PCV in the Philippines

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[peacelovephilippines]

My Feelings One Year In

I won't lie, not every part of Peace Corps is easy. Okay lets be real, next to none of it is easy. There is a reason they say its “The toughest job you will ever love.” On social media it looks like I spend a lot of the time doing fun things, productive things, and hanging out at the beach. But that’s just the shell.  It's actually really hard. I struggle a lot of days. Some not feeling like I am doing enough and some wishing I could go home and hug my mom, eat a steak and mashed potatoes, and eat all the salads I could get my hands on.

But I also wouldn't trade all of this for anything.

I get to watch the city fly by while looking out the back of a jeepney, walk 5K through sugar cane to talk with 4Ps beneficiaries who are super impressed with my feeling of limited Illongo. I get to work with some of the most amazing men and women who have become more than friends because they are now my family. I get interact with children who are happy to get a high five from me and hugs from some who tell me they love me (and they make my day). I work amazing students who I am supposed to be here to help but they support me just as much if not more than I support them. And I was taken in by two wonderful families, one in Bagac during my training and one I live with now on Sagay, who make my life so much easier than it has to be. There is no other feeling greater than having people take you in and make you part of their family no questions asked.

 And I haven't even begun to mention the amazing friends I have made from fellow volunteers who are always willing to listen to you rant, go on fun trips with, or just sit around with while you are all on Wi-fi. And the Peace Corps Philippines staff! They are truly amazing people. If you walk down the halls of the office and not feel loved there is something seriously wrong. I can't count the number of time I have texted or emailed my Sector Manager, Regional Manager, or Program Assistant and gotten a phone call checking up and helping me with whatever I needed. I am pretty sure to get on staff you need the ability to do magic. Because they all work some great magic.

I am truly so lucky.

So while there are many tough times. Times I feel unproductive, that I am not doing enough, that I can't do things, or not in the mood to do them. Or missing the luxuries and friends and families I have at home. I am so lucky. I am so happy to live this life.

And friends and family back home I am sorry but I am not going to come home to same person I left as. I am going to come back a much better person than I was (I like to think I was pretty good to begin with but everyone had their own opinion) and I have the wonderful people in this country to thank. I mean I still have no idea what I am doing with my life but that is a whole other story.

I am so thankful for the events in my life that have led me to Peace Corps Philippines. I am also so thankful for my friends and family home in the US who have shown so much support and my friends, family, students, fellow volunteers, and PCP staff who make it all worth it. So thank you.

One amazing year down, and another to go! 

[peacelovephilippines]

A(bout) Month at Site

Sorry I have not posted in a while. Settling in has been very busy. 

I am working with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) with the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program (4Ps) with the high school youth and the scholars in college on scholarship from the 4Ps. Right now I am doing a lot of observing but have gotten to participate in some meetings and seminars. A big part of my first few months at site is to experience the culture and get integrated with the community. Some cultural events I have gotten to be apart of are birthday parties, a baptism, All Saints Day and my first festival, the MassKara festival in Bacolod. I was able to have a great day bonding with my 4Ps coworkers swimming and snorkeling at the Carbon Reef in the water just outside our city. 

My community has been really adjusting to me being here and most people now greet me with a hi or Maayong Aga (good morning). I get confused and happy when some greets me by name, mostly because I don’t know who they are yet. Everyone is very welcoming and helpful with anything I need. 

My host family are truly amazing people. They are so giving to people around them and take such good care of me. There are always people coming and going from the house its impossible to feel lonely. I really appreciate how much they include me in activities.

It rains a lot. This is the aftermath of one small storm. 

Sugar cane is the main crop of my island so it is everywhere. 

[peacelovephilippines]

Welcome to Sagay City

I have been living in Sagay for just over a week and I must say I am in love with it. Even though it is considered a city most of it is very rural so I get the best of both worlds. In the city part there are a lot of stores (no american stores). My beautiful new home is off a dirt road and grass where some goats hang out. I am not on a main road so there are no kids to play with. I am a ten minute walk from the water but it is not the best for swimming in right there. I am a five minute walk from the university where i will be working for half of my time. All my co-workers are AMAZING. They are all so fun and welcoming. I am very excited to work with each and every one of them. There is also a place called Ladies Circle that has a similar feel to Old Westbury Gardens (my favorite place in the US) that I can go when I need to). Everything fits perfectly here for me. My boss did a great job placing me here and I am so excited for the rest of my journey here! 

[peacelovephilippines]

Swearing In

So tomorrow is our swearing in ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. I am so excited to finally be an official U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer. After swearing in  will be moving to Sagay City in Negros Occidental, which is in the Visayas region of the Philippines. I have spend the last two days with one of my work partners and am so excited to get there and get to work. I am however going to miss my CYF and A.Ricardo training groups. A.Ricardo has become one big family that looks out for each other and we have so much fun. I am so sad that I won’t get to see their beautiful faces everyday now. But I am also excited to meet all the new and wonderful people I am going to be working with. There are so many mixed feelings right now but I am so happy to have made it through PST (which many consider the hardest part of their service) and to continue my journey here in the Philippines!

[peacelovephilippines]

Tagalog

Even though I am now learning Hiligaynon I wanted to share some interesting things I like about Tagalog as a language. 

There is no he or she pronouns its just siya for both, no gender specification. 

In the U.S. if someone calls your name you said what, here you say Bakit (why). 

There is no changing of the verbs for who is doing the action like in spanish just for past present or future. (makes life much easier)

Instead of asking what do you think about something they ask “What can you say about ____?” which I think is better since you can’t always say what you think. 

And my favorite. if you are not sure of a verb just put mag infront of it and they should understand what your saying ie. mag-jogging, mag-basketball, mag-texting, mag-email. 

[peacelovephilippines]

Some random thoughts I have had during training

Can I get away with sleeping naked here? (because its so freaking hot)

If I cover my legs in suran wrap and go out with the mosquitos still get through?

Wow I live here.

Could I have any more bug bites.

Will anyone notice if I take this kitten home with me?

I think the flies are bigger here.

Its hot.

I have never sweated more in my entire life.

Do I smell?

can I get away with reading my kindle during this session on malaria?

How does my nanay know the exact day I want to do my laundry and do it before me? 

I have probably consumed more rice in the last ten weeks than I have in my entire life. 

how much of the dragon fruit can i eat before the fructose starts affecting my body negatively?

I can't believe how beautiful it is here.

Does anyone notice I haven't shaved my legs?

Why do I talk in Tagalog and then they answer me in English?!

I can totally get away another day without shaving.

I am so lucky I get to live here.

These are just a few. 

[peacelovephilippines]

Nanay and Tatay

As the completion of my training is coming closer, meaning I will be moving and leaving my host family I figured it is only right to do an appreciation post about my host family. They are so amazing and have taken me in and treated me like one of their own children. I really appreciate them and want to share a bit about them with you. 

Tatay Jack and Nanay Myrna have three kids who all live and work in Dubai. Tatay Jack used to work for the Nuclear Power Company overseeing electrical work. Now in his retirement he works in his garden and oversees the work on the four farms he owns. He always gives me dragon fruits which are now my favorite. Nanay worked in Morocco for 16 years and now in her retirement she runs a sari sari (small connivence store). 

My tatay loves to tell me whats going on in the Philippines and the history as well as talk to him in Tagalog when I can. He tells me all about his fruits and vegetables as he gives them to me to try. Everything he grows is organic and he doesn’t use pesticides. One night he asked me what we eat in America besides rice and I told him about mashed potatoes so 10 minutes later we are at the market buying potatoes so I can make mashed potatoes. He drives me to and from my trainings everyday in his trike and makes most of my lunches and if not he drives home and brings it to me from Nanay. 

My nanay takes such good care of me. She makes me coffee every morning and most of my meals. Everything she makes is delicious. When I was sick she even heated up some water for my shower. I try to wash my underwear and bras myself because I don’t want them doing that but sometimes I will come home and my nanay has gone into my room and taken them to wash because she didn’t have any other work to do. I always ask if I can help with any house work but she won’t let me. the one thing I am allowed to do is turn on the light because I don’t have to stand on a chair to do so like she does. 

They definitely provide me with the best of everything and want me to try to explore as much as I can of the Pilipino culture. I eat so much food all the time and love all my merienda. I am so thankful I was able to have them as my host family. They taught me so much and prepared me for the rest of my service in the Philippines.  I really don’t want to leave them. I really feel like I won the host family lottery getting them. Not just because they have a little more money but just because they treated me as their own child. . 

[peacelovephilippines]

This Weekend

This weekend was one of the best weekends I have ever had.

Saturday morning I woke up at about 7am (which is now me sleeping in) and had my breakfast and my coffee. Nanay asked me if I would want to go to see Tatay’s farms. I of course said yes because I have been asking to go (he has four farms and a garden). I got ready to go once Tatay got back to the house and then found out there were having KatKat come with us as my kasama (KatKat is pictured below, she is a neighbor). We drove to the first one and it was so beautiful seeing the rice fields and the mountains. I was in awe. Kat and I walked around while Tatay talked to his farmer. From what I can tell my Tatay owns the land and the house on them and the farmers live there and farm the land for him with other forms of payment I am assuming as well. Then as we were driving back Tatay asks if I want to see another farm. Again I said yes and we soon stopped at the side of the road. Tatay took some the vegetables he gathered from the last farm out of the truck to bring to this family. At first it’s just a plot of dirt and a big house. I was a little confused. Then Tatay asked if I wanted to walk through the woods. Me thinking it was an easy walk through the wood said of course and then embarked on a muddy steep decline into the woods. I was doing this climb down in my tevas so they had some hold to them. My tatay and Kat were doing it in their tsinelas (sandals). I was amazed that they were doing it especially considering my Tatay is 60 years young. I then got to the area after about 20 minutes of climbing down the path with a small hut raised about the ground and a woman weeding a forest. There were some very tiny banana trees and lots of coconut trees. Eventually the husband and their son emerged from further in the forest to greet us. They cut down fresh coconuts for us and I can tell you there is nothing like a fresh of the tree three minutes ago coconut. After a while there we then started our hike back up the path. I was more tired going up because going down you had to go slow to watch your footing but going up fast was exhausting. It was such a great experience and when we got home it was only 11:30 am.

The afternoon was filled with Peace Corps activities with youth. We had volleyball and basketball games planned. We managed to get the volleyball game in before it rained but here in the Philippines the rain does not stop you. We played basketball and did volleyball drills in the pouring rain. It was really wonderful to see how dedicated all the kids were to be out playing in the rain. It was such a fun day and great to see how happy the kids were with the event.

Sunday

Sunday I impressed my Nanay by being up before 7:30 (why you up so early?! she asked me). I was lying in bed for a while but the rain was so loud that I had to actually get up. I had breakfast and played with the wifi a bit (we haven’t had a signal in almost a week) and then Nanay sent me to one of her relatives down the block so I could use the wifi to let mom know I was still alive. I did a lot of little things like putting my freshly cleaned and folded clothes away (have I mentioned how amazing my host family is), studied my Tagalog, and organized my room a bit. Then Nanay said she got me the ingredients I said I needed to make my avocado (we got about 15 of them from the farm on Saturday). I got all the makings for guacamole! Kat and another girl Sarah helped me make my guacamole. I cut my finger open trying to cut the calamense (like a lime) and told the girls it was a secerto and not to tell my nanay. Without getting blood in the guacamole it came out delicious (masarap). The girls and my nanay tried it. Kat said she liked it and seemed pretty genuine about it but I could tell Sarah really didn’t like it even though she said she did. Here in the Philippines they eat most of their food very sweet so guacamole is very different for them. Normally with their avocados they blend them with milk and sugar.

It was one of the girls on the blocks birthday so I came down the stairs at one point while my Nanay was in the shower to look outside and I see three kids coming with a plate of food for me. They were brining me the birthday food that was spaghetti (the special occasion food here (also made very sweet)) and pansit a noodle almost lo mien like dish. I gave the girl some candies for her birthday and at first they went back to her house. Then they came back and were kinda watching me eat (having kids watch me eat is becoming a normal thing around here). Finally they explained they wanted more candy so I obliged and pulled out a few Jolly Ranchers. Then they were singing and asked if I could sing “Thinking Out Loud” by Ed Sheeren with them. I told them I could do better and went upstairs to my room to get my computer to play the song for them. Trying to figure out how to record them I opened up the photobooth app and then it turned into them taking funny pictures. They laughed so much it was so amazing and so funny (some of my favorite pictures are below).

Then Tatay took Kat, another boy, and me to Las Casas de Alcazar. It’s a place very close to us that is made up of different Spanish style buildings and Philippino houses from all over the country with a pool and beach access. One of the buildings the home to the national here Jose Rizal. It was very beautiful and we were very lucky it didn’t rain while we were there (it had been raining on and off all day and we didn’t have umbrellas). While we were at Las Casas Tatay asked me what we ate with dinner in America besides rice. I mentioned a few things including mashed potatoes. So we went to the market and we bought potatoes and I made mashed potatoes. Nanay helped by peeling the potatoes with the knife she said “I don’t want you to get hurt”. I laughed because 1. I had already hurt myself and 2. I must give off an aura that I will hurt myself doing something like that. Kat helped me with my mashed potatoes. It is much harder mashing with a spoon. Nanay and Tatay told me they were good. Kat said they were but didn’t eat much. I think I out did myself of giving her so much American non sweet food in one day.

[peacelovephilippines]

some of my favorites from today! Love my mga bata! 

[peacelovephilippines]

Bagac Bataan

I am really loving it here in Bagac where the CYF sector is training. Everyone is so nice and willing to help us in our projects and learning tagalog. I have an amazing few of the ocean and the mountains. And my host family is amazing. Bagac has the friendship tower showing the friendship between the Philippines and Japan after WWII and nice little market. It is made up of many different communities, I live in the community of Pagasa. The mayor of Bagac was very generous and had all the CYF Peace Corps Trainees to his farm for dinner Friday night and ti was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and the food was amazing. 

I am very excited to continue exploring Bagac and the rest of the Philippines! 

[peacelovephilippines]

Some pictures from the last two weeks! 

[peacelovephilippines]

Week 3

My my host parents: Tatay Jack and Nanay Myrna. They are the most amazing people ever and take such good care of me. Nanay showed me the beach and sat outside with my as the children were to afraid of me at first to come near me I was “too white”. But now they love me. 

We had our first days of language and technical classes in our clusters. I want to learn as much language as possible so I can talk to the children more. 

I love bucket showers. There is a giant bucket I I was myself by filling a small pail (tabo) and putting it over myself. It is great and saves so much water!

I learned how to hand wash my clothes. It was not easy! 

There were two big thunder storms. Probably the loudest one’s I have been in (minus hurricanes). 

I am really loving it here and will hopefully do more thorough post later but my computer is at 8% battery! 

[peacelovephilippines]

I am made for the Philippines

So turns out I am a perfect fit for the Philippines. All my bad habits are not just customary but encouraged. 

1. Eating with my hands. 

I cannot count how many times growing up I got yelled out to eat with utensils and not my hands. Here I am being taught how to properly eat with my hands! You only use the right one and there is a special technique for eating rice that I am getting the hang of. I only use my hands now which I love. 

2. Leaving shoes by the door. 

Another thing I still got yelled at about to the days before I left was leaving my shoes by the door when I walk in. Here I have to! I have different flip flops for the bathroom, the house, and outside and I have to leave them by the door. I’m still getting use to switching my shoes for each but its awesome because I already got the practice of leaving them by the door down! 

Others. 

Meridenda (snack) is not an option is mandatory and I get sent to school with a bag full of them!

GIANT SHRIMP!

[peacelovephilippines]

Week 2

Not much different than week one. Lots of language class and technical stuff. The last night in Cavite at IIRR we had a bone fire before all the sectors separated. 

[peacelovephilippines]

Week One!

Now that I have been here for a full week I feel I have enough information to share in a post!

The plane trips to Manila were very long but it was a great bonding experience between all the new trainees of batch 274 (there are 88 of us).

For this week and next week we are staying at a compound called 11RR for our initial orientation (IO). It has a lot of meeting rooms and hostels where we stay. My roommates name is Kate and she is also from New York which is super cool.

Monday:

The first day of training was a lot of logistical stuff, getting out cell phones, our medical kits, etc. They are a big fan of ice breakers so we do them throughout the day. The food its amazing and my favorite time of day is merienda (snack).

Tuesday:

Today had a lot more logistical stuff. We do a lot of group work followed by presenting the work to the group at large. We do get some free time in the afternoon and evening which is nice to get ourselves setting and hang out with the other volunteers. We have three sectors CYF (children youth and families (mine)), CRM (costal resource management), and Education.

Wednesday:

Today was fiesta day!! We were able to learn and experience different parts of the Filipino cultures such as their rituals, festivals, superstitions, traditional foods, holidays, games, and pastimes. I really enjoyed their marriage rituals and cannot wait to attend a wedding here. They have a few similar superstitions as the US does. We learned a dance for a festival and got to paint our faces. In the Philippines they start celebrating Christmas in September and the celebration goes all the way until January (super pumped). We played a lot of fun games and the Filipino past time of Videoke! Finally we tried traditional food, I ate chicken intestine (IUD) and a chicken foot (addias) and some really cool fruits. After a traditional dinner with Lechon (BBQed whole pig) we saw a group do many different traditional dances from all the different regions of the Philippines. At the end we were able practice one of the dances that involves dance/jumping over wooden poles on the ground. The steps reminded me of double dutch. It was a lot of fun!

Thursday:

Today we got to start learning language in our groups. Right now there are about 15 in a group but we will eventually be in classes of 5 to learn Tagalog at our training sights in Bataan. We went over a little but mostly did introductions and learning styles today. In the afternoon we met with our sectors, CYF for me, and did an introduction and discussed why we chose the Peace Corps and why the CYF program. It was really nice being in a room of 32 other people who all had the same or similar mindset. I then got my first rabies shot and a consultation with a PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer).

Friday:

In the morning we had a language session where we worked on a few vocabulary words. During our technical session we built a smaller and less stable version of a real Nipa Hut. It was a team work building exercise and we really got into it. It took about 2 hours but it was a beautiful hut once it was done.

Saturday:

Language was first thing in the morning and then we had a short technical session where we went over the different populations of children we could potentially work with. After their was a Jeepny ride to the local mall. The mall was the biggest mall I had ever been in and was packed with people. We got stared at a lot since we were Americans. There was a grocery store inside and they did have a lot of American food in the food court. It was a nice way to see part of the culture and get a few things I needed.

Sunday:

Today was our first full day off but it was very busy. After breakfast at 7am a few friends and I walked off the compound to a sari-sari (store) and then explored a little around the area. Then we did our first round of laundry by hand, I already miss my washer and dryer. Then I tried to study with a few friends which led to a lot of walking around and talking to others. After lunch we took a swim in the pool and then played Pinoy games with the staff and other volunteers. My favorite game was Patintero which involves a lot of running. After the games I set up my hammock the lie down and study for a bit before dinner.

Monday:

Today brought more language and technical training. Learning the language is fun but I am horrible at the pronunciations right now. Then technical training was fun in discussing how to engage youth in our work.