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!
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