Mabuhay!

Sa ngayon nakitira ako sa Mabayuan, Olongapo City, Pilipines! Which is Tagalog for: Welcome! Right now, I reside in Mabayuan, Olongapo City, Philppines! Matt and I are about 1/2 hour from Subic Bay which as most people know, was where the US was stationed for quite some time. Therefore, almost everyone speaks enough English for us to get by on my limited tagalog. English is also taught in the schools here from a very young age. Right now, we are considered Peace Corps trainees. This is three months of intense language and job training before we get sent to our permanent site for 2 years. We have a LCF (language, cultural facilitator) and TCF (technical cultural facilitator) which are training the groups here in Olongopo City.

         Matt and I are still in our first week here so we have not explored much on our own since our LCF advises us to get adjusted to the area for a week before we go exploring. Already I can feel myself acclimating to the sites and sounds that are SO different from the US. I can take a Jeepney or trike ride without hesitation as long as I know where my destination is. I have the longest walk to my training class which I enjoy since I haven't found a place to get some real exercise yet. I get a lot of "Good morning mam" on my way so it is nice to interact with the community even if it is just a quick Magandan umaga po (good morning).  We are in a city so it is not safe to jog in the streets since the traffic laws tend to be more like suggestions here (as well as the abundance of stray dogs that may find a running person a good chase). I am pretty exhausted by the end of the day anyways so I'm not sure if I would have the energy for exercise until I get more acclimated to the area anyways. You do not realize how much being in an unfamiliar environment can push your body to the limit until you are fully immersed in one.

I suppose I should talk about my host family since I REALLY look forward to coming home to see them. Matt and I are very fortunate in this aspect of our experience. First of all, it is very common for Filipino families to have a family member overseas working and sending money back to support them. And many times the family member left behind has another relationship. It is just an accepted aspect of this culture. In my family it is actually the mother who lives in Canada while the father is at home. He works nights while we are gone during the day so we don't get to see him very often. He has six children ages 8-23. The family speaks very good English which has helped us bond but I could see it being a hindrance to our language learning. Although, the kids have been teaching us tagalog words and helping us with our language homework. The oldest son (23) has a girlfriend who stays here a lot and she is a great person to talk to. She is pregnant and will be having the baby while we are still here. I for one, am VERY excited to be here when the baby comes. Matt and I have really bonded with the two youngest ones, Ricsander (8) and Jaqualine (10). We teach them games and they help us with tagalog. The youngest brought out his school book and we read tagalog from it (although I am sad to say that I did not understand it). I am called ate (pronounced atay) Krystal which is what they call their older sisters, and Matt is guya Matthew. We live in at compound near the Barangay hall. This basically means that there is a nice basketball court and family in the nearby houses. On the weekend we sit in a neepa (sp?) hut where we drink, joke, and eat. I learn a lot about the culture and we get to teach them about ours. It is not common for girls to partake in this but in this family boys and girls all hang out together which I really enjoy.

        Another aspect of this culture is their love of food. Every gathering has an immense amount of food! Meat is with every meal but we told our host family that we love vegetables so they have started to include them in our food. The oldest son and host father are EXCELLENT cooks so I hope I can learn from them. Also, Pilipinos do not waste any part of the animal. The fish is served whole and they even got me to try the brain and Matthew to try the eye of a milkfish. I also have tried isaw (chicken intestine) and some soup thing which had cow intestine. All of it is very good and aside from the normal gastrointestinal disturbances one would have in a vastly new diet Matt and I have been adjusting very well. One surprising part of the culture is that many Pilipinos do not swim well. We did a family trip to the beach over the weekend and simple tasks such as floating on your back in the water was something everyone wanted to learn. I am not a swimming teacher by any stretch of the imagination but I tried my best.

I am really enjoying learning about this culture and I'm looking forward to learning the area and language more.