Hey everyone,

 I’m coming up on 5 ½ months left of service, and as time winds down I’ve spent a lot of time thinking on the various things about Filipino culture I’ve come to appreciate. The emphasis on strong family ties, the general trustfulness and hospitality, and the nearly unbreakable good spirit of Filipinos in the face of enormous life challenges are just a few things that I will always admire about this country.

 As I’ve become more accustomed to the culture, language has also been a source of fascination for me. One thing you discover while learning a language from the opposite side of the world is that a lot of it just doesn’t translate directly. Meaning, if you ask a Filipino what a certain English word translates to in Tagalog, their answer might sound like, “Well it’s basically this… but it could be this or that depending on the context.” This is why learning culture goes hand in hand with learning language; it’s much easier to learn Tagalog when you are thinking like a Tagalog speaker, rather than an English speaker. If you take a complex English sentence and translate it word-for-word into Tagalog, it’s going to sound awkward and ridiculous. Instead, you have to ask yourself, “How would a Tagalog speaker convey the message of this sentence?”

 It takes a while to think like that without it feeling weird. But living your daily life in the midst of the culture definitely speeds up the process. Learning Tagalog continues to be pretty fun, so I want to share ten words with you that I like, whether it’s because they have no direct translation or because they’re just really useful. J

Basta- This is a word that is sort of an equivalent to “whatever.” It’s a little more specific though, and used more when you’re tired of talking about something. Or when someone asks you about something that is too complicated to explain. “How exactly are you related to that person?” “…basta!”

Ewan- A single word used to indicate you don’t care about something, or just general indifference.  In other words, that place in between yes and no. “Should we stay in and cook or go out to eat?” “Ewan…”

Kilig- A super popular word here that describes the feeling you get when you’re with your crush. Can be used in other contexts too, it basically describes the feeling of having “butterflies in your stomach” in a good way.

Tampo- This is one that really has no direct translation. It’s that feeling of being mad at someone, but not really mad. You’re more just salty at them for something they did or the way they treat you. When someone you care about puts you in a bad mood.

Makulit- The best way I can describe this word is that it’s used for calling someone “annoying” in an affectionate or cute way. Think of the little kid from the movie UP and you’ve got the right idea.

Pasaway- A word for someone who misbehaves, also in an affectionate/cute way. I use it most when I’m talking about my site mate’s dog, after she rips apart some couch cushions or wreaks havoc on the neighbor’s cat.

Gigil- A very popular example of a Tagalog word with no direct English translation. This is the feeling you get when you witness something of incredible cuteness. As a language teacher once put it “when you want to squeeze a baby’s cheeks.”

Maarte- A word I probably overuse that indicates when someone is being a snob. When you refuse to try a kind of food, when you only wear the nicest clothes, when you don’t want to stay at a cheaper hotel… one could make the argument that you are maarte. ;)

Paasa- Someone who promises you something and is a no-show. Basically this is a word for flaky people.

Naman- A word with no actual meaning! Haha. Naman is really a particle that you use to put emphasis on something. Often used in response to a question or in an argument.

 Anyway, I hope there are some language nerds out there that enjoyed this. I’m hoping that I’ll have the opportunity to use or at least retain the language I’ve learned here, because it’s really been one of my favorite parts of service. 

 One last note! My site mate Dorothy and I have been working to set up a Special Olympics for Intellectually Disabled individuals here in Sorsogon City. This will be our last major project before we complete service. We are receiving funds from community sources, but we are also asking for donations from our friends and families overseas. We have been able to raise a good amount of money, but we are still short of our overall goal. If you have an opportunity, we would greatly appreciate any amount of monetary donation to realize our dream in time for the event on July 25th. The link below will take you to a page with a project description and directions on how to donate.

https://donate.peacecorps.gov/donate/project/special-olympics/

Maraming salamat! Kapayapaan

(Thanks a lot! and peace)

 What's up people. March has really been a sprint. Five months to go in my service and there are no signs of it slowing down. At this point my biggest priority is getting my site here in Sorsogon ready for the prospective volunteer (or volunteers?) from Batch 275 who will replace me. This means keeping the momentum going with Sorsogon State College so the relationship with Peace Corps remains strong. This is important so that a new volunteer can come in and be productive without feeling lost as to what their role is. It can be really difficult to come into a site replacing another volunteer, because everyone has a different work-style. Comparisons are inevitable, so its helpful when you can prepare the site and set reasonable expectations and goals.

 So, that's where I'm at. My main goal at this point is to reach all 260+ college grantees on campus with life skills sessions every month. I'm also looking at a couple of other campuses in the province to assess them for potential volunteers. Add that to the upcoming Special Olympics in July, and I'm pretty busy for the next few months. Here's a pic from a session at the college on healthy relationships:

Visting Bulan campus:

Still making time to collaborate with other volunteers! From a leadership training in Camarines Norte:

 It's not all work here, of course. March 10 was my birthday, so adventure was a must! My buddy Chris visted my site and I went to go check out the whale sharks again with him and my new site mate Marcelino. After that we went to the sweetest spot in Sorsogon City, Paguriran Island. I've been there so many times at this point with so many different people, but it really never gets old. Check it out:

 As I write this we've just finished up Holy Week, which is a big deal here being that the Philippines are predominantly Catholic. Things kind of shut down and you've got to find some way to occupy your time for a few days. Another good time for adventure! This year I joined a group of volunteers hiking Mt. Isarog, an old volcano that towers over the province of Camarines Sur. We summited on the first day and spent the night at the top. It wasn't as intense as Mt. Pulag, but the hike (or climb in some parts) was pretty physical. It's going to take a couple days to get back to 100% mobility, ha ;p. Anyway, here's the super rad group that I went with (thanks to John for the pic):

There was a waterfall at the bottom! It was frigid but prefect to swim in after the hike:

 That's about it for now. I want to thank everyone in my life for the birthday love, here in the Philippines and overseas. I felt it really strong this year, and it means a lot to me. Much love to the beautiful people in my life. I feel really lucky to have you there. Peace

 February has been a relatively quiet month with the occasional random Peace Corps project happening around Sorsogon City. I’ve continued my work with scholars at Sorsogon State College, and in the beginning of the month around 20 of them participated in the international Peace Corps competition, “Write On.” Write On is a competition that promotes creative writing among school-aged participants in Peace Corps countries. Participants have one hour to respond to a prompt specific to their grade level and write the best story they can think of. It’s cool because they aren’t graded on grammar or spelling, but rather their ability to be original and creative. After the session, I chose three of the entries to compete against others chosen from around the Philippines. If any of them move on from there, they will compete internationally.

 We’ve also continued our Youth Development Sessions (YDS) with topics such as healthy relationships and HIV and STI prevention. HIV rates in the Philippines have recently been growing at an alarming rate, and in response the Children, Youth and Families sector of the Peace Corps has made prevention and education a part of their focus. Looking ahead to the time that I have left working with the college scholars, I’d really like to focus on topics like these.

 Later in the month, we had a chance to visit the school of our new education volunteer, Marcelino. Panlayaan Vocational school is on the outskirts of the city in a very small, rural barangay. All three of us Peace Corps volunteers from the city got together to help with their annual environment awareness camp, in which we lead a session about trash disposal and recycling. The school was beautiful and the staff was a lot of fun to work with. The highlight for me was hiking through the forest surrounding the school and relaxing on a hill drinking out of coconuts afterwards (I’m really going to miss that about the Philippines).

 Marcelino also had a barbeque! He cooked food traditional to the American west as a kind of cultural exchange with his coworkers. Then we hooked his speaker system to his laptop and sang karaoke (known as videoke here in the Philippines) from YouTube videos.

And this is our friend Forest with a chicken on his head:

Yup, that's about it. More next month. Peace!

 A late happy New Year to everyone. It's hard to believe that 2016 is already here. Before I left for the Peace Corps in 2014, I remember thinking how far off 2016 seemed and how different everything in my life was sure to be. Now, with around eight months left of service, I've begun to think back on my service and some of the things I've learned (so much). If you've ever been interested in the Peace Corps, you may have spoken with returned volunteers and heard them talk about the "ups and downs" of service. It's something that we talk about a lot. It's a hard thing to try to accurately describe, but I think it has to do with the essence of the work we're doing, which is simultaneously easy to love and to be frustrated by. Community development is basically our job, whether it's in the context of a school, at-risk youth, or local fisherfolk. And the fundamentals of community development work tell us to work on what the community identifies as its need. This leaves the possibilities for the direction of your service pretty wide-open. If I was to ask everyone in my batch if their service was what they expected it to be, I doubt that very many would answer yes.

 You learn very quickly that it's not about you. For the next two years of your life, it very rarely will be. You are swept up in a current that will take you where it wants to go, and it's best not to fight it. Naturally, some days you want to fight it. It's tough not being in control. The most important thing is to always remind yourself to be open to the learning process. It's quite common to be put in situations that are confusing and frustrating. Ask questions! Why are things the way they are? Do your coworkers feel the same way as you? It's super helpful to have your feelings confirmed. Showing that you care and being able to learn from someone is pretty reliable way to form a strong relationship. And I've come to find that relationships are by far the most valuable thing I've gained in the short time that I've been in the Philippines. It is very apparent to me that without the unwavering support of my coworkers I likely would not have accomplished anything.

We're planting trees today? Why not!

 I have definitely come to the point where I have difficulty thinking about leaving the people I have worked with and befriended here. I still have a while to go, but the end is in sight! Luckily, I have some pretty awesome site mates to collaborate with in the remaining months. We are all in the process of organizing a Special Olympics for grade school students here in Sorsogon. The leg work on this will take some time, but we've got the dedication to make it happen. I am also continuing life skills sessions with 4 P's grantees at Sorsogon State College after some recent changes, as I'm essentially working with an entirely new staff. But I'm still very excited for the possibilities and the college really feels like home at this point. And as always I have to shout out to my coworkers at DSWD 4 P's, who despite unbelievably busy schedules continue to come through for me.

 Much more to come! And for all of the people back home, I guess we got the snow-pocalypse we've always wanted. Too bad I wasn't around to see it. :)

Peace

 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!