On December 14th, Typhoon Nona (Melor internationally) made landfall in the eastern Philippines. The provinces of Northern Samar and Sorsogon (my site) braced themselves to bear the brunt of a category 3 storm. Normally, Peace Corps Volunteers in these areas would be consolidated together somewhere for their protection, but this typhoon snuck up on us. Just a day before it was projected to be a severe tropical storm, and expected to be perfectly manageable for volunteers. When we woke up Monday, however, we found that the storm had rapidly gained strength. By noon I was getting texts from volunteers in Northern Samar telling us to brace ourselves for something huge. Our batch of volunteers experienced a major typhoon upon entering the country for the first time, so we at least had an exposure to what a major storm was like. But Nona was intense. It lasted until about 8 p.m. with winds up to 110 mph. The wind rocked my apartment for a good five hours and there was no real way to stop the onslaught of water from getting inside. My sitemates and I had houses that fared decently through the storm, and thankfully the only problem we experienced was flooding. Other houses in the city and the province did not fare as well, though, and upon waking the next morning the destruction around was immediately obvious. Schools closed for the remainder of the year and government agencies instantly shifted their focus towards relief efforts.

The town of Bulusan, Sorosogon was particularly affected by the typhoon. This picture was taken almost two weeks later, and if you look closely you can see the some roofs are still destroyed and in the process of being repaired.

 Much of the infrastructure in Sorsogon held up well through the storm, which was not the case for all areas affected. Volunteers in Samar and other islands have evacuated and not yet returned to their sites. It has been a sobering experiencing, but my sitemate said something to me the day after the storm that resonated. "I was woken up at 6:00 this morning by people fixing my roof! The people here are so resilient." She was right, everywhere around us life continued as normal. The Christmas spirit might have even been a little stronger. It was humbling to see the community support among Filipinos after what one could rightly call a disaster. It made me feel honored to call myself part of that community, even if I know I'll never quite be an insider.

 It was also fortunate that the forecast began to clear up, because exactly a week later my parents would arrive to visit my site for Christmas. At the moment they have two days left with me in the Philippines and it's been amazing getting to show them a little of my world. It has been a short span we have had a Christmas dinner with my Filipino host family, visited my favorite beach in Sorsogon City (Paguriran Island), and hiked around the lake at the foot of Bulusan Volcano. This model gives you idea of where the lake is located:

 My Dad and I were the ones to hike Lake Bulusan, and it was a bit more of an adventure than we anticipated. The first half of the trail was fine, but eventually we started to come across damage from the storm. We pressed forward and the obstacles became more and more difficult. Here's a picture of some of the more minor damage to the trail:

  Crazy, right? I was also wearing tsinelas (flip flops) for the trek, so needless to say we weren't exactly prepared. We made it eventually and then decided to take a kayak out on the lake to relax. At the rentel place we learned that we weren't even supposed to be hiking around the lake without a guide. (Hehe, whoops).

Anyway, it's been awesome having my parents here. I think we're also all three in agreement the a week cooped up in my tiny apartment is enough, haha. It will be sad to see them go, though.

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to everyone! And I'll see everyone in the states in nine more months. :) Peace

 Peace Corps Philippines has a unique, recent tradition for Thanksgiving. Every year, a group of volunteers travel to the town of Sagada, Mountain Province to celebrate the holiday. Why Sagada? Its located in the northern part of the Philippines, so the climate is colder and mountainous. It can even get down to around 57 degress F in November (brutal, I know). But really, its the perfect place to break out a hoodie or a flannel after not being able to wear one for a year and a half. Plus, its a cool tourist spot with a lot of really famous attractions nearby.  

 Most of us took some time to check out famous spots on the way up to our homestay. For eight of us, the adventure was climbing Mt. Pulag, a 2,922 m (9,587 ft) mountain in the Benguet Province. It was the toughest and most rewarding adventure I've had yet in my service! To begin our trip, we all met in Baguio City which is just South of the mountain. Baguio is a remarkable place, and quite different from most of our sites. Like Sagada, the air is cooler and this means the style of dress is very different. The language up in the northern Philippines is Ilocano, which sounds significantly different than other dialects. Locals state that this is due to the lack of Spanish colonization in the mountainous regions. What I thought was really beautiful was the way the city is laid out. There is a downtown/main street area in the valley, with suburbs sprawling out above the city in the hills and mountains.

A view of Baguio at night.

  There were evergreens everywhere! Another thing that was way different from site. Anyway, we used Baguio City as our home base before we headed off for the mountain. The day of, we took a van up through long winding roads until we reached the registration office. From there we had a classic jeepney ride to the start of the trail.

 The coolest thing about Mt. Pulag was its landscapes, of which it has three distinct ones. At the lower part of the mountain there are pine tress and open views of rice terraces and villages. Farther up in the hike there is dense brush that reminded me a bit of mountain laurel. The peak is covered in a kind of dwarf bamboo and rolling, misty clouds which is all really remarkable to see. Here are some pics of the climb:

 

 Once we reached the top, we set up camp for the night. The plan was to wake up early and climb to the peak for sunrise. I don't know if any of us were prepared for how cold that night was going to be. It wasn't anywhere close to freezing, but the mist stuck to us and soaked through almost everything we had. Body heat helped a little, so we had to get pretty cozy that night. Seeing the sunrise was totally worth it, though. My camera died so I wasn't able to get any pictures, but our fearless leader Joe did. Thanks Joe!

 The hike down turned out to be even more difficult than the hike up. The trail was incredibly steep with lots of loose rocks and pine needles. It was still a lot of fun though. If you had told me I was going to be swimming in an ice cold mountain river to try to beat the heat after feeling my toes go numb watching the sunrise at 5 am, I would have tried to slap the crazy out of you. But that's the kind of trip it was. After the hike, we all arrived in Sagada sunburned, limping and nursing various injuries. 

 Sagada was a perfect place to recover though! I met with people I hadn't seen in a while, as well as some familiar faces. The town was quiet and quaint, and the people were amazingly friendly. Here's a shot from our homestay:

 The day after the holiday, volunteers explored the various sites around Sagada. I went with a group to see the hanging coffins. The hanging coffins are a traditional way to "bury" people after they die, making use of nearby cliffs. Many of the coffins and tombs have windows so the souls of those who are buried can fly out and explore as they wish.

 The trip as a whole was a lot of fun, and definitely recommended as a continued tradition for the next batch. ;) More adventures to come, peace everyone. 

Hey everyone,

 October has been a really cool month!  One of my good friends, George, came to visit me here in the Philippines. It was a pretty big surprise when I found out he was coming because I know how difficult it is to travel here, and I really didn't expect to get any visitors during my service. But, he was able to fly into Manila and then spend about two weeks at my site! We had some awesome adventures  around the Bicol region that I feel are explained better through pictures than in words. So here we go...

 We met up in Manila late on October 2nd. It was a bit confusing trying to find each other because Manila airport is so crazy, but we were eventually able to meet up at the Peace Corps hostel in Malate. George got to meet some of my good Peace Corps friends and then I took him to my favorite shawarma place in the area (shown above). Not a bad start to his visit.

 After we got to my site and settled in, I showed him a little of what my day to day life is like. We cooked some traditional Filipino food and I showed him what the local market is like. He was pretty amazed at how much you could find at the fish market (stingrays, barracuda, swordfish). We ended up making Sinagang, one of my favorite foods here. This is basically a soup cooked with tamarin (which gives it a sour taste) and a bunch of local vegetables. Later in the week I showed him some spots that Sorsogon City is known for, namely the city pier, Bacon beach and Paguriran island.

 My favorite part of his visit, though, was when I got to show him a little of what my work is like. Over the second weekend of his stay we traveled to the province of Camarines Norte to help two of my volunteer friends, Marissa and Keitoya, in an event with their college scholars. It was really cool for George to be able to spend the day with the population that I work closest with; college students from poor families who receive grants to go to school. 

 Our first stop was a famous library in Naga City where the students took some time to do some research and explore. After that we visited a nearby college campus to facilitate a meet-and-greet event with scholars from both colleges. This was, in true Peace Corps fashion, a totally spontaneous and minimally organized affair. In other words, it was ridiculous and a ton of fun. Students performed random musical numbers for about a half an hour, followed by a few bonkers team building activities. George was very amused by the whole thing. After that, we traveled with the students to a mysterious strawberry farm that no one seemed to know the exact location of. We ended up hiking a good 3 km in some fairly brutal humidity before we finally found it, but it was worth it just to experience the beautiful Filipino countryside. Here are some pics...

 We finally made it!

  Before we left Cam Norte we decided to check out the local Apuao Island on the suggestion of my friend Marissa. This place is know for its native Flying Foxes, which are basically huge, diurnal bats that are known to eat fruit. We spent the day hiking, swimming and taking in the beautiful views.

 Overall, it was a really great couple of weeks. I'd say we were really lucky with the weather considering this is supposed to be the thick of typhoon season, but nonetheless I'm glad I was able to show a friend a good time.

 At this time I've just returned from our Mid-Service Training in Manila. Its kind of surreal to think about how long I've been living here. My language has gotten stronger than I had imagined and I've normalized a lot of cultural things that used to be weird to me. Training came at a really great time, though, because I need to avoid getting complacent. Looking forward to growing even more throughout this next year. Peace!

 Kumusta kayo? As of September 18th I have officially been at my site, Sorsogon City, for one year. Its pretty incredible to think about. I have learned so much about myself, other people and the world in that year. Some of what I've learned has been immediately obvious to me, but I think other things will take a while to sink in and may not even fully register until I return home. One theme that I have found to be consistent in my service is the perception of time. Here in the Philippines we have what is known locally as "Filipino time". This is often used in a joking manner when explaining why people are often late in the Philippines (as compared to the U.S., where punctuality is emphasized in almost every occasion). But the concept of "Filipino time" is much deeper than that. A PC staff member and friend explained it to me like this: When a Filipino sees a friend on the street they haven't seen in a while, they will always stop to talk. It does not matter if they are late, and it does not matter how long the conversation takes. What matters is that moment in time. As she put it, "time is something you don't have to pay for." After living here for year, I would say that my concept of time has changed a great deal because of this. As an American, its an adjustment you need to me in terms of work flow, travel and other daily tasks. I'm looking forward to learning more from the culture throughout the next year.
 This past month, I was fortunate to be a part of an event organized by some volunteers who live a couple provinces north of Sorsogon. The event was called a "BRO" Camp (Boys Respecting Others). The themes of the camp included gender sensitivity, deconstructing stereotypes and safe sex education.

The camp was lasted three days and was a lot of work, but it turned out pretty fantastic. During the last day, teams prepared skits to demonstrate how to change gender stereotypes and it was really cool to see how much all of the participants had learned.

Teams practice their skits:

The winners of the skit competition!

 It was great to able to help out some other volunteers and make some connections from another province. The last major activity I got to be a part of was called "Sama Ka Na." This was an event in Sorsogon City organized by Japanese volunteers that focused on sharing culture. In Tagalog the name means "you go with." The word "kasama" means companion. This was really fun to participate in because we got to meet some new volunteer friends and learn a lot about Japanese culture!

 October should be a busy month, especially with our Mid-Service Training in Manila. I also have a good friend, George, coming from America! Ridiculously stoked about that. We'll be travelling around the Bicol region for a couple of weeks, so more adventure updates to come. Peace!!

 Hello world, a quick update for the month of August. Its been an odd month, mainly because I haven't been at site for most of it. I had the privilege of being a Resource Volunteer for the new batch of volunteers in the Children, Youth and Families sector. This means that, for two weeks, I led sessions and assisted the new volunteers through their training in Bagac, Bataan. It was really great to get to meet all of the new people, and I got a lot of perspective on the fact that I have been living in this country for a year. I don't think I had fully realized how comfortable I am with everyday life and culture here. I had the opportunity to relive my experience last year in training and to put myself back in the shoes of someone to whom the culture is still very alien. The whole experience made me realize how much I have grown in a year. Language is another area where I see huge differences. I can speak a lot of Tagalog now! I am by no means fluent but I can hold pretty decent conversions and understand most of what people say to me. I'm also not at all frustrated with the learning process, as I could sometimes be when I first started. I am so excited for the new batch, and I know its going to be amazing to see them grow throughout their journey here. Plus, now I have a bunch a new friends to visit. :)
 On my way to Bataan I made a stop in Manila to see my friend Jeff. He has started a grassroots church in Quezon City and it was pretty amazing to see all of the good work he's doing. It was also super fun to meet his barkada (group of friends). Everyone is always up and the energy never really stops. I got to come along to a few of their feeding programs for local street children:

 I also got to witness one of their services on Sunday, and watch Jeff give a sermon. It was definitely unconventional, but totally awesome. I left with a bunch a new friends:

 Anyway, September should be a good month! Currently getting ready for a weekend BREW Camp (Boys Respecting Empowered Women) in Daet, Camerines Norte. We'll be collaborating with Peace Corps and Japanese volunteers from across Bicol to teach boys about gender stereotypes and sensitivity, sexual health and consent, alcohol safety and other things. After that I'll hopefully get back into a rhythm at my site! It feels like I've been gone too long. Until next time, peace. 

 The month of July was full of travel and other stuff, so I'll do my best to remember everything. I started off the month celebrating the 4th of July with some friends in the province of Antique. Antique is on the island of Panay, in the middle region of the Philippines called the Visayas. As always, travel took a while, but it was great to get to see some other volunteers and experience a different part of the country. For the 4th, we had a barbecue at a fellow volunteer's house and got to hang out with a lot of the volunteers from around the province. The day after, we went on a hike into the mountains with a guide and came across some really beautiful waterfalls.

 When I returned to site, it was back to work. The outcomes from the leadership training of college scholars in June have been pretty amazing. Not all of the scholars' project ideas have panned out, but they have been undeterred and have taken it upon themselves to continue organizing their community. They recently held representative elections and have begun to set up tutoring schedules led by teachers and fellow students alike. It is so great to see the pride they have in their community, and to feel a part of that. 

 In addition to that, it has been a kind of bittersweet month. The previous batch of volunteers is preparing to finish their service, and many of them have already left the Bicol region. Our own friend here in Sorsogon, Chanelle, has already left for Manila and we will miss her very much. In early July, the volunteers in the Bicol region got together in Naga City for what's called a "despidida". This is basically a going-away party you have for departing friends. It was a ton of fun! We went out clubbing, and the next day got food at a fantastic vegan restaurant. It was definitely a change a pace from the daily Peace Corps life. The sad part was that I realized how much I loved these people, and how soon they would be leaving. At the very least, it was a memorable last get together with some really cool people. As Chanelle leaves, I am taking over her single apartment in a barangay across the city from where my host family stays. I'll miss staying with my host family (they are fantastic people) but the independence will be nice. Here are some pics of the new place:

 Lastly, over the weekend a former PCV who volunteered in the country of Mozambique came through our site and stayed with my site mate, Dorothy. Naturally, we took it upon ourselves to show her some of the cool things to see in Sorsogon City! She was saying how she really tries to connect with Peace Corps Volunteers when she travels, because Peace Corps is kind of like a big family and you always know that people will be there to help you out. I though that was really cool, not only because it makes travel cheaper but because you get to experience the culture from the perspective of someone who is integrated. The best way to travel in my opinion. :)

My site mate and I trying to knock down some coconuts.

 Anyway, exciting things are happening next month! I will be travelling to my old training site in Bagac, Bataan to be a Resource Volunteer for the new batch of volunteer trainees. A Resource Volunteer is basically someone who explains what it is like to be a PCV and live in the country for so long. I'm beyond excited to meet the batch and share my experiences! I'll write an update next month about how everything goes. Until then, peace!

 Hey everyone! This week is a good week. Over the weekend my coworkers and I put on an event that had been a long time in the making. In Peace Corps lingo we call it a Training of Trainers (ToT), where you basically train identified participants to eventually run there own projects or events. At this point, we have been working with scholars at Sorsogon State College for about eight months and we wanted to take our work to the next level. The goal of this training was to empower the students to take ownership of their community and come up with a project that they think would be beneficial to their campus. They would then take the lead and implement the project on campus with support from us staff. Overall, we had 60 participants coming from campuses across the province in Bulan, Castilla, Magallanes and Sorosogon City. We even had a group come all the way from Camarines Norte, a province about six hours away. They were accompanied by three other Peace Corps Volunteers, all of whom I hadn't seen in while, and it was really great to have some fellow PC support there. Some of my coworkers from DSWD came to help, and the support from the college was really amazing. Here's a shot of the sign they created for the event:

 At the end of the three day training, each campus gave a presentation about their project idea. It was so cool to see the level of creativity and passion the scholars had. You could tell they were really proud of their work by all of the energy and cheering during the presentations. This was really inspiring to me because I could see how much they wanted to help their community and support each other. It makes me very excited to work with them moving forward! Anyway, here are some shots of the different project presentations:

 Some group shots:

 I would definitely say this has been one of the high points of my service. I love working with the students so much, and its really exciting to see them grow as a community. I can't wait to start supporting them through their project in Sorsogon City! 

 In adventure news, a couple of weeks back I took a trip down to Catbalogan, Samar with two other volunteers to check out Lobo Cave. Without a doubt, the coolest cave I have ever been in. The entire journey through they cave was about 4 hours, complete with repelling. It was fairly physically intensive, mainly because we were swimming through an underground river half the time. The formations we saw were incredible and we actually saw a decent amount of wildlife. Snakes, spiders, crabs, fish, and the bats were so numerous their wings sounded like distant thunder in some of the chambers. Here are some pics of the experience:

 That's it for now! June was a really great month, and overall I feel pretty adjusted to life here. It took almost a year to have that feeling, but I guess that's natural. Rainy season has just begun, and even though the beaches may not look as pristine, its nice to be able to walk out the front door and not feel like you're walking on the sun. More adventures to come, peace!