We went to Boot National High School for the Welcome Ceremony in the morning. The school is located about 25 minutes outside of Tanauan City in the rural area of Boot. Boot is a barangay, which is the smallest political unit in the urban structure of the Philippines. As a barangay, Boot provides a few services to its residents including school, a few stores and police protection.
The welcome ceremony and school tour was great! The school is made up of multiple buildings for the different grades and you have to walk down an alley by the elementary school to get to the high school. There are approximately 640 students at BNHS which we later learned was extremely small by Filipino standards-another group went to a high school of 6000 students. I am glad we ended up at a smaller school because it was easier to get to know the faculty and the students at Boot. Faces became familiar pretty quick. Like the previous schools I visited, I felt genuinely welcomed at Boot. Everyone was excited for us to be there even if it was the first week of school coming up and the ceremony was scheduled for a Saturday morning. The teachers, PTA, and the Supreme Student Government came out to participate in the Welcome Ceremony, which included a few welcome messages as well as student performances. Like many high schools, Boot has some phenomenally talented students! After the welcome ceremony, the PTA treated us to a delicious lunch of traditional Filipino food, although we didn't realize this lunch was actually our mid-morning snack because we had another meal to eat within a few hours.
After our welcome ceremony, we visited a neighboring barangay, Maria Paz. We met with several community members and discussed the importance of education and the invaluable role parents play in their children's education. The barangay's chief's wife wanted to share with us a new project they were implementing to boost tourism-an eco park. It had a breathtaking view of Lake Taal!
After our visit to the eco-park, we went to our host teacher Amy's house for lunch. Her husband had travelled back to Boot from Manila to prepare lunch for us and rumor had it that he was a very good cook. The rumor was correct! We had the opportunity to meet Loujane, Amy's daughter, as well as her aunt and uncle. Her auntie was so excited for us to be there so that she could practice her English with us. I think many people we met were excited to practice their English with native speakers! Auntie also let us try jackfruit, which was fruity with an interesting texture and flavor.
We spent the afternoon touring the Apolinario Mabini Shrine and Museum. Mabini was a Filipino revolutionary who became the Prime Minister of the first Philippine Republic after Spanish rule. Honestly, I don't remember much of the museum because we received some horrific news that afternoon. One of our fellow teachers on the trip had received word that his 6-month-old daughter had passed away suddenly and he had to leave the field experience. This was devastating news and my heart ached for my new friend and his young family. I wanted nothing more than to hold my own children and never let go, but I couldn't because I was on the other side of the world. The news turned the afternoon into a blur for me.
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