"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.