How long has it been?

Too Long.

Last time I wrote I was, I think, being sworn is a Peace Corps volunteer and on my way to new and brighter horizons. Now on the eve of my first month at site I am happy to report that things have gone quite smoothly.

I have settled into my new life in a fairly quick and painless manner. My host family is very nice to me always asking what I like to eat, the difference between American, Mexican and Filipino foods, and also extremely helpful when I don’t know something. Before moving in I was worried that things would be awkward and tense since I was basically coming into a set family unit and shifting the dynamics of normal life. I have found that things have worked out quite well co-existing in an easy manner, which has definitely made my integration into my new life a lot better. For my pack lunch they often throw in raw carrots, cucumbers, jicama. Which trust me when I say is not considered a normal food to consume raw and without vinegar. They have even taken me on a tour of Bohol that was a lot of fun since I got to see two types of monkeys (one being tarsiers), chocolate hills and Sagbayan Peak. I am looking forward to living here for a while seeing as how things have been going so well for me.

Working at my high school has also proven to be a good experience so far. The teachers have all been welcoming, allowing me to observe their classes and even though the language gap exists trying to include me in the daily chatter between class and of course during lunch. They also love to see me try new and adventurous foods and of course pairing me off with all the eligible bachelors they know, which has yet to get old. We recently had a teacher's day full of videoke, dancing and a lot of laughter. I would even go so far as to say it's in the running for one of the best days in the Philippines.

The students have also been very nice to me. I hear a chorus of "Good morning Ma'am Jess" the minute I walk through the school gate, which is always a pleasant greeting first thing in the morning. They love asking me questions about my personal life (always draws a chorus of screams), my family (when they hear I have a brother in their age range squeals emanate from the girls), and of course about what life in America is like. I am always willing to talk to them because to be honest it is one of the few ways even the most shy and the most rebellious students will speak to me.

Teaching itself hasn't gotten started yet for me. I've been patiently observing since I arrived almost all of the English Department and my two counterparts entire class load. Although it hasn't always been the most exciting it has definitely given me an insight into what the teachers deal with on a day to day basis. As well as what type of kids attend my school. While I am in a small town on the island of Bohol (Talibon to be exact) I am teaching at a school with 2,500+ students and a faculty of 50-60 teachers. Making it one of the larger high schools on the island. All kinds of students attend the school those from Talibon, neighboring towns and also the neighboring islands. It makes for a very interesting dynamic.

In January I will get to start Co-Teaching with my counterparts which I'm looking forward too. I would also like to point that it has officially been one month since I arrived at sight, that in and of itself is quite the milestone.

Hate to rush the post but sleep is calling my name. I will hopefully write more soon.

"So your favorite foods is rice and... ?"

The above title is perhaps one of my favorite quotes ever.

It was said to one of my fellow PCT by her supervisor when we were traveling to our permanent sites and is to this day ridiculously funny. White rice is perhaps one of the biggest food staples and also the one that gets old the fastest. While I have learned how best to eat it (with kalamansi, soy sauce, and occasionally some small peppers) and how best to avoid it (Wala. Busog kaayo daghan Lumpia!) I still cant get away a full day without eating it at least once. Anyways, I'm rambling.

So I am a full two weeks away from Swearing In and I have got to say I couldn’t be more ready. Training has been fun and I am going to miss my cluster (Team Awesome) more then words can describe I can’t wait to finally get to my permanent site and get to work. While I know getting to site is only the beginning of a new form of waiting it's exciting to think that my time here in the Philippines will finally get rolling. Till then I will be patiently waiting in the confines of the gorgeous Duma city.

Living in the Visayas (and in particular Duma) has its perks (actually a lot of them). A week ago we got the chance to head over to Dauin, a beach about 20-30 minutes away, with an awesome marine sanctuary. The day was a little windy but the sun was out and while the water wasn’t as crystal clear as it could be it was still amazing (2 and a 1/2 months and already I'm a beach snob). We got to snorkel and while we were there it started raining but since the sun was still out there was a double rainbow. It was one of those once in a lifetime kind of experiences.

Last week was also the last week of teaching for us at our practice site. It was really nice to see how much I had learned over the last couple of weeks and how sad the kids were to say their goodbyes. I got a few "Thank you Teacher Jessi" letters and a cool necklace from the class. The best part was probably being able to give them candy for being such good students to me and having a few personal teaching victories with my counterpart teacher. Now to just put on a Multiple Intelligences Seminar for the teachers there and I'll be able to move on to my new site.

The last awesome thing that occurred last week was the Buglasan festival held every year in Dumaguete. It is tooted as the Festival of all Festivals and towns from Negros Oriental come in for a week for a series of dance, music, crafts and other various competitions. It was a lot of fun to be able to get a glimpse into the various towns in Negros and what they are known for.

So a personal request...
Send me things!! I haven't really done the whole posting of my address here but I've decided it’s critical to my sanity (pause for dramatic effect). Among things I need...
Seasoning for meats and fish, cilantro seeds and vegetable seeds really, Red Vines, Pop tarts, reading material, plastic (ziploc) bags, curly hair products, regular gum, recipes for Mexican food (Angie I'm looking at you), and really anything else you think I may need.

It's just kinda nice to get stuff.
My Address:

Letters:
Jessica Miguel
c/o Peace Corps
P.O. Box 7013
Airmail Distribution Center
N.A.I.A, Pasay City
1300 Philippines

Packages:
Jessica Miguel
c/o Peace Corps
6/F PNB Financial Center
Macapagal Blvd., Pasay City
1308 Philippines

*Also send me addresses if you want letters and stuff I can probably get that going.*

And with that I'm off to study, I've killed enough time.
Ayo-Ayo (take care)

Life has never moved at a more rapid (yet slow) pace

It seems like just yesterday that I boarded a plane to the Philippines and pledged to write consistently on my blog. While I am still here (yay!) being consistent with the blog is harder then I thought. So let me begin...

Two weeks ago we went to the city of Bacolod about a 6-hour bus ride from the city I'm currently in (Dumaguete). We were there for a conference in which we met our supervisor. It was 3 full days packed of get to know you activities and ways to get along with one another, It was at a nice hotel and the best part was the food. They had TACOS. They weren't very good but trust me when I say any taco is better then no taco. At the end of the week we went to visit our permanent sites (aka the place I will be living for the next two years). It was a great and eye opening experience for me. I was placed in Talibon, Bohol. Bohol is a small island between Cebu and Southern Leyte. It is the home of Tarsiers, White Sandy Beaches and Chocolate Hills. Google it and be jealous. My town could be classified as small to medium sized since it has a downtown area with a supermarket and (tiny) department store. It is about two hours from the capital and one hour from the chocolate hills and one hour from the nearest Peace Corps Volunteer, which isn't very bad at all. The school I will be teaching at is large by Phillipine standards since it is home to about 70 teachers and 3,000 students. (Yes the math is correct classes here can contain anywhere from 50 to 70 students). So why eye opening you ask? For the past couple of weeks I have been living in the lap of luxury. Duma is a fairly large college town that is pretty atypical to all of the Philippines. While I have loved my time spent here (and time I have yet to spend) it is very different from the town I am moving to... getting used to a whole new atmosphere is exhausting and challenging. My solace? The fact that Bohol is very beautiful and I get to live there. 4 weeks left!

From there till now life has moved quickly. This coming week is my last at the practicum site (HS we've been training at) and also the last of my Technical (teacher) Training. In 2 weeks we take our Language Proficiency Exam and in 3 we leave our current sites and get sworn is as official Peace Corp Volunteers. Wish me luck.

Oh man how do I begin to explain whats been going on over the past few weeks? It's been a long time since I last wrote (at least it feels like a long time). I have been pretty busy between learning the language, observing in classes my weekdays are more packed then ever and getting more interesting. Next week we will have a PACA workshop (no logistics since I dont even know what it is) and the week after that Supervisors conference!! Which means I will FINALLY be finding out where I am going to be placed for the next two years. At which point I will be half way done with training and a little closer to the start of my two year stay. Well I have dinner to attend plus I am ridiculously tired after walking up early for class (5:30am) but its not like I can sleep past 7am anymore so its not as bad as it sounds. I will write with more info another day I just didnt want the blog to feel neglected!

much <3

p.s. I went to the beach again with my host mom and this time it was a much more peaceful experience. It felt nice to just be able to swim. Plus I was surrounded by people, the whole town was fishing and it was an awesome sight to see. Pics to be uploaded soon!

Cebuano, Grandmas, and Beaches, oh my.

It has been a full week since I arrived and I feel like its been months. Our lives are planned out for the next 10 weeks and pretty much the whole day is spent in class. So much is stuffed into my brain on a daily basis it’s hard to remember what my name is (but not really). The good part is I really like my cluster and the one we link with. Everyday at 2:30pm (sometimes earlier or the whole day) without fail we will go temporarily insane and find everything funny. The giggle fits do exist. Somehow laughing puts everything into perspective. 2:30pm is a godsend. Don't get me wrong class is pretty interesting; between learning how to say, "I'm still beautiful" and how to say poo in slang (its oo-oo), how to greet and get home are I would say second most important (just kidding).

I have groupies, and no I am not kidding. They are awesome too. They offer me red wine (I politely decline), they overfeed me and they think I am funny. Who are they you may ask? The lovely ladies are about the same age as my HM (mid 70s?), which is nearly impossible to figure out given everyone here looks at least 5 years younger then their real age. But anyways, they are wonderful women who are very interested in my well being and seem to love the fact that I am Mexican, from California, and a volunteer. One in particular whose name I (sadly) can’t remember is my absolute favorite. I met her at the previous dinner party I attended and she is a sweetheart. She talks to me in Spanish sometimes and also translates for me when other people are speaking in Cebuano. To top it off when she laughs she giggles like a little girl and it is incredibly endearing. Maybe ill record it, but that might be weird, no promises.

I went to the beach this Sunday with my host mom. Her daughter owns a house on a beach in a nearby town so we took off after lunch to go swim a few hours. Upon getting there I found out I would be swimming on a gorgeous beach, alone. My host mom politely declined so off I go to swim by myself for 4 hours... the joy. I have had my pains of homesickness since I arrived but Sunday was rough. I started thinking of all the beach vacations I’ve had over the years with my family and all I wanted was for them to pop out and keep me company. Then I started thinking of all my wonderful friends and how much I wish I could experience this with them and needless to say it was a very vast solitary ocean. The good part? I took pictures. Caution, the pictures will cause you to want to visit me. (yay!)

P.S. I went to a 75th Birthday party this weekend and it had the best theme ever... Boxing. The birthday boy had on a red (To the Highest High) Manny Pacquio shirt signed by him and they had a poster up of the Bboy (pretend) knocking out Mayweather. They also had the clip of the Marquez vs. Mayweather fight when Marquez (almost) knocked him out. It was brilliant and lots of fun. It's times like those that remind me how lucky I am to be here.

Things I have not talked about yet...

Halo-Halo
Where There Is No Doctor
Pedi Cab Drivers
Sunday Mass
Avocado Ice Cream
Sleeping Soundtrack

Let us begin:

Halo-Halo is a dessert, to say the least. It is served in a big cup like those you would find in your corner soda shop (the big sundae ones). It is made up of milk (?), shaved ice, corn flakes, huge jellybean looking things, mangoes, sweet potatoes, corn, and topped with purple ice cream (ubi). It is quite tasty once you get over the fact that there is corn in your dessert and the cornflakes give it a nice texture. Oh and the best part has to be that it is served with a (relatively) large packet of sugar just in case it isn't sweet enough (which it is). Not sure I'm going to make a habit of eating it but for a once in a while treat it's quite delicious..

Where There Is No Doctor is a book I received from my LCF Yasmin. Since you probably have no idea what it is I shall explain. This book was written a long time ago in Spanish for villagers to reference when they were sick. It's brilliant. While it does not seek to undermine or substitute the validity of doctors it has well-written and practical explanations to many illnesses and health predicaments. Like how to cure dehydration, make and put on a cast or how to deliver a baby (only in an extreme case). While I doubt I will ever be in a situation that requires me to deliver a baby it is nice to know I am prepared. Better safe then sorry (just saying).

I had a lovely experience with a Pedi Cab driver (which by the way are these trike things attached to a motorcycle) who upon figuring out that I did not speak Visayas/Cebuano proceed to ask me in English what I was doing there, where I was from and how long I would be staying. When I finished telling him my life story he was very pleased to know I was there to teach English and I was staying for an extended period of time. Needless to say it made my day.

This Sunday I attended mass at the local Catholic Church. It was quite the experience.
1. The entire mass was in English
2. I only know how to pray in Spanish
3. Everything was in English
I'm not sure why that surprised me so much but it did. I would think that it would be only natural for it to be in Cebuano. Guess not.

Avocado Ice Cream is quite tasty and refreshing. It looks like frozen guacamole but tastes nothing like that. I have to say I liked it. Filipinos are onto something. Like my host mom said, "always in dessert, seldom in salad."

Sleeping Soundtrack. Since I have been here I have found that I wake up 3 times a night. It's always something. Early in the evening all the neighborhood dogs like to bark at each other. Then the music from the boulevard starts Thursday to Sunday (probably all week but I haven’t found out yet) and sometimes fireworks. Then the various creatures outside my window will start and lastly at about 3am the roosters will start crowing every half hour. This is the real city of no sleep, New York you have met your match.

My host mom is a G

Yeah, thats right. I've written it down so now its a fact.

Its been 3 days since I landed in Dumaguete, the land of beautiful beaches and mountains. Be jealous. I was greeted by my host momma Lupin who is very nice and sweet. She lives by herself with a maid (that's gonna take some getting used to) in a two story house. She is a widow and her kids either live abroad (Australia & U.S.) or in Manila. Shes visited them all plus been to Europe since 2 of her daughters are stewardesses and get crazy discounts. Shes hosted one other Peace Corps voulnteer and students from the nearby university. It's a pretty awesome set up except for the fact that it can get pretty lonely when all your host mom wants to do is sleep. I havent learned very much of the language yet but hopefully i'll make cool Filipino/a friends and of course my cluster is full of cool people to hang out with too.

By far the craziest experience has to be joining my host mom in attending her friends dinner party. She hangs with the cool people in town, including the city counselor, a deacon (priest), and a dentist. They fed us crazy good food like paella and kasava cake. I was told I eat too little and spoken to in Spanish. It was a good time but only lasted 3 hours. We got invited to a nearby towns Fiesta on tuesday but Language and Technical Training Classes come first (boo) so we politely declined.

All in all its been good. Can't wait to travel and see more of the island were on. That will make for amazing pictures.


p.s. Tuesday we're meeting the mayor and police and other respected city officials.
Yup were legit.

I haven't written anything in my blog,

I know... My apologies. You will now receive a (hopefully) brief synopsis of my week.

We arrived safe in sound after a long 20 hour flight, rest, flight last weekend into the hands of Peace Corp Staff at a nice resort about 45 minutes from Manila. It’s a lovely place with a water park (aka 2 pools and 4 slides), Animal Island (aka the place where you can get dangerously close to ostriches and feed dead chicken to crocodiles) and a fishing place (aka the spot with murky fish water). This would all be awesome if we weren’t dying to start learning the language and finding out approximately where we will be for the next 2 years. Most of us are thinking aren’t we out here to teach? Why the resort? Well my thoughts are there are a limited number of places that have the equipment to host 140+ of us, so basically cruel joke. This is exactly what we won’t have in the duration of our stay in the Philippines.

Good times.

The fun part is I have never been more ready to leave the lap of (somewhat) luxury in my life. Sitting in a ballroom from 8:30 am to 5pm is not fun, especially when your bum hurts so much from the previous day its hard to sit still. We've been given exciting info on how to send the medical officers stool samples if we ever get sick and heard from the embassy all the extreme case scenario ways we could die, as well as the different creatures of the seas and how touching one can kill you. All of it very helpful but I still plan on swimming with Whale Sharks and going island hopping. The possibility of having to send a stool sample is definitely the scariest part of it all as crazy as that may sound.

Thursday we shall finally find out where our training sites will be. This means we'll know which of the four languages we're learning, what regions we could possibly be placed in and we'll get to meet the first host family. All very exciting and definitely better then what we’ve been doing.

The few things ill miss... Seeing all the lovely people I've gotten to know this week since we're getting split up into 4 groups and of course getting fed 3 times a day plus mid morning and mid afternoon snack, although I think that’s a common practice outside these walls too... Something I could for sure get used to.

As far as what the future holds who knows, the Peace Corps now controls my life (but only a lil bit). I’m just happy I got here in one piece.

_Jessica_

P.S. I have already been asked twice if I am Filipina and once I tell them I am Mexican they understand. I am sure and have received confirmation that more of this is to come, bring it on, I love talking about my culture.

1.5 hours to take off

So I am sitting in the JFK airport using the t-mobile wifi with other fellow laptop users, getting in our last minutes on facebook, emails and various other tasks.... In short, the time has arrived! We will soon be boarding on a plane bound to the Tokyo Narita airport and then the Philippines. A years worth of waiting has finally paid off. I am beyond excited after a day of training that resulted in meeting lots of new names and put faces to the people I FB stalked since joining the group. Cant wait till we actually land, even in the midst of rain and humidity I'm sure it'll be a great experience.

14 days

Things i've been up too...

Currently finishing off my PC To Do list.
Trying to spend as much time with my friends and family as possible.
Eating all the tacos, burritos, and mexican food that I can get my hands on.
Attempting to rent a water slide for my going away shindig, poooool party!!! (yes i'm 22 years old, FTW)
Buying last minute travel accessories

As nervous as I am to say good bye to all those I know and love I'm incredibly impatient to leave already. 2 weeks might as well be an eternity. I'm sure once I'm on the other side of the world I'll think differently, or maybe I wont... We shall see!

21 days!!!!!

Have I started packing yet?
no

Have I begun to plan my going away party/last hurrah?
no

Have I finished purchasing all my stuff?
no

Have I just spent today on youtube watching videos on the Peace Corps?
yes


I guess some things don't change after college... man oh man, I really should start but there are soooo many more interesting things to do (and eat) then pack. As I write this my mom is making food and the smells of chile, and tacos de papa are slowly starting to settle in. The true challenge isn't getting ready to leave, it's eating everything I possibly can before the 18th. Last night I had my first sloppy joe compliments of my lovely boyfriend and I have pho, bbq ribs, Italian deli sandwiches and all the Mexican food I can get my hands on left. I'm making myself hungry... I think ill go help my mom, aka pick at food before she notices and gets angry. : )




p.s. I just discovered google reader (in my quest to do everything but what I NEED to do) and it might be my new favorite way to procrastinate. On the left you will see a column titled "Things I'm interested in" where I've showcased (mainly) alllll of the amusing articles that pop up in my reader. Take a peek, its quite revolutionary (but only a tiny bit).

Beneficiaries?

So with staging news finally sent out and my tickets confirmed the realness of the situation finally sunk in yesterday. Somewhere around 2pm I began to fill out forms required for staging and came across the one titled life insurance. Apparently you must either waive or accept the fee. Choosing to accept the fee was a no brainer but choosing how much money I would like to leave my family in case something were to happen made me freak out a little. At the ripe age of 22 years old it's surreal to have to designate who will receive the small sum of money. But so are the perils of the road I have chosen to take, much to the chagrin of my close family and friends.

On a lighter note, I have to download tons of music since I recently deleted most of it and make sure my undergrad loans are under control. Luckily the horrid phone calls have been made and all that is left is the paperwork to be signed and dated. As far as music I'm trying to make sure I have enough to not be bored within the first month of arrival. A slightly harder but albeit fun task since I have to first remember all the music I've ever liked in the past 10 years. Any suggestions will be taken!

Off I am to go think some more of what's to come. Seems it gets harder to go to sleep at a decent hour every night. Then again that may just be due to my like of adventure during the day.

Philadelphia it is!

So even though everyone in the fb group was sure that we were going to have staging in LA, which I was happy with because I'm very familiar with it. Turns out we're going to Philadelphia!! I am definitely not disappointed seeing as how I have never been there or anywhere else on the west coast for that matter and cant wait to be on my way. Just finished booking my flight from Fresno and I have to leave a day earlier since lo and behold Fresno only flies out 3 times a day to Philly. I’m sure I can find something to do with my extra day... I’m so excited!!!!

However, with amazing news comes more things to worry about. Seems like there’s always a billion forms to fill out and once you think you’re done, your not. Oh well, the pay off should be good. 28 days left!

30 days and counting...

As I get ready to embark on what may be the adventure of my life I have begun to consume my remaining days with the task of gathering my things. Or as I like to look at it... Packing in 30 days to fill up all the free time I have. Normally I would pack the week before at best, 2 days before at worst. Procrastination at its finest! However, I guess that its a good thing I'm starting so early seeing as how 27 months is no joke and I wouldnt want to be the ill prepared PCV who always has to borrow everyone elses stuff. By the way, PCV= Peace Corps Volunteer something I now can proudly call myself. After 1 year of filling out paperwork and countless trips to various doctors its a little surreal that the time is fastly approaching. Maybe I should go finish the large to do list I still have left... yeah I think ill go start that now.