The Mynah bird that kept saying “Good morning! …Pangit…ang pangit mo [ugly, you are ugly]!” was somehow invading my deep slumber. Realizing, that it was not a dream but the talking Mynah bird at the hotel courtyard signalling the guests that morning has come, I quickly jumped from the bed to check my alarm. It was 7:08am and I overslept! Without skipping a heartbeat, I jumped into the shower and quickly dressed. Never minding to comb my hair, I quickly went to the hotel lobby to meet my team mates. Engineer Rene Brasuela and Mariano “Yano” Grifalda were waiting patiently for me at the lobby. Our call time was 7:00 am and I was half an hour late! Yano turned and reminded me “Maam, hindi ka pa nagsusuklay…[you haven’t brushed your hair] …” I quickly dismissed that comment and said, “Yes, I know…sa van nalang…[will do it at the van]” We proceeded to our waiting van and made our way to Maragusan, the summer capital of Compostela Valley for our field monitoring visits.
The roads leading to Maragusan was quite challenging - winding and rock-laden path followed the curve and slopes of the mountains, I could tell that I was once again in for another brain shaking, head bobbing ride. We picked up Delo, the Area Volunteer Coordinator at Maragusan Central Elementary School and made our way to New Albay National High School. Our adventure began when our vehicle got stuck in the river and we had to roll up our pants, remove our shoes and pushed the van near the embankment. Yet, with our firm resolve to conduct the monitoring visits and beginning inventory, we managed to arrive at our first destination and began our work. I thought to myself, “well, that was not bad…my pants are soaking wet, but we are still fine…” 
