Thursday, March 25

For Holy Week, we had some time off, so it was fitting that one of our friends planned a trip to see the rice terraces in the north of the Philippines. I felt as though I needed to get a backpack for the trip coming up. No...I just really wanted one. A pink one.

I must say shopping in Manila is SO FUN. The workers don't really work on commission, I don't think, and they are so insanely helpful! They pull everything down for you, show you all of the features....and tonight one worker even threw in an extra bag for me if I bought....the pink backpack. Yes. It was fate. At first I felt a little girly....not really outdoorsy...and really foreigner...y buying a pink hiking backpack....but I felt better when Corey said getting a pink backpack would be good because when I get lost and seperated from the group, I will be much easier to find. I felt better until I realized what he was really saying in that statement. He started telling me all the things I needed to pack in my new pink backpack to be a successful hiker, so just to frustrate him, I told him I didn't need a swiss army knife or a flashlight because my backpack was just big enough to fit all my makeup to make sure I looked good in all the pictures we would be taking.

Good thing I got a hiking backpack, but little did I know how much hiking I would actually be doing over the next week...