It's Christmas Eve where I am at in Olongapo City and I am back to typing my posts at an internet cafe at least til school vacation is up,then it will be back at school since I am blessed that our school has wifi there where I can communicate with everybody. My next post, I'll have photos of tonight's gathering of some Peace Corps Volunteers at a restaurant for Christmas Eve pizza. Yum!! Tomorrow, I will be back at my host family's house where I stayed with for the past three months for Christmas.
With moving in last Friday & this week, it's been hard to make time to write. My one uneven table has too many things on it, I can barely get my laptop on there. Today's post will be one that I wrote in my journal in Dinalupihan (the spot I'll be headed to for New Year's Eve) on September 9, just before Swearing In as Peace Corps Volunteer. I mention September 9 because that was the same date one of my Aunts' was writing to me as it had that day on the sheet of paper on top when I read it. Pretty cool, huh. We were were both writing at the same moment sort of. For some reason, I was too late to translate this from paper to the computer, that's why it never printed. However, I still love to journal when I can and I will continue to do that. If you don't hear back from me before New Year's, Happy New Year! Ingat na.
Reminiscing on the
porch 9-9-11, 4:15 pm
I am sipping on Tsaa (tea) thinking about my times in
Dinalupihan. It’s pouring hard, but not
hard where it doesn’t stop my pen from moving because I am on the porch and the roof
is my umbrella stopping the rain. The only
reason I haven’t been out here as much is because of the mosquitoes. They’re the ones that drive me into my
room.
I look up and see a lady walking under an umbrella. Umbrellas are popular here regardless of the
weather. Whether it’s sunny or not, they
always have shade. I am starting to feel
a drop, but nothing to keep me from moving.
I think about my times walking on the tulay (bridge) and seeing people
see me & wave; I would wave & say a greeting such as Magadang umaga
(good morning) or Magadang Hapon (good afternoon). I’ll walk for a little bit tomorrow, but not
on the trail unfortunately since I already packed up. I’ll probably just walk around the
Barangay. Also, I can’t take a shower
because I already packed my towel and I don’t want to pack a wet towel that
will make my clothes stink.
I do remember arriving here in a sling and trying to wash clothes with that thing on. I am glad & grateful my host mom Ate Loida helped me by washing my clothes. It also helped that I wasn’t doing a good job & not doing it fast enough. My ate said in Tagalog that the clothes were still marumi (dirty).
Another reason I am writing now is because I am in my favorite spot in a rare moment where no one is home except Aldwin because he is sick. It feels nice and quiet. As I write I hear roosters, birds, thunder, with rain and a radio playing 80s music, along with sounds of the main street in the background (trikes, cars, and buses.)
I hope it stops before tomorrow’s Handog. A Handog is a ceremony to honor the families
for hosting the volunteers. I wish they
would just call it a fiesta so the families don’t feel obligated to stay that
long. I’ve been to two fiestas with my
host family and the maximum they stayed at each was two hours, maybe. Peace Corps wants us to stretch this to six
from 8am-2pm. My hope is that families
come at different times and that the rain stops.
Another thing I will miss about my Barangay is the
quaintness of this place. In some ways
this reminds me of Frankfort Square when I was growing up in the 80’s, kids
playing in the street, neighbors talking to one another and local business
(here it’s Sorry Sorry Stands) doing business as usual. I hope it stays this way for a long
time. There some trouble spots, but for
the most part, it’s safe. Of course, I
wouldn’t be here if things weren’t safe or there was a need for my
services. The Philippines used to import
items they used to make, sound familiar?
That’s why education is so important here.
It’s 5:24 pm and normally that means nap time, but I am
still alone and feel I have to take this opportunity and write until someone
gets home. Right now the neighbor’s
radio blasted “Love Hurts” and that’s funny because that’s what if feels like
for me now. I am all packed up and ready
to go, but it took me a couple of hours to get everything. I’ll miss most of all the closeness of
everything where it’s all just a walk or jeepney ride away. The other day I lost my family’s umbrella and
I took a jeepney ride back to the
palengke (market) and I was able to find it.
I’d rather pay 20 pesos (round trip ticket) than 100 pesos for a new one
any day. I’ll miss my cluster and my
teachers. Eva is the best LCF (language
coordinating facilitator. She takes
initiative when there needs initiative.
For example, she was the first LCF to take us the palengke and she
called PC to get us rain boots, which you need out here. Sam is my TCF Technical coordinating facilitator
and he gives me great tips on how to improve.
I would take his advice on anything.
My cluster mates are awesome as well; Katelin, Kevin, Phyllis and Julie. Together, I believe we were the best
education cluster in Bataan with the arguments I hear about in the other
groups. Our cluster gets along with each
other.
It’s getting dark and I don’t feel like getting the
light. Even with all those misses, I
still look forward to my new residence and adventures in New Kalalake, Olongapo
City, Zambales at Kalalake National High School. Ingat na (take care) 5:56pm, 9-9-11
