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!!
