Site Visit

Two Sundays ago (goodness time is flying by!) we had one of the most important days in the Peace Corps experience - finding out where our permanent sites will be, that is, where we'll be living and working for the next two years of our lives. A rather big deal. The energy levels and excitement amongst us Trainees were running high that day for sure.

Well, I found out that I'll be going to a smaller coastal town in Albay province, in the Bicol region. This part of the Philippines is known for its spicy food, use of coconut milk in cooking, and the Mt. Mayon volcano. With its name derived from the Bicol word for "beautiful" (magayon), this "perfect cone" is one of the most active, most famous volcanoes in the world. Stepping off the plane at the Legazpi airport, and seeing it towering over us with plumes of smoke coming out the top was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.

My school and host family are really great too. I'll be working at a high school on the outskirts of town, where it's nice and quiet. The school has about 1500 students, average sized, and lots of programs and project ideas for me to work with, like a newspaper, remedial reading program, and an English club. I'll also be co-teaching in English classes for 20 hours a week, and my principal and counterpart teachers were very welcoming and excited about working with me.

My host family's house is right across the street from the school, and I really like it there. They make good food and everyone is sweet. The first night I was there, we had a brownout (common in the Philippines, especially in this area after the November 30th super-typhoon Reming destroyed much of the electrical and communication infrastructure), and my teenage host brothers played guitar and sang by candlelight until the power came back on late at night. Even though I was thoroughly sweaty since we were without electric fan, it was a beautiful experience.

After site visit, we moved to our new training site in Bataan province. We'll be here for the last three weeks of training before swearing in. I guess the move has been a bit hard on me, especially since we came here on my birthday, but I'm trying to stay positive and take care of myself. My birthday turned out to be pretty good. The people in my cluster are really happy, because the town we're in has lots of coffeeshops, restaurants, and christmas lights on the trees that line the sidewalk - pretty atypical for the Philippines. Also, it's good to be here for language learning, since everyone here speaks Tagalog, we get so much more practice. I guess we're getting spoiled a little bit, but that's ok, right?

All in all, a good site visit. I was one of the lucky ones who came back feeling super-excited about her site. Now I just have to hang in there for the last month of training, and it'll be time to swear in and go be a full-fledged Peace Corps Volunteer.

Balita (News)

Next week, we will be staying at a hotel for a couple of days for a conference (where we will find out where our permanent sites will be - super exciting!!) Then we will actually travel to these communities, start introducing ourselves, and start finding out more specific information about what we'll actually be working on while we serve.

But there's been a big change of plans. It should be that after all this excitement, we will all come back to where we've been staying in central Luzon to finish the final month of training. However, myself and four other PC Trainees are going to move to a new place, south of here a little bit I can't give the whole back story of this on a public blog, but suffice to say that there are administrative reasons for our moving.

Going through the process of confirming that we will be moving has been extremely stressful for me. Even though we'll be living with our next host family for only three and a half weeks, and it might seem like it's not a big deal, it's going to be a whole new town and family for me to adjust to, and I've gotten very comfortable living with my current host family. They are very saddened by the news that we will be abruptly departing.

At the same time, I have faith that moving to this new place will be ok. I'm going with my three buddies M, A, and J, and H is coming with us too. Where we're living now, people speak Kampampangan, but where we'll be moving, they speak Tagalog, so I think my language ability will improve more quickly.

Lots of changes are afoot, that's for sure.

Mt. Pinatubo

This past Sunday, myself and seven other group members went hiking at the top of nearby Mount Pinatubo.

In 1991, this long-dormant volcano had one of the largest eruptions in the 20th century. Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from their homes, about 300 people died, ash rained down heavily, and the nearby American Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base were severely damaged and abandoned by the U.S. shortly thereafter.

Today, you can do what we did, and hire a 4 by 4 to take you up the bumpy, steep road to the mountaintop, hike through a passage to the crater lake, and then go swimming. The hike was short, at most two hours each way, and then we returned to R's host aunt's house for a big meal, tsismis ("cheezmeez," gossip) and relaxation.

Here are pictures of the lake, the bizarre landscape, and the 1991 eruption, as well as two of me with M, and then me with H and M.

Baguio

My friends A, J, M and I traveled to Baguio City two Sundays ago for a day trip and some respite from the oppressive Filipino sun.
The city was built by the Americans at the turn of the twentieth century, is considered cosmopolitan and progressive, and is a popular vacation destination for Filipinos who, likewise, just want a break from the heat.

Once we got there, we strolled through a park complete with a paddle boat-filled lake, visited a cathedral, and just enjoyed breathing in the cool mountain air. I even wore a sweater for a little while!

Photos

Here are some more photos from recent times. One of me all set to get on that long plane ride at LAX... man, we had so much luggage between the 64 of us ready to live overseas for two years (who would ever guess...) One of the skyline of Manila from our hotel during the first week of initial training. Two from a wedding we attended: one of some host family members in a pew, one of the bride and groom dancing (see the pesos pinned to her veil?) Three from my house: one of me with all the kids, one from one of the rare moments when nobody's home, and two of the cutest five year old kids in the world.

Santa Krusan

These are photos from Santa Krusan, a Filipino tradition associated with Catholicism. We participated in a formal procession through the streets of our town, accompanied by music. There's one photo of me and my escort, the others of me and my host family. My extended host family has also taken in three other PC Trainees at other houses around town, who have become close friends of mine and are in the last picture.

Photos

Here are pictures of a banka boat (with the far-set outriggers - is that the right word?), a Philippine tricycle, which we use for taxi transportation (usually we use jeepneys - colorfully decorated jeeps), and a map of the Philippines. Luzon, where I am now, and where it's likely my permanent post will be, is the large northern island.