Christmas is coming!

December 18 - So, I set a new record! It took me an hour and a half to get a jeep in San Francisco! Sunday I was meeting a group of Peace Corps Volunteers, Karen, Edmond, Richard, Pam, and Phyllis, for lunch in Lipa at noon. I knew I was cutting it close by going out to the street at 10:45 to wait on a jeep. About 11:00 a jeep drove by going the other way, which when a jeep drives by it comes back the other way. I live at almost the end of the route. It took a while for the jeep to come back by and when it did, it was full of coconuts! So it wasn’t picking up any passengers. Then it wasn’t until 12:15 that another jeep came by! I finally made it to lunch a little after 1:00. It worked out that Pam and Phyllis were running late too and they just chatted until I got there. We had a very nice lunch at a place called Gilligan’s in the Robinson’s Mall. I got the club sandwich, very American. Well, the sandwich was really good, but who knew a club sandwich has egg and cucumber on it??

That night coming back home I didn’t have to wait a terribly long time at the jeep station in the market, but when a jeep pulled up going to San Francisco everyone ran and piled on. There were 5 of us going to San Francisco that didn’t get on the jeep. The guy in charge made some of the people getting off at a closer stop get on the other jeep that was there so that the 5 of us could get in. Only so many jeeps go all the way to where I live. They all go to the next Barangay over which is about a 10 minute jeep ride. So walking that would take a while, and there is nothing out there, so kinda creepy. I’ve never walked it and have been told I shouldn’t walk it especially by myself. The jeep was crammed, like usual, and there was an older man sitting next to me. He kept staring at me and then finally said something to me. I’m not sure what he said… it was in a mumbled Tagalog. He smelled of alcohol and I’m pretty sure he was drunk. I tried to respond and talk the first couple of times, but then he kept trying to talk to me so I just stopped trying to reply. We were sitting so close to each other that he couldn’t really turn and see me. He kept trying to look at me and it was kinda funny that he couldn’t. Eventually when some people got off and we had more room he just turned and starred at me for a couple minutes. Kinda weird, but seemed pretty harmless.

Everyone knows that the week before Christmas you shouldn’t go to the mall. Well the holds true in the Philippines as well! What a mistake that was! For school we have a teacher Christmas party and the PTA and Barangay Councilman are invited too. We all have to bring a 100 peso gift for a gift exchange. I was going to try and find some kind of house ware. Some glasses or something, but when I went into the department store it was so packed and the checkout line was down the aisle. So I turned around and left. I ended up going to the grocery store and buying 6 chocolate bars for 100 pesos. Sounds like something I’d do in America too. It’s always hard to figure out what to buy! Maybe not the best gift ever, but I’d like it if that’s what I got. Before I left home that day, they asked me if I’d buy gifts for Mary Grace’s gift exchange. She is a second year high school student, so I think 13 years old. One gift was 50 pesos and the other was 20. I had no clue what to get for her! I have a hard enough time finding something for my own gift. I went up to a jewelry stand in the mall and asked if they had anything for 50 pesos. They had a little bracelet, but I didn’t like it. So I gave up and went to the market to go home. Walking through the night market always intimidates me. It’s so crowded with people and kinda crazy. Well I’m proud of myself because I stopped in the market by myself and bought a couple of bracelets. I’m not sure how much Mary Grace likes the bracelets, but o’well. That’s what you get for asking me to do it for you. I told her if she didn’t want them I would keep them and she could go get something else, but she said it was ok. And I’m not sure if she’ll be able to go to town before her gift exchange.

Since I’ve been living in San Francisco, Emalyn, the 16 year old that lives at my house, has been doing my laundry. I know she’s 16 and can’t really enjoy doing my clothes. I’ve offered to pay her, but I think she was a bit offended and didn’t want to accept any money. I’ve helped her some, but I feel like it might be harder for her and take longer when I try to help then if she was just doing it herself. I want to do something for her since she’s washed my clothes for 3 months now, but I’m not sure if she’ll accept anything or what I’d get her. She’s 16, but in the Philippines you graduate high school and then start college at 16. So she’s in her 1^st year of college. She washes my clothes, but guess who irons my clothes?! ME!!! Haha. I’ve ironed like 3 things in my life. I know how to do it I guess, I’m sure not the best at it though. My clothes from home don’t really need to be ironed. I did press my slacks last week, but normally if I just hang them up then they are ok, but my uniform clothes wrinkle really bad. They have to be ironed or would look really bad when I wear them. When I move I’m not sure who will do my laundry. I don’t know that I can do it myself. I’d have to be taught more of what to do. Maybe I can find someone to pay to do it. It’s very time consuming to do it too, and I’m too busy running around on the weekends.

December  20 – Today I experienced my 1^st Christmas party at school! Yesterday after school we had a party with the teachers, PTA, and Barangay Councilman. We had food and a gift exchange. Every person just brought a present worth 100 pesos. When we got there we put a number on our gift. Then later on, each person picked a number from a bowl and then we called the numbers one by one and when your number was called you gave that person your gift. I had bought chocolate bars as my gift. Maan drew my number and she seemed to love getting the chocolate bars. I think the chocolate is a lot better than a wall hanging or clock or some of the other gifts. I drew Lorraine’s number. It’s a pretty glass fruit plate. I’m sure I can use it sometime serving food at my house or something. I just happened to get and give to teachers and not the other people at the party. This morning we started off the day with every grade performing two dances. They had taken a song and made a dance to go with it. They all did pretty well with it. I thought grade one was the best. The kids will still all dance at that age and they were actually all in sync and it was pretty cute. The older grades came up with the moves and everything themselves. They did a pretty good job leading and teaching their classmates. After the dances they all went back to their classes and had snacks. Many parents brought spaghetti or went to town and bought the children Jollibee or McDonalds. Then the children played games as a class like sack races, spoon races with a kalamansi (which is like a small lime), a race to change clothes (like my Mom used to have us do at our childhood birthday parties), and some other games. Then they had done a secret santa gift exchange. They got to reveal who they had and exchange their gifts. This afternoon our District (17 schools) had a teacher Christmas party. It was supposed to start at 2:30. Really started at 3 with an hour long mass first. Then a program with a couple games and some people did a dance. We had dinner there and then went home.

For Christmas, Karen and I are going to Marinduque to visit Gina and Catherine. They are both volunteers there. I think it’s about a 2 hour bus ride to the coast and then I’ve heard anywhere between 2-4 hours on the ferry to get to the island. I’m excited about our time together! It will for sure be a different Christmas, but we will have a good time. Our plan is to spend Christmas Day on the beach!

Fiesta

FIESTA - Each community (called Barangay) has a different date for their town fiesta. San Francisco’s is December 3^rd. I wasn’t sure what to expect from a town fiesta, but that’s all I’ve heard about since arriving in the Philippines. I invited 3 other Peace Corps volunteers (Karen, Mike, Richard) to come join me. We were a site walking down the street. I always get stared at and people say things to me, but having 4 Americans walking down the street really made people look and comment. Right when my friends were arriving, so were some of my co-teachers. So we all hung out together. So for fiesta, the people of the community prepare food at their house. They have to stay at their house and wait for the visitors to come and then the visitors are expected to eat at each house they visit. We went to 4 different houses before ending up at my house. So it’s kind of like Thanksgiving, but you have guests continuously coming to your house throughout the day. Every house has so much food and the family has spent all day and night before cooking and preparing. I wasn’t expecting to have to eat at every house I visited, so that was kind of hard. You just had to take small portions and just a little bit so that you can still eat at the other houses. One of the teachers got upset with me because I didn’t eat at her house. Not upset, but disappointed. I should have taken pictures of the actual food, but I didn’t think about it. I do have some pictures on facebook of us going around to the different houses. That same day we had a brown out. It was a planned brown out so everyone was prepared, but I don’t know why they would plan one the same time as the town fiesta. Doesn’t make much since. Most people cook with gas or on a fire, so that wasn’t a big deal. Probably the hardest part was that we couldn’t use electric fans! It got pretty hot, especially with the houses crowded with people. Another part of the Filipino culture is Videoke. Just like Karaoke, but one the screen it is also playing a video in the background. The videos can be pretty random. Michael Jordan playing basketball or dinosaurs roaming around. Imagine a love song playing and Michael Jordan playing basketball on the screen. Kinda funny and very random. Since there was no power though, they couldn’t have videoke. They had it 2 days before Fiesta, that night when the power came back on, and the next day. They would start singing at 6 in the morning and sing all into the night. I’m not sure that the people ever slept for like 3 days preparing and then cleaning up afterwards.

Amateur Singing Contest – The night before the fiesta we had an amateur singing contest. It was the whole barangay, but the teachers were basically the main ones in charge. We decorated the stage and coordinated it all. Supposedly I was co-coordinator with Lorraine. Really Lorraine did all the work and I was just there. I would have helped more if I knew what was going on. The event “started” at 7. I think it actually started about 8:30. We had 30 contestants singing. It didn’t end until 1:30am! Everyone was tired, the contestants, the judges, and the audience. But I think overall it was a big success. The winner sang to Bohemian Rhapsody. When I first heard the music I was like oh gosh this is going to be horrible, but this kid did an amazing job!

Thanksgiving Day… or something like that

So today I spent my first Thanksgiving in the Philippines…. It mostly seemed like any other day. It was my second time to spend the holiday away from my family, but the first time in another country. The 1^st time I was in Sacramento, where the rest of the people still celebrate, and Shon, Sarah, Claire, and James were there with me. Today I didn’t see another American. At school we have flag raising ceremony every morning. The kids sing the national anthem and sing some songs. Then there is a thought of the day from a teacher.  I was in charge of the thought of the day and talking about Thanksgiving. It’s a hard holiday to explain and I was telling the kids about it in English, so not sure how much was understood. I did take it upon myself to enjoy my day! I didn’t teach at all : ) haha. I spent the morning in the office doing a little bit of work, just hanging out, and I got to talk to Claire on the phone! Then this afternoon I spent on the internet. The connection was really slow so I didn’t even get all my email read, but I got to catch up some on what’s going on in America. I had thought I might try and cook something for the teachers at school, but then I got discouraged by only having a gas burner to work with and didn’t do anything. Maybe next year! Sunday 6 of us celebrated Thanksgiving together in Calamba at a Chinese restaurant. The food was really good, just not Thanksgiving good : ) We had a nice time together though.

My host family is tiling the bathroom right now. It was just cement, but they are putting tile in it. They first said they would be doing work for 2-3 days. It’s been 2 days and now they say 2-3 more. The first day they put down the floor so we had to go next door to use their bathroom. Now it’s set I guess so we can use it, but it’s still under construction. There is a separate room with the shower and the toilet. They both have like a little area connecting the two and a curtain covering that part. Hard to explain. But the point is, they don’t have doors on the rooms, but there is a curtain over the entrance. For those of you that know my well, know that I don’t really like using public bathrooms. This is getting pretty close to being too much for me! Haha. It’s really been ok, but a bit awkward for me.

Yesterday after school I went with another teacher to buy a Christmas tree for the office! That was fun getting to go shopping for the tree. Today we put the tree up in the office and decorated it. Made it really feel like the holidays. Then we went to go home. There were no jeeps going to San Francisco, so we had to wait forever! Took about an hour and a half to make it home.

Right now it’s “Cold” outside and they will have their jackets on and sweaters. I think it feels perfect! They will ask me if I’m cold and I say no it feels great! Most of the time I’m already sweating by the time school starts. And sometimes I feel like I never can cool down. Sometimes in the office I’ll just sit right in front of the fan and finally stop sweating.

This weekend I’m going to Taal Volcano! Really looking forward to it and hoping to take some awesome pics! And be able to post some pics online soon…

A collection of thoughts…

It is a shock to me to realize how much Filipinos don’t know about American’s and what they think America is like. I explain to people that yes you are American even though your ethnicity is Hispanic, Asian, or African, or whatever it is. They think all American’s should be white like me. I’ve been told I’m a true American.  I mentioned working in a battered women’s shelter. A co-teacher says, there are battered women in America? They think it is a perfect place and nothing could be wrong. It can be so hard to explain. And how do you explain that no I’m not rich in America, when compared to what most people have here, I have everything.

At my school we have about 12 computers. Which is a lot for around here, but only 3 of them actually work, and two have viruses. I haven’t looked at all of them all that well. The computer room looks nice with all the computers displayed, they just don’t work. I know a lot about computers but need to figure out more to get them to work! Normally I’d just search google for the answers, but with little internet access it makes that option a little harder.

At school the children pray. They pray at the beginning of the day, before they leave for lunch, and before they leave for the end of the day. I guess that’s part of being in a Catholic country. It would never happen in the US. Once a month my school has Mass. A priest from Lipa City will come to our school and hold an hour long mass. It was all the grades, but he complained that they were not listening for the hour, so now it’s just intermediate 4,5,and 6. My town has a church, but it is being repaired right now. They tell me that mass is held once a month at their church, but since I’ve been here I don’t think it has happened yet. If people want to go to church they have to go into the city.

Thanksgiving has been a big topic lately with it coming up and all. The people here know nothing about it, but I’ve tried to explain it to them. The teachers at school want me to cook for them… we will see what I do. Maybe I’ll cook something, but not the whole meal! We just have a gas burner to cook on. Only rich people or a bakery has an oven. I guess my days back in Americorps at Stelzer County Park might come in handy!  Some of us, I think 6, are getting together for lunch on Sunday to celebrate. We are just doing lunch at a restaurant in Calamba, Laguna. It’s maybe an hour or hour and a half away from here. Have to take a jeep there so just depends on how long we have to wait on the jeep and how bad the traffic is.

People always say I eat too little rice and I try to explain, you’ve been eating rice since you were born, I’ve just been eating rice since July. Everyone here says American’s eat a lot of bread. I think I might eat more bread here than I do in America. Or it might be a tie, it’s close. I do eat a sandwich for lunch every day at home. People here are always asking, well then what do you eat in America? I find it hard to explain. We definitely eat more potatoes. And the cuts of meat just seem to be so different. One teacher was looking at some pics on my computer and I was showing her a picture of my family sitting around the dinner table. She asked what that was in those glasses. What’s inside it? The Ice! She laughed about it and thought it was so funny that we’d have so much ice in our glass. The ice here is water frozen in a bag, so it’s just a big chunk of ice. Something I’ve never thought about looking funny to someone else.

I’m still adjusting some to what exactly I’m doing at school, but it’s getting a little more routine. I teach 6^th grade English 7:30-8:30, then 5^th grade English 9-10, and 4^th grade English 10:40-11:40. Classes always run over or I find something to do. I never really have gaps in my morning. The afternoon is a lot more flexible. I’m supposed to co-teach math in grade 5. Sometimes I’m there, but if I’m not working on the computer or doing something else. I always seem to find something to occupy my time.

I typically eat dinner at 6 and then sit in the living room the rest of the night. The tv is on, but it’s all in Tagalog so it’s rather boring. I don’t get much out of it. I’ll text on my cellphone or work on Sudoku. Lately I’ve been going to bed around 8. I take a shower and then go to my room. In my room I’ve been typing things on my laptop or watching movies I have on here. I’d much rather watch something in English! Pretty soon I’m going to run out of things to watch! But every time I see Peace Corps people I try to get some more from them.

Hard to believe that Friday makes two months here in San Francisco!

Life in Manila... for the weekend

Just wrapping up my weekend in Manila.... While here I have spent many hours on the internet :) I've actually ran out of things to do on the internet, but my mom tells me that I have to write a blogpost. It's gotten to the part in my adventure where it's not all new anymore and I struggle to find things to write about. So I think my posts are going to turn into random comments and things. The hard part is remembering funny/interesting things that have happened to me.

Karen and I left for Manila on Thursday. Friday there was a big Peace Corps 50th anniversary at the Mall of Asia. They had a big opening and then lots of activities and performances all throughout the day. We just hung out at the mall all day and walked around some, ate some good food, and watched some of the performances. I've already got pics posted! But don't expect pictures on facebook again for a while... Since in Manila I really haven't done that much... but EAT! I have spent so much money on eating some good food around here. Tomorrow is some kind of school holiday and we don't have classes. All the volunteers in Batangas, 8 of us, have lunch together tomorrow in Lipa with the director of Peace Corps. He is in town from DC for the big event on Friday and then making visit to different sites. The lunch is at some big fancy golf course that's actually kinda close to my house. Should be interesting...

The last couple of weeks have been the end of the semester and then the beginning of a new semester. So the last week was spent doing end of the semester testing and then the next week was beginning of the semester pretesting. So I haven't done much teaching at school, but I still seem to keep myself busy. One project I did was make student ID's for the school. We have about 200 students so that project took a little while. We have about 15 computers at my school and only like 2 work. One of my goals is to get more of the computers up and running, but I don't exactly know how to do it, so that might take some work. Wish I knew more about computers... and the way I figure computers out is by googling it... wish I had internet.

A little girl named Sunday Joy, guess that’s how it’s spelled, calls me Mayme. She’s 2 years old, so even in the Philippines little kids can't say the A! She rubs my legs and says “Puti” which means white. It's pretty funny. She’s pretty cute, but she cried and was scared the first time she saw me. The whiteness can be intimidating.

I've been worrying some lately about where I'm going to live for the next two years. That has been something I've been thinking about a lot lately. I mean living for I'm living with a host family now and my contract is through December 18th. After that I can move out on my own. In San Francisco there is no where to move out on my own to. Just too small of a place. So I'm looking into moving to the next barangay over. One teacher mentioned to me last week about living with her. Might be pretty cool. I have like a month to figure it out. So no need to stress right?!? Just where I'll be living for the next two years! No I can move anytime if I want/need to. But still a big decision.

Well need to go check out of my room and then I guess I'm headed back to Lipa!

A little update

Ok, I'm going to try and make a bit of an update. I haven't prewritten this one and I'm just sitting in the internet shop writing this now.

Things are going good here in the Philippines. I've been in San Francisco for 5 weeks now. I'm getting more adjusted and a little more used to everything in the new place. Monday and Tuesday of this week the kids had semester tests. Now they are on their semester break. Wednesday through Wednesday. So we go back to school Nov 3. Wed-Fri teachers had to be at school. Wednesday I went to a journalism competition. We took 5 kids from our school. Then Thursday and Friday I hung out with the teachers at school. I did some typing and some work. And then played the rest of the time :) Yesterday afternoon Maan and I started watching a movie on  my laptop. Last night I met up with Karen and stayed the night at her house last night. Today I'm going to Ibaan to Edmonds, another volunteer. His town is have a big Oktoberfest celebration. Tomorrow Karen and I are going up to Los Banyos to see Regina Renee, Phyllis, and Pam. They say it's less than a two hour bus ride. Monday I'm going with Mam Lorraine from school to San Jose. She has a house there and that's where her husband and son live. She just gets to go on the weekends and breaks. Some other teachers are supposed to come out there too. I'm staying there until Wednesday. Then Thursday a bunch of Peace Corps people are going to Manila. On Friday there is a big Peace Corps 50th Anniversary at the Mall of Asia. I'm staying there through Sunday. Then Monday the 7th all the big wigs from America PC and Philippines are coming to Karen's site and we are all going to lunch together. So I have a rather busy week ahead of me, but I'm excited about it. I'm guessing it will be a nice break for my host family too to not have to worry about taking care of me for a week.

I'm keeping myself busy! Seems like I can always find something going on! When there's nothing going on it gets rather boring out in San Francisco. Last weekend Karen came out to San Fran and stayed the night and got to see all the excitement out there.

Email me and let me know what's going on back at home! I love hearing from people! And I'll try and write back when I have internet...

All about School…

All about School…

I have now been in San Francisco for one month! Man time flies! Seems like every time I turn around a new week starts. My school is a very small school with about 190 students. One class per grade. So there are 9 teachers total including me and the principal. Kinder goes to school half a day and then there is 1^st-6^th. I started off in 5^th grade with Mam Rachel (31) as my counterpart; Rachel is still my main counterpart. I’m in 5^th grade for English, Math, and some of the Science. 5^th grade is the wild bunch of the school. We have 19 boys and 10 girls. They all seem to have a difficult time being in a classroom setting. Then I’m in 6^th grade with Mam Lorraine (36) for English class. We’ve been co-teaching for about two weeks now and have a good routine and flow going.  This past week I started observing 4^th grade English in Mam Rodora’s (DayDay (nickname pronounced DiDi ay=i) 31) class. We will then start co-teaching together as well. They want me to work down to 3^rd grade English as well, but that might take a little more time. That is Mam Lonnie’s class. She is around my mom’s age and a little more hesitant to speak English with me. Then there is Mam Linda in grade 2. Maybe around my parents age and she’s quite funny. In 1^st grade is Mam Maan (23 Ma on). She speaks quite good English and her and I talk a lot. Then the principal is Mam Valencia. I like all the teachers and we have a lot of fun together. We haven’t hung out outside of school yet, but I feel like it could happen. At least with some of us. It’s funny because all the teachers are called Mam (pronounced more like Mom) but then I’m called teacher Amy. Who knows why?!? Haha.

One of the most common questions I get is how do the Philippine pupils compare to the American pupils? My response… kids are kids, but in America they speak English. Working in America with different class kids I have found that it doesn’t matter if they are rich or poor, they are still kids. Here it is no different. Some are spoiled, some are smart, some have learning disabilities, and some are a bit ADHD. When it comes down to it, they are kids and going to act they way kids act.

Competitions are a very big deal in this country. It’s crazy how many competitions they have and they just jump from one to the next. Since I’ve been here I’ve been to Science and Math. Then next is a journalism competition and a storytelling. In Lipa City it’s divided into 4 districts, North, South, East, and West. Then all 4 districts make up the Division of Lipa City. Then it goes to the Batangas Region, and then Nationals level. I went to the science division competition a couple of Saturday’s ago. We had two students qualify in district and make it to division. A 3^rd and 6^th grade student. What they had to do was take an oral test that lasted about an hour. Neither one of them advanced to the regional level. Yesterday we had district Math Camp. It was from 3:30-9:00. Some of the students participated in a Math Trivia and some in a Math Hunt. Then there were a couple of other competitions. One of the competitions was a song and dance. That took up most of the time. How song and dance fits into Math Camp, I have no idea! Filipinos love to sing and dance so whenever possible they fit that in. I’m always asked if I can sing and/or dance. I of course say no, and so then they ask what your talent is then? I’ve just started saying that I have no talent. They don’t really like that answer either, but o’well. Oh yeah, I’m in the East district, and Karen’s school is in the South district. So when things are done by district we aren’t together, but when things are done by division we are together.

October 5^th was World Teacher’s Day. I’ve never really heard of it being celebrated in America, but here it’s a big deal. We didn’t have school that day and all the teachers from the district got together at a resort. We rode in a jeep with our school banner on the front, met at the district office, and caravanned over to the resort. It started off with an hour long mass! I haven’t mentioned, school and religion are not separated here at all. Every day starts off with a prayer, and then the students pray before going to lunch, and when they leave for the day. My school has one Mass a month. A priest comes in from Lipa and does the service. My town has mass once a month. I haven’t heard of it happening yet, but maybe it has. A priest comes in one Sunday a month and does a service in the church here. So anyways, after mass they have some introductions and speeches. Then we play games. The games are the limbo, balloon races, sack races, volleyball, badminton, and a few others. They also had videoke going on. (just like karaoke, but with a screen showing a video). They said there was a special guest going to sing from San Francisco. I just refused and didn’t go up. Haha. O’well. Then we had lunch and that afternoon was an awards ceremony. 

A little update from a LONG time!

Well, it seems like it has been forever! Maybe because it has been a long time. I’m actually writing this in a word document on my laptop in my bedroom and will save it to my flashdrive in hopes that one day soon I will have an internet connection and be able to post this online! When I do get online I pay by the minute, so to prewrite posts and letters is the best way to go.

Let’s go way back… Sorry, it’s going to take a while!

Sept 11^th I left my host family in Colo, Dinalupihan, Bataan. It was actually a lot harder to leave my family then I thought it was going to be. The last couple days there RG would hardly talk to me because he was sad I was leaving. I was sad because I didn’t get to say goodbye to the family girls (sister and nieces) a couple houses down. I had gotten on the bus and in my seat and looked out the window to see them sitting on the bench waving at me. I made my way off the bus to go say goodbye to them! We’ve sent a few messages on facebook since I’ve left. Mhay and I text back and forth some. Last night I got a text from Mhay. She said every time Miguel goes into the room I stayed in he says he misses Amy and starts crying L I will make it back someday to visit them!

Sept 12-17 – This week was spent at Island Cove Resort in Cavite, by Manila. The first couple days were just a wrap up of our pre-service training (PST). Monday night at dinner we met our counterparts that we will be working with for the next two years! My counterparts name is Rachel, she’s 31 years old, has 3 boys 2,4,7, and teaches 5^th grade. She’s a very nice lady and can be quiet and shy. It’s kind of weird to start working with someone at a conference that you just met. We worked well together and presented a demo teaching that was successful.

Sept 16 – SWEARING IN! BATCH 270! There have been 270 batches of volunteers in the Philippines since 1961 when Peace Corps started. The Philippines was one of the 1^st countries volunteers ever got sent to. We had our big ceremony swearing in as official volunteers. This is the time people really think; man what am I getting myself in to?!? But everyone swore in and as far as I know no one has left yet. We had 54 volunteers swear in. The ceremony was at 2pm, making it 1am in Texas. My parents stayed up to watch it! My mom has some pictures on facebook of me. I was pretty impressed with them! http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/17301326 This link is supposed to have a recorded copy of the ceremony. I’m not sure if you can still view it or not. I’ve never gotten to go and look at it. I didn’t really think much about having a ceremony, but it was kind of a big deal and a big step into the next part of our adventures!

Sept 17 – We had the choice to go to our sites with our counterparts, or stay one night in Manila and go to our sites the next day. Some friends and I chose to stay in Manila and we would travel to our sites on Sunday. We just had to be to school on Monday so no need to sit around with our new host families for a whole weekend! In Manila Peace Corps has a pension house (Hostel) that they use. It’s open to the public but they have an arrangement with PC and many volunteers stay there. That’s where we stayed. We really didn’t do a whole lot, but got to hang out and relax some. We walked around the mall and ate some American food. Many people from batch 269 and some from 268 were there so that was fun getting to talk to them. Some I had met before at trainings and some of them were new to me.

Sept 18 – Our big trek to our new sites! Our first real experience going out on our own too. Karen, Mike, and I all stayed at the pension in Manila and were all traveling in the same direction. Sunday morning we got up and headed out to the bus station. The 3 of us, and ALL of our luggage, fit into one taxi. I really wasn’t sure that it was going to work and the taxi driver was worried about how heavy it was. He had to check to see how close the tires and frame were to each other. He drove slow and cautiously, but we made it to the bus station. It was crazy getting all our bags out of the taxi and on to the bus. When we pulled up, some guys started taking our bags and my 1^st thought was, hey Mike, follow those guys with our bags and make sure they get to wherever they are going. So Mike followed them and watched them put our bags on to the bus while Karen and I stayed back and paid the taxi driver and made sure we had everything. The whole bus ride our counterparts kept texting to see where we were and make sure they would be there when we arrived. Mike lives in Malvar, which is just 30 minutes North of Lipa. So he got off at his stop and Karen and I continued on. We weren’t exactly positive where we would be getting off, but knew we were close and then we saw Karen’s counterpart standing at the street. That was a whirlwind too getting all of our bags off the bus, greeting the people who came to pick us up, and getting off the busy street. Karen and I didn’t even really say bye to each other, just went our way with our different counterparts. I wasn’t sure who all was there to pick me up, but later learned All the teachers at my school (which is really only 7 but still), the principal, her husband, two kids, and sister, the barangay captain, and I’m sure a few others that I don’t remember. They had two vehicles with everyone and once again all my luggage. We drove from Lipa City Proper to my Barangay, San Francisco, and my principal’s sister gave me a talking tour as we drove. We pulled up to my house; everyone got out and went to meet my family. I got there and there were TONS of people, mostly children. Turns out it was the granddaughter Annabelle’s 7^th birthday. 7^th Birthdays are a huge deal here. I don’t exactly know the reasoning behind it. We all went in the house and ate lunch. Then we sat around on the porch and I was introduced to all the teachers. I met many family members and wasn’t sure who exactly belonged to the house I’d be staying in. It took me a couple of days to figure out who all actually lived in my house. Now I know it’s the Grandmother, Ninay Lette 64, her son Rico 34, his wife Mylen 31, their son MJ (Mark Jansen) 4, granddaughter Emalyn 16, and granddaughter Mary Grace 13. Mylen is also pregnant and due mid January.

The first few days in my new house were rather awkward. I guess that is expected when you move in with complete strangers in a foreign country. It has taken a bit for us to get used to each other, but we are doing pretty well now. It’s been 2 and a half weeks. San Francisco is very different from what it was like in Colo. San Fran is how they put it, in the province, versus being in the city. So that pretty much means out in the country. They had told me it was way out here, but I didn’t fully understand until I actually made the drive from town out here. My family lives on a compound with many family members living all around in houses. I live in the nicest house because it’s the grandmothers of the family. The grandfather died 2 years ago. My house has a tin roof and the rooms don’t have ceilings, so you look up and just see the rafters. My family put up a feedsack tarp on the ceiling in my room for me. The bathroom is separated into a shower room and a toilet room. The toilet is a squat toilet and the shower is just a faucet with a bucket and tabo (dipper). So I take bucket showers and it’s also very cold water! They bought a brand new mattress that’s pretty comfortable. It’s a full size bed. When I first got here I didn’t have anywhere to put my things and since then they’ve bought a “cabinet” thing, put up a mirror, hung an electric fan on the wall, a little side table, and hung a clothes line across one wall of my room so I could hang my school clothes. They really do as much as possible to make sure I’m happy and have everything I need. One thing they were really worried about was the food. Mylen cooks my food, and I think she’s gotten a little more comfortable in what she makes for me. I think some of what she makes is just special for me and some she makes for the whole family. I eat in the dining room at the table by myself. The rest of the family eats later in the “dirty kitchen”. A room built on in the back of the house as an outside kitchen. Most houses in the Philippines have this. In Colo it was just out in their front yard. I’m working on us eating dinner together, we’ll see when or if that ever happens. The 1^st couple days I walked home from school for lunch, but now she has started sending my lunch to school. She doesn’t cook it until later in the morning, so she’ll send one of the kids who’s not in school to bring me my food at the school. On my compound there are TONS of children. Ninay Lette has 5 boys and 3 girls, and they all have children. Rico has just MJ and one to come, one son has 8, another has 5, a daughter has 2, another son 2, and I don’t even know, but it makes for a lot of kids running around. I’ve counted 8 roosters on the property and honestly they don’t bother me that much. They have 17 pigs that live right outside my bedroom window; they can be a bit noisy. They have two cats, and one was really bothering me, but I think they’ve stopped letting it in the house or something. They have pigeons, guinea pigs, and I don’t even know what else is back there. I haven’t really explored it too much. It’s pretty muddy and smells pretty bad.

I'm going to have to update about school later.... that's what I'm here for and I haven't even had time to write about it! Hopefully I'll get it posted next weekend!  

Last week in Colo

Friday (Sept 2) - Had language class from 8-12. In the afternoon we did assessments. We were hoping to fly through them so we could go out to Subic and have a nice dinner. Some of the people went ahead and went and Pam and I were going to meet up with them later. Well... assessments ended up taking FOREVER! Pam and I didn't get out of there until 6, wouldn't get to subic until at least 7. So we decided to not even try to make it and just went into Dinalupihan and ate at Mang Inasal.

Saturday (Sept 3) - We had out tech session wrap up (the working in the school part of our training). For the wrap up we went out to the beach in Subic. Started off raining that day, but cleared up enough for us to have some fun. We played around on the beach, tossed a football, and played some team building type games. We had to put in some wrap up time too discussing our 2 months of being in the school. It was a nice and relaxing day. When we got back Karen, Mike, Regina Renee, and I went out to eat at Mang Inasal. There aren't many options in Dinalupihan. They do have really good chicken I enjoy so two days in a row was ok.

Sunday (Sept 4) - Gina's host family had a party for some of us Americans! They took us to a resort called Punta Belle. The resort was back by itself by a river and with mountains in the background. It was very pretty and had two big swimming pools. We had fun swimming, sitting in the river, eating meat on a stick, and just hanging out. Part of us going was that we promised Gina's host sister that we would eat Balut. I don't know that the taste of it was really all that bad, kind of like a hard boiled egg, but the thought of what I was eating and the looks of it really grossed me out! I took a bite and ate it, but couldn't eat the whole thing. That night after we got back my family, Karen, Mike, and Ariel's cousin Jay went to Subic to Pier 1 for dinner. Pier 1 has live music and is right on the beach. It was a really cool place, but we were so tired it was hard to really enjoy. We of course still had a good time though.

Monday (Sept 5) - This week we spent most of our time preparing for our LPI (language proficiency test). We will be graded on what we've learned of Tagalog so far. I'm hoping I'll pass, but I'm really not sure. I haven't done so well memorizing all the vocabulary and everything. So some of our time was spent in the classroom and some of it we could stay at home and study.

Tuesday (Sept 6) - Studied more for my LPI. That afternoon we had our closing ceremony at the Elementary School. They made it a big to do and we got certificates from them and we gave our counterpart teachers certificates. I got a really nice card from my counterpart, Jake, and a paper weight. After it was over lots and lots of pictures were taken and they had Pansit for merienda. That night Karen, Cristy, and I went into Dinalupihan and ate at Chow King. It was nice to get out and just hang out for a bit.

Wednesday (Sept 7) - This morning was spent in the classroom reviewing and having a 1 on 1 with Elsa practicing for the LPI. This afternoon we had our language wrap up. For a gift we gave Elsa the game Scrabble Slam. We had played Quiddler in class and she really enjoyed it. We couldn't find Quiddler at the store here, but I had brought Scrabble Slam from home and it was still brand new. After we gave it to here we played a few games. It's a fun game to play and I think Elsa really liked it. After that I went over to Gina's house and played cards with her, Karen, and Catherine. We've learned a lot of new cards games! Who knows how much time we spend playing cards :)

I'm taking my big test tomorrow!!!

It's my last week here in Colo, Dinalupihan. Sunday we are leaving bright and early at 6:30 am headed to Cavite to spend a week debriefing PST (training), meeting our counterparts, and swearing in to be a Volunteer for the next two years!

Since I'm leaving my family here I don't know what my internet situation looks like in the future... Hope to keep you guys regularly posted still!

1 week until swearing in!

Friday (Aug 26) - In the morning we had a meeting and language class. That afternoon was language class, but the community had a cultural program to celebrate some holiday. Not sure even what the holiday was :) We got to go and watch the performance. It was dancing and singing through the years of Philippines and from the different locations around the country. It was pretty good and fairly interesting. That night we had our one-on-ones with our language teacher and elementary facilitator instead of having to do it on Saturday morning. I ended up getting out of there at 8!  
 
Saturday (Aug 27) - Arlan and RG had swim lessons at a resort pool down the street from 8-10. Karen came over and went with us. We just hung out in a nipa hut with some of the moms. One of the ladies braided our hair and another one went and bought us snacks, quail eggs and boiled peanuts. The quail eggs are pretty much just miniature hard boiled eggs. We went back to the house and played cards with Mhay and Ariel. We played cards for a good part of the afternoon. Ariel joked with us about getting a pizza and like an hour later a guy showed up at the door with a pizza! Wasn't the best pizza I've had, but it was decent. For sure a nice change in our meals. That night the family, Karen, and I went to a basketball game. Each town has their own team and then it was a tournament. At half time one of the things they do is faces of the night. They pick out 3 girls and then vote by applause for the best one. Karen got chosen to go up to the front; she was really embarrassed, as I would have been too. She didn't win first, but they gave her 1000 pesos. About $23. So after the game we stopped at Jollibee (the Philippine version of McDonalds) and Karen treated us to dinner. For all 6 of us to eat, it was 445 pesos.  

Sunday (Aug 28) – I spent most of my morning on the computer. I got caught up on some emails and got to talk to my parents on skype! It was the first time we had video chatted since I’ve been here! We’ve talked, but normally without the video because I just use the skype on my phone. The funniest part was my mom held the computer out to Goldie. I said hi and she looked straight at me on the computer. I think she was confused, but she definitely knew I was there. Mhay then came in and said we were going to go to the SM mall; it’s about an hour away. So I get ready to go and everything and then wait around. Then she comes in and tells me we aren’t going because it’s raining. Funny thing is… it’s been raining all morning! Catherine ended up coming over so we could work on the t-shirt designs. We are making a shirt for our host families as a gift when we leave and one for ourselves. Cristy had texted me and said I should meet up with her in Subic, so Karen and I decided we’d just go and hang out and wait around on her to text me back. We went ahead did some shopping and had dinner and on our way home, Cristy texted to say she decided not to go because of the rain! Oh well Karen and I had a good time and got out of the house for a bit.  

Monday (Aug 29) – In the morning we had language class. In the afternoon we had a meeting to plan for our community project on Wednesday morning. We got everything put together, printed out the papers we’d need, and made some final decisions. After that we went to a meeting at Sam’s house to try and decide what we are going to do at our swearing in. We have to do a song or dance or something. Much debate went into what we will do, I don’t really care. I don’t like singing or dancing or performing of any sort. Ended up we had to go back and change what we decided to do anyway.  

Tuesday (Aug 30) – For language class we decided we’d go on an outing to Subic. Part of the deal was that we had to practice our language while out. We started off the trip with a stop for ice cream. 7-11 in Olongapo, which we have to go right by to get to where we are going, has soft serve ice cream, so of course we always have to stop. Then we went shopping at the duty free store. I bought some food and a few gifts for my family for when I leave. It’s hard to decide what to get them! While there we stopped at the bank to get some money. Then we ate at Xpresso Café. It was my second time, and it was just as good the second time. We got a huge pizza to split between all 6 of us and it was only 130 pesos apiece. $3 a person. We had a fun trip and very nice to do a language class out of the classroom! That afternoon Mhay and I made Puto (a cake like treat) for me to take to our community project for the morning merrienda. While making puto we hung out in the nipa hut in the front yard. Pam walked by so we got her to come in with us. Then Mike and Gina walked by and they came too. We had a lot of fun just hanging out. They all needed to go home for dinner because it was about 7 and then the power went out. So we had a fun time trying to find everything and clean up and get them home. The power stayed out for about an hour so my family had dinner in the nipa hut.  

Wednesday (Aug 31) – In the morning we had our community project at the school. Our project was an information session about finding resources to develop their reading center and then some teacher training. My part of it was a Math session. I explained how to use math centers in a classroom and have the students rotate from one center to another. I showed them some different games and activities they could use as their centers. Don’t know if they’ll take it back to their classroom or not, but hopefully they got something out of it.

Thursday (Sept 1) – This morning we had language class. We are starting to try and do more conversations in preparation for our language test that’s next week. We’ll have a one-on-one interview with someone and get graded on how well we do. This afternoon we had another meeting to go over what we’re going to do at our swearing in and to discuss our party for our host families that is next Saturday. Then we had a medical meeting, but no shots! After that Karen, Gina, and Catherine came over and we played cards in the nipa hut. Mhay joined us and then the boys came in too. The nipa hut is a nice place to just hang out.

Can't believe the end of training is so close! Seems like time just flew by. Can't believe I'll be leaving here and moving on to my new location.

2 weeks until swearing in

Friday (Aug 19) - Why do I wait until almost a week has gone by, and then I can't remember what I even did! Ok, I looked at my calendar. In the morning everyone from Dinalupihan (16 of us) went to San Ramon for an ALS (Alternative Learning) program. We divided into 4 groups and had about 40 students attend. The students ranged anywhere from 18 to about 50 or so. The students are working on their high school diploma. My group led a session on job interviews. We talked about the Do's and Don'ts of an interview, showed them a bad interview and a good interview, and then lead some mock interviews with them. They were a bit shy to talk with us, but we got a few to participate. That afternoon we had language class. That evening Karen, Gina, and Catherine came over to my family's store and we played spoons for a while. Then Mike came by and told us the Peace Corps Staff were celebrating Eva's (a language teacher) birthday. So we went down to the party and hung out for a bit.

Saturday (Aug 20) - In the beginning of our time here in Bataan we had to do a courtesy call to the governor's office. He told us he wanted to show us around the province. We weren't sure it would ever actually happen, but it did! He arranged for a van to come and pick us up. At first we were just going to Mt. Samat for a tour. It ended up we went around the whole upper half of Bataan seeing all the historical sites along the way. Our first stop was in the capital city, Balanga City. They have a very nice visitors center and showed us a video of the Province. From there we went to Mt. Samat. At first it was very cloudy, we couldn't even see the top, but then it cleared off. At the top there is a HUGE cross. Supposedly there are 450 stairs to go up, but the stairs were closed and we took an elevator. The view was very pretty from up there. We had our morning merienda (snack) and walked around. We even saw a monkey up in a tree! Our next stop was Bagac where we saw the 0 KM marker from the death march and the Filipino/Japanese friendship tower. Next we went to the Pawikan Conservation Center in Merong. We had our lunch, provided by the governor. Then the staff at the center gave us an overview of what they do there. At the end we got to go release some baby turtles into the ocean. On the way home we drove through subic. We got to see where the navy base was. It's like a deserted place now. So quiet out there and not much around. We stopped at a very pretty place and had our afternoon merienda. We finally made our way back home. It was a very fun day and really interesting to learn all the history.

Sunday (Aug 21) - Karen, Catherine, and I got up and went to Olongapo and Subic. Our first stop was food. We went to subic and searched for Texas Joe's. We finally found it and walked in to eat lunch. We walk in and run into Pam and Phyllis. They had just sat down so we joined them for lunch. It was very good food! I had a chicken BBQ sandwich. Some others had hamburgers. And french fries! After lunch we went to the National Bookstore and found some postcards. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find them around here. None of the places were even anywhere close to where we are. Then we went and roamed the duty free shop. On the way home we stopped at 7-11. They have soft serve ice cream! That was very much enjoyable.

Monday (Aug 22) - In the morning I had my second to last team teaching. It went ok. He plans the lesson for me so I feel like I just follow what he tells me to do. I thought it went fine. That afternoon we had language class.

Tuesday (Aug 23) - We had language from 8-3. After that we had a meeting with the Country Director. He was in town making a site visit. He came by our language class for 15 minutes or so just to observe. We had a very nice meeting with him just discussing what had been going on and telling him any concerns we are having. He seems like a really nice guy.

Wednesday (Aug 24) - Our last team teaching! Which really wasn't team, we were supposed to do the lesson ourselves. Once again I was given exactly what to do, so I didn't find it that difficult to just follow what I had been given. Afterwards, the class next door, Karen's class, had a big party. My class hadn't planned anything for me. So I went over there and joined them for a bit. They organized a whole program with singing and dancing and a snack. It was very nice. When I went back to my class they all had written me letters and they showed me the flips and cart wheels they can do. Very sweet kids. That afternoon we had language class. It was Pam's birthday. 1st one group of another language class came over to surprise Pam and brought a cake. At the end of class Cristy came with a surprise cake for Pam. We ate a lot of cake and enjoyed Pam's birthday. That evening we went over to Sam's house and hung out for a bit before going home. Around 8:30 Ariel's mother came home from the hospital. She had been there for 22 days after her stroke. All the family came over for her homecoming. It took a long time to get her settled and comfortable. It's going to be a very big adjustment for the family.

Thursday (Aug 25) - We had language class from 8-3. None of us felt too motivated or into the language so we had a bit of a free day. We talked a lot about how to cook different kinds of food. This afternoon we played the card game Quidler and made it Tagalog by translating the English words. We got out of class at 3, so 6 of us went into town. We made a stop at the post office, bank, grocery store, and a t-shirt shop. We are wanting to make a group t-shirt and also one for our host families as a going away gift.

Seems crazy only two more weeks here and then off to a new adventure...

3 more weeks until I swear in!

Friday (Aug 12) - I had language class most of the day and honestly don't remember what I did that night... Tagalog is coming along. I'm able to communicate a little, but still can't understand most of what people are saying.

Saturday (Aug 13) - Assessment was cancelled for the morning so Karen, Gina, Cristy, and I headed out to Subic Bay for the day. We just walked around Subic and enjoyed our day off. We walked through the bay and ate at Gerry's Grill. The bay was pretty, but still some dirty water and parts of it smelled really bad. We went to a resort, Lighthouse Resort, and hung out in the lobby for a while and used their bathroom. At home I like to avoid public restrooms. Here I take advantage of public restrooms when they have flushing toilets and tp. No one said anything about us just hanging out because we're American. When we got back from Subic we went over to Catherine's house. It was her birthday and her family had made spaghetti (what Filipinos make for everyone's bday) and had a cake. We bought her some doughnuts in town. That evening 6 of us went into town and ate dinner at Mang Inasal and just hung out for a bit.

Sunday (Aug 14) - I got up and went to mass with Ariel. There is a house between our house and the church. We can always hear the services from the house. It used to wake me up in the mornings, but I can pretty much sleep through it now. The service was in Tagalog, but I just tried to follow along, really didn't understand anything. After church Mhay and I went to San Ramon to her sister's birthday party. It's just 15 minutes down the road. We had lunch and played Tong-Its. Mhay taught me at home and we taught some of the other Americans how. Playing at the party we were betting and it was a little different. I had some trouble following what was going on. When we got home from San Ramon, we went to the hospital to see Ariel's mother. 11 of us rode in an SUV that had seats for 7. His mother is at a different hospital now, but was still in the ICU. It had a shade that could be pulled up and we could all see her through the window. On the way home there were 10 of us in Ariel's 4 door pickup. It's a Ford Ranger, but a little different than the ones in the US. In Subic, where the hospital is, it's against the law to ride in the bed of the truck, so we all had to squeeze into the cab until we got out of Subic. Quite an adventure!

Monday (Aug 15) - I was in the classroom for my 4th time. I taught a little bit of the lesson and Sir Jake did the rest. He tells me what he wants me to do for the lesson, and I think I need to step up and be creative and come up with something different. I haven't taken the initiative though, and have just followed what he's told me to do. Maybe next week I'll change that! Next week is our last week in the classroom. In the afternoon we had language all afternoon.

Tuesday (Aug 16) - Had language class from 8-3. After that we had independent study time. Karen, Pam, Regina Renee, and I headed into town and ate at Jollibee. We really just wanted to get out and get some food, so that's what we did! We've been eating our meals over at Ariel's parents’ house since his Mom is in the hospital and dad has been gone most of the time. Ariel has a 13 year old sister and 12 year old niece that live there and Mhay's been cooking for all of us. We have been eating lunch and dinner there. So after dinner I got my cards out and taught the girls, and RG, how to play Spoons! We had a lot of fun playing cards. I've been getting plenty of card playing in. Between playing cards with the girls, the boys at my house, and Karen, Gina, and Catherine, we've been playing a lot! And I like it :)

Wednesday (Aug 17) - I had another team teaching up at the school. I did most of the lesson and I think it went pretty well. I'm getting a lot more comfortable teaching the class and learning some of the students’ names... and I'm only going to be there two more times. Right when it starts to get comfortable, it's over. We had language from 1-3 and then I went over Eva's house to figure out with her group what our plans for the next day were. We had a cooking day and figured out the menu. Then I went to Cristy's to work on a project with Mike, Gina, and Rich. The 4th of us are conducting a session on Job Interviews at an alternative learning center on Friday. When we were done planning we played cards for a bit and walked around the neighborhood. We just like to hang out until it's about to get dark and we have to go home.

Thursday (Aug 18) - Our language class had our cooking day! We joined Eva's cluster and went to the market this morning to buy all of our ingredients. We were supposed to practice our Tagalog in the market. Don't really know how much I spoke Tagalog. Then we went back to Eva's and spent the morning preparing all of our food. We had some really yummy food! This afternoon we had medical from 3-5. I got a flu shot! I think they said it's the last shot until January. After medical Karen, Gina, Cristy, Jufer, and I went over to Chow King and had a Halo-halo. It's pretty good, but not as good as ice cream! Then they had to take the Doctor to Subic. So we rode along just for the ride.

Pretty good week! 3 more weeks in Dinalupihan and then off to Manila for our swearing in!

Supervisor's Conference

Friday (Aug 5th) - Language class ALL day! Makes for a very long day. We try to play some games and make it more fun so it's not so long. I got home from school and my host mom asked if I'd go to the hospital with her. I hadn't been yet, so I figured it would be nice of me to go. I thought we were headed out at 5 when I got back. At 7:30 we finally ended up going. While I waited I talked with Mhay's friend Divine. She's really easy to talk to and we have some good conversations. We stayed at the hospital for a couple of hours. Wasn't too bad hanging out. The mother is still in ICU so haven't seen her or anything.

Saturday (Aug 6th) - We had assessments of our week in the morning. After lunch I went down to Karen and Gina's houses. They live right across the street from each other. I ended up hanging out at Gina's house all afternoon playing cards. Her Ate Elsa (Ate means older sister) taught us a new game and we taught her a game. Her son Joshua came and played with us too. He's 11 and in Karen's 5th grade class at school. While playing it poured outside and Ate Elsa made us pancakes! And fed us lots of other food. Later we walked over to the neighbors for a birthday party. It was for their grandson who turned 7 and lives in Singapore. It was a huge party and the boy wasn't even there! My family came, because they are relatives. After that we went to the hospital and stayed several hours.

Sunday (Aug 7th) - Got up and went to the hospital and took my clothes to the cleaners. Much easier than washing them by hand :) My host family sends theirs to the cleaners too. That afternoon several of us were going to go to Olongapo. It's just a nearby city with a lot more to do than where we live. Only takes 30 minutes to get there by Jeepney. Ended up being just me and Cristy but we still went. We met up with a TCF (facilitator like Cristy) and going to dinner. We had a good time just being out doing something.

Monday (Aug 8th) - We got on a bus and headed to Manila! Well actually just south in Cavite. We stayed at a resort called Island Cove. We were very excited to be there. We had flushing toilets and toilet paper! Showers with warm water and good pressure! And good food to eat too! We got there and had some sessions in the afternoon. One of them was when we found out where we'll be going. They gave clues to the province and we had to guess what the province was just as a whole group. Then they announced the person or people going to that location. All 7 of the Elementary people are in Batangas and Laguna. Pretty close together. Then there are several high school, college, and CYF (Children, Youth, and Families) people that are really close too. My friend Karen and I are both in Lipa City! The cities are split up into Barangays. So the city is kind of more like a county and the barangay is more like the town. Our supervisors say we are about an hour from each other. I guess we'll find out for sure when we get there. I have googled it and can't find out online. I will be co-teaching 5th grade at San Francisco Elementary School in the Barangay of San Francisco. That night we had a dinner to meet our supervisors. It was kind of awkward. We met them and introduced ourselves and had dinner together.

Tuesday (Aug 9th) - Bummed I didn't feel too great, but glad I was somewhere with a flushing toilet and tp! (and a seat, not all bathrooms have seats). A day full of sessions with our supervisors learning a little more about each other, what to expect in our school, and information we need to know. My supervisor is the principal of the school. She lives in the next Barangay over. She's married and has two children, a daughter 16 and son 18. She said her daughter is very excited to meet me as they were texting back and forth about me. She seems really nice. I think everyone there had a bit of trouble with communication. Even when people know English, it doesn't mean they can comprehend all of it. That made some of the sessions a little challenging to get through. In the evenings after dinner we got to hang out with our friends from back at orientation that we hadn't seen in 3 weeks. We had a good time hanging out.

Wednesday (Aug 10th) - Another day full of sessions. Some of these sessions were split with just volunteers and just supervisors and some were combined. After the sessions, Karen wanted to go to SM (the mall) to buy some new sandals. All of our shoes are starting to really stink and almost no longer wearable because of all the rain. The shoes never seem to get dry! Just the two of us went and got a Jeepney to the mall, bought what we went after, and made it back to Island Cove! We were proud of ourselves for making our first adventure out into the country by ourselves!

Thursday (Aug 11th) - One month until we leave Dinalupihan and we're back to Cavite to swear in and move on to Batangas! This morning we headed back to Dinalupihan at 7. We got here about 11. I ate lunch and hung around for a bit until I had to be at a meeting at 2:15. We had a meeting with our school principal at 3. We discussed what our PACA project is going to be. We took our thoughts and ideas and he (which ended up being him, 6 teachers, and 2 parents) added his input on what would be best. I think what he really wants us to do is develop a better library. Peace Corps is not about the financial support, which confuses almost everyone who comes across Peace Corps. We told him we can hold a training on how to better the library and hook them up with resources of places that will donate books and other things. Then we're also going to have a training on teaching strategies and methods. I think it will be good, but don't think it's exactly what the school was expecting.

It was nice being away and all together with all the Americans, but now back to work and accomplishing our goals and projects at site!

Another week went so fast

Can't believe it's been another week already! Seems like it just went by so fast this week. Guess maybe because we're getting more involved in what we're doing and it's not just training all the time. Still lots of it though.

Friday July 29 - Had my second day in the classroom! Still just observation and I planned with my teacher what I would be doing for my 1st lesson on the next Wednesday. After class I went down to Mhay's best friends class in 1st grade. She had me get up infront of her class and sing itsy bitsy spider. Then I observed her math lesson. They had to do some work in their notebooks and then she checked them. We made two lines so we could each check, but then it ended up nobody went to her line and they all came to mine! I really enjoyed going to her classroom. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday July 30 - In the morning we had assessments of how our week went. That afternoon we had off. My friends Karen, Gina, and Catherine came over to my house and we just hung out and used the internet for a bit. Then we went down to Cristy's house. She has a really nice porch that is up on a hill and has a nice few. We just hung out there for the afternoon playing games and talking.

Sunday July 31 - My one month marker! I got up super early to go with Karen and Cristy to Mass in a nearby town called Orani. We left just before 6:30 and made it to the 7:00 Mass. The whole Mass was in Tagalog. Not much I understood. We've only had language lessons for three weeks now. But it was still very interesting and the church was a very pretty church. After church we ate breakfast at Jollibee's (the Philippine version of McDonalds) and tried to find something to do around there. Cristy asked several locals and we couldn't find anything touristy to do. So we went back to Cristy's house for a while. Then we went into San Ramon and had lunch at Chow King. It's a Chinese restaurant. I liked the food there pretty well. We walked around San Ramon some and went to the market. Then back home because we couldn't find anything else to do.

Monday Aug 1 - The whole group, all 16 of us in Bataan and our group leaders went on a field trip! We went to Pamalaklakin Forest Trail. I googled it and read some more about it. It's part of the old Navy base and the land has been preserved. The Aeta's live in this area and are the tour guides on the nature hike through the park. When we got to the park it wasn't raining so we started our hike. Took about an house and right as we were coming to the end it just started pouring down rain. They had some pavilions we could go to. Then the Aeta's showed us how to build a fire with bamboo and how to cook and make utinsels with the bamboo. Later that afternoon we went to a Duty Free shop in Subic Bay. I bought chips and salsa for my host family! We had it for breakfast the next day :) Then we went to Xpresso Cafe and had really yummy pizza! It was really good and the most American food we've had since we've been here! Very enjoyable :)

Tuesday Aug 2 - Language class all day.

Wednesday Aug 3 - First day teaching with Sir Jake! I think it went pretty well. He did the opening of the lesson, I just did the presentation, and then he did the ending. At the end he told me I spoke very clear and slow. I think he was afraid I was going to talk too fast and the children wouldn't understand me. I won' t be back in the classroom again until Monday the 15th. That afternoon we had language class and then SPI. (Site Placement Interviews). The Regional Managers and Sector Managers come from Manila to interview us. They already have our site picked out for us, but they ask us questions feeling it out making sure that it will be a good placement for us. I'm not sure where I'm going, but I think it might be in Batangas Province in a big city. I think all the elementary people will be in Batangas, but we'll find out for sure on Monday. In the morning Ariel's mom had a stroke. She was in ICU and in pretty serious condition. They went to the hospital right after school and stayed until 9:30. There were a couple of PCV's (PeaceCorps Volunteers) in town. Karen and I went to dinner with them in San Ramon. So we just hung out until my family was back at home.

Thursday Aug 4 - This morning my Elementary cluster had a forum with people at the school. We had a student, teacher, and parent population at the meeting. We then did some activities with them trying to figure out what would be best for our community project. We can't just ask them or they will want very extensive things. We are looking for something that we can do in one morning and it will be sustainable for the school. The process of it all is called PACA. (Participitary Analysis for Community Action). We have collected all the data and now just need to summarize it and figure out what are the best projects we could do for our school. Then we write a propasal and talk with the principal about it. This afternoon we had language class from 1-3. We played Uno for a while practicing our colors and numbers. That was a fun language activity. Then we had medical. Another shot! Finished my Rabies series. After class Gina's host family invited us over for Merienda. It was my first time over at her house and had a very enjoyable time with some good food! Then some people were cooking over at my language teacher, Elsa's house. I went over there and hung out until my family came back from the hospital. Ariel's mother is making progress, but it seems slowly. He said she can open her eyes and talk some.

Tomorrow I have language ALL DAY! It will be a very long day. Next week we're off to Manila for our Supervisor's Conference! I'll be there Monday until Thursday and will find out my permanent site Monday afternoon!

Rain, Rain, and MORE RAIN

I had a really good first weekend in Colo! Saturday we got all our business taken care of around noon, so we had the rest of the day to do whatever. Mhay, Miguel, and I took a Jeepney into San Ramon, about 15 minutes away. While there we went to visit Mhay's friend Divine who is a 1st grade teacher at Colo Elementary. Then we stopped by at Mhay's sister's house. We visited with 3 of her sisters. On the way home we stopped at Goldilocks, which is a bakery. We bought some caramel popcorn! Later in the week she bought me another bag because she figured out I really like it.

Sunday - We were going to go to church. They are catholic, but I don't think they regularly attend mass. Mhay came in that morning to inform me to keep sleeping bc they weren't going to go to church after all. We hung around the house for the morning and had plans to go to the cock fights that afternoon. Karen and Gina went with me, Mhay, and Ariel to the cock fighting arena around 2. Ariel knows someone so we didn't have to pay the gate fee. I'm sure if you saw the three of our faces in the beginning we would have been making some pretty good ones. It was shocking to see at first. Two guys get in the ring with their roosters, they warm up the roosters and get them mad at each other. While they are doing this, everyone else in the arena is betting on which one will win. It is very loud with everyone yelling at each other and they use a lot of hand motions to bet. After a while we kind of figured it out, but still not all of it. I took a video, but couldn't get it to load on facebook. We ended up staying until the last fight, which was around 6:30. I had fun and it was a very interesting cultural experience, but I don't think I need to go again.

Monday - We had our first classroom observation! We really aren't in the classroom as much as I thought we would be. During our training we only go MWF and really just stay for their hour long English class. My counterpart is Sir Jake and his English class is 8:20-9:20. I sat in on his class and found it very similar to teaching at home. Here they are just lacking all the resources that we have in the states. The teachers prepare for the class by writing on a big piece of paper the different parts of the lesson. So when they come to that part, they can just tape up the paper. I don't know if that makes sense, but hopefully it does. My goal is to not be shy in the classroom!

Monday night we had an Earthquake! I didn't know about it until I woke up the next morning and Mhay told me. I really wish i had felt it! I've never been in one before and I slept right through it. I think it's probably half and half with the people in my group who slept through it. The center was in Olongapo, which is about a 30 minute drive from here. There it was a 5.9. Here we got about a 4.5. The people who did feel it said their beds shook and it was a weird feeling. I'm bummed I missed out.

Tuesday - We had language class most of the day and a safety and security training that afternoon. That afternoon it started raining really hard. They announced that we were in a signal 2 typhoon. Signal 3 is the highest it gets. School was cancelled for the next day.

Wednesday - We had to miss our second school observation since school was cancelled. It started off as a sunny morning, and it was like why was school cancelled? Karen came over to my house and we had breakfast and hung out on the porch. Karen used the wireless internet at my house for a bit, since she doesn't have it at her house. Then since school was cancelled we had a meeting with the elementary cluster at 10:30. We got done at noon to go home for lunch and it started just pouring down rain. I got home and tried to wait a bit for the rain to let up. Didn't seem to be getting any better so I finally headed out for my language class. It continued to rain the rest of the day and all through the night. We watched tv most of the evening and I was rather bored. It's mostly in Tagalog with a little English mixed in, so I really have no clue what's happening. I got out a deck of cards and taught the two older boys how to play war and go fish. We used the Tagalog numbers for go fish so I could practice.

Thursday - Today was a language class day from 8-12 and 1-3. This morning we ended up going into Olongapo to buy rainboots. We went as a group because Peace Corps was covering the cost. We went there because they were supposed to have American sizes. I said I needed a size 10 and they brought me out a size 8. I tried it on and it was ok, but a little small. Then they finally brought me out a size 9. They don't fit great, but I just said sure they will work. I haven't worn my boots yet, so we'll see how much I end up wearing them. I could see it going either way. We had medical from 3-6. One more shot today! Medical ended at 4 and we didn't want to go home, so several of us went over to Sam's house. He's the technical facilitator for the people in the secondary and tertiary schools. Julie, who is in secondary, had brought mac n cheese with her from home. She cooked up some macaroni and we all enjoyed! It's the little things in life like macaroni that makes the day!

Tomorrow I have my next day in the classroom! And then on to another weekend! Oh and we're in another typhoon. I looked at the 10 day forecast. Pretty much all the same. High is 80 with rain every day. 80 doesn't seem bad, but it's so humid!

Life in Colo

It's been a while since I posted and I'm sure this won't be the first big gap in time, so I'll apologize for that now!
The week July 11-16 was a very long week filled with lots of trainings. 8-5 we had class to learn things about the country, the culture differences, how to make lesson plans, and many other things. Many evenings we got shots and had other various things to take care of. I think I've had about 6 shots so far, maybe more.

Sunday July 17th was a big day for all the education volunteers! We finally left the camp to go out to our practicum sites and meet our host families we'll be living with until Sept 11th when we go back to Manila to swear in as Volunteers and no longer Trainees. My group going to Bataan consists of 16 education volunteers. 7 in Colo Elementary School, 2 teaching college classes, and 7 in two different high schools. We took about a 3 hour bus ride from Manila to Colo that morning. We pulled up in Colo and were greeted by the host families. We got a slip of paper that was cut in half and our host families had the other half. We introduced ourselves to the whole group and then went out to find our family. After meeting the families we had a snack and went "home". It was kind of awkward at first because we are complete strangers and I'm in a whole new culture. We actually just walked to their house from where we were because it's right across the street. They showed me in and to my room so I could put my stuff up. We sat and chatted for a little while before we went to the Duty Free Shops. It's about a 20 minute drive. The Duty Free Shops are very American, by the old Military Base. There is even a Starbucks. We shopped around some and then went home for dinner. I went to bed early that night and got adjusted in my new room. 

My family is Ariel(36) and Mhay(31) Arlan (10) RG (Roman Gabriel) (7) and Miguel (4). They have a nice house in town and I think they are one of the richer families in town. Ariel's Dad is the vice Mayor of Dinalupihan. In their master bedroom they have an AC window unit. Most of the time we hang out in there with the computer and tv and AC. They all sleep in there at night. In my room I have a fan and don't get too hot. One of the biggest adjustments was the lack of running water. My house does have running water, not all do, but it's limited. The only water is in the shower and kitchen sink. The hardest part to learn was how to flush the toilet. You have to get a bucket of water and pour it in the toilet to flush. They also don't use toilet paper, so that's a big adjustment too. Here they don't have a good trash system. People just burn a pile of trash every few days.

Monday and Tuesday (18 &19) - These two days we went around doing courtesy calls to everyone in town. The first day we went to the Mayor of Dinalupihan and introduced ourselves and went to the police station and saw the post office. The next day we went to the capital of Bataan, Balanga City, and met the Superintendent of schools. Then we went and met the Governor of Bataan. Courtesy calls are required just to introduce yourself and it's like asking permission to work in their area.

Wednesday (20) - We had language class most of the day learning some new Tagalog. There are 5 people in my language class, Pam, Ali, Regina Renee, Mike, and me. Our LCF (Language Facilitator) is Elsa. She is renting a place in town that has a room where we can hold our language classes. Christy is my TCF (Technical Facilitator). She's in charge of everything at the elementary school. Christy is very nice and we get along really well. That afternoon we went to the Elementary school and met our counterparts! I'll be working with a guy named Jake who teaches 5th grade. He's 23 years old and has been teaching for 3 years. Seems like a really nice guy and I think we'll work well together.
Wednesday was my host Ariel's Birthday. He had a big party at the house. They got a goat and duck and cooked them. I tried some of both! The party started around noon cooking the food and hanging out. I had class until 5. When I got there it was separated men and women. A lady was painting toe nails. I got my nails painted while eating some food. Then all the women had to go home to take care of their kids. I hung out talking to everyone and taking lots of pictures. Everyone wanted their picture taken with the American girl. It was a lot of fun and nice meeting some of the friends and family. There are lots of pictures on facebook, but I don't know that I'm tagged in any of them. The ones I'm tagged in I think are just from the grocery store.

Thursday (21) - Language class until 3 and then medical came to visit. I got another shot and we had a session on some precautions and other things.

Friday (22) - Language class until 3. Since we got done early, Mike, Regina Renee, and Pam came over to my house. We have wifi at my house and they wanted to check email and facebook. Mhay was very nice and got us coke and some snacks. Tonight we took a walk around town with some friends and family and I went and met Ariel's Lola, grandmother. I don't know how old she is, but she's sick and not doing so well. Then we just hung out around his parents Sari Sari. That's a small store infront of their house. A lot of people have Sari Sari's. Mhay has a school supply shop in front of her house that she runs. Ariel bought a Balut egg from a vender. Google it if you don't know what it is! He tried to get me to eat some of it, but I wouldn't do it!

We have a weekend now with some free time! I do have things to do in the morning, but then I have off Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday! We go to the school for class observation on Monday!

More Training... and Water Safety!!!

Tuesday night and again Saturday night we went to the SM, which is the mall. It’s about 20 minutes from where we are staying and we took a Jeepney to get there. I don’t have a good picture of one yet, but I’m sure I’ll get one. Tuesday we fit 17 people and Saturday we had 22 people in it. Rather packed and cramped. On the way in the mall there is a male and female line. The guards check our purses and then feel your body. It’s kinda weird. The mall is 3 stories tall and pretty much like the malls at home. Saturday night it was very loud! All the stores have their own music going on and there was a magic show out in the middle. They have a lot of eating places and electronic stores. Saturday night we ate at Wendy’s.
All week has been lots of trainings…. Learning about Philippine education and how to write lesson plans….  Not my favorite thing, but I guess we’ve got to do it. We have classes 8-5 and then dinner at 6 and free time in the evenings. People are starting to study their languages and I guess I need to get on that… We don’t have another language class until we’re at our site next week.

Saturday night the IIRR (Place I’m staying) had a band come in for us. It was quite funny. They were good and sang mostly pop songs that are popular in the US. I didn’t stay too long because once everyone started dancing I left.

Sunday we had water safety out at Manila Bay, the Villa of Excellence. It was a little resort place that was on the beach. The beach wasn’t very pretty and was very trashy. It was amazing how much trash was floating up on shore. We got issued our Peace Corps life jackets and got to test them out today. We took a pump boat out a little way and jumped out into the water. We talked about what to do if our boat was sinking or got tipped. Then we practiced how to get back in to the boat. It was fun, a good adventure! It was about an hour bus ride, but a fun day out.

Made it to Manila

I’m in the Philippines!!!! I have internet here, but it is in and out and runs very slow. I’ve been busy with trainings and meeting new people. So I’ll try and recap my travels and the start to my new journey! So first off was orientation in LA. I got on the hotel shuttle with two other Peace Corps girls and still hang out with one of them all the time! So when we got there it was a lot of sitting and waiting to see what was happening next. We had orientation all afternoon. Then a group of us walked down to In & Out Burger for our last American meal for a while. 
Saturday/Sunday was full of traveling! A 12 hour flight to Tokyo, two hours in the airport, then 4 and half hours to Manila! That was a long time on the plane! We get to the airport and all the craziness of customs and getting our luggage. We then get on buses to our hour drive to where we’ll be staying for two weeks. The place we’re at is Yen Center www.iirr.org. Not exactly sure where it is :) I’m sure I could google it, but that would take a long time on the slow internet. It’s a big property with guards all over and some other groups here as well. Lots of land with some walking trails. Haven’t had too much time to explore, but will soon.

Monday we started our training and jumped right in! We didn’t do anything for the 4th, just trained. Since getting here I’ve had a Rabies shot and Typhoid and started my Malaria pills. I have to take one pill every Tuesday night.

Today we found out where we’ll be headed for our training! The process has confused me some and everyone else. But July 17th my group of 15 will go to our training site and will be there until September when we start our actual location. My training is in Bataan province in the city of Dinalupihan and my neighborhood is called Colo. That area of the Philippines speaks Tagalog. We had our first language class yesterday and second today. In my group of 59 volunteers, we will be speaking 3 languages, spread across the country in 4 locations. During our training, my group of 15 will all live with host families and very close to each other. 5 people will be with my in my language cluster/class. 7 people are Elementary and we’ll all be at the same school for our training. When our training is over we will be spread out across our region and move in with a new host family for the first 3 months.

Lots going on, but I think I’ve shared the highlights… and more :)   

Many new Adventures to come!

I'm starting my blog off with a bad start! First off I've been meaning to do this for a couple of weeks now. Then I just got on and wrote this note and then it didn't save! I think I might be a little too tired. Today was a very stressful day trying to get everything done and all my bags packed. My plane to Los Angeles leaves in 7 and a half hours. I'll spend the day in LA with orientation. The next morning we'll head out to Manila, Philippines with a layover in Tokyo for a couple of hours. I'll be in Manila until mid September in classes and trainings learning the language and culture. After that I'll head to my unknown assigment where I will be teaching English to elementary students for two years. I'm looking forward to my new adventures!!!