January 1, 2015
Today was the fourth day we have been in the Philippines so far, and the first day of the new year.  It was weird being 14 hours ahead of our family and friends back home, watching them celebrate New Years all over again via Snapchat and FaceTime.  None the less we had a great time celebrating with each other at the resort in Subic Bay.  Today was our free day and we were able to spend the day doing activities of our choosing.  Unfortunately it started to rain early in the afternoon, but that didn't stop us from enjoying taking advantage of all the resort had to offer.
 
Many of us enjoyed the time snorkeling where we saw many starfish, coral, and other varieties of fish, some even swimming right up next to us.  As a group, we overcame many obstacles including goggle and mouthfuls of water, the fear of getting pulled out by the current to the vast darkness of the ocean, and being devoured by a shark, but don't worry, we made it!  Others spent this time relaxing on the beach soaking up what little sun we had today.  After lunch we were fortunate enough to experience swimming with the dolphins at Ocean Adventures.  The water was chilly with the rain and wind, but we all still had a great time, as this was also a first for many of us.  Luckily, we had massages scheduled after our dolphin encounter, so we had an excuse to get out of the rain.  We were also kept busy with dolphin and sea lion shows throughout the afternoon.

Once dinner approached everyone seemed to be pretty exhausted after a nonstop day of activities, so those who didn't have late massages packed up and went to bed early.  This appears to be the part of the trip where we have overcome the jet lag, but some of us seem to be come down with different types of illnesses from colds to "upset tummies"...Good thing we are all a bunch of nursing students!  Despite the rain and oncoming illnesses, we had a wonderful start to 2015.  Happy New Year everyone!!

With Love,
Lindsay & Alexa <3