Eyes of My Father

Here's my Dad's journal from their trip to visit me here in the Philippines. I will add some details in my journal, but he states day by day our activities and adventures. It's rather lengthy, so try to stay awake :)

Thursday, February 23 - Friday, February 24: 

We left DFW about 11am Thursday on Korean Air for the 15 hour flight to Seoul; the longest flight and sorest behind in my life! I maybe slept for an hour, maybe 30 minutes. First time I ever watched The Treasure of the Sierra Madre in its entirety. I rewound and made Tracy listen to “We don’t need no stinking badges!” I dozed off a bit during The Big Year, but that was it. I also watched The Ides of March and tried playing Tetris before my screen on the seat back in front of me went out. We then watched Courages together with one earbud each on Tracy’s screen. The Korean flight attendants were most accommodating and tried to find another seat for me but I told them I was fine. The cute one later asked me to fill out a comment card for them.

The layover in Seoul was a couple of hours, had to go through security again at the transfer point but was not as difficult as in the US. No taking off shoes and the only question came from a bag of pennies in one of the carryons. Amy wanted pennies for little gifts to the kids.

While in Seoul we sat and visited with the hostess and another traveler. He is from the UK and lives in Shanghai, a VP with a photovoltaic attachment company from the Silicon Valley. He has to leave Shanghai every 30 days, so he often flies to Seoul and hangs around before flying back; this time 5 hours at the airport. Sometimes when he has business in Honk Kong he will fly there, rent a car and drive across the border.  Interesting regulations in different countries!

After the four hour flight on into Manila, it was about 10:15pm their time, 14 hours ahead of us. It took over an hour to get our bags and get through Customs. Korean Air allowed four full size suitcases, one carryon and one extra bag apiece, so we were loaded with stuff for Amy in addition to our own luggage for near two weeks. Fortunately they had free carts to load but had to stack the suitcases for quite a load. Customs just asked if for personal use and we quickly got through.

Amy was waiting at the end of a long ramp where we could get a taxi. Oh so good to see Amy! We got a taxi and headed for the hotel. Never saw so much traffic in all my life, and Jeepney’s, Jeeps with long bench seats that will hall 20 or more in the back, everywhere. Stripes on the road are only a suggestion. No one obeys lane markings, signs, or anything. It’s honk and go. There had been some kind of prom or something at the hotel and quite a jam. While stuck in a pileup a guy backed into our taxi. Could not have been much damage but the driver got out and talked to the other guy, told him to pull into the hotel and he actually did. The taxi stand told Amy what to pay him when we got on but he said, “That’s all?” So 350 pesos was all he got, not much, probably should have tipped a bit more but still learning at this point.

Amy had already checked into the hotel and I prepaid on Orbitz so all we had to do was go to our room and crash.

Saturday, February 25:

The hotel had a rather large breakfast buffet with eggs fried in front of you and all kinds of local and American dishes. Not bad. Breakfast for 3 was only an additional 56 cents when I booked the room so well worth it.

Budget Car Rental had said they closed at 9pm or we probably would have gotten it that night and driven to a pension where Amy stays with the Peace Corps. We will probably stay there Friday night before we leave on Saturday at noon, and then Amy will stay there Saturday night before a big week long Peace Corps meeting that starts Sunday. We caught a taxi at the hotel and told the driver to take us to Budget. After I know a circle or two, stopping and asking a gate guard leading into the airport, we ended up at a Budget lot. We went in a trailer and after some confusion; one of the guys drove us to a location very near the hotel. I am still confused about where to return the car to; hope to just take it to the airport.

Driving back to the hotel, we had to make a U-turn just beyond, and a uniformed officer of some sort waved me down. I was stopped under an underpass where he apparently hangs out, told me I was swerving. I told him I was only merging over. He wanted to see my license and told me I was driving illegally because I did not have an international license. I told him I did not need one for 90 days so he wanted to see my passport so I showed him we had just arrived the night before. He said he was confiscating both and I grabbed them away from him, at which point he told me he was going to arrest me. He showed me a pocketful of licenses, to prove that I needed to let him keep mine. I refused and asked him where the police station is. He told me not to be arrogant! Amy then told him she was a volunteer teacher and that we were here to visit her. He then smiled like the bandito in Sierra Madre, rambled some nonsense, and told us he would not arrest me for a reward. Tracy got out a $20, I gave him and he was all smiles. Oh my! I was really wondering about driving at that point!

We checked 2 bags at the hotel because we did not want them sitting in sight in the back seat of the car while we went to the Mall of Asia to meet the Cruz family, Amy’s first host family from Dinalupihan. They had driven 3-4 hours to see us. We had lunch at Wholly Cow, a sort of Texas themed restaurant. Ariel wanted a steak, and I was buying. Food was pretty good. I had a steak sandwich that sounded like Philly Steak, and Tracy and Amy had hamburgers. Not bad. It was nice to meet the family that had been so nice to Amy and become friends of Tracys on Facebook. We just strolled around the Mall a bit before leaving to get our bags and head to Lipa City.

Getting out of Manila was a bit nerve wracking but we did pretty well. Before getting on the SLEX (Southern Luzon Expressway) we stopped at a gas station to break 1000 peso bill for change and get some drinks. We got on the skyway and moving along pretty well until we paid a toll and the road split. Naturally I took the wrong lane and ended up driving through San Pedro, about like driving in Manila. Went quite a ways before finding a way to get back on the SLEX. Just turning around and going back is not always an option. I think it took us 3 hours to get to her place, Lipa was a little crazy driving too, but nothing like Manila! That evening several people came by to see us. We are quite an interesting attraction for the locals!

Sunday, February 26:

We went into Lipa and met DayDay, Karen, and Agnes at the Bluroze Nature Center for lunch and then to stroll around the park. We picked DayDay up in front of Jollibee, like McDonald’s. She lives next door but had gone to town earlier to shop for snacks for school, the teachers take turns. We then headed to pickup Karen, Amy’s Peace Corps buddy, and found her walking on the sidewalk texting Amy. It was kind of funny, “There’s Karen!”, and headed over to Bluroze, not too far. Agnes, who teaches with Karen, met us there. Her mother has worked at Bluroze for 25 years and the owner is her Godfather. She got us all in the park for free and I bought lunch, a nice open air restaurant. I did not think about ordering talapia and getting the whole fish. It was good, but not a big fan of bones! We are spoiled by filets at home. Tracy got some kind of pork and Amy processed fish burger patties. I don't think she was too impressed. The park was pretty neat, strolled through a section dedicated to the saints, including a chapel. Interesting for a non-Catholic, which is the predominant religion. We also strolled through the stations of the cross before climbing up in an old water tower converted to a lookout point. Tracy made friends with the locals down below and took pictures.

That evening Perla, Amy’s landlord, and the relatives had prepared a feast for us and Karen. Stuffed squid, stuffed fish, funny, the fish carcass with no noticeable fish in it, a whole tilapia that we did not touch, adobo pork, chop suey, and rice, of course. We convinced Byron to sit with us, seemed a little awkward but they expected the four of us to eat alone. I was feeling bad about leaving so much, not realizing that the family would all sit and eat what was left. Byron wanted me to sit out on the veranda and drink a beer with him, so we sat and visited for some time, met some more relatives, all the time hearing the basketball games going on across the road a few doors down. The girls went over and watched for awhile and then Amy came and got me.

Byron works as a forklift operator for Toyota, about an hour away in Santa Rosa. He is thought to be quite affluent here, though Perla’s sister in Germany actually owns the house. He does own a Jeepney and a balloon business, and Perla a cake business though she does not sell many since teaching at San Celestino Elementary School. Her other sister is in Italy but is building a house across the road that her son Ison (Nelson) will live in. He lives in a little shack now, is 21, had been to police academy, but is waiting to retake the test.

Monday, February 27:

We went with Amy to see her school, San Francisco Elementary, a little further down the road from Lipa. We saw the principal, Ma’am Valencia, on the way, I stopped along side her and she waved but did not roll down her window so we went on. She was picking up the principal at San Celestino to go to a district meeting in Lipa. She is the only one from the school who drives, and funny thing, she does not ever offer rides to any of the teachers, they wait on tricycles (motorcycles with side cars) or Jeepney’s.

At the school there are 3 or 4 buildings and we met the teachers in the principal’s office and had buko juice and cookies. I was asked if I wanted a cup of coffee and I said yes please but then Dayday said that it would make my stomach rumble, hot on cold. So I never got my coffee. The coffee is either Nescafe 3-in-1 with cream and sugar or Batangas Barako that needs some cream to cut it, but they load it with sugar. The first cup I had, had 1/8 inch of fine grounds in the bottom.

We visited each grade except for Kinder which only attends in the afternoon and they were all prepared to say, “Good Morning!” Fourth grade, Dayday’s class, also sang us two songs. It was very cute. The sixth grade class has been pen pals with Tracy’s sister Cindy’s class in Austin, so she hand delivered Cindy’s and they prepared return letters for us to take back to America. They are exchanging coins and pictures so better that they do not have to pay postage! After we visited all the classes, some were out at recess and some pay for a snack, merienda, which was sopas, a hot cup of macaroni soup, and a banana fried in a kind of tortilla. They brought both to us. The banana was not bad but I really did not want the sopas, so Amy ended up carrying all 3 away. I kind of feel bad about not liking.

That evening we met at Uncle Cheffy’s for dinner, with Karen, Agnes, Dayday, Maan, and Mike. Mike is another PC Volunteer, nice guy, 24 on Thursday, agreed to come when Amy told him I was buying. He very proudly spends all his money on alcohol and cigarettes. I ordered 3 large pizzaninis, a big salad for Tracy, and Chinese fried rice which turned out to be a large bowl, and we ended up taking a little home. The pizzanini was a very thin crust rectangular pizza with strange ingredients. I wanted the bacon and garlic which also then had tomatoes on it. This was the first bacon I had seen. Though they eat a lot of pork, they do not seem to cut into normal cuts that we would recognize. They just cut and include all the fat, like in the pork adobo.

Tuesday, February 28:

We headed on a small road trip to Tagaytay, a town overlooking Taal Lake and Taal Volcano. We stayed at a nice hotel for 4500 pesos, I think we started out at 7000, so about $105. Better than our deal in Manila and much nicer, but I could only talk them into 2 breakfast buffet’s so Amy said she would just as soon stop at McDonald’s across the road as pay 650 pesos. Amy and Tracy thought I was about to blow our deal there but I settled. Down the road was a nice restaurant overlooking the lake and we split a marlin steak, they were out of tuna belly, and an eggplant dish that was like egg foo yung. We went to a place called Picnic Grove that Amy had been to before and strolled around, some nice views of the lake. We went to a market called Pure Gold that in Subic had a lot of American foods, including Dr. Pepper, but no such luck here. We stopped then at Army Navy, a chain with burgers and burritos, and split an order of carnita tacos, quesadillas, and chips before heading back to the hotel.

Wednesday, February 29: 

Tracy and I went to the buffet and left Amy behind to enjoy a nice warm shower. A nice treat after bucket showers at her house. Amy has a shower head but the water is a little cool and the water in the bucket warms a bit. We added boiling water after making coffee so that helped a bit too. Anyway, we stopped at McDonald’s and then bought gas on our way down the mountain headed to the beach at Calatagan. The gas stations have attendants and you tell them how much you want. Amy had texted Morgan Chow, another PC friend who works there and got some suggestions for a place to stay. We picked her up at her apartment as we got into the area and went to a resort called the Stilts at Calatagon where she had stayed a couple of nights with her parents. As the name would imply, there were several cottages out over the water and a very nice beach. Morgan said they had stayed there for 4000 pesos but we were told 7000. It turns out they stayed in a cottage on the beach, not over the water. Tracy asked if Amy got a PC discount and they did knock off 10%, so it came to about $179 for a nice little one bedroom cottage with AC in the bedroom, and a queen and a twin.

We had lunch there in the open air cafe; got to try tuna belly. It was very good, with rice and mixed vegetables. We then hung out on the beach and then to the pool. Before we knew it we were thinking about dinner, either drive 30-45 minutes back up the road or eat there again, which was the less stressful option. Cannot remember the names, but a noodle dish with tiny chunks of chicken in a curry sauce and a pork and banana in coconut milk dish. After dinner, we drove Morgan home and back through town. For some reason I never could keep straight a jog through town, but we got to see where Morgan works, for a foundation that does research on coastal issues, not sure exactly.

Thursday, March 1:

Breakfast was included, got a very good ham and cheese omelet with a brewed coffee before going snorkeling off the beach. Morgan had suggested we go off the porch of the last cottage but seemed easier to just walk off the beach. No idea how shallow or how many sea urchins with sharp spines! Got spines in my foot and knee, but not bad. I had had enough by the time we actually got to that stairway off the last cottage. I waited on the girls and then got out after they got there, though they stayed in awhile; got our hour’s worth on the snorkel rental.

After that we finished getting packed for the drive home. Helper took the bags to the car with Tracy and Amy. After a long while Amy came looking for me, the girl had run my card 3 times before her connection would sync. The card reader was wireless and there was not even a poor signal off their router unless you got close to another building. Finally, it took and we got going, headed back to Lipa. Karen texted Amy and wanted to know when we would be back. She wanted us to stop back by Cafe de Lipa where we had started this journey and go back to Amy’s for the night. She was meeting Edmund and Rich, a 64 year old PC volunteer, to work on their reports that are due next week. This is Rich’s third time in PC, first years ago and then later with his wife who passed away a couple of years ago. Edmund is 28 and has gotten involved in the Rotary Club in his community. I wonder how different that is?!

After some Barako Joe, we went over to Robinson’s Mall and the girls went in to pick up a couple of Pizza Hut Hot to Go pizza’s to take home with us. Tracy and I waited in the car and listened to some English radio for the first time. The concept of hot and ready not quite the same as at home, its at a kiosk but they had to prepare it. After we got in and ate the company started. First Perla, and then Dayday with Amy’s principal, Ma’am Valencia and her husband, the first time we actually met, brought gifts, a bracelet and ear rings for Tracy and a bottle of local coconut wine, actually liquor, for me. He had an open bottle in the car and wanted to know if I would have a drink before he brought it in. It was not in the original bottle and then he would not take a drink because he had had dental work done. I started pouring in a glass because I thought it was wine, and Amy stopped me, thank goodness! It was very strong. Then he would not take it with him, wanted me to drink the whole bottle but I left the open one in Amy’s ref as she now calls it, refrigerator.

 
Perla came over several times, when we got home, then later with pile nuts, kind of like peanut brittle, to take with us, then corn nuts that Byron’s uncle makes and sells to the Boy Bawang company, then Batangas coffee, very sweet! Dayday came back over too, and Maan said she might but didn't.

Friday, March 2:

After we got up and finished packing and loading, we went into Lipa City and got Tracy’s hair hot oiled and cut. It only cost 100 pesos, and after a 50 peso tip to the gay boy with red hair and blue contacts, the total cost was still only $3.50. The girls there all get their hair bonded, or straightened, and after blow drying, her hair was very straight. After a couple of days it was pretty much back to normal.

It took a couple of hours to drive to Manila and find the pension where we would be staying. Amy normally sleeps in the girls dorm room that sleeps 14, but she stayed with us in an air conditioned room Friday night, but then moved to the dorm since she was staying over till Sunday. Her PC group was all coming in Sunday to Cavite, a beachfront town on a peninsula southeast of Manila, to a lodge where they would be meeting through the week. Amy had been working all the time we were there on getting Ma’am Valencia to agree on a counterpart teacher to attend the meeting, having to travel there on Tuesday. She would not allow Dayday to go, saying that Rachel was her counterpart; however, Rachel did not want to go because of family issues. It is in the best interest of the school to send someone but it is the end of the year and they have testing going on. A little poor timing on PC’s part. Amy needed to be there in order to apply for funding of projects. It would be okay for a community member to go so I had suggested Ison. At that suggestion Valencia okayed Dayday. I feel a little bad for Ison not getting to go after all, but best that Dayday got to go. I am anxious to hear how that all went.

We got checked into the pension and took all our bags in having decided to go check the car in early. Driving in Manila is horrible! On the way, the road made a Y, and I kept to the right, only to realize that it brought me into oncoming lane of the road we needed to turn at. I went right and down to where we could U turn. As we were getting back to Taft street where we needed to turn right, a motorcycle with two cops riding pulled up to my window yelling at me. I rolled down the window and they told me I had gone the wrong way. I told them I didn’t see a sign and he said it was on the left side of the street. I told him I didn’t see it but just needed to get the car to the rental agency, I thought just around the corner. He said he had to confiscate my license and I would have to go to the police station and pay my fine. Amy and I insisted I needed my license to turn in the car and I did not want to drive in Manila anymore. Amy asked if we could not pay him our fine. After deliberating with 2 more motorcycle cops, he agreed, but said it would be 1000 pesos! About $23! I got out a 1000 and gave to him, and like the bandito, they were all smiles. He had given me back my license but by then I was so rattled I couldn’t find it! Seeing all this he told me it was in my shirt pocket! Sure enough; I provided a source of laughter for days I am sure!

I drove in circles trying to find the Budget location where we had picked up the car. I plugged the address into the map on my phone but the location was incorrect. Amy finally put in the intersection and it was a couple of miles away. We finally got there and I believe we all had an amazing sense of relief. It had taken us an hour and a half to get there from the pension. The driver took us back to the pension in about 20 minutes!

After that, we walked a few blocks to Robinson’s Mall for dinner. Tracy’s nose pad had broken off her glasses and we found an optical shop that replaced both for 100 pesos. We then went to Friday’s and ate. We normally like to eat the local fair, but I think we were all happy finding American food! We shared Nacho’s and Chicken tenders, saving room to go to Dairy Queen. Amy knew where that was from a previous trip to this mall. Interesting thing when we were deciding where to eat, we were standing at a second floor railing overlooking the first floor, trying to decide what to eat when we turned around and there was some kind of an armed officer in a beret standing behind us. As we walked past him I looked him in the face which was totally expressionless. We walked on to Friday’s and I never saw him again or anyone else dressed like him. After our motorcycle cop encounters I became leery of making eye contact unnecessarily!

After our DQ fix, we walked back to the pension. We sat outside and met an array of PC volunteers. A couple of young men from another batch were talking about another that had come down with dengue fever. As we are sitting there, my back begins to itch and I grab a spoon and start scratching. They all laugh and one of the girls wants to know if I need any other utensils. Lucky thing I can laugh at myself! We sat around for awhile with the group but decide its time to turn in.

Saturday, March 3:

I have been rising early all week and Tracy told me to go out to the lobby and work on this journal rather than tossing and turning. After a couple of mosquito bites to the legs, I decide to come back to the room. Now I know I will come down with dengue fever! Nice to have another warm shower, then I go down for a cup of coffee while the girls get ready and come down for breakfast. The pension has a limited breakfast but I had another very good ham and cheese omelet before we needed to head for the airport. Very sad to leave Amy!!! It is comforting to see the bonds the volunteers and even the country people share.

It seemed we were leaving plenty early, and we did have plenty of time, but we were really not any too early with all the lines to get through customs and security to get out of the country. It was another relief to get our bags checked in, and underweight! Not sure how accommodating they would be at that end. Soon we were off on our way to Honolulu via Seoul again. A man in the restroom in Seoul commented on how clean, and after the Philippines, he was right. Seoul had maybe the cleanest airport I have ever been in.

Between gates in Seoul, you have to walk a ways to a transfer point where you go through security again. This time, they confiscated a little pair of folding scissors in Tracy’s purse that was packed in our carry on suitcase, along with a blunt nose nail file. No telling how many airports those have been through over the years, even theirs on the way to the Philippines.

Next stop Honolulu, one of the worst airports I think I have ever been in. It is just laid out bad. When we arrived we went up a broken escalator and had to get on a shuttle bus to another building to go through customs. While getting through customs was a piece of cake, as it should be, the whole place seemed to have just outgrown itself with a poor design. We saw this again when leaving and having to have our bags scanned by the agriculture department and the lines crisscrossing with the baggage check.

Note, we left Manila at 12:15 pm on Saturday and arrived in Honolulu at 7:50 am on Saturday, having crossed the International date line. In the Philippines we were 14 hours ahead of home, in Hawaii we were 4 hours behind, an 18 hour time difference in all.

 
First thing we did when getting to Honolulu was to go across the street to the beach and play for a short bit. We went back to the room and showered before meeting up with Pam (Scott) and Ron Adams from Lawton for dinner. Pam had seen that Tracy posted on Facebook that we would be there and said they were too. They own a condo there. We went to a neat restaurant for dinner that opens up to Waikiki beach where you grill your own meat. They had a great salad bar; Pam and I both got the Mahi Mahi, but I was a little disappointed that it was wrapped and cooked in foil. I would have liked to have thrown it on the grill! It was still very good.

It was so nice of Pam and Ron to hook up with us. We really neither one knew Pam that well but were friends with her younger sister Julie, whom I dated our senior year. Pam did not remember that till I mentioned it! Pam graduated with Tracy’s sister Cindy and my brother Gary. We had a great time and all got along quite well. They live in Atlanta and we agreed they would have to look us up when going home to Lawton through Dallas.

Sunday, March 4:

We had booked a Pearl Harbor tour which began at 6:10 am from a nearby hotel. We got up early and walked that way. The tour circled Oahu after leaving Pearl Harbor, which included the USS Arizona Memorial. We saw many sites we could never have done on our own. It was well worth it and the tour guide, Kono, was very knowledgable of all the sites, being a native Hawaiian who had retired from American Airlines. The tour lasted until about 4:30 and included a sandwich lunch at the Kaulua Ranch. The only down side, it was rainy!

The Honolulu Festival was going on with a parade down the street in front of our hotel starting shortly after we returned. We had dinner at the Rock and Roll Grill, not very good, just burgers and such. We enjoyed the parade though which featured various Asian dancers and dragon entries.

After the parade we decided to get a drink at the Tiki Bar at our hotel. Again, the only problem, the rain and no seats. I had Tracy ask a couple of older ladies if we could join them. They gladly agreed. They were from Vancouver BC, one had been at the hotel 2 months, the other a friend from her condo building, had joined her the week before. We had a good time visiting with them. We told them we had been to Victoria last summer when on our Alaskan cruise and Paula insisted on giving us her number so we can call when we make it to Vancouver.

It rained all night and was still coming down in the morning. I had caught a cold and did not wake up till 8am. Tracy really wanted to go snorkeling at Sandy Beach! We headed down the beach and ate breakfast buffet at Duke’s, another good omelet. We went to Bishop’s Palace, the Punchbowl Cemetery, and tried to make the Iolani Palace by the state capital but it was getting too late. We ended up eating at a place like Fuzzy’s Tacos and headed to the airport. Our flight on Alaskan left at 9:25pm to Seattle, got into Seattle about 8am and headed to DFW, getting in about 1pm.

It was wonderful to see Amy!!! But after the rain in Hawaii and nearly two weeks away, it was sure good to get home! We heard that many roads were closed later that day in Hawaii because of all the rain. Wouldn't you know that is the week we would be there!

Thailand

Last time I wrote I had been sick. I felt icky that whole week and then my allergies kicked in which didn’t help. I’m pretty much over it now. Still a little bit of a cough and some congestion some. I ended up going to the doctor. I wasn’t sure how long it would take at the Doctors office so Karen met me in town and went with me. It took maybe 10 minutes! Much faster than it ever would have been at home without an appointment or anything. The doctor told me I had an upper respiratory infection and to rest so it wouldn’t turn into pneumonia. So Monday I missed school, Tuesday I went and then went to the doctor, but came back to school to celebrate Dayday’s birthday. Then Wednesday I didn’t go to school, but I went Thursday and Friday. My principal was kind of like well if you came back to school today, then why are you going to miss tomorrow? But then when I came back Thursday she said, oh I thought you said two days rest and you only stayed at home one. So who knows. But one day sitting at home was enough!

Friday – February 3 – Dayday and I spent the night at her sister Regine’s house. Both of their husbands were out of town, so we just had a fun girls night. Cooked dinner and just watched some movies and hung out. Her house is up on a bit of a hill and it was so cold there! Probably the coldest I’ve been here! The next morning we went to town and bought a few things. Then I went back home and spent the rest of the weekend just hanging out.

Monday – Feb 6 – I went to school and it ended up being the only day of the week I went to school. Our flight for Thailand was on Wednesday morning so Karen and I decided to go to Manila on Tuesday and just stay the night. I told the principal my plan and she said why don’t you just take Tuesday off and not worry about coming to school. So that’s exactly what I did! I slept in a bit and finished packing my things and cleaned my house a bit. A couple of the teachers begged me to just come to school that morning anyway, but I said hey the principal told me not to worry about it so I’m not going to do it : )

I guess I should say why we went to Bangkok. Phyllis, a retired teacher who is a volunteer up in Los Banos, Laguna, has some friends from home (San Diego) who are doing a tour and were starting their trip with 3 days in Bangkok. It’s 3 ladies she taught with and then one of their husbands. We had been at lunch a couple months ago and she said I’m going; you guys should come with me. So Karen and I decided to go with Phyllis to Bangkok. Just a fun, random trip! Pam was going to go too, but then decided not to go.

Tuesday – Feb 7 – After I messed around the house in the morning, I went to town to meet Karen and go to Manila. When we got to Manila we checked in at pension and walked to the mall. I got a pedicure for the first time in the Philippines, and now I’m paying for it. I have an infection in my toe! I’m not really sure if it’s an ingrown toenail or just like a hang nail type thing. We found Sbarro at the mall so had to eat a piece of pizza! That night we just hung out at pension playing cards and using the internet.

Wednesday – Feb 8 – Our flight to Bangkok was at 10:30. It was only a 3 and a half hour flight and we gained an hour in the time change. When we checked into our hotel we asked the bell boys which way to walk just to be able to stroll around and find a place to eat. They got us to agree to go to a Gem Factory. They said don’t worry you won’t have to buy anything and it’s just 50 baht for the ride. We told them, look at us, we’re not fancy or anything. We don’t have any interest, but we went anyway. The hotel car pulled up to take us. It’s a nice leather Toyota camery. We were like hmm ok, it’s the hotel people so it should be fine. We go to the Gem Factory, they had free welcome sodas, and then you walk through a factory and see the people making the jewelry. Then walk into a huge room just full of jewelry cases and tons of jewelry! It was actually kinda neat to see, but kinda weird too. And we couldn’t take any photos in there. After that the driver told us he had one more place to take us. We pulled up at this place called James Tailor. The driver told us to just go in and look around for 15 minutes or so. So we are like ok, we are here, why not. We walk in and it’s just walls lined with fabrics and a few manikins. The man in the store told us to take a seat on the couch and he’d show us some catalogues. Then we look at each other and are like uuuh let’s go. We walked outside and the driver sees us and tells us I told you to just stay for 15 minutes. So we get in the car and he asks us how much. We told him, they told us 50 baht. He raised his voice a bit and said I told you to stay 15 minutes, it’s 500. We were just silent the rest of the ride back to the hotel. We get out and he doesn’t say a word. Karen just hands him the money and we walk away. It was strange and I guess we learned our lesson. Karen and I then just walked around like we wanted to do in the first place. We found a little hole in the wall to eat at, which now I know was the best Pad Thai I had the whole trip! It was very cheap and good. We went back to the hotel, found a movie on the tv and fell asleep early. Phyllis got in about 11 that night. We talked for her a little when she got there, but we were asleep.

Thursday – Feb 9 – We got up and went and met Phyllis’s friends. Their flight got in late Wednesday night. They said we might ask their tour guide if we could join them for the day. They thought they would have some extra room. We went and talked to her and she said sure we could come along too. We asked her how much it was going to cost and she said we might not have to pay anything. I think because it was a set tour already and they had some extra room. I’m not really sure how it worked. But we didn’t have to pay anything! And Phyllis got to hang out with her friends. We went to two different temples that morning. They are HUGE places and so detailed. I didn’t realize how extravagant they would be. We got back around 2 and walked to a place across the street from our hotel for a late lunch/early dinner. That afternoon Karen and I walked around some. We learned that everywhere in Bangkok is a huge market. It doesn’t matter where in town you are, there are tons of booths and lots of clothes and other random things. That night we just hung out in the hotel room and got some drinks and snacks from 7-11.

Friday – Feb 10 – We went on the tour with the group again. This day we had to pay I think $60, but we figured everything was taken care of, like transportation, and we would get to see a lot and it would be worth it. We started off the morning walking through a flower market. Just a bunch of flowers for sale down a whole street. Then we went to the palace. To go into the temples and palace you had to be wearing long pants and a sleeved shirt. Short-sleeve is ok, just not sleeveless. Won’t lie, at the palace I lost a bit of interest and was getting rather tired of seeing all the temples and everything. We had lunch as a group on the river. This was included in our tour too, so even more reason to do it. After lunch we took a canal tour. There are so many canals all through Thailand. Many people live on the canals and get around by boat. Pretty amazing. People sell produce and we even saw an ice cream boat! That was probably what I was most amazed with. Who knew you could by ice cream on the canal from the ice cream man in a boat?!? That afternoon/evening Karen and I walked around town some more and found a place to eat. We ended up eating at a Vietnamese restaurant. Who knew in Thailand we would eat Vietnamese food.

Saturday – Feb 11 – We decided not to go on the tour. We figured there were still some things we wanted to see and could find on our own and then we could go at our own pace too. That morning we got up and ventured to another side of town that we hadn’t been to yet. We could tell we were in a different area. It was a very nice area. Seemed a little more local than tourist, and seemed like a pretty wealthy area. None of Bangkok seemed too poor. Our country director from the Philippines had recommended a place for us to eat so we thought we’d give it a try. It’s called Cabbages and condoms. I took a picture of the history and posted it in my pics on facebook. It’s an organization trying to promote family planning. Thailand was becoming over populated with an average of 7 kids per family. It was actually a pretty neat place, the food was good, and it was a huge restaurant with tons of tables. After lunch, we ventured to the other side of town where they have a huge weekend market. The market is so big and sectioned off into different areas like clothes, food, handcrafts, plants, and a couple others. We enjoyed walking around and checking it out, mainly the handcrafts section. We found several souvenirs to buy there. We took the sky train for transportation which was pretty cool and inexpensive. That evening we hung out with Phyllis’s friends in the hotel room. We didn’t go to dinner until about 8:30, but our flight was at 1:30 am. So we were trying to stay up late and kill some time. We flew into Manila about 5:30, finally got on a bus and out of Manila around 7 and I made it back to my house just before 10. I tried to sleep for a while, think it was only an hour. And then hung out at my house and just relaxed a bit the rest of the day.

Now I’m back at school trying to figure out exactly what it is I do here. I feel like I need to concentrate more and come up with some projects, but I have yet to really do that. Maybe that will come soon! I have two more weeks of school, and then my parents are here for a week! I’m looking forward to their visit, along with everyone else here. It’s funny how people are excited to meet my parents. I don’t have any of the week planned yet, so I hope my parents have a clue what we will do! I have several ideas, but haven’t finalized anything and don’t really know what our schedule will be like. The week after that I go to Manila for a conference for Peace Corps. So I will be gone from school for two weeks! We all thought me being gone 4 days last week was weird, we won’t know what to think when I’m gone for 2 weeks!

Lipa Fiesta

So it’s been a couple weeks again, and my mom is telling me I haven’t written in a while.

January 20 – Lipa City Fiesta – I had written about San Francisco having fiesta back in December. Every barangay has a fiesta and then this one was for the whole city of Lipa in the city proper. The actual day of Fiesta was Friday and we were off of school for it. Thursday night Dayday and I went to town and met up with Agnes and Karen and went to one of their co-teachers house who lives in the city. We just hung out and ate and what not. Friday I went back to town and Gina was in town from Marinduque and her boyfriend Joe was with her. He had been visiting for 3 weeks and was headed back to the states on Saturday. So that night we had 5 Americans together! Mike was with us too. We went to a teacher at Karen’s school’s house and walked around town a bit to see what all was going on. We had a good time all being together.

January 20 – morning – The director of Peace Corps Philippines wanted to get out and see some of us at our sites. He spent 3 days touring around Batangas visiting the 8 volunteers in our province. He was scheduled to visit me and Karen Friday morning. We told him it was Fiesta and we had no school, but he pushed through and came for the visit then anyway. Because of traffic he ended up going to Karen’s house first and then mine and only stayed at my place for 30 minutes. We didn’t drive to the school, but he still thought I lived in a remote place. San Francisco is even more remote then where I live in San Celestino. We had a nice visit just talking about what I was doing and what was going on with me at school and in my community. He’s really nice and shows that he does care about what is going on with all the volunteers.

January 21 – Saturday – Friday night I stayed the night at Karen’s. Saturday morning I went and met up with Dayday and her sister Regine in town. We met and went to SM Mall. We have two big malls in town, either SM or Robinson’s. We sat and had lunch and were discussing what we would do for the day and all our possibilities. We decided to take a spontaneous trip and ended up going to Tagaytay. It’s a very big tourist spot with very beautiful views up in a higher elevation. I think it was about a 2 hour commute each way. So a long commute for just one day, but it was fun. We took lots of pictures! (check facebook) That night we barely caught the last jeep back to our house.

January 22 – Sunday – It was a fairly lazy day for me. I did to go San Francisco and visit my host family there. They were very happy to see me. I ended up staying at their house about 4 hours. Emalyn makes the best turon (banana fried in a wrapper with sugar). She promised me she would teach me how to make it the way she does. She never did while I lived there, so that night she taught me how to make it! I don’t know how easy the wrapper is to find in the states, but at least at the asian market you can get them. So when I get home I’ll be making them!

Monday was another lazy day. I stayed around the house and hung out. It was Chinese New Year, but here they celebrate New Years the same time we do, so I’m not really sure why it was a National Holiday and we didn’t have school. But whatever! Dayday’s sister Regine came here and we all hung out at my house exchanging pictures and movies on our laptops.

4 day school week! We had testing most of the week so I mainly did computer work while the students took tests. The teachers have to type them all and we were working on early enrollment for next school year. So I kept busy with plenty of typing and computer work.

January 27 – Friday night we debated about going to town or not and ended up staying at home. Dayday and I made popcorn and watched a movie. We were both afraid of messing up the popcorn, but we did it! And ate every bit that we made. It can be so addicting! One you pop you just can’t stop. I ended up just eating some fruit for dinner because I had eaten so much popcorn.

Saturday we had early enrollment at school. The principal never mentioned it to me and never said I had to be there or anything. I wasn’t going to go because I had other plans, but they got cancelled so I ended up going to school. It was pretty pointless. Maybe 5 people came by to enroll their kids. We did some more computer work and got some stuff done at school. That night Dayday, Regine, and I went to town and hung out at McDonald’s. I explained to them how I don’t eat enough dairy here. I eat way more in the US. So I just have to get dairy by eating ice cream. They don’t complain about having to eat dairy, so we try to do it weekly or so. I started feeling bad at school, I had a cough and fever, went home laid down for about an hour, don’t think I ever actually slept, and then I felt a lot better and was ok the whole time we went to town.

January 29 – Sunday – Perla had asked me to go with her and her family to Kamay Ni Hesus. Pretty sure you can look it up on google and I’ll post pics on facebook. It’s a park built with the 12 stages of the cross?! I think that’s what it’s called. It’s a catholic thing, but I explained that we have all the same stories and everything as a Protestant, we just don’t call them the stages. At least I don’t think so. I debated about not going because I wasn’t feeling well when I woke up, but I went anyways. It was about a 2 hour ride. About 30 of us went, so we took two of the family’s jeepneys. It was a pretty place and one of the girls said she counted 316 stairs to the top. They packed lunch for us and we ate our lunch sitting in the back of the jeep. Kind of funny, they still eat the same things they would for dinner. They bring plenty of rice and some meats and what not. It kind of reminds me of when I was younger and it was a lot more common to pack a lunch and take it with you to the zoo or where ever you were going for the day. But of course the food we ate was just a little different. They will also just pass around a cup and everyone drinks from the same glass, no big deal.

January 30 – Monday – I woke up this morning, put my uniform on, got all ready, and then decided I wasn’t going to go to school. I’m still not feeling well. I had a fever and I have a deep cough, with green mucus! I texted Peace Corps Med today and he called back to ask me about my symptoms and everything. I asked for an antibiotic, but he wouldn’t give me one. He just told me to go buy Ambroxol. And take my temperature throughout the day and if it gets too high to text him back. So I went into town and bought some Ambroxol, and bought some more groceries while I was there! It’s so hard to buy anything, because I have to do it while in town and then have to carry it home with me on the jeep. So the most you can get at a time is like two bags of stuff. And have to be sure to go right before leaving town so then you don’t have to carry it around. So it can take a little bit of planning. Today Dayday and I were also supposed to get observed by the principal on our co-teaching. I’ve already been observed with grades 5 and 6, but not 4 yet. I don’t know if she’s going to reschedule it or what.

Hope I feel better tomorrow! I hate being sick. And I’ve been sweating sooo much! Fevers and not feeling well doesn’t help that at all. It’s made it much worse. Also tomorrow is Dayday’s birthday, and she’s not feeling well either. So we shall see what tomorrow brings!

New Years!

New Years Eve– New Years is a big celebration here, much like at home, and at the same time much different. Earlier in the day I went to San Francisco to visit the family. They were so happy to see me and had to take some pictures with me. They fed me merienda. Same as always I sat at my table and ate by myself. Some things will never change. The people here cook a lot of food and then at midnight go and visit family and neighbors to wish them a Happy New Year and eat. At midnight we went outside and played with sparklers. Some people have really massive fireworks. You can see them up in the sky from pretty much anywhere. I have no idea how expensive those are here. I know at home they are quite expensive. Then of course people were singing videoke. It’s not a party without it. People take it so seriously and it doesn’t matter if you’re good or not, you’re going to sing and take it seriously. I went to 5 different houses that night. 3 of them are teachers at my school and the other two are family members of the family I live with. I live in the house in the back, but on the same compound as them and they are pretty much my family here. At about 11:30 I went back to Dayday’s house and spent my new years eve there.

New Years Day – In the Philippines, I think mainly because it’s a catholic tradition, they celebrate the one year death anniversary of someone. Well a year ago Jan 1 is the death anniversary of the Father of my compound. The story is that the fireworks were so big and beautiful last year that he had a stroke and died. His anniversary was a big to do. They killed two pigs for the party. Lots of food and people. My principal and some other teachers came over so I had some people I could hang out with. The grade 2 teacher, Ma’am Linda, invited me over to her house. So I went with her and we had just eaten lunch at my house, but she made me eat something at her house. It was seafood carbonara and actually really good. I think the main reason she invited me over was to meet her nephew. Then we went over to my principal’s house. She made me try all of her food. That was my first time to go to her house. She lives maybe a 5-10 minute walk up the street. Then we went to my principal’s sister’s house. She lives right next door to her. She of course made me eat food at her house too even though I said I was too full to eat another bite. You just have to take a little and try everything. New Year’s Day made it 6 months since I’ve left my home in Texas!

January 3 – Tuesday – 6 months in the Philippines! We actually arrived in Manila on July 3^rd. So that was our actual six months here. I decided we should go out to dinner or something so I went to town and met Karen and Agnes. We ended up eating at McDonald’s and going to the mall to buy a few things. Like I bought a gas stove for my house and Karen bought a fan. It was fun just hanging out though.

January 5 – Thursday – After school I went to visit my host family in San Francisco. Mylen was pregnant and had her baby on January 4! He was supposed to be born the end of the month, but came a bit early. She delivered him at the house, and actually in the room I was staying in at their house. So it was prob nice that I wasn’t there so she could have that space. He was 8.1 lbs at birth and healthy. I asked her what his name was and she looked at me, smiled, and kinda laughed. Then told me Lane Edward. A couple of months ago we were talking and she asked me what she should name her baby. She wanted to name him something different and wanted some ideas. I told her I didn’t know, but when my parents were having me they picked out a boy name and a girl name. Had I been a boy my parents would have named me Lane Edward. So she kinda named her baby after me! I was in complete shock that she named him that! I still can’t really believe that she named him Lane Edward. I haven’t been back to visit, but I really need to go! Maybe tomorrow afternoon I’ll visit. Just like getting to town from San Francisco was hard, it’s the same to get from there to San Celestino (where I live now). It can take quite a while to get a jeep going there.

January 6,7,8 – 1^st weekend really in my new house. Friday night Dayday and I went to town and met up with Karen and Agnes for dinner. After dinner we went up to Malvar to Mike’s new apartment. He lives in a really nice apartment with a nice patio up on the second floor. We just sat out there and hung out. Dayday and I left about 9 so that we could still get a jeep back home. That is probably the latest you can leave and still be able to get a ride back. Saturday night I just hung out at my house. Dayday came over and Perla and her sister in law Ilene that lives next door all come over. We just sat in my living room and chatted for a couple of hours. Sunday just went into town with Dayday and ran some errands. It was a nice relaxing weekend at my new house.

January 10 – Tuesday – I left school at lunch time and met Karen in town. We went to Malvar because it was Mike’s fiesta. We met mike and went to his counterpart’s house. We of course ate at her house because that’s what you do for fiesta too. You go from house to house and eat lots of food. After her house we went to a few others and ended up at some of Mike’s friend’s house. It was getting kinda late so I needed to head home. Karen and Mike convinced me to just stay the night and go home in the morning. So I caved and stayed. It’s just so hard to stay out too late where I live. Normally better to just find a place to stay in town.

January 12 – Thursday – I contacted Geri, the lady who was a Peace Corps volunteer in the 60’s to ask her for ideas and suggestions on what to do when my parents are here. She mentioned she would like to come to my site just to visit sometime. So Thursday she made a trip out to my school. I told them it was just a friendly visit and not a big deal, but of course every visitor is a big deal. We spent a couple hours cleaning the yard that morning and some of them went and found some buka (coconut) so we could drink fresh coconut juice with Geri. Geri brought some pizza and fried chicken for us. I showed her the school and we chatted a bit about what my parents and I can do while they are here. Geri invited us to go swimming at her pool, so maybe this summer we will get to go do that.

This past weekend was pretty laid back. Friday night I went to town and had dinner and hung out with Karen and Agnes and then I stayed the night at Karen’s. I came back by noon on Saturday because Karen had school this Saturday. They needed to make up a day. I just hung out around the house Saturday and Sunday. Sunday, Karen, Agnes, and Irene (both teachers with Karen) came out to my house and brought lunch. We ate lunch and hung out at my house for a bit. They just wanted to see where I lived.

I got my gas stove, got my propane tank filled. They put the refrigerator in my house last night. So I’m set to be cooking on my own! I told Perla last week that this week I would cook on my own. She was hesitant about it but said ok. Last night I reminded her, ok this week don’t worry about me. I will make my own breakfast lunch and dinner. She’s really worried because I haven’t bought any rice. And do I know how to cook rice? And do I know how to cook Filipino food? I tried so hard to be nice and just say I was going to cook my own things and wouldn’t eat a lot of rice. But no rice!? Here, if you don’t have rice with a meal, then you didn’t eat.  I told her I’ve been ok without rice for 26 years. Probably not the nicest thing to say, but man! They just don’t get how I don’t eat rice. For lunch I just took a pack of pansit canton (ramon noodles here) and an apple. I just put them in my purse and cooked it at school. Well since I didn’t have a lunch bag then they were worried that I didn’t eat anything for lunch. Tonight I made dinner, macaroni noodles, tuna, and cheese whiz. Not the best thing ever, but not bad. I made enough so I can have some for lunch tomorrow too. It’s going to take a while to get adjusted to cooking for myself and what I can buy at the store here and what not. Since I’ve eaten, Perla has come in twice to tell me to eat, her mother came once, and one of her daughters came in here. Then Perla told me she’d just bring me some food and I can eat it later. Perla and her mother both said I need to go eat some rice. I told her that the Philippines is the only country that eats rice for breakfast lunch and dinner. It’s just a concept they can not grasp! I’m sure we will get adjusted to it, but it might take a little while for us to get there. One thing I am very thankful for is that everything I need, they have in this house. I haven’t had to buy anything of my own except the gas stove. Most volunteers have to buy furniture and kitchen supplies and all of it. Karen moved into a brand new apartment that all they had for her was a bed base for her to put her mattress on. The mother and father lived in the front house on the compound. There are 3 houses on this compound. When the father died last Jan 1, Perla and her family moved to the front house with her mother. Her sister in law and kids live in the other house, her brother is in Italy working. Then their old house was just empty. They use it for storage and the girls used it as their play house. So my principal knows the family and she’s the one that actually asked them if they will be willing to rent it to me. And then Perla just happens to be Dayday’s cousin. Most of this community is related in some way.

Christmas

December 22 – Thursday – Back in November we had lunch with the director of Peace Corps, Aaron Williams. Well when we had lunch we met a lady named Geri. Geri was a Peace Corps volunteer in the 60’s and then married a Filipino and lives here in Lipa now. She had a Christmas party at her house and invited us to join. 4 Peace Corps volunteers went. Me, Karen, Amy D. and Allie. It was a nice time, very fancy. Karen and I were walking down the road not quite sure where we were going and her driver came and picked us up. The cook was sautéing salmon as we went through the food line. The food was so good! Our favorite part was the cheese! It was real cheese! Before we left Karen said, wait I’m just going to grab one more piece of cheese. Well Geri said oh I’ll wrap some up for you. Then not only did she wrap up some cheese and grapes for Karen, she made me a pack too! When we got back to Karen’s house we sat down and ate some more cheese J Geri is a really good connection to have here and is actually coming to my school tomorrow and bringing lunch to all the teachers. She just wants to see my site and visit. She’s helping me for when my parents come too.

Christmas – For Christmas Karen, Gina, Catherine, and I decided that we should all get together. Since we were missing Christmas with our families we should at least spend it all together! Catherine and Gina both live on the island of Marinduque about an hour away from each other. Gina had just moved into her own house so we stayed with her. There was plenty of room for us there. Karen and I left on Friday traveling first an hour jeepney ride, then almost a two hour bus ride, and finally about a 2 and a half hour ferry ride. We didn’t really think about where to sit on the ferry, but we found an outside seat and not too many people were around. Well as we started moving we soon realized that we were facing the sun. It was so hot and everyone ended up moving except for Karen and I. Karen likes the sun, and I got burnt! I did bust out the sunscreen and the guy next to me laughed, but after the ferry ride I could see where I had put sunscreen and where I hadn’t. Gina and Catherine pulled up in a jeep right as we walked out of the port. That night we needed to go to the market to get some good. Gina says hey we have a pedicab (bicycle that also has a side car) we should just take that. So we get it out, all get in… and go nowhere! That is a lot of weight for one person to peddle! We push on and try to make it work, but it’s just not going to work. Gina and Karen get out and I stay in the side car while Catherine is peddling. Well all of a sudden she somehow loses control of the bike and we just turn left, go right off the road, and into a tree. I was laughing so hard that no sound was coming out! Catherine scrapped her toe, but we were ok. For 5 whole days we just ate whatever we wanted… mostly American junk food! We had a bag of cheetos, Doritos, pancakes, and for Christmas dinner we had macaroni and cheese and hot and spicy ham! I made the spam and did it my special way, burnt! We did make sopas one night, which is a Filipino soup. We were quite proud of making a Filipino dish. It tasted different than any I had ever had, but honestly… It was better : ) Most of the time we just had fun hanging out together, playing cards and yatzee, and watching a few movies. We had a little gift exchange. Gina and Catherine got Karen and I a framed picture of the four of us and a fan with Marinduque painted on it! They were a lot more creative than Karen and I. Christmas day we were determined to go to the beach. It’s about a 30 minute walk from Gina’s house. It looked like rain, but it was Christmas day, so we just had to do it! We get there and settled and yes it rained the whole day and never cleared up. We still had a great time though. The next morning we got up and Karen, Catherine, and I were going to go home. Of course the sun was bright and shining. So Karen convinced us to stay another day and try the beach again. We went to the beach and it was beautiful weather! That night we went to a town nearby and went to the hotel there and had dinner. It was a cute nice little town and fun to just walk around. The next morning we left and it was quite windy. On the ferry it was not so fun. Everyone was getting motion sickness, ugh I hate seeing people get sick! And of course the guy right next to me got sick. While we were waiting on the ferry to depart there were some boys begging for money. But they were in the water. People would throw pesos into the water and these boys would swim and get them. It was pretty amazing. When we got to the other side some there were some people in little boats next to the ferry begging for money. If the money didn’t make it to their boat they would jump out and swim after it. The boys were a lot cuter than the old people trying to get the money.

December 28 – Wedensday – Caroling is really big here. Before and after Christmas different groups of people go house to house singing. The people at the house give them some money. Sometimes it’s just some kids, sometimes a school group, I’m not really sure who all was singing and why exactly they were trying to get money. I think some people just do it because they want the money. Well that morning the teachers from my school all got together to go caroling for our school. I was nervous about it because I hate singing! Wasn’t really looking forward to it. Well what I didn’t know is that our group just went house to house and said Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and we got money.  We spent from about 8-12:30 walking around. We got 5,000 Pesos which is $117. That’s pretty good. After caroling, the Barangay was having a Christmas party for all the chairman and council. They invited us to stop and eat lunch. After lunch we all went to my house. I had already packed up all my things. We got my things and Aga, one of my host family members, drove us and all my things down to San Celestino to my new house. It was kinda awkward leaving my house and it was kinda sad. I lived there for just over 3 months. While I wanted to move for better transportation, internet, and to live on my own, I still felt bad for moving out of their house. They offered me to stay there and I liked it there, but felt as though it would be better where I am now. Which I’ve been here 2 weeks and I do already like it better. Still adjusting to living on my own, haven’t started to cook my own food yet, but hopefully I’ll start next week. I had to buy a gas stove and get my tank filled. Now I’d like to have a refrigerator before I start cooking. The owners of the house brought over cookies and juice for all of us. After the teachers all left I talked with them for a while. We just talked about each other and about the house. I had met them, but just met and didn’t really know them. They are a couple in their 30’s, Perla and Byron. They have 3 girls, Kiara – 8, Clang Clang – 6, and Ken Ken – just turned 5 Jan 2. The first few days at their house were very eventful. January 1 was the one year death anniversary of Perla’s father. When he died they moved into the front house with her mother. That is why their house is empty now and that’s where I’m living. For the one year anniversary it’s a huge deal here. They have a huge party at the house and everyone comes over. The next day was Ken Ken’s birthday so I went to town with them. We stopped at the cathedral first; it’s a tradition to go on your birthday. Then went to the mall and had lunch and bought a cake. It was fun hanging out with them.

December 29 – Thursday – Karen and I went to Los Banos for the day. Pam and Phyllis live there and Pam’s daughter Ashton was in town from Denton, TX.  We just walked around town and hung out. We ate a lot of food. Los Banos is a college town and has a lot of places to eat. Both places we ate at are somewhat American food. For lunch we all had corndogs and they had mustard to put on them! Mustard is not a common thing around here, and neither is corndogs. Then for dinner it was Italian. Definitely different than what I’m used to eating. It was nice meeting Ashton in person after hearing Pam talk about her daughter. She’s 24 and says now she wants to do Peace Corps! We had a lot of fun just hanging out.

December 31 – I went over to my host family in San Francisco’s to visit. It was kinda weird going over to visit after living there. They gave me a snack and it was the same as always. I had to go eat it at my table all by myself! I wouldn’t think when I would go visit I’d do that, but go figure. It was fun though. I will have to figure out a good time to go visit and go more often. Now the hard part is finding transportation from San Celestino to San Francisco. I just have to stand out and stop every jeep coming from town and ask them if they are going to San Francisco. Most of them aren’t, but every now and then there will be one going that far.

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!