Hello people! Today is June 29th, and this means that I only have a little over two months left here in the Philippines. As a coworker from the office put it the other day, "its been two years already?!" Its kind of hard to believe. Most of our time recently has been devoted to organizing our Special Olympics event here in Sorsogon, and coaches have started officially practicing with participants. We are simultaneously excited and overwhelmed when we think about how the actual event is only three... weeks... away! Despite all of the stress, seeing the kids and coaches having fun together makes it worth it. We can't wait to see it all come together on July 25th.

 In the mean time, I am still trying to make the most of my last months here.  I recently attended my first Filipino wedding! A coworker of mine had a traditional wedding in the small municipality of Juban, Sorsogon. The wedding was held in a small Catholic church and was essentially a church service with a wedding squeezed in. Afterwards, we went to the house of the bride ate common Bicolano foods (menudo, atsara, lechon) and the bride and groom performed a Pantomina dance (traditional and heavily Spanish influenced).

  Moments like that make me really appreciate the friends I've been able to have here and the opportunity to see them grow and change as people over the two years. Speaking of which, we recently had our last Peace Corps training, our Close of Service Conference. This was the last time all of the volunteers in Batch 273 would be together! The venue was this crazy nice hotel in Tagaytay, overlooking the Taal Volcano.

   Our batch got together one last time to reflect on service and talk about readjustment to American life. The mood was super positive and everyone's love and appreciation for one another was obvious. It felt pretty special to make it the entire two years with such an amazing group of people. :)  We finished with a little over 50 volunteers, and for those who weren't there- much love to you as well.

  My time is Sorsogon is short, so of course I am trying to see all of the spots I might have missed before I leave. Our friend Forest recently moved to Davao for work, and before he left he showed us a really cool river cruise in Barangay Buhatan of Sorsogon City. The late afternoon cruise took us down the river and spilled out into the bay across from the Sorsogon City pier. We then ate at a floating restaurant and hung out until dark. After the boat took us back up the river so we could see the main attraction- fireflies! These fireflies behave a little differently than the ones I'm used to in the U.S. They are attracted to a certain type of tree, and when we would get close to the tree the boat guide would clap his hands. Suddenly, the entire tree would illuminate! It was totally unlike anything I have ever seen. No pictures were taken, unfortunately, because they would not come close to doing it justice. Nevertheless, I am constantly impressed with what my home province has to offer.

The view of Sorsogon City from the bay.

Dinner at the floating restaurant.

Next month: Special Olympics post! We've got three weeks to get it together. Wish us luck! Peace

 What's up! This past weekend the volunteers in Sorsogon took a very big step towards making our dream of having a Special Olympics event happen. 26 teachers from around Sorsogon Province came to the city to attend a two-day Coaches Training in which they learned how to prepare for their role as coaches in the event. The participants arrived representing the municipalities of Gubat, Bulan, Irosin, Bulusan and, of course, Sorsogon City. Three trainers from Special Olympics Philippines came all the way from Manila to facilitate!

 Over the course of two days, the coaches learned the basics about Intellectual Disabilities and how Special Olympics Philippines operates. The trainers from Special Olympics shared about their different chapters in the Philippines and about their success on the international level of competition!

 The training also provided a clearer picture for what the event in July will actually look like. There will be four events; soccer, badminton, athletics (track & field), and Young Athletes (simple activities for kids ages 2-8). Each municipality will have one coach for each activity. Our awesome friend and fellow Peace Corps Volunteer, Sarah, even volunteered to be a coach for Gubat! The coaches will recruit around 40 participants from each of their municipalities, and organize practices leading up to the event on July 25-26. 

 Day two was all about learning the basics of the sports:

Coach Darwin goes over the fundamentals of soccer

Coach Carol teaches badminton

Coach Christian leads track & field exercises

 National Director Kaye Samson arrived on the second day to talk about the Young Athletes program and watch as coaches from each municipality presented their plan to prepare for the Special Olympics event over the next two months. Each team expressed their passion and excitement as they presented, and we all felt really optimistic as we ended the training. The next two months will definitely be challenging, but the response we got from the coaches at the end of the training was more positive than we could have imagined. It gives us a lot of hope that, in the end, our event will be a success.

Giving out certificates with Kaye:

  Also, our grant for Special Olympics Sorsogon is now completely funded! If you donated anything these past couple months, we have to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It's a huge weight off of our shoulders to have access to the grant fund and we are very excited to start using the funds to ensure a successful event! I will keep updating monthly as we get closer to the event. 

Maraming salamat po! This event could not be possible with you. Peace

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