1ST DAY OF COMMUNITY DUTY

It was June 15, 2007 when i was awakened by my phone's alarm clock at exactly 4:15 in the morning. i wanted to sleep more so i did but at 4:30, MJ called me up, probably just to wake me up because he only let my phone ring twice. then, i fixed the things i might have forgotten to pack the day before in my travelling bag and i took a long bath. it took me about an hour to fix myself and my things. this was a very important day after all--it was the first day of our community exposure.
I left the house at exactly 6:00 in the morning and arrived at our meeting place (SLU Gate 4) at about 6:10. due to the early time, there was no traffic. three of my group mates were already there when i arrived, Susana, Debran, and to my surprise, Apok (he was usually the late comer or the one missing during meetings). all of us arrivedbefore 6:30 because we knew that our travel time would be 7:00.
We sent a message to our CI asking where the vehicle we were supposed to ride in was and where she was also because we were already running late. we were then approached by the jeepney driver of the other group then gave us the contact number of one of his driver friends who used to service previous students when he found out that we were to ride a van.
The van and our teacher arrived at about 8:00 in the morning then we all decided that the van is just not enough for us and all our baggage so we contacted the jeepney driver who used to service the previous students. while doing so, ma'am Tabin, an MCN, arrived. she was to be our tour guide to the community we were going to--Pito, Bokod, Benguet. the new ride,, a jeepney, arrived at about 8:40 and we left at about 9:00 after loading our baggages and ourselves inside the jeep.
We had several pit stops. first to fill up the gas tank of our vehicle at Pacdal. next along ambuklao road to fill our stomachs. then, again along the river still at ambuklao road because we had a flat tire. that was about 10:30 am. after an hour and a dam, the spare tire went flat so we borrowed the spare tire of the jeepney of F1 which was behind us. after two flat tires, at 12:00nn, we ate lunch then at 12:30, we continued on our journey. we arrived at the Municipal Hall a few minutes later to conduct a courtesy call. we met the med tech at the Health Office. we then walked to the Mayor's Office but we learned that he was in Cebu. so, we just said "hi" to his staff. after the courtesy call and picture taking, F1 and A1 (our group) parted because our communities were at opposite directions.
We conducted a preliminary ocular survey of the area (Ma'am Tabin pointed out the different Sitios while we were on the road to the staff house). the sitios were literally mountains and a river apart. but, at least the view was breath taking. we had to stop at the meeting place of some Kagawads to get the keys to the place where we will stay.
We arrived at our destination at about 4:30pm. we were helped by children to unload our baggages. we thanked them by giving them pulvoron. they enjoyed them so much but sadly, we had to stop giving because we did not want to spoil them. then, we started to clean the dust covered staff house and barangay hall. our cleaning was interrupted when we had to meet the barangay midwife, Mrs. Hilario. after the meeting, we continued on cleaning. some of us started preparing for dinner when they found out that our double burner stove was defective and that the hose connecting it to the gas tank was missing a part. this problem was solved when one of the men building the soon-to-be-finished CR made it work. after doing so, Ma'am Tabin opened the kitchen. we found out that there was a double burner inside. so, for safety purposes, we borrowed it and connected it to our gas tank. while they were cooking, the rest of us took a bath, two at a time to save time. we were all done taking a bath by 7:00. and since the food was not ready yet, we fixed the sleeping blankets we were to sleep on. the cooking was finished at about 8:00. we ate dinner and finished at about 9:00 and had our first meeting until 11:00pm. we all slept at almost 12:00am knowing that we would start the next day at 4:30am.