School started this week and I am so pumped about it.
This is the beginning of the end. Once school gets into the flow I'm pretty sure my months here will fly.
English is now only 80 minutes. I love this. One hundred minutes was a beast for everyone involved.
I've been given a bigger space for the library. I love this. The other space would have been fine, but I feel like they are extra pumped about it this year.
We've got huge plans for fundraising.
Starting in July I'll be helping with a reading program for slow and non-readers. I kind of forced myself into this, and I'm stoked.
Lots of good vibes going on and lessons haven't even started yet, and that's my favorite part.
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
brass monkey, chunky, that funky monkey
More photos of the evil monkeys.
They probably wanted to give us Ebola.
They probably wanted to give us Ebola.
Monday, June 04, 2012
that time we were attacked by monkeys
As kind of the last hurrah for summer I went and visited L in Baybay (pronounced bye bye). Baybay is on my same island, about 2 hours away, but is quite different than Alangalang. They have a bit of a different weather pattern than we do here, but similar enough. They also speak a different language, and really no one knows Waray.
Another big difference is tuba consumption. Here they drink it because the sun was or was not out today. There they need a special occasion. It was fiesta so we stopped at her neighbors and they had some that was extra Coked down and insisted on us drinking. They thought it was a big deal, and now love that L is a tuba drinker. They also acknowledged for us in the northern part it was no big deal. While we sat there drinking there was a bunch of young twenty-somethings who just stared at us too shy to even try to talk to us in English.
We didn't just party and get stared at, we used Saturday to raise our endorphin levels. She'd heard of wild monkeys near her, so we wanted to see. They. Were. Scary.
When we first saw them we were all alone and it was obvious by the way they hissed at us they didn't like us. Then Filipinos came through and the monkeys had no problems. We walked on towards the top of the mountain and there were monkeys on the trial. They hissed and showed us their scary flesh shredding teeth. We managed to go through and get to the top where the zip line was.
Poor L. She's afraid of heights, but was more afraid of going back through the monkeys. We got strapped into the harness an flew down to the bottom. It was amazing, and thy view was spectacular: mountains, forests, ocean.
A great day. A great weekend.
Another big difference is tuba consumption. Here they drink it because the sun was or was not out today. There they need a special occasion. It was fiesta so we stopped at her neighbors and they had some that was extra Coked down and insisted on us drinking. They thought it was a big deal, and now love that L is a tuba drinker. They also acknowledged for us in the northern part it was no big deal. While we sat there drinking there was a bunch of young twenty-somethings who just stared at us too shy to even try to talk to us in English.
We didn't just party and get stared at, we used Saturday to raise our endorphin levels. She'd heard of wild monkeys near her, so we wanted to see. They. Were. Scary.
When we first saw them we were all alone and it was obvious by the way they hissed at us they didn't like us. Then Filipinos came through and the monkeys had no problems. We walked on towards the top of the mountain and there were monkeys on the trial. They hissed and showed us their scary flesh shredding teeth. We managed to go through and get to the top where the zip line was.
Poor L. She's afraid of heights, but was more afraid of going back through the monkeys. We got strapped into the harness an flew down to the bottom. It was amazing, and thy view was spectacular: mountains, forests, ocean.
A great day. A great weekend.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
my security detail
Every month I have to call in my higher ups and give a report on what i'm doing, how school is going, the like. Just a way to talk things out with my regional manager.
Another key part of monthly calls in is to make sure everything is going smoothly. This includes making sure my phone works and I have service, making sure I have a way to travel in and out of site. And the key one to this rigmarole safety and security.
Thanks to my mini PNP I've always been able to answer-nope, no safety and security concerns.
Another key part of monthly calls in is to make sure everything is going smoothly. This includes making sure my phone works and I have service, making sure I have a way to travel in and out of site. And the key one to this rigmarole safety and security.
Thanks to my mini PNP I've always been able to answer-nope, no safety and security concerns.
Friday, May 25, 2012
we speak happy
I've got some great neighbors. Today I spent the afternoon with them sharing tuba and stories.
They were digging deep to 'tackle' English as they put it and I was doing my best to speak Waray. One neighbor was kind of translating, but we were communicating. As best we could considering how much they'd been drinking.
As they put it the dialect was happiness and that's all you really need for a Friday afternoon.
They were digging deep to 'tackle' English as they put it and I was doing my best to speak Waray. One neighbor was kind of translating, but we were communicating. As best we could considering how much they'd been drinking.
As they put it the dialect was happiness and that's all you really need for a Friday afternoon.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
gone in a flash
Last night we had an amazing thunderstorm and it was welcome relief. I love thunderstorms, and I love how last nights thunderstorm made life more bearable. Things got cooler and I slept well for awhile.
It reminded me off another thunderstorm I wasn't so stoked about. I'd just got here to site and was home alone. In the middle of the night a storm rolled in and lighting stroke so incredibly close, and I was just certain it was a bad omen.
Well here we are a year and half later with many more miles under my belt than that storm had me thinking i'd manage.
I've been trying to be reflective of this latest installment of my time here. How have the last 6 months been? It's been hard because right now summer makes life more stagnant.
I love my community here and realize more and more just how much it spreads out. I'm always bumping into people I know at the mall or on a jeep. It's common fact that I go running, and they don't even notice when I've been slacking for a couple months (ya, I need to work on that). Total thumbs up on that front.
I've not been teaching in awhile, something to do with summer break. When I was teaching I was loving it. I for sure chose the right thing to pursue in life. I'm glad I'm not looking down the next 6 months thinking what next. I know what next. So, barring summer, I'd say thumbs up on that part.
As for the rest. A little more hesitant with the thumbs, but as ever optimistic. I've spent a lot of time at school this summer nagging and working on other projects. I've put myself out there to help other parts of this awesome town. So maybe one thumb up, one to the side. I'm very ready to come into the school year guns-a-blazing!
We'll see where those thumbs are 6 months on when all the miles are logged. As far as this marathon of my life goes I'm rocking about 10 more ks to home. I so can do that.
It reminded me off another thunderstorm I wasn't so stoked about. I'd just got here to site and was home alone. In the middle of the night a storm rolled in and lighting stroke so incredibly close, and I was just certain it was a bad omen.
Well here we are a year and half later with many more miles under my belt than that storm had me thinking i'd manage.
I've been trying to be reflective of this latest installment of my time here. How have the last 6 months been? It's been hard because right now summer makes life more stagnant.
I love my community here and realize more and more just how much it spreads out. I'm always bumping into people I know at the mall or on a jeep. It's common fact that I go running, and they don't even notice when I've been slacking for a couple months (ya, I need to work on that). Total thumbs up on that front.
I've not been teaching in awhile, something to do with summer break. When I was teaching I was loving it. I for sure chose the right thing to pursue in life. I'm glad I'm not looking down the next 6 months thinking what next. I know what next. So, barring summer, I'd say thumbs up on that part.
As for the rest. A little more hesitant with the thumbs, but as ever optimistic. I've spent a lot of time at school this summer nagging and working on other projects. I've put myself out there to help other parts of this awesome town. So maybe one thumb up, one to the side. I'm very ready to come into the school year guns-a-blazing!
We'll see where those thumbs are 6 months on when all the miles are logged. As far as this marathon of my life goes I'm rocking about 10 more ks to home. I so can do that.
where are the may showers?
May has been hot, and rain has not been as prevalent as I'd like. So, needless to say I've been seeking a lot of sanctuary at the mall and other places with aircon.
This last weekend I met with C and M and went to Rafael's Farm. It was a nice shady and breezy escape from the heat. We had a nice lunch, went on a quick boat trip, and really talked things out. I'm glad for the proximity of these two wonderful people. It's crazy to think we once were six strong.
Earlier this month I got a little something awesome from home, and by a little something awesome I mean 6 giant boxes of books. My parents did an amazing job at wrangling books together. They shipped them in March from Vegas. The guy who ran the shop grew up in Manila, but his grandmother was from here! So he put a bunch of books in the shipment also! Now they are here and my school is so ready to get them used.
They are getting ready for school to start in general. This week is Brigada Eskwela. A week dedicated to clean up and registering. We met early Monday for canvassing, which involved all the teachers piling into giant trucks and driving about town and out to the far flung barangays on the high way. We met at 7, and we were sitting in the truck waiting to start and I was just sweating. Too hot.
That's really been it for summer. It's harvest time and there for fiesta time. The streets are lined with rice and parties. Not too bad a life, just needs more rain.
This last weekend I met with C and M and went to Rafael's Farm. It was a nice shady and breezy escape from the heat. We had a nice lunch, went on a quick boat trip, and really talked things out. I'm glad for the proximity of these two wonderful people. It's crazy to think we once were six strong.
Earlier this month I got a little something awesome from home, and by a little something awesome I mean 6 giant boxes of books. My parents did an amazing job at wrangling books together. They shipped them in March from Vegas. The guy who ran the shop grew up in Manila, but his grandmother was from here! So he put a bunch of books in the shipment also! Now they are here and my school is so ready to get them used.
They are getting ready for school to start in general. This week is Brigada Eskwela. A week dedicated to clean up and registering. We met early Monday for canvassing, which involved all the teachers piling into giant trucks and driving about town and out to the far flung barangays on the high way. We met at 7, and we were sitting in the truck waiting to start and I was just sweating. Too hot.
That's really been it for summer. It's harvest time and there for fiesta time. The streets are lined with rice and parties. Not too bad a life, just needs more rain.
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