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.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
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.
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.
Friday, August 20, 2010
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.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
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!
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!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
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).
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).
Thursday, July 22, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
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!
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!
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