing” and there was not a very large training window prior to departure, I have reluctantly taken on the role of “tech support” once again. This is fine, and I am glad to help them with their issues, especially when indirectly caused by me. The drawback, however, is that I can get very little done in this situation.
Scott left at 4:30pm, as he had a prior engagement to fulfill. Joao and I stayed until, desperately clinging to our 2% of battery remaining, our screens went dark, and our work went unsaved. The power was out until 6:00pm, and there was nothing we could do about it.
We decided to head back to home-base, and unload our laptops.
What Joao did to pass the time, I don’t know. Scott returned around 8:00pm and did his own thing as well.
I walked around for quite some time, in search of adventure before we leave this place and move on to the next. I got some barbecue chicken on a stick (as you know, this happens often), and walked along the streets I had avoided in the days past.
As I was walking, I happened upon a boy’s basketball game. The two teams were doing warm-up exercises and they weren’t half bad. One team wore black jerseys, one wore white. I asked a local if both teams were from El Nido, he nodded.
“Lets GOOO!” the announcer shouted in English, and suddenly the game began.
I watched for the entire game (something I have NEVER and would normally NEVER do in America, but somehow this was different) and enjoyed it immensely. The team in the black jerseys won.
When I was done, I walked back to the room, feeling very satisfied in my search for adventure, that was just what I needed. And as a bonus, during the entire game, there was not a SINGLE tourist. A truly cultural experience. Thank god.
I packed silently for the travels the following morning. I had originally taken two pairs of jeans, and one swim suit to use as shorts. When I thought about it, I realized that I was only using one pair of the Jeans. I would wash them at night (when they needed washing which was rare, perhaps once a week) and wear them again the next day. I had not once worn my alternate pair. I decided to dump one pair, and take my minimalist life design a step further.
Did I make the right choice? I think so, but we will see.
When I was packed, I got in bed, and fell to sleep to the sounds of the thirteenth chapter of “The Four Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferris.
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