Love me some Sunday (and not cause of the NFL)

Maybe I’m a bit of an introvert, but Sundays are frequently my favorite day of the week for the socially questionable reason of I often don’t leave my apartment. This in turns means I’m typically trou-down all day (+1) and before your brow wrinkles at the image I just sprung into your head realize it’s the Philippines…it is hot! I’ll give you our low/low’s for the week. The lowest low for the next week is 74 and the lowest high is 84. Sounds pretty wonderful if your shivering somewhere right now under your 3-5 layers of clothes but the humidity makes it much hotter and muggier, that coming from a lifelong Floridian. Why am I still defending myself? Onwards!

Next, spending a day in the apartment offers so many mid-week elusive activities for me. Example number one: because it’s Sunday so much is closed out in the city which means I don’t have to come up with an excuse NOT to do something (+2)! It’s closed already! Don’t thumb your nose at me, forced involuntary procrastination is by definition one of the best forms of procrastination. It comes without the crushing guilt. Not being…permitted…to do something means you have time to do things that you want to do. Like read. I read probably about 3 hours today (+3). Chewing through a book and listening to my iPod hooked up to my speakers (+4) are a fantastic expenditure of time to me. Plus it’s easier to work up the motivation and desire to do things I’m usually too distracted or tired too…like writing this blog (+5)While we’re still talking about how it’s Sunday, it’s also worth mentioning that there are very rarely events scheduled on a Sunday here in the Philippines. It’s a rest day. Which means I rarely have to commit to being somewhere on a Sunday (+6). This allows for me to wake up when I want and under my terms. Very useful if, for example, this morning I wanted to wake up and watch Manny Pacquiao fight (+7). Or, if a given Saturday night is more adventuresome and causes me to have a necessary and voluntary afternoon wake up time (see: hangover) then I have my leisure to accomplish that end.

Now I know you’re saying “But Andrew, you buy at least two of your meals every day during the week. Watcha eatin, boy?”. Fair point, on Sundays I can’t buy my standard breakfast of soup egg (arroz caldo) and a fried egg in a bun (-1) nor my standard lunch of lumpia and rice (-2). However, I still easily fry an egg and douse it in chili powder. Make a sandwich lunch. And Sunday nights are my real best chance to cook something for dinner. Most nights I’m too busy, tired (aka lazy), or unwilling to do the dishes that follow to make a real dinner for myself (pancit canton does NOT count, I’ll make that anytime along with boiled eggs and PB n J)(+8 for my favorite non-intensive cooking foods). Not true on Sunday! I can cook anything I like without the aforementioned things to do, fatigue, or fear of swamping myself in doing dishes.

Quick aside: Why dishes dictate my cooking in the Philippines. I hate doing dishes by hand. My roommates in college will attest. It comes from having a job in a biochemistry lab where I washed their dishes amongst other duties, but being a lab full of experiments I had to wash them very thoroughly. And then rinse them. 7 times. In tap water. And…7 times in distilled water. But even so I can do dishes consistently enough to cook nightly even by hand. What really makes it unbearable is that my kitchen sink is Filipino sized. The cabinets over the sink are at just below eye level for me so I have to hunch and bend or else crack my head (which happens anyways). And the sink itself is way way too small for washing dishes. I spend more time being careful I’m not accidently spilling water onto my counter than I do scrubbing. Hence, my distaste for doing dishes in particular in my kitchen sink dictate my cooking patterns. There you have it.

Back to what I was saying about cooking on Sunday. On Sunday I can take the time to think out what I want to make. Tonight I’m imitating some kind of macaroni and cheese using cheez whiz and some pasta (+9). We’ll see how it goes. I don’t have macaroni so I’m using linguine and I’m not sure how my ‘sauce’ will go but I’ll try to rescue with clever seasoning if it goes south. Other odd food inventions include a strawberry carbonera pasta, many ways of combing bread eggs cheese salsa and hot sauce, and ‘cooking it myself’-pizza (I recently discovered a pizza place within relative walking distance. Cheap and decent! Woo!)(+10).

Finally, Sunday is typically the best day to skype back home with the family (+11). Given the time difference it’s easier for me to dictate a Sunday -> Saturday time to have a videochat. This in and of itself can make a week, even after a tough week (+12).

All in all that's 12 positives and 2 negatives (favorite-food related only though). Plus +10 is a solid ratio for any Pros and Cons list. So in summary, Sundays are my favorite day of the week because I don’t have to wear pants, I can read a book, and make some good food. Sounds about right.

In Their Words: Why my students think Volunteering is important

In order to select 20 students to attend a volunteer project in nearby city coming up in several weeks I held an essay contest. I would pick the 5 best essays from each year level, 1st-4th. In all I received 45 essays on my topic "Why do you feel volunteering is important?". I was not disappointed with the responses that were turned in. After selecting the 20 students to attend I then re-read each of the 45 essays and selected quotes or ideas expressed in them that struck a chord with me. Then I took the 17 I'd picked out and arranged them in a cohesive sequence to create a new essay, one created from the words of 17 different students.

I didn't edit, correct, or omit any part of each of their ideas...I just simply arranged the 17 I picked into an order. The result blew me away. I want to share it.

A major problem that affects our community today is the lack of motivation, people have to go out on their way to volunteer. There are so many ways to dedicate our time in helping our fellowmen in every community, but for some reasons, the majority of individuals in this world do not.(1) Unpaid volunteers are often the glue that holds a community together.(2) Being a volunteer develops our sense of responsibility and empathy to our fellow and our community.(3)

The opportunities to make a real difference and impact the lives of others present themselves everyday.(4) But by volunteering you can earn friendship, meet acquaintance, and by getting yourself involve with other people they can regain their self-confidence.(5) A problematic person will be uplifted when she realizes that there are people out there who are willing to help them out. It brings back their faith.(6) Having something in hand and giving it for others usage is a great value of kindness. Not because you know that you have a lot but you know the feeling of having nothing and of course knowing that you have something to give whom others can make use of it more in their life than you do.(7)

I have learned in Red Cross that in helping people you don’t need to be shy even if she is a girl or a boy or an old person, helping is not in the person you want, it is in the responsibility of a person to help someone in need.(8) You experiences how to clean the toilet bowls, you experiences also to make long conversations to the old ones, so you were able to hear the history and also the experiences in life of that senior. To cook for them, to cook for their favorite dishes, to be able to see the smiles, the wide smiles from the grannies everytime you make sacrifices for them.(9) Volunteering is vivid in the way that you unlock yourself, you go out, explore a world, meet other people and help others.(10)

Volunteering is also important because its explored your mind to the diff. views of places, it will have experienced, shared of joy, and to developed all your favorite hobbies.(11) Volunteers must have an open mind, be willing to embrace wisdom learned from others and also let the experience of volunteering lead to personal inner growth.(12) I believe that volunteers do not have age barriers. Young and old can come and help people who are in need it does not have racial or geographical distinction.(13) And indeed, for me...volunteering is an experience that cannot be bought with any amount of money.(14)

I would like to be a volunteer one so that I could aware everyone and prove to them that it’s not yet too late to start a whole new beginning and a better world for our next generation.(15) Filipinos are known for their helping hand but volunteering needs a helping heart.(16) That’s the spirit of bayanihan where people work for a common good for other people.(17)



*the roman numerals indicate year level, the numbers indicate what section they are in*

1. Sharlene Faith Escalona III-1
2. Jamaica Panganiban III-1
3. Christine Joy Melocotan IV-2
4. Charisse Flores III-1
5. Bea Buenconsejo II-1
6. Danika May Rivera II-1
7. Jean Baye Torrevilla II-1
8. Christian Paul Fortazela III-2
9. Angelo Burgos III-1
10. Angelica Javellana III-1
11. Krizela Ape II-1
12. Stalin Ruiz IV-1
13. Amalia Ortega IV-1
14. Ruby Makilan I-1
15. Ashna Rehmat IV-1
16. Valerie Buenconsejo III-1
17. Hernena Rostata II-1

I don't think anyone could've said it better.

Silence Broken

I have long been absent from digital depths of my blog and a lot has happened since I last wrote. In fact, I am going to go check my last post to see when exactly that was… … …Monday, June 6th. Wow. Well if you’ve had a stray thought bend towards curiosity about my doings overseas let’s quickly summarize. In June school started, actually on June 6th exactly, and I returned to my work as an every-day teacher. June anxiously passed by as I eagerly waited for the day to come to return to the United States, and my hometown, to attend my sister’s wedding.

I had a brief cultural-whoa! moment on the plane from Manila to Detroit via Nagoya (I refrain from saying shock because a word such as shock deserves something truly shocky). We changed out our flight crews from predominantly Filipinos to predominantly Americans. The Japanese teen next to me, when asked what he wanted to drink, said sprite. I then indicated that I wanted one too. However, I did so in a manner adopted from the country that has temporarily adopted me. I pointed at his sprite with my lips and raised my eyebrows, an effective “that, yes!” to a Filipino. To the flight stewardess though, I am fairly certain, believed I was making advances. Whoops.

On the return flight when we switched from an American flight crew to a Filipino flight crew when the stewardess asked me if I understood and was comfortable with sitting in an exit row I deliberately did the slightest of eyebrows, just to make sure, and she moved on to the next person without hesitation...

I ate many foods that I long for during the deep hours of hunger abroad and spent time with as many of my friends and family as I could. Upon returning to the Philippines, July proved to be a hectic and harrying month. Due to unlucky timing and, perhaps, a smidge of poor pre-departure planning, my tasks and responsibilities pressed together to create quite the pinch. It was quite stressful for a week there but my grind-it out IB mentality (if you don’t know don’t ask) prevailed and I was rewarded not just with my birthday, but three consecutive weekends of Volunteers’ birthdays in Bacolod City.

Me and my then soon-to-be newlywed sister just several days before she tied the knot

I’m now in what is rapidly becoming the sports-themed month of August. Unfortunately, a fundraiser I’ve been planning at my school, a PCV basketball team vs. local Faculty and Staff has been postponed until October. However, in its place I will be coaching the freshmen soccer team in our school’s intramurals (grade levels compete in any number of sports) as well as going to Guimbal on Panay for an indoor soccer tournament (don’t let indoor fool you, it means just not on grass) to compete on a Peace Corps Volunteer team. While excited for both, I am immensely excited to coach something again. I spent many, many hours coaching high school baseball during college and while I may not have the breadth and depth of knowledge for soccer as that for baseball, I still look forward to coaching again. Even my coteachers have noticed how enthusiastic I am about something that’s just tacked on the list of responsibilities they deal with year-in and year-out. Secretly, I hope this may translate into helping with the school’s soccer team down the road. I have already spent a couple hours looking up drills, tips, and clips to shore up my technical knowledge of the game.

Lastly, I'd like to remember one of my good friends from college who passed while I was visiting the states.

peace. it does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. it means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart. i leave America with a heavy heart. i will miss you and keep you in my thoughts L Jahi James, rest in peace.
L Jahi James - 10/28/88-7/2/11

Life Updates in 10 Words or Less

It's been awhile. I've been all over the place and unable to attend to my terribly, horribly, no good very badly neglected blog. So in order to keep things manageable about what i've been up too I'll post updates in short 10 words or less updates. Here's what I've been up too this summer:

BOHOL

Absolutely beautiful. If you come here we will visit there.

IN SERVICE TRAINING/PROJECT DESIGN MANAGEMENT (IST/PDM CONFERENCE)

A conference on how to create and manage volunteer projects.

NEGROS OCCIDENTAL MOBILE EDUCATION TRAINING (NOMET)

2 weeks, 3 cities, 4 trainings, 26 PCV's, 1918 teachers trained.

SUMMER BREAK

Hot and dry. But I transferred to a new house...

NEW HOUSE

...Two stories, across the street from my school. Pet kitten pending.

NEW SCHOOL YEAR

Excited to see my students. Teaching 1st and 2nd year.

So there you have it. Obviously it's been much more than just those minimal descriptions but I promise to share more now that I'm back on my regular school schedule!

Halong!

Filipino Cuisine-O

So let's have a gastrointestinal update. I think I've mentioned moving out was a great move in the aspect I more or less have control over my diet most of the time. My diet has now changed from the fried food wars back in PST mentioned in the blog post Diet Wars. Granted, I no longer have my meals prepared and I am not nearly as savvy at makin local delicacies as a host family. However, a common Peace Corps Philippines adage amongst volunteers is that delicacy is not a word we like to throw around here. I fully confess that some of these delicacies I am not wild about, in particular the numerous rice-based delicacies. The various rice-cakes, gelatinous rice snacks, dried rice snacks, etc I tend not to like. They come in two brands to my tongue...bland and sugary. However, other delicacies I've taken to fully. At school I am known amongst the teachers as Mr. Lumpia because I, if it's available, will eat Lumpia for lunch with a steaming pile of rice. In fact in my interview with the school paper when asked what my worse experience here was I cheekily replied "Lunch without Lumpia". Lumpia though isn't some of the more unusual and exotic foods here. I recently, more or less against my wishes, was for lack of a better expression peer pressured into a balut pact. I'll explain. Let's run through some of the more interesting foods, or delicacies, I've come across, or haven't...

Balut

"Baluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut. Balut Balut Balut Balut Baluuuuuuuuuut!" Any given night, any given city in the Philippines there'll be guys shoutin this out whilst peddling on bicycle balut stands. Balut, if you don't know, is a food found throughout Southeast Asia but is particularly popular here in the Philippines. Balut is a fertilized egg embryo that's nearly developed and then hard-boiled. Not for vegetarians. This past weekend I had it for the first time, to be blunt an unavoidable occurrence. The juice inside was disgusting, the rest of it just tasted like a hard boiled egg. I bet some hot sauce would've made the juice part...palatable.

Pork Sisig

This is one of my favorite dishes, I eat it frequently. It's served sizzling hot on an incredibly hot plate. Usually there's a raw egg in the middle that you immediately stir and spread along and throughout the Sisig and it fries before your eyes. The Sisig is actually small bits of pork, peppers, and other seasonings. Mixed with rice as well, of course. I love to eat Sisig it's a great dish. However, the bits of pork are actually from the pig's face and liver. Usually the face parts are the pig's jowls. Maybe not so appetizing once you hear about what it is but it is delicious.

Dinuguan

This dish is a stew of blood and meat (typically stomach, intestines, ears, heart and snout) simmered in a rich, spicy dark gravy of pig blood, garlic, chili, and vinegar. I have not to this point eaten Dinuguan, we'll see about this one. I have a feeling of inevitability the same as balut.

a thought

I'm deathly afraid I'm going to forget what real cheese tastes like.

An Interesting Day

It was an interesting day, not a great title but I’m lacking inspiration, forgive me. I arrive at school today privately wondering if anyone would even be there and as I go through the gates I see that a huuuge number of students are there mingling and loitering. After a brief search for my counterpart and other teachers (the faculty room was locked up) I found em and asked what was goin on. Apparently it was clearance day, somethin nobody really thought to tell me about, and all students must get clearance slips signed by each one of their teachers sayin that they have completed their work and in their words ‘settled accounts’ with the teacher. This apparently functions to serve that if a student didn’t do their work instead of it bein reflected in their grade they simply won’t get cleared and therefore can’t receive a grade. Interesting approach certainly. Unfortunately these clearance slips don’t really need much participation by me so there wasn’t a lot to do on my part. One of my sections' however invited me to their farewell party/lunch so I agreed to go.

Originally I’d thought the party’d be in their classroom but apparently somebody or somebodies were makin that room unavailable so we went to the Panaad Stadium (where the Philippine National Soccer Team recently played) where the largest festival in my province just begun today, Panaad sa Negros. Every municipality comes and sets up a booth or area and shares what they’re all about. My students didn’t have time to cook so they just made a huge pot of rice (surprise, surprise) and we piled into a tiny little “pick up truck”…I call it that cause it has a cab and a bed but it’s about 1/4th the size of a real pick up truck. My counterpart and their advisory teacher sat in the cab and I was in the bed squeezed in with about 14 of my students and a large pot of rice. It was an entertaining ride to say the least. I think the funniest part was when a student was asking me some questions in Illongo and another girl yelled at her to speak English. At least they’re self-policing now haha.

We had lunch on the roof of a little building. The kids had rice and clams and as many of you know I don’t touch seafood. I cracked them up when they asked me why I didn’t eat them and I replied “laway” (which means ugly, negative, and not-tasting-good-at-all…it’s a versatile word). I had inasal, roasted chicken on a stick, and they were actually somewhat stunned that I ate with my fingers. It’s customary to eat inasal and rice with your hands only…customary for Filipinos. However, I’ve adapted to their approach and found it much easier anyways. Put the vinegar and soy sauce on the rice, peel off bits of chicken, compact it into a ball like mass and shove into mouth. Namit! I would’ve thought they woulda been more surprised if I didn’t behave like they naturally expected but apparently not.



Anyways, the point of this story is to explain how Filipinos use the word ‘bonding’. Any sort of out of the way trip or experience together is ‘bonding-bonding time’. They make a very big deal of doin somethin special and different to build connections and relationships between people and will consider almost anything ‘bonding-bonding’. On the way back, squeezed into the tiny bed of the truck (though the giant pot of rice was now empty), one of my students asked me “Sir, are we your first bonding-bonding time here with students?” to which the answer was yes, which made their day. Bonding-Bonding is an exceptionally important part to this culture where personal relationships are so important. The class’ advisory teacher when describing the class said they were “very nosy, but also very loving” which I think is applicable to Filipinos in general. They want to know and be all up in your business cause they want to build a relationship as opposed to American culture where we tend to be a bit more reserved, and private; the separation of knowing someone and knowing someone personally.

The second part of my day involved a long walk to get my haircut. Getting your haircut is always, always an adventure. From shoulder and head massages that you don’t expect to tryin to explain what you want cut it’s always an experience. My Illongo is very good at conversations I have frequently. It’s easy to develop vocab to explainin why you’re here, no you’re not a missionary, where you’re from, what you do, no you’re not a missionary because we have those conversations a lot here. The ‘this is how I want you to cut my hair’ conversation comes up far less frequently so the vocab’s usually just not there. Plus, street-side barbers, while they can cut hair very well and do it for cheap (60 cents), aren’t the world’s best interpreters of accented foreigners stumbling through unfamiliar vocab and constructions. Last time I was pretty pleased with my hair cut but this time after a lot of negotiation I’m not really sure I like how it came out. Oh well, cest la vie. Tomorrow at school will be an interesting day in terms of the comments I’m sure to get about my new do.

What I Brought With Me To 7,500 Ft and Back

Hiking Mt. Kanlaon was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in the Philippines so far. It was a challenging hike for me, amateur and out of shape that I am, but I was fortunate to get to the tree-line just in time for the most beautiful sunset from 7500 feet I’ve ever seen, or from any altitude for that matter. I have full intentions of putting a picture-post up to show you some of the fantastic pictures I took on the trip and to take you step-by-step through the hike but first I’m in the spirit of March Madness now that I’ve won the Peace Corps Volunteer bracket pool by a whopping 10 points…despite not correctly predicting a single Final Four team. It’s okay though, nobody else here did either. Better lucky than good eh?

So to commemorate this hike, and seeing as we’re in the full swing of March Madness, I’ve made a bracket documenting the items I took along for my hike. I spent a fair amount of time tryin to figure out what I’d need and I made some truly noticeable omissions. However, what I judged I’d need most and what I actually needed most didn’t always correspond to a 1-16 seeded format, much like the tournament.

So without further ado, here we go! The March Madness Volcanic Championship Tournament of things Andrew packed for his hike to the top of Mt. Kanlaon!


Sweet Sixteen
(1) Camera
(16) Monopoly Deal!
Camera wins easily, Monopoly Deal! never made it outta the plastic baggy.

(8) Windbreaker Rain Jacket
(9) First Aid Kit
Fortunately the first aid kit wasn’t needed so Windbreaker Rain Jacket advances.

(5) Imodium
(12) Sunglasses
Mostly it was cloudy and anytime it wasn’t the canopy was so thick sunlight was never an issue.

(4) Toilet Paper
(13) Towel
The towel turns in a clutch upset. Thanks to the Imodium I didn’t need to fertilize any part of the volcano.

(6) 1 Can of Corned Beef
(11) Long Sleeved Shirt
Long sleeved shirt pulls another upset. I wound up giving the corned beef to my companions who stayed an extra day to summit since I couldn’t. The long sleeve shirt kept me warm, less dirty than I would’ve been, and contributed to countering leeches.

(3) Peanut Butter and Jelly + Bread
(14) Cinnamon
Cinnamon never made it out, PB & J wins in a blow out.

(7) Leatherman Tool Knife
(10)Windbreaker pants
Yet another upset, I didn’t have much need for my Leatherman but the windbreaker pants were worn basically the entire trip.

(2) Oral Rehydration Salts
(15) Cell Phone
Well, due to a lack of water I only used 1 oral rehydration salt. Cell phone actually had service on top so it was great to share with my friends what I was up too. Cell phone advances.


Elite Eight
(1) Camera
(8) Windbreaker Rain Jacket
The windbreaker was great on the top where the wind ripped at you constantly but during the hike I actually spread it out over my backpack to protect the backpack so it was of medial use. The camera let me capture some of the most beautiful photos I’ve taken here. Camera advances.

(5) Imodium
(13) Towel
Just before leaving on the first bus to head out on the hiking trip my Shwarma lunch came back to bite, after a stop at a Jollibee’s bathroom I had legitimate concerns about my digestive system for this hike. So I took Imodium at every meal and frequently reinforced it in between meals whenever I felt a gurgle. The towel was nice, especially in the tent to keep the edges of my things dry, but Imodium advances.

(11) Long-sleeved shirt
(3) Peanut Butter and Jelly
The long-sleeved shirt was excellent for all the reasons above, but the PB & J was my sustenance and let’s face it, I love me some PB & J. PB & J overmatches long-sleeved shirt on the inside to advance.

(10) Windbreaker pants
(15) Cell phone
Being able to share was nice, not having leeches covering your legs…as well as keeping warm on the top was better. Windbreaker advances in a contest that was never really in doubt.


Final Four
Who’d have thought a 5 and a 10 would make the Final Four? What’s that you say? In the NCAA Tournament the remaining seeds are a 3, 4, 8, and 11…not a single 1 seed??.......
(1) Camera
(5) Imodium
Imodium’s been the hottest team in the field, mercilessly crushing a pre-tournament upset favorite in Sunglasses and then ruthlessly dismantling a plucky upstart 13 seed with some real promise. Camera’s been rolling like the #1 overall it’s supposed to be. Dick Vitale’s hoarse shouting is heard on television sets across the country in almost-sensible excitement over this match-up. Imodium kept my insides tranquil and calm while camera captured tranquil and beautiful. This match-up is a back and forth affair that ultimately goes to Overtime. In overtime Imodium, shall we say, blocks the explosive last shot to keep the dream alive in a massive upset. Little-thought of Imodium packed at the last second in a moment of true inspiration by an American hiker advances to the Volcanic Championship.

(3) Peanut Butter and Jelly
(10) Windbreaker pants
Definitely the less glamorous of the Final Four match ups…we’ll call it the ‘Ram-Bulldog’ match up…the contest pitting the 3 and 10 draws an all-time low ratings match up due to its billing just before the prime time Camera v Imodium match up. Also undermining this game’s viewer audience was the latest American Idol reruns and a special feature on Justin Bieber’s new 3D movie (are you serious?!). Anyways, Windbreaker pants, always versatile, scrappy, and full of hustle gets out to a 10 point lead but is down by 9 at the half. Analysts at the half point out how Windbreaker pants really didn’t beat anyone to get here and lucked out by having to play a 15 in the Elite Eight. PB & J comes out of the half and in a Lee Humphrey-esque burst of sharpshooting buries Windbreaker pants with five triples right out of the gates. PB & J’s cohesion and ability to come together to form a harmonious combination of downright delicious basketball and re-energizing second half adjustments carry them to the Finals of the Volcanic Championship.


The Championship Game
(5) Imodium
(3) Peanut Butter and Jelly
The Volcanic Championship game features a team with undeniable chemistry and cohesion that plays a very appealing brand of basketball, Peanut Butter and Jelly, against the hottest team in the tournament that plays stifling defense stopping even the most explosive of running teams, Imodium. Adding to the building interest in this game is that both teams hail from the “Southern Eating Conference” meaning both teams are very familiar with each other. Detractors from the Big Clothing Conference in the mid-west, the Pacific Digital Conference on the west coast, and the Big Utility and Practicality Conference from the Plains states groan and whine about the continued dominance of the “SEC” in almost all sporting events.

The game itself begins low-scoring and hesitant. Imodium’s defense is well versed in stopping the organized team-based attack of PB & J. PB & J though moves calmly and without disruption meaning they won’t turn the stomach…I mean basketball…over very much. This patient and passing attack frustrates Imodium’s stifling and opportunistic defense. On the offensive end, well Imodium was always an accomplished defensive team. The first 15 minutes are boring, hesitant basketball. Finally in the last 5 minutes of the first half there’s some polished passing and execution and PB & J goes in with a 5 point advantage. The second half is back and forth with 7 lead changes. Finally, in the closing seconds of the game Imodium gets key stops and makes clutch free throws to seal the victory. And we all realize that even if you’re not playing an explosive, sloppy, and dangerous game Imodium still wins with its unmovable defense. In sports and on the toilet…defense wins championships.


p.s. Congratulations to the Florida Gators for their NCAA Tournament run! Elite 8 was far more than I expected coming into this season and provided some exciting times for Gator fans! I look forward to next year’s version of Gator Basketball (fantastic!). Also, it’s about damn time Billy D won SEC Coach of the Year.

A taste of what's to come in my Photo Journal of hiking Mt. Kanlaon...

My Favorite Photos

I'm leaving in exactly 5 minutes to hike Mt. Kanlaon, which will hopefully provide some awesome pictures. Until I get back and get them posted though, here are a collection of my favorite pictures so far from the Philippines via Flickr.

Enjoy

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pcdrew/

The Pacific Ring of Fire

At 5:24 on Friday March 11th I got the following text from Peace Corps: “V’s and Staff: All Volunteers in coastal areas are requested to vacate low-lying areas and transfer to higher grounds in the provinces of: Cagayan, Ilocos Norte, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Albay, Sorsogon, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte. Tsunami expected to arrive in the Philippines between 5:46 and 7pm today.”

Obviously this is a result of the massive earthquake that struck and is still devastating Japan. When you take a step back and look at Mother Nature’s darker side you realize that the Philippines is a cocktail of calamity waiting to happen. The Philippines get’s hit with around 6-7 Typhoons per year, has 5 active major volcanoes, is obviously in Earthquake territory and therefore Tsunami territory, and frequently suffers from floods and landslides. In short the only thing we aint got are blizzards. Earlier this month we received text msg updates about 3 different Volcanoes in the Philippines that were actively wheezing, coughing, or spewing in some manner.

I shudder to think what would have happened had that Earthquake been several hundreds of miles south and struck the Philippines. The devastation that Japan is suffering would be incalculable in the Philippines which lacks the infrastructure and stability of Japan. Thousands upon thousands would’ve been washed away, more would’ve been displaced as Nepa (bamboo) huts would’ve washed out to sea and entire islands would’ve been submersed.

Fortunately, the Tsunami, had it arrived (it never did), would’ve not affected me much. I live in a very sheltered part of an extremely central island (highlighted in navy below, the yellow dot being my city). Typhoons are weakened significantly by the time they reach Negros and we’re relatively sheltered from Tsunamis. All that we have really is Mt Kanlaon, the largest Volcano in the Visayan Islands (the southern islands between Luzon and Mindanao).



So seeing as Kanlaon is our biggest calamity threat I’ve decided to take the sensible course of action. I’m goin to hike it! I am ridiculously excited to hike Mt Kanlaon next weekend. Kanlaon is 2,435 meters high and is dotted with pyroclastic cones and craters. At the summit there’s a large caldera with a crater lake. I. Cannot. Wait. I’m going with 5 others, 2 PCV’s, 2 Filipinos and one of my American roommates. It’s gonna be an amazing trip. I will take massive amounts of pictures to bring back and share with everyone! We’re leavin on Friday and should be back by Sunday from Kanlaon.

Pictures of Kanlaon from the summit that I've borrowed from this website. Hopefully next week I'll have my own!

And for Momma Cain: It’s only erupted 25 times since 1886 and it’s only erupted once without warning (1996). So no worries!! :-)

My New Crib

I’ve moved out of my host family’s house here in Bacolod and now live on my own. I moved on February 13th but I’m only now truly getting settled in and acclimated to my new routine. I’ll do it in the WH- question style to give you a quick picture of how it’s gone down.

Who do I live with now?

I live with two Americans that do volunteer work here in Bacolod City, although not with Peace Corps. They’re 26 and from New York and I’m very fortunate to be able to live with other Americans living in the Philippines.

What do I still need to really make myself at home?

Well I’ve just this weekend got myself a Ref and a new foam mattress so my list is dwindling.
-Padlock for my closet (electronic and valuable storage)
-more (big) rugs for my room…I’m gonna fake having a carpet
-an actual bed
-some wall decorations, this’ll just take time and creativity
-wireless router
-some sort of closet/desk type organizer
-a ladder to put my specially made basketball rim up on a tree in the backyard

When do I get up in the morning now that I have to cook my own breakfast and commute to work?

Roughly 6:30 am if I need to cook and shower. Roughly 6:45-6:50 am if I’m just cooking breakfast. Roughly 7:05 if I’m just putting on clothes, gathering my things and rollin out.

Where did I move too?

I moved to the next Barangay inwards towards the city, Barangay Taculing, from where my high school is, Barangay Mansilingan. I live within walking distance of another Peace Corps Volunteer and about 15 minutes by jeepney to my school. It takes about twenty minutes to get into the city proper from where I live and maybe only 10-15 to get to Libertad Market.

Why did you move out in the first place?

The main reason I moved out was that I wanted to live independently again. Relying on having someone home to let you into the house is difficult for someone who’s been livin independently of their family for four years. Also, I wanted the opportunity to live independently in the Philippines. Buy my own food, take care of my own place, pay my own bills. Americans in general put an emphasis on being self-supporting and independent from a young age which is a truly foreign concept in this culture. I appreciate everything my host family did for me, they were wonderful hosts, but it was time for me to live on my own again after 6 months of being a dependent.

How do you like your new place?

I love it. The house is big and has enough space for privacy. I get to pick and cook my own foods now. We have 3 mango trees, a jack fruit tree, a chicko tree, a calamansi tree, and a red pepper bush. I have a pseudo-pet dog now, Yema. I can provide places for PCVs visiting Bacolod to sleep free of charge. I’m closer to the city proper than I was before. Finally, there’s an amazing little bread shop where I can buy Ube rolls, pastries, cheese rolls, and assorted other yummies for roughly 1-5 pesos each. Amazing.

Pacific Rims

Sorry, part 5 of my 5 part series isn’t coming. I had scant notes and I lost em’ in the move from my host family to my new crib so my apologies. I hope you enjoyed the first 4 parts though!

I recently finished reading, no that’s not strong enough, devouring “Pacific Rims” by Rafe Bartholomew. As another American experiencing living in the Philippines for an extended period of time there was a lot in the book I could relate to; cultural oddities. Jollibee, jeepneys, balut, dinuguan, daytime soap shows, pumping eyebrows, group mentality, lip pointing, endless calls of “Joe”, South East Asia’s smothering tropical weather, street children, and of course the point of the book, basketball. The book itself is entertaining, Peace Corps volunteers actually make two appearances within it, and if you want a glimpse into what it’s like living here I highly recommend it.

Instant Sugar Cain literary classic award winner, lite on the literary perhaps but heavy on Filipinos ballin in flip flops

But that’s not the point of this post, or rather it’s just a primer and shameless plug for something I truly enjoyed. Some sort of cosmic synergy shifted and sifted into my life when I purchased that book. Suddenly I was on course for basketball in the Pacific. During PST I played a couple games with Sean, a fellow volunteer, and our related host families but here at my permanent site there’s been scant opportunity. I’ll rephrase, I haven’t created many opportunities. I’ve had a couple of failed trips to a neighboring volunteer’s site about an hour away to play games on Fridays but for whatever reason (volleyball practices, tiring players) I’ve only gotten to play about 15 minutes out there. Yet, since picking up Pacific Rims things have changed. On Thursday I’m playing in a faculty vs. students basketball game for High School Day. My school’s opened the gym up for me at night to practice my game…solely for the purpose of not air-balling or getting crossed over by a 14 year old on Thursday. I’ve commissioned the welding class at my high Agro-Industrial school to craft a rim for me so I can racket together my own hoop in the backyard of my new crib (more on that in a future post). I’ve discovered that buying 2 peso rolls for the street kids in my new neighborhood and playin some hoops with them is a great way to spend an afternoon after class…going back to what Rafe said in Pacific Rims: “Share the rock”.

A bit about this basketball game on Thursday at my school: one of my good friend’s mother (and really my pseudo-second mother) once made a comment during a baseball game that her son must be so nervous that, and I quote, “you couldn’t get a needle up his ass with a sledgehammer right now”. I fully expect a similar clinching of the bowel regions on Thursday. I fully expect 1000-1500 spectators at this game. My school enrolls 1800 students and Thursday afternoon is when they receive their grade cards for the 3rd quarter. So if 2/3 of the student body shows up then I’m playin in my first 4 digit spectator sporting event. Hell it might legitimately be my first 3 digit spectator sporting event. On the hierarchy of my skillz at sports basketball is probably in the 2nd to 3rd tier range. Hence my relentless practice this past week…yes we talkin’ bout practice AI, not a game, practice.

Finally, this faculty/student basketball game gave me a fund-raising idea for future projects. After spitting texts around the Western Visayas I’ve managed to coordinate a loose group of basketball playing PCVs into potentially playin a PCVs vs. faculty basketball games. Hold it after school, charge 5 pesos a head, and use the proceeds in a project at the school. The idea’s popular enough to happen all that’s required is scheduling and planning…and jerseys. Currently the leading idea for our PCV team is the “Average Joes”…recognizable for those who have seen Dodgeball. It’s appropriate because we’d be a hodgepodge group of varying abilities and legitimately average skills. Also, it’s a great pun on the fact that all Americans here are called “Hey Joe” constantly. I’m hoping this will work out to maybe a couple games over the next year of PCVs vs. locals for fundraising and charity. Anyways, tapos na with this post. I’ll catch ya’ll later!

Peace Corps "Average Joes" logo perhaps?

Part 4 of my 5 part series: 5 Diaries for 5 Days - Life in Peace Corps Philippines

Before I begin you may notice I changed it to a 5 part series. This is simply because with the festival this past weekend I was too busy to keep a DRD. Apologies.

Thursday February 3, 2011

6:28 - Up extra-early as promised but still no internet. Sorry folks!
7:05 - Ham and "cheese" omelet, a rare breakfast! I will not mix this w/ rice. Although the "cheese" part is actually fake cheese called Eden, and usually despised by PCVs here.
7:34 - Oy! Internet's up and I gotta run. I'll leave a note on the blog and then peace.
7:46 - No porch guy today, bummer.
7:51 - First day at school in a long time without a book. Wish me luck staving off boredom. I will be sending many txts and writing many DRD entries today...
8:21 - Students are working on describing the parts of an essay: intro, body, conclusion. I wonder if there was a Filipino wizard at Hogwarts. Or if there was a Wizarding school in the Philippines, and whether Peace Corps would consider placing an Education Volunteer there. With my linguistics background I could help with those tricky spell pronunciations: win-GAR-dium levi-O-sa!
10:01 - Palindrom time! Also, of note was the lizard that fell from the roof then climbed up my leg to about my thigh. Major major distraction to the class, fortunately I barely reacted cept to shoo it off.
11:19 - Fried/battered pork and rice today. And so ends my lumpia streak too...
11:40 - Some students are listening to "Lips of an Angel" outside. Really? I'd rather be listening to the Weird Sisters...
12:34 - If as a teacher I could use two spells they'd be langlock and petrificus totalus...the perfectly behaved class.
1:00 - Just completely shocked my students by dancing the Tinikling dance. Answering the cries of "sample sample!" I spritely hopped in and out of clashing bamboo sticks like a seasoned pro. Thank you PST! "Sir, you did not tell us you liked to dance!"
2:10 - Vacant period sandwiched between two classes. BORED. No book so I'm doin the ol' PST stand-by...Rapid Roll on the cell phone. Is it friday yet?
2:37 - Just eclipsed 15o txts on the day. See what happens when I can't read?
4:12 - Made plans to meet up with some PCV's later tonight, always a plus.
7:49 - Out at a local watering hole when drums and gongs start bangin and two 10-person Chinese Dragons come out and do a dueling dance right outside...complete with firecrackers crackin on the ground. Happy Chinese New Years in Bacolod City!

Part 3 of my 5 part series: 5 Diaries for 5 Days - Life in Peace Corps Philippines

Wednesday February 2, 2011

6:45 - Thank you PCMO (Peace Corps Medical Officer) for your mass text at 645 am. I'm pretty sure depriving PCVs of our sleep isn't good for our health.
7:11 - Scrambled eggs, bacon, and rice. Solid if unspectacular.
7:29 - Can't find my socks today. Packing wreaks havoc on my already impaired organizational skills.
7:42 - Porch guy walked with me as far as the market today. This is a first. Our conversation topics:

-How I speak Illongo
-How long I've been here
-Where I'm going right now
-What I do here
-What Peace Corps is

All in the native dialect! Great start to the day.
8:08 - My 740 class (Section 6) seems more confused about my directions than excited about silly bands. Hmm...
9:46 - Was just offered the same snack exactly four times in three minutes. No. I do not want it I jad breakfast only 2 hours ago. Busog na!! (Still full!!)
9:56 - Just given it (the snack) whether I like it or not. Sigh.
11:13 - Just finished "Collapse". It pretty much rocked my world.
11:14 - Beans, chicken, and rice. And more gift LUMPIA! Wooo!
12:12 - Monthly call-in with my RM (Regional Manager) Lynn. She's awesome I love her. Just sayin yes I'm alive, no I don't have any problems at site right now.
12:50 - My co-teacher went to the SM Mall to get her broken glasses fixed. Might have to fly solo for the 100 class. And there's the bell, just rang.
1:07 - Start the ritualistic "Good afternoon, Sir Andrew" change, explain where the co-teacher is in the local dialect, and launch into lesson. Result? Undivided attention, plus the fact there are silly bands involved today.
2:50 - Students wanted "consolation prize" silly bands. Second place hearts are breaking.
3:42 - Section 7, usually pretty rowdy, is workin diligently towards these silly bands. Did I say silly bands? I meant essays.
4:16 - Three star math students from the 4th year are studyin trigonometry at my host fam's house for the quizbowl thing tomorrow. I'm useless at math but I will partake in the meryenda...
7:20 - More beans, chicken and rice. I really like it actually, I rarely get beans. So I'll gorge myself to make a point how much I like it.
7:37 - I look forward to the day when I don't have to eat more or less than my fill just to emphasize my tastes. Just telling Filipinos what you do or do not like rarely works. 4th helping...
8:31 - **Fair warning, this will be graphic, if you don't like poo...skip on ahead** The #1 problem with gorging yourself is the #2 later. I'm now enjoying the constipation-LBM (loose bowel movement, locally) 1-2 punch. My stomach cramps heavily so I know LBM is coming but before that I must painfully squeeze all the pebbles out of the way. Then the Three Waters Dam breaks covering the whole valley in mud. Hooray Peace Corps! =)
9:30 - Internet's out so I'll get up early to post tomorrow. My apologies!

Internet issues - Temporary delay in part 3

Hey everyone, just got internet service back but I'm due at school in 5 minutes so I'll post Part 3 when I get off work today. Sorry, the internet's been out since yesterday afternoon.

Part 2 of my 5 part series: 5 Diaries for 5 Days - Life in Peace Corps Philippines

Tuesday February 1, 2011

6:48 - "The time is 6:48 - it's time to get up!" This robotic voice in my cellphone is what i wake up to every morning.
7:03 - Dozed back off but now I'm up, more or less. No internet so no checkin the email or FB this mornin.
7:10 - Scrambled egg, rice and some bacon lookin beef like meat. It looks like bacon yet is assuredly beef. It requires rice and scrambled egg in order to eat.
7:24 - Lipton mint tea. Every morning and I love it. Only way I wake up.
7:39 - Headed out. It's rainin and breezy...aka good weather cause it's cool and the sun's not beatin me like a drum. I will sorely miss this during dry season...
7:41 - Swapped maayong agas with my buddy on the porch on the walk to school. He always comments on whether I remembered my water bottle or not. Today he asked if I'd eaten breakfast yet...a total stranger. You see how they are about food here?
8:30 - One of my students' older brother just died of a stroke in Boracay. 25 yrs old. Sadly these tragedies happen frequently to my students; they deal with death constantly it seems. She's excused for two weeks.
8:38 - I was just asked what is an essay, sir. We have a long ways to go. btw, that's a tricky question to answer on the spot.
9:58 - Just finished a lesson plan for my 10:00 am section. That's the 1st year section 1 - the star students. They're a day ahead right now due to the afternoon activities last week.
10:16 - Things got exciting when I offered silly bands as prize material for an essay assignment
11:05 - I had a teacher demand to know where her silly band was. Annoying. When it comes to gifts it's everyone for themselves.
11:37 - Fried chicken and rice for lunch...shocking (liberal quantities of sarcasm). But I was given more LUMPIA! Perhaps I shouldn't whine about gifts so much.
1:50 - Been reading and took a brief half hour nap, bout to head to the 200 section.
2:38 - Only 22 students in this class which is a very unusually small number, so we're finishing the lesson about 20 minutes early. Time to teach them how to do an essay outline off the cuff. here goes...
3:19 - Quote of the WEEK: Name some characteristics of an essay..."An essay is a sunny day". If only, if only...
4:11 - Locked out of the host family's house cause no one's home. GRR. Ah to be an adult again, 2 more weeks till I move out.
4:22 - Texted the host dad, wala response (no response).
4:37 - Considering great military break ins of the past that I could apply. Unfortunately Trojan Horse is out...there's no one inside the walls. Maginot line is out, I'm lacking a wooded neutral country to detour through. I could use Clooney and Pitt right about now.
4:55 - Jokes aside, I'm gettin really annoyed.
5:10 - Texted host dad again: "Isa ka oras na. Diin tanan?" --> "One hour already. Where is everyone?"
5:23 - Deliverance. The helper's come home with a key. I'd point out I have 3 years of age and 4 years of independent living/locking up of my own living situations over the helper. C'est la vie. Zombies will die for this hour and a half of fun. Many zombies.
6:45 - Zombies and two episodes of Scrubs are down. Time to do something productive like pack up some things.
7:12 - Dinner. Roasted chicken and rice. Trend anyone? The chicken was sposed to be 'hot and spicy' but...spicy doesn't really exist here. But fortunately I love roasted chicken and rice when combined with soy sauce and calamansi. Although I did get a 'crazy American' look when I asked for soy sauce and calamansi for my already hot n spicy chicken. I miss you Mexican food, I miss you.
7:40 - Swiss Miss hot chocolate. Solid. Excited about this and cookies for post-dinner consumption.
8:39 - Winding down, did some more cleaning and then read some. I'll probably read s'more, listen to the iPod, post the DRD on my blog then hit the sack.
10:30 - Almost forgot to post this. Ready to zonk out to be blunt but I'll go type it up.
10:47 - Done typing, time for ritualistic interior eyelid inspection. Catch ya'll tomorrow.

Part 1 of my 5 part series: 5 Diaries for 5 Days - Life in Peace Corps Philippines

My fellow PCV blogger Travis had an entertaining Bill Simmons-esque post recently featuring a running diary through the course of a beauty pageant...the type of thing PCVs get trapped into judging frequently (you can find this post here). Bein both a Bill and Travis fan I've decided to follow in their footsteps. Despising everything about Boston Sports I've also decided to thoroughly one up them by doing a week long series of DRD's - Daily Running Diaries. I'll hopefully give you a feel for A Day In The Life and entertain you with the everyday comings and goings in the Peace Corps. I should probably disclaimer this and say it might not be inspirational fantastic stuff...it's literally my average day-to-day activities over the course of a week so who knows. Every entry shall remain unedited and exactly as I wrote it at the annoted time of entry! One of these days, if my busted camera works, I'll take a picture diary to correlate.

p.s. Check out my new background! The large, somewhat phallic shaped island in the bottom-middle is Negros, where I live!

Monday January 31, 2011

8:51 - Gettin ready for work. Mondays I begin at 10:00 am not 7:40 am because of my rotating schedule. Corned beef and hard boiled egg (and rice, obviously) for breakfast. Corned beef is easily my favorite breakfast food here. In the morning corned beef, scrambled egg and garlic rice is the folgers in my cup. Love it.
8:56 - Can't find my deoderant, not a great follow up from my CB, HBE, and R breakfast.
9:04 - The two mothers that live across the street were w/ their children outside the house. Our exchange:

Them: "Maayong aga"
Me: "Maayong aga man"
Them: "Ma-school ka na?"
Me: "Huo! Kita kits!"

Translated:

Them: "Good morning"
Me: "Good morning to you too"
Them: "Going to school already?"
Me: "Yep! See you later!"

9:07 - Arrived @ school, it's gonna be hot today. Sweatin already.
9:50 - 10 mins before class and we just decided what Filipino written essay to use in class today. We'll see how this goes...
10:19 - There's no such thing as a well behaved 1st year class (12-14 age bracket roughly).
10:23 - While writing directions on the chalkboard a mosquito bit my face. Right below my lower lip. Pimple chin for the rest of the day. Awesome.
11:24 - Was just asked for the 3rd time to eat my lunch. The other teachers can't accept the first chance I get isn't necessarily the time I want to eat. Plus, I peaked at my lunch na (already)...rice and some mystery meat with a slice of cranberry sauce. Unmotivated to eat pa (still).
11:34 - My counterpart co-teacher just gave me some lumpia. I LOVE LUMPIA! Lunch is saved. Bon appetite!
11:43 - Accepting the lumpia opened the flood gates of foods to try. I was just given some kind of peanut-brittle snack followed by dried mango. Btw, mangoes in the Philippines are the shit!
11:57 - Now stick bread, garlic flavored...the food continues.
12:52 - The one o'clock class bell just rang: puttin down my book to go educate. There are 3 sleeping teachers and 3 awake teachers in the faculty office as I leave.
1:10 - It just started pourin and what ever attention span class had just washed away with the rain. Unfortunately, my 2:00 classroom can be prone to flooding if it really pours for awhile...fingers crossed
1:57 - Journal reports in front of me by my students about their Christmas Vacation...nosebleeds galore. (a nosebleed is wat filipinos pretend to have when they don't know the answer or are to huya (shy/ashamed) to answer a question)
3:06 - A gay student in my last class was havin his journal read by his partner for this activity. To my surprise I was a part of his christmas vacation. Apparently, at some imaginary point, we were both at his neighbor's party and then we went swimming. Hilarious and yet slightly inappropriate.
4:21 - Had to tree/sari sari (small streetside shops) hop my way home, it's still rainin. Dry spot to dry spot all the way home (forgot my jacket). Unfortunately, I also had to pee...a trying test for one's bladder is waiting for the rain to let up so you can continue walkin home.
5:46 - Got a PB & J snack after checkin my e-mail and hoppin on a lil' Plants vs Zombies. i promptly then sneezed violently with a very large mouthful of PB & J...I've got sandwich lodged in my nose now. Picked a great day to keep a diary...
6:00 - Diarrhea. Ugh.
6:06 - Bucket Bathin.
6:29 - Diarrhea II (The Sequel...)
7:46 - This is no surprise to other PCV's but dinner was...chicken and rice!
8:36 - Scrubs and packin to move (Woo!). An exciting night to be sure. After postin today's blog I'll read some "Collapse" and listen to my iPod before passin out. Back to my 7:40 am class tomorrow.
9:13 - Wrappin up typin this up. There's a lizard here on my bed next to my laptop. I love lizards, they eat mosquitos. Great note to end on.

5 things...

About a week ago I passed the five month mark in the Philippines and this blog also just hit the 5,000 mark for visits so I thought it was an appropriate time to make a fun little blog post; a series of lists themed around the number five.

Things I have not done in five months:

1) Flushed toilet paper (intentionally anyways, old habits die hard)
2) Drank a glass of milk
3) Watched Sportscenter
4) Driven an automobile
5) Turned on any kind of heating device

Five things I do now without blinking:

1) Hiss at any stray animal that comes to close to me
2) Eat with a spoon in my right hand, fork in my left. No knives
3) Barter prices for food, rides, services
4) Consistently and borderline constantly talk about poo
5) Return my beer bottles from whence they were purchased

Five things I will eat immediately upon arrival in the United States in July:

1) Mexican food
2)Country Fried Steak
3)Cheese anything
4) Bang Bang Shrimp
5) Mac’s burgers

Five foods I did not expect to eat in the Philippines/ever:

1) Milk flavored chips
2) Cheese flavored ice cream
3) Banana ketchup
4) Blueberry and Hazlenut flavored Pringles
5) Soup egg

Five trivial things that have changed about me:

1) Tequila
2) Willingness to sing randomly in front of people
3) Comfort level with public transportation
4) I wake up at early hours
5) Attitudes towards water/waste management

And finally a revisit to my "5 Most Irrational Fears Going into Peace Corps Philippines"

5) Seafood. Totally avoided, check mark!
4) Snoring host family. Well the barn I lived in during Pre-Service Training certainly was susceptible to this fear and ome snored but more difficult was the 48 roosters that used to live outside my window, but I adjusted eventually
3) "The Golden Era"...hahahaha. Gators went 7-5 in football, the Broncos went 4-12, the Rockies missed the playoffs, but at least the basketball team is off to a somewhat promising start
2) Death of my iPod. Still hanging in there! Hallelujah!
1) SNAKES. I have seen two vipers, one python and some sort of garden snake. However, none except the long skinny garden snake was sprung upon me in terrifying fashion and hence I have avoided most forms of snake-induced trauma. Phew.

Impact

I came damn close to goin a month without a post after my renewed determination to remain frequent and regular (a vow that is often uttered in the context of one’s bowels in Peace Corps…). In fairness I have been all over the place; I’ve changed between islands six times over the past month. I have stories to tell and have been to tropical paradise and back (as well as gastronomic paradise and back…average mexican food!) Those stories are for another time. For now I’d like to share the impact I had at a Peace Corps Volunteer organized and executed teacher training and the impact the training, amongst other things, have had on me...and thereby justifying my melodramatic blogpost title.

I was a bit conflicted on how to structure this blog because the more linear timeline is the one I chose but the part I really would want you to read is at the end so if you’re not a patient reader just go ahead and skip ahead, no worries. Look for the paragraph that begins *Cliché Alert*.

This past week I was a facilitator at the “Aklan Comprehensive Treacher Training” in Kalibo. The training itself came just before the beginning of the famous Ati Atihan festival in Kalibo which is a traditional indigenous Ati festival that was then, of course, influenced by the Spanish as follows, I quote the cheer heard multiple multiple times this week: “Viva kay Senor Santo Nino. VIVA!”…a celebration of the child Jesus. Anyways, we got to get some culture as we were givin some knowledge. There’s a Peace Corps experience for you: spendin a week sleepin on the floor in two class rooms with 14 other volunteers for the opportunity to train Filipino teachers and see a famous indigenous festival.

Why are these training sessions so good? Because Four Hundred and Thirty teachers attended from the surrounding province and if half of those teachers change their lessons for the better and half of their 50 students per class acquire some knowledge from the improved lesson than we can reach Filipino students by the thousands instead of by the 50 or so we see per section in our own classes.

The session I facilitated was Teaching Pronunciation. I will spare you the nitty gritty details and just highlight some of the cooler points. In an effort not to replicate the mindless pronunciation drills and to hopefully shift some teachers away from that I focused on how to go about teaching pronunciation. We covered the English consonant system, the English vowel system, and connected speech. Major themes were the disassociation of written English and spoken English, targeting difficult sounds for students, and maximizing your materials to influence and accent pronunciation in lessons where there may not be any pronunciation.
An example of an exercise showing the disassociation of written English and spoken English:

Q: How do you pronounce the word “ghoti”?
A: “Fish”
gh as in “rouGH”
o as in “wOmen”
ti as in “moTIon”

Another exercise regarding how sounds assimilate in native speech:

How do I say “He’s in pain” or “It rains in May”?
If you’re a native speaker reading this blog say it out loud and you might here yourself say “He’s im pain” and “it rains im May”.
This is because the “N” is assimilating to be more like the “M” and “P” in that you’re pronouncing it bilabially (using both of your lips) instead of on the alveolar ridge (the ridge just behind your upper teeth).

Doing this training for me was one of the most satisfying things I’ve done here, certainly in terms of volunteer work. Raising the awareness of teachers about English pronunciation and then helpin them identify ways to improve their classes in teaching pronunciation is a far greater impact than my “9-5” job (which is actually a 740-400 job) of teaching high school English. I don’t disvalue my job teaching, I love my students and teaching them, but influencing the way a teacher teaches their class might have an impact on students in all of their classes which is a far broader positive impact than me potentially having an impact only on the students I teach. Exercising the linguistic training and TESL training I received in college to help teachers is far more satisfying for me and more productive in terms of impacting as many Filipino students learning English as possible.

The other great part of this session was the opportunity to see other PCVs teach other sessions that I normally would not get to see. Many sessions were English-focused as the majority of the 430 teachers that attended this training were English teachers. However, this training featured some non-English non-classroom sessions as well. There were consistant shouts, exclamations and the occasional scream from the HIV/STI session. If you were within 3-4 classrooms of that session you always could hear when the PCV demonstrated the proper use of a condom on a banana.

*Cliché alert* Peace Corps for me was also about broadening my own horizons. In the sections of my awareness of my own intellectual shortcomings dimmed by my own embarrassment I do realize how little I know about the environment and the problems we face therein. So I was excited to attend two other sessions: Solid Waste Management and Climate Change. In addition, I am currently reading, “Collapse”…the less well known counterpart to the famous “Guns, Germs, and Steel” book by the same author. Unlike “Guns, Germs and Steel” which details the rise of civilizations, “Collapse” thoroughly analyzes the collapse of past civilizations and categorizes the causes into 5 main factors (climate change, environmental damage inflicted by the civilization, trade or cessation thereof with friendly neighbors, political and cultural change, and hostile neighbors).

It blows my mind to attend these environmental sessions, watch "An Inconvenient Truth", and read about the collapse of past civilizations and then look around at the environmental problems in the world right now. I cannot recommend enough to anyone who’s curious, concerned, or conflicted about this to read “Collapse”. Look at civilizations in the past that collapsed, look at ourselves and the environment in the present, and tell me it's not at the very least troubling.