Today was filled with plentiful and delicious food and a lot of interesting information. We had a buffet style breakfast and lunch at Peninsula---there were so many amazing looking choices I had to sample some of each and still didn't get to try it all! Between meals we learned a ton about the history of the Philippines along with the the history of the Philippine education system---which ironically has similarities to our education system and the many changes it goes through. One thing that really spoke to me was how challenging it has been for Filipinos to move to the new K-12 Curriculum model for education. It reminded me of the experience teachers in Chicago had with the switch to the Common Core State Standards which required a shift in curriculum--and there were many mixed feelings about these shifts in both the Philippines and America.
The evening ended with a visit to the first Catholic church in the Philippines, Intramuros. We then walked around the downtown Manila area near the church and ended with a buffet style dinner at Barbara’s Heritage Restaurant across from the Church. Although I didn't think I could eat anymore, I still enjoyed the Filipino/Spanish food at the restaurant, my favorite being the Pancit!
After some sightseeing, we had dinner at Barbara's. The best thing about the day was the cultural dances we watched after dinner. The restaurant partners with the Philippine Dance Group and they put on an incredible performance with costume changes and background. They also had all of us participate in the National Dance Tinikling! See below for a short movie.
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