So Christmas is over and it was weird. We had a good Christmas Eve with Ryan's counterpart's family. We had a lot of fun with them and got to see how a Filipino celebrated Christmas. Then we had a lot of rest, which was nice, but it allowed me to think of home often, which made me sad. I hope everyone had a great Christmas and had some joy. It was hard for me, but I made it and now things will get easier. Now onto New Year's, which will be amazing. We are meeting up with some friends on Bohol, where we will have lots of fun. I can't wait!!!!

I just wanted to give a quick shout out to everyone who has sent us things! We have REALLY appreciated it!!! All the cards and packages have meant A LOT to us and we THANK YOU!!!

Special thanks to: Dana and Terry, Tamra, Tammy and Mike, Grammy and Grandpa, Grandma Ohio and Roy, and Karen. THANK YOU!!!! :)

Hello everyone. I changed some settings on my profile and you should now be able to leave comments. Please leave comments; they are nice to read!! Love you all, miss everyone- you have no idea, and hope everyone has an amazing Christmas!!!
We won't have much internet access the next few days/weeks, so please be patient with us.
On a good note- we will be moving into our new home on Jan. 5th! We are very excited, but sad to leave Papang. We are having to move out early, because she has some things she has to take care of in Australia and will be there for 5-6 months. I will take pictures, of course, and hopefully be able to post them soon after we move in. Also, cross your fingers, we will try and get internet in our house so we would have a more reliable way of communicating with everyone.
Again everyone have a great holiday. We will be thinking of you ALL from the Philippines!!!!!

Love, love, love
~Trisha

Hello everyone. So since Canigao Island, Ryan and I have been to Ormoc and Tacloban, two other bigger towns in Leyte. We have been visiting close towns, to see what's available there and to also have a break from Hilongos. It has been nice seeing the other places, but for the next couple of weeks we will be staying home and just chillin. So Ormoc was nice, they have a big grocery store which has some imported items, like White Grape Juice!!!! But other than that there is not much to do there.
This past weekend we went to Tacloban, which was cool. We got to see and meet some other PCVs. We also went and saw the new Narnia movie, which was really good. Funny story. So we got in line early to see the movie and finally got to go in and sit down. Then all of a sudden everyone stands up and the national anthem starts playing on the sound system. So we stand up (and this whole time I'm trying VERY hard not to laugh b/c this was so random), people start singing and when it's over everyone sat down. It was a very different experience! Then announcements came on about not recording in the theater and the movie started, no previews, which was kinda nice.
School. Well I have had one full week of observing actual classes, which was really nice. But now there is a provincial meet (athletics meet) at my school so no classes today or tomorrow. Then later this week we will have Christmas parties and then school will be out for two weeks. It will be fun. I will read and watch a lot of movies.
So anyways that catches you up on what we have been doing. Were getting used to our town and living here in the Philippines. Were very excited for people to come visit us so we can show them around and so they can better understand where we live and work. Some days are lonely and kinda sad, but others are really great and full of great things. We almost always meet someone new that is really nice and interested in why we are here.
Hope everyone is doing well and ready for Christmas! We miss you all. Take care!
Oh, I also posted new pics of Flicker, so click on the flicker tab on the left to check them out!!!
~Love, Trisha

So I have already been at my site for going on three weeks now and we are in the middle of week 15! CRAZY! Time is going by fast, but slow at the same time. It has been pretty slow for me at my school, because there have been several competitions being held at my school. The first week I was here I was able to sit-in on my classes and introduce myself to them, which was fun, but made me homesick at the same time because they asked me all kinds of questions about home that I was not prepared to talk about. Also during the first week we had the Press Conference Meet at our school. What that means is that several different schools came to our school to compete in different competitions in journalism. What was very different about this competition (and every school competition) compared to the states is that the contestants stay overnight at the school, therefore the school hosting, my school, has to spend several days before hand preparing for their visitors, cleaning the room and such. So that competition ended on a Saturday and the next week we hosted another event, the STEP competition. This competition had students at all levels competing in their various technical skills, such as welding, dress-making, cosmetology, etc. It was pretty cool to walk around and see the different events going on. And that brings us to this week. Let me start with the weekend first. On Saturday we met up with Ryan’s LCF and another PCV. We went and visited Anna’s college and then went to her hometown, Maasin. It was really nice getting to spend time with them, seeing new sites, and traveling within Leyte. Then Sunday we met up with Ryan’s counterpart and went to Canigao Island. It was really nice. The island is very small, but beautiful. And what’s cool is that it is very close. To get to the island from our house would maybe take an hour tops. It was a beautiful day, a nice trip, but I ended up getting pretty sunburned, not fun! Anyways Monday was a holiday so we just hung out. Then yesterday my school had an English month culmination program, which the closest thing I can relate this to would be a pep-rally. We had a program, dancing, singing, and presentations celebrating speaking English, and of course I gave a speech as well ☺ What I thought was really cool is that it was a program to celebrate learning, instead of sports like U.S. pep-rallies. Don’t get me wrong I loved pep-rallies, but I thought the meaning of this one was pretty cool and very different. So that catches you up with what I have been doing. By the way I am feeling a lot better and not so homesick. I am getting used to Hilongos, and I really like it here. Until next time take care…

Yes it has hit me... homesickness. I knew I would have it eventually. I'm not really sure why I am homesick because things are going great here. Everyone is really nice to me, my living situation is great, etc. I guess it's because it is the Holiday season back home, I'm having to adjust to new place and it's kinda like starting over at square one, and you know it's that time; I have to admit it I am feeling homesick! So I thought something that would help me feel better would to make some lists. LOL. I know I'm a nerd, but it does make me feel better. So here are my lists and you won't hurt my feelings if you skip this post!

Things I miss back home:
*Yogilicious *Izze's *Living with Kristy *My entire family *Cool/cold weather *Sweatshirts *Being comfortable with what I am doing at work *My new mattress *Kung Pao Chicken *A/C *Everyone speaking English

Things I DON'T miss back home:
*Driving *Wal-Mart *Commuting to/from work for 45 mins everyday *Paying a lot of money for our apt. *Reality T.V. *Obsession with material things

Things I like/love about the Philippines
*How hospitable the people are *MANGOES *Exotic fruits *Living in the countryside *Loverboy *"Good morning/afternoon ma'am" from every student *Beautiful beaches *Curious people *Pan de sal *Not being afraid of ever getting lost b/c someone will always help you out *Trykes *Seeing how many people can fit into a jeepney *Aggressive driving with NO wrecks *Pigs *Roosters *Smiles when I speak Cebuano *Internet access *Cold showers-really helps you cool off *Many more to come

So you see even though I am homesick I couldn't imagine leaving. I haven't been able to do anything yet, and once I do I think I will love it even more. Right now I am observing and getting to know the community which is nice, but makes for long days. But I understand why I am doing this and I need it, because it will help me in the long run with building relationships and helping me integrate into the community. I guess I have realized that I don't really enjoy being the new person all the time, although I do like change I also like having that normalcy. In a couple weeks things will become normal for me and I will begin to fit in fine, because I already am fitting in, it's just getting into the swing of things. So thanks for listening and until next time :)

Hello everyone. I have updated my packages and wish list pages at the top of this blog. I have put up our new address and made a wish list of things we would love to have. :) We have made it to Hilongos, safe and sound. We are having fun adjusting to our new place and getting to know our "bagong lungsod" (new town). Miss everyone. Take care and until next time! Love y'all :)

So here we are already at swearing-in week! Crazy! Time has flown by, but it has been very exciting and rewarding. We had our LPI's last week in Dumaguete and were able to spend time with our friends and relax. We had several assessments about our time in PST and had a lot of time to study for the LPI. I think I did well on the test and should find out this week what my score was. On Sunday we woke up very early again to get on the bus to come to Bacolod to start building our relationship with our counterpart. Saturday, before we left our old host family wanted to take us out for dinner, so we went to an European restaurant and had some amazing food, then when we return to our house we had a lovely brown-out! Oh how I hate those things! It was about 9PM at this time and we were doing the last of our packing. I tried to lay down to rest, but it was sooooooo hot in our room that I could not, so I went in the kitchen and laid my head on the table. The house help had the same idea, so we sat there in the kitchen and talked with one another for about four hours until the electricity came back on. At that point it was 1AM, and since I had to get up at 3AM I decided I better get some sleep. LOL. So I got two hours of sleep and was able to sleep a little on the bus, but I think it was worth staying up because I really enjoyed talking with the girls before I left. I will miss them, and I hope they will have a great rest of their lives :) So now we are in the big city of Bacolod, where they have traffic lights, several malls, trash everywhere and lots of traffic and congestion! We have already gone shopping at the mall, gone to Starbucks, and made a trip to the ATM. Whoohoo how exciting, the thrills of a big city! But seriously, when we leave we don't know when we will get to go to those places again, so we enjoy ever minute of it. Ryan and I are having a great time here getting to know our counterparts, and spending the last few days with our friends. Its sad to think we will no longer be close to them, but we have all decided to plan trips together and to join the same PC groups so we can see each other from time to time. We have had some great in-depth conversations, and fun times laughing a lot! It will be very nice to get to our place and slow down a little, but I sure will miss everyone! I am very excited about Hilongos, and starting to teach. Yesterday we worked on a yearly schedule and man I will be busy!!! There are also a couple of things that I want to get involved in within Peace Corps and hopefully that will work out. Our group is so big so I may not get to do everything I want, but hopefully at least a few. As time goes on I realize how lucky I am to be here and how great this organization is. Sure there are frustrating times, but thats in everything. So hopefully while we are still here this week, I can upload some new pics, and get a few emails sent that I have been meaning to send. I am doing great here and hope everyone else is doing great as well! Everyone take care, love you, and God bless. :)

So it's my last week in Dumaguete. On Friday I have my LPI (Language Proficiency Interview) and then next Friday I become a Volunteer!! An actual PCV!!! So exciting! In the past couple of weeks I have attended the Buglasan Festival, watched cultural dances, went shopping in a ukay-ukay, and went to Siquijor Island for Halloween! Siquijor was soooooo much fun! We decided to go to this island, because there are supposed to be lots of practicing witches, voodoo, and medicine-men there, so we thought it would be cool to spend the day there. I was kinda hoping there would be trick-or-treaters or decorations or something, but wala (none). LOL. We had a blast. We had no idea what we wanted to do, so when we got there a tryke driver followed us around until we decided to let him drive us around. First we went to a park, where we climbed up a mountain, and then a tower, and got to see a panoramic view of the island. Breathtaking! Then we went to a cave. It was so much fun. We had to crawl, squat, trudge through water, swim, and climb to get through the cave. It was so cool. We were lead by two 16 yr old girls; they were so much fun! We talked them into turning off the lights for a few mins so it was completely dark, scary!! We didn't see any creepy-crawlers, which was nice. Then we went back to the city, ate, shopped, and hung out at the beach! It was an amazing day, and our company was great too! Here are some pics, enjoy! Take care and until next time...

So we are now into week 10 going on 11!!!! CRAZY!!! That's all I can say. Time has flown by. I think it's mainly because they keep us so busy. We have been going to class from 8AM-5PM, or later some days, for 10 weeks now. Man I am tired. It's nice when we get a free afternoon every once in a while to just go lay down in my bed and do nothing! I think I'm picking up the language pretty well and am excited to keep using it once I get to Hilongos. It's crazy to think that in two weeks I will be at my permanent site for 2 years! I am excited about going, but sad, worried, and relieved all at the same time. I am sad to leave my cluster, whom I really like. I'm sad to be leaving some people behind and moving so far away. But I'm also glad to be leaving, because Dumaguete is big and it will be nice to go to a smaller town, with less traffic, congestion, noise, trash, etc. I am also worried, because now we start all over with a new host family. New diets, new routines, new everything. I think we will be fine. We will be living with an older woman in her 70's and her one house keeper. We will also have several dogs, one of which is named "Loverboy" She seemed very nice when we were there for one night. We also got to meet a relative of hers and the lady's son. They were also nice, which is comforting. I am hoping and praying that we will have more freedom to cook our own food. We won't have a t.v. in our room anymore, nor an a/c, but we will have a fan and a t.v. in the living room. The bed is nice and the house is out in the country, so that will be nice. We are close to the beach again, but this time the beach is nicer, so we might actually go down there to hang out and possibly swim. We when visited we went down to the beach and there was a whole other village down there, which will be nice to get to know. There were several kids, which is always fun! I am also relieved to be leaving, because I know we are going to Hilongos for a reason, and I am excited to get to know my "new home" and all the people that live there. But for now I have a week and a half left here in Dumaguete, so I am going to make the most of it. This Sunday we are going to an Island called Siquior. It is said to have "witches and voodoo", so we thought it would be fun to go there during the day for Halloween! Which by the way is crazy, because it still feels like summer here, so to think it's almost November is crazy! Well that's all for know. Hope all is well and until next time...
Here are some new pics for you to enjoy! Love and miss y'all!!!!

Teaching at LCP

My friend, Babe, in a tiny alley

Evelyn and I at her host sister's wedding

For this blog I just wanted to let you know some of my thoughts and reactions to some things I have experienced. I’m not complaining I am just making some observations and giving my thoughts on the subjects. I really don’t have any answers to these issues; I just wanted to put them out there. Hope you enjoy reading them.
The reason why I started thinking about all these things are because today I was riding a tryke home with an older white man. He asked me why I was here and I told him I was with the Peace Corps. He said he didn’t know that was still around and told me he was living here, and had been since he had retired. He worked for an international organization out of California and hadn’t been to the states in some 20-odd years. It got me thinking why would someone want to live abroad for the rest of their lives? Is it because they can live more comfortably with the conversion of American dollars, are they running away from something, did something happen back in the states that was so bad they didn’t want to come back? The answer I don’t know, but I do know that living overseas was one of the main reasons I joined PC, but I could never see it leading to me not returning to the states. Sure I love traveling and I love learning about other cultures, and seeing amazing sights in other places, but I will always return “home.” I love the U.S. too much to stay away forever. Texas is my culture and I could never turn my back on it forever. I have too much worth living for in the states, and I would hate to miss out on all of it. Of course I have my complaints, but I love our freedom, the way things are run, our food, etc.

I also wanted to talk about was a student’s story. I have been co-teaching off and on during training and was able to hear one of my student’s life-story. She is either 11 or 12 years old and is living with her grandma, whom she doesn’t like because she is “too strict.” I don’t remember where she said her mom is, but she is not around and her dad works overseas so he can provide money to their family. She was telling me how she missed her dad terribly and how she hardly ever gets to see him because he is always working. He works in New Zealand, doing what I’m not sure and it’s really not important, but the fact that he would work overseas is admirable. I like the fact that he would sacrifice so that he can provide for his family, but at what costs is he doing that? He practically never gets to see his family. I know he is probably making more over there than he would here, but is it really worth it??? I don’t have an answer, and I don’t have any kids so I don’t know what I would do in that situation, but it just got me thinking.

Something else I have observed is how there are so many interruptions in the school day and in the classrooms. I have only been at the school a few times, but seriously every time I go to my classroom I never know what’s going to be thrown at me. Sometimes I have a lesson prepared and we don’t end up doing it because the class is not ready, which is the most logical and settling reason, but when you don’t get to do a lesson because more than half of your class has been pulled out for a girls scouts meeting or because the teachers have a meeting during class time or there is some type of assembly, it’s a little frustrating. I know in the states we have interruptions in the classroom, but there is no comparison to what I have seen here. I have noticed that ANYTIME students can put on a performance they will. It’s nice being able to see their culture and how creative they can be, but when it is taking away from class time its kind of annoying. I believe that when a student is in school they should be learning, and I can appreciate breaks from time to time as I think anyone does, but it doesn’t seem like to me that the majority of the time here is spent on teaching/learning. I know the students are learning, but it could be so much more. Whenever I am in the classroom the students are really attentive and it seems like the classroom runs smoothly, but I always wonder, what is it like when I’m not here? I was not able to visit the school for a couple of weeks, because of other training requirements, but when I returned it didn’t seem like the students had moved on much.
On a happier note, while I have been here I have been able to make some amazing friends, and hopefully they will be life-long friends. Several of us PCTs have been able to take trips together and have had plenty of time to bond with one another. I have really, really enjoyed my language classes and really enjoy my cluster’s company. Last week I was feeling under the weather and I really appreciated my cluster being there for me and providing me with a laugh or two.
I have also been thinking a lot about our permanent site. The more I reflect and think back on my site, the more I start to like it. To be honest I was not impressed at first. I wasn’t feeling good and I was having a hard time staying positive. I am feeling all better now and have been able to really think about our site. We are going to be living in a small rural town, but I am excited about that. We are only an hour or so away from a city with a mall and a cinema, which is important to me, and a bigger grocery store. I like how convenient bigger towns/cities are, but sometimes I want to be in a smaller place. I want to be where there is less noise, traffic, congestion, etc. I will be able to experience that at my site. I am also really excited about where Ryan and I will live once we are able to move out on our own. Our supervisors have already picked a place out for us, and showed the outside of it to us when we arrived at our site. It looks like a brand new house on the outside and I am sure the inside is just as nice. We will find out more once we get there, but for now I am pretty stoked about that!

Lastly, I would like to comment on how hospitable Filipinos are. Anytime I am in a new place, or traveling somewhere I don’t have to be stressed out because anytime I get lost, confused, or go the wrong way, I know a Filipino will help me out. They are always willing to give you directions, or help you get a tryke. It is such a nice and welcoming feeling.

Hilongos, Leyte!!!! This is where we will be placed for 2 years. But more on that in a minute. Let me start where I left of last time.
So Apo Island was AMAZING!!!!! I was kinda nervous at first, because if you remember last time I tried snorkeling I hyperventilated. But I was determined this time. There was a group of 14 of us. We went to a resort off the coast of Negros, and then took a 30-40 min boat ride to the island. The first sight of the island and the water was picturesque. The water was so blue, turquoise, and beautiful. I was so excited to snorkel and I really wanted to see some sea turtles. So I hoped in the water and had trouble right away. The current was very strong and I couldn't catch my breath AGAIN :( Also some of the volunteers said "Oh there's a turtle" and when I looked it was gone. So I was growing very tried so I got back in the boat to rest, plus I was upset that I was having trouble again. So later we had lunch and my breathing calmed down. While we were hanging out on the shore I practiced snorkeling and finally got the hang of it in shallow water. A group of us then jumped off of some rocks and had fun being daring. LOL. So at this point I was very determined to snorkel and see these amazing things. So this time I got in very slow and was able to snorkel the whole time with the group. WOW! That's all I can say, it was so cool. It was like I was in an aquarium; it was so unreal and exciting. I can't wait to do it again. One thing I also want to say is that the sun is dangerous here. It is so close to us, that even putting on sunblock 5 times, I still got sunburned. Crazy!
So the next day we woke up at 3AM to be picked up in the rain to go to the bus station. We rode a bus for almost 6 hours to Bacolod for our supervisor's conference. I got to meet Ryan's and my supervisor and both of them are really nice and excited to work with us! We had lots of classes and learned a lot of new things. But the most important thing about the conference was finding out our site. Ryan and I thought we were going to be placed in Bohol (a different island) but this turned out to be wrong and we will be going to Hilongos, Leyte! So on Thursday morning we traveled with our supervisors to see our site. Because our site is far from Dumaguete and we had to return there by Sunday we only had the evening on Thursday and all day Friday to see our site. It was a very whirl-wind trip, but nice because we got to see our whole town, which is very small (and were excited about that, less pollution) On Saturday we had to go to Cebu island so we could catch a 6AM boat ride back to Dumaguete. So the trip, traveling, and meeting lots of new people was kinda stressful so I ended up catching a cold.
I returned back home on Sunday, alone, because Ryan had to stay in Cebu for his training for an extra week, and I felt awful. I called our medical officers and they brought me some antibiotics right away. I only had a cold and feel 100% better now, so don't worry. I also started to get homesick, because I just wanted to be sick at home with nothing but normal things. This soon passed and I was back to my normal self. So this week I had training as normal and worked on planning trips that Ryan and I want to take. Also I figured out times for family to come and visit us, and what we can possibly do. Ryan and I are really excited about our new site, and can't wait to start working with the people of Hilongos.
I have posted new pics on Flicker so please take a look.
Thanks for reading and until next time... Take care and I love and miss you all!!!!! :)

OOOOOOHHHHHHHH
P.S. Alyssa and Josh are the winners from the contest! We will have to mail them a prize when we get to our site. Here was everyone's guesses. Enjoy.

Alyssa Reiley and Josh Span- Leyte
Sherly and Clifton Cowey- Del Gallego, Luzon
Jeff and Tamra Howe- Luzon
Kathy Morgan- Isabella, Luzon
Chelsea Carter- Lucena, Luzon
Jeff Gravett and Rose Richerson- Altavas, Panay & Pinakpuk, Luzon
Korey and Carley Patek- Polillo Island, Luzon
Hank and Virgina Coor- San Fernando, Luzon
Kristy Carlile- San Fernando, Luzon
Mom- Naga, Luzon
Amy Lynn- Naga, Luzon
Rusty and Kathy Kroboth- Quezon City, Luzon
Margaret and Francisco Torres- Manila, Luzon
Trisha Patek- Bacolod, Negros
Ann Patek- Negros
Debbie Downs- Dagohoy, Bohol
Gary Weddle and Annette Reiley- Bohol
Tammy Burns- Antique, Panay
Lillian Patterson- Roxas, Panay
Daniel and Debby Robinson- Panay
Jordan Gunter- Panay
Debbie Todd- Panay
Kim McSweeney- Guagua
Mike Rodriguez- Buhi
Meredith Patterson- Mindanao
Leslie Patterson- Malaybalay, Mindanao

So sorry for the delay in posting, but things have been SOOOO crazy and for the next week or so it will only get crazier! So bring it on :)
Ok so the last time I was on here we had went to sa dagat (the beach). The following week we had school as usual, but this week I got to do my first team-teachings! The kids were so great and I had a blast being there with them. My Counterpart is an amazing teacher and has some great ideas for her students; I can't wait to learn more from her. We won't be back at the school for two weeks so it will be neat to see where the students are at when I get back.
On Wed, week 4, I also started volunteering at LCP (Little Children of the Philippines); it's a shelter that helps sponsor students to go to school. I went for a total of 6 days and had a BLAST. I worked mainly with two boys on math everyday, and yes I had fun doing math, but altogether there were around 10 trainees and 30 boys. We had so much fun and it was so hard to leave on the last day. The boys warmed up to us all so quickly and we were able to have so much fun with them while teaching them a thing or to. I really felt like this is the reason I am here, and it all made since; our purpose in being here. Don't get me wrong we have had so much fun already, but being there with those boys made sense to me and the experience made me love being here even more. (Sorry mom, I know you want me to come home)
On Friday my technical cluster got together and had some great food and ice cream at a restaurant called Gabby's. It was a nice treat.
Saturday I went to a concert, Bob Fitts, with my host family and had a great time worshipping and experiencing Filipinos in a church concert setting.
The Sunday, WOW, we went to Casaroro Falls. Let me tell you it was AMAZING!!!!! This is by far the biggest waterfall I have ever seen and it was so beautiful. We had to hike up to the falls, but it felt so good because it was cooler and then when we got to the falls we went for a swim and the water felt so wonderful!!! Ryan and I are definitely going back there at least two more times before we leave Dumaguete!
So the sunod semana (next week, week 5) we had classes again, but we also got to meet with two PCVs. They were able to give us so much great information. I also got to meet a volunteer that I have been reading her blog since before we left and now I finally got to talk with her in person, which was neat.
Then one night Ryan and I were able to cook for our host family. That was so much fun!!! We made home-made flour tortillas (yeah thats right showing my mexican side) and then we had tacos, rice, and salsa. Our family loved it, which I was nervous about but they had 2nd and 3rd helpings! It was so interesting to show them how to make some of our food and it was delicious.
Later in the week we had an important meeting at the college to decide on a community project we are going to do. That was an interesting exchange of ideas and a new way of seeing how meetings are conducted.
We also met up with some returned PCVs who are from Dallas, Texas (aw, Texas how I love thee) and had dinner with them. They were so nice. They are a wonderful couple doing some wonderful things here in the Philippines.
Finally it's today and I am beat. Tomorrow a group of us are going to Apo Island to go snorkeling!!! I am so excited and want to see some sea turtles. Then EARLY, like 3AM early, Monday morning we take a trip to Bacolod City to have a conference to meet our supervisors and find out where we will live for the 2 yrs!!! Sooooo excited! We have a hunch where we are going, but we won't say until we know for sure. If we are right there will be 2 winners from the party, so be on the look-out :)
Ryan and I are doing great, magtuon mi kaayong Cebuano (learning a lot of Cebuano), and staying safe. We try new things everyday and think of everyone always. Take care and until next time. Love ya!!

Well we have official finished our third week in the Philippines and already making our way into the fourth!! I can't believe this much time has gone by already. Time goes so fast and slow at the same time. Our days here are intense and long, but once they are over your like wow, the day is over already?!
We have four hours of language class, which is tiring in itself, followed by an hour long lunch, and then four or more hours of technical training. Twice a week I go into the High School and tomorrow I will start co-teaching with the teacher. My first task isn't anything big, but it's a start. Last week I observed twice in the classroom, which was a lot of fun! The students are 1st year high school students, which is like our 7th graders. And they are so interested in me...LOL! They are great kids and it seems like they love to learn, which is great! I had one girl tell me here current situation and it just broke my heart. She is so nice, energetic, and positive that I never would have guessed what she is going through. Although I shouldn't be too surprised coming from a social work background. Some days I feel like I have the wrong job here, teaching, but I just remind myself that this is something new and with time I will get better. We shall see tomorrow how well it goes. All I know is that when I'm with the kids I have a great day, but when it's just a lot of jargon and theory I feel like I'm in the wrong profession.
We got to go to a beautiful beach yesterday and swim in crystal clear water. The water looked green if you looked at it from an angle, but when you were in the water you could see all the way to the bottom! A little fish, similar to Nemo, was also following me around and freaking me out! Ryan was having fun laughing at me. Now I'm wondering if I really can go snorkeling, let alone swimming with the sharks. I mean if a little fish scares me and then I see big ones who knows!! LOL!!
This weekend we were also invited to a "Debut", which is similar to a "15" in the states. It was really nice and a great cultural experience. There was a lot of dancing, presenting, and food! It was a lot of fun and really exciting to be a part of! I have pics but they aren't very good quality, but maybe I will post a few.
Ryan and I have also found some pretty cool stuff to buy as far as souvenirs go. I will probably go shopping this weekend for some things. That will be fun!
Well I think I'm going to go study now. Everyone take care, and until next time! Love you! Nahigugma ko nimo!!

Question: Kumusta Ka?

Answer: Maayo Kaayo!

I asked how are you doing, and I answered very good! This is how I am feeling right now. There are many things that I miss a lot back home, (Panda Express, Izze’s, making my own food, and of course family/friends), but I am beginning to feel at home here in Dumaguete City. Nagpuyo ko sa siyudad sa Dumaguete. (I live in the city of Dumaguete) If you haven’t noticed I am having a blast learning the language. Whenever you use it in town people laugh and are excited because you can speak some of their language. It is a lot to learn and is hard, as any language is, but I think it’s fun ☺ Yesterday when I was walking to language class and I was waiting for some fellow PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees) I realized how beautiful it is here. Yes it’s hot, and we sweat a lot, but the scenery is amazing!! When I look to my left I see the water, and when I look to my right I see beautiful mountains! I can’t wait to go snorkeling, hiking, and exploring more of Negros Oriental. (I will be doing all those things…woohoo) The food is kinda hard for me to get used too; lots of seafood- yuck! and fried foods all the time!! The plain white rice at every meal (and I mean EVERY meal) doesn’t bother me because at least I have something I will like. By no means am I starving, most of the time I am so full the sight of food makes me uneasy. And I think that’s what it is, we eat so much that I’m like argh not more food! Taking Malaria medicine has not been fun as well, but each time the side effects are less and less so soon it shouldn’t bother me at all. I just don’t like taking medicine, you know this. We are lucky to have a very nice family, that is very laid back and out-going. And as time goes on we are becoming more and more comfortable with them. I am getting used to hand-washing clothes and learning my way around the town. The city we’re in has about 115,000 people that reside here, but during the day there can be as many as 600,000 people in the city because they are coming from smaller more rural towns to gather materials or they work here, which is quite interesting! Yesterday we also talked with our host-family about witchcraft and folklores. It was very interesting to hear what Filipinos have stories about and tales that they pass down to their children. I now have a favorite new song, which hopefully will post to photobucket. Hope you enjoy!!! Everyone take care, and I love and miss you all VERY much! Ayo-ayo!

P.S. So photobucket is STUPID, so I am now adding a link to Flicker. This is where I will post all pics from now on. Enjoy!

So Ryan and I found out where we will have training for the next three months... Dumaguete City, on the Island of Negros Oriental, in the Visayas. Man it is beautiful here. I will have to download my pics so I can post some! But now we are really feeling like we are in the Peace Corps! We have left our fancy hotel and now are living with a host family. Our family is nice and as time passes everything will be great I think! We had our first class today, which was nice to see everyone and be able to talk about yesterday. Then on Monday we start our language training and technical training. Which will be difficult, but fun! I will be teaching at a high school while here in training, but over here high school is ages 12-16!!! SO that will be interesting, and fun! :) We are learning Cebuano and so far I know how to say good morning- Maayong Buntag!! and Tubig is water, which is important. Later today Ryan and I are going to walk down to the beach and then go out with our family to hear some bands play. We are excited to be here and are ready to have a routine to follow. Tomorrow we get to rest, every Sunday we get to, which will be nice for our bodies. So I'm thinking I will try and update this blog every Sunday. (We will see, as long as we don't have a brown-out (aka black out)!! Hope everyone is doing well. Take care. I will post soon! Love ya! :) Oh and please keep praying for us, it really helps.

So we are here!!!! It has been a blast so far. There have been moments when I have felt overwhelmed, but I am super excited about being here. Sometimes it doesn't even feel like I am really here, but then I go outside and see nothing but tropical trees :) Right now we are in a nice resort being spoiled. Tomorrow we have water training safety, which will be fun! Then on Thursday we find out where our cluster will be and what language we will be speaking! That will be very interesting. I have learned that there are over 130 languages in the Philippines and PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees) learn 4 of them. We don't learn all four, only one of the four options, depending on where our cluster site is. I am also interested in finding out who will be in my cluster, besides Ryan of course. The other day, to try and fight off jet lag (which I am still fighting) I went to the animal farm here. While there I saw some tigers, lots of birds, deer, monkeys and crocs. One guy in our group feed the crocs which was so cool to see. It sucked for the croc that finally got the chicken, because then another bigger croc stole it from him and ate the whole thing!!! LOL :) Anyways everything is going great and can't wait to see where we go from here!

I am in the process of uploading pics so please click on the photobucket link to see them!! (So photobucket is really slow here, I uploaded a few pics to facebook. I will see if it works better at my site, if not I will try using something else. I will keep you updated. Thanks for your patience and understanding!)


This is when we arrived at our hotel!


Here is where we eat all our meals!


Here are some of the teenagers that preformed for us, while they are eating.

Good morning all,
I left Texas yesterday flying from Austin to Dallas and then to Philadelphia. We got up pretty early to catch our 8:40AM flights. Everything went smooth, but man it was hard to say goodbye!!! My mom, Ryan's dad, and my friend Rose went to see us off, and I'm glad they did! I really enjoyed their support, even though my mom didn't want me to leave she was still supporting me! :) Love you mom! So I got into my hotel around 6PM and then meet up with about 20 people and we all went out to dinner. It was exciting, because now I feel like this is really happening!! It is such a surreal feeling, and I already miss Ryan, lame I know :) I will see him soon though. So here I am this morning, fixing to go eat lunch and then to staging, which lasts until 7PM! We will see what its all about. Here are some pics from our going-away party (and one hanging out with the Carlile's), which by the way was AMAZING! So much fun! Talk with everyone soon when we land in Manila, Philippines!!! I also want to say a huge THANK-YOU to everyone for all of your support, love, and prayers! We really appreciate it, and it will make a hug difference in our adventure in the Philippines. Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you, and I will miss everyone ALOT. You will constantly be in my thoughts; love you :) :) :)

Well we are officially out of our apartment in Dallas and are no longer residents of Dallas, TX 75206!!! It's such a sad feeling... There were soooo many great things and events that happened to me over the past two years. Ryan and I moved to Dallas knowing no one and have left so many friends behind. Then there is my sister, my old room-mate. I know many people thought it was weird that my sister lived with us, a marred couple, but we absolutely loved it!! I wouldn't have changed that decision for anything in the world! I love my sister and will miss her terribly, but she is going to come and visit us and I am already looking forward to it, because we plan to go and see the Great Wall together! Oh how fun... I know she is in good hands and will thrive in Dallas, I am just sad not to be there with her. I'm not sure why it was so hard leaving Dallas, but it was. Dallas grew on me and intertwined itself within my life and I will always have a special place for Dallas in my heart even if I never get to live there again.


So now we are in Seguin, staying at Ryan's dad's house in our comfortable bed, oh how I will miss our bed! We have been organizing things and trying to get stuff ready. Tomorrow we are going to the coast with Ryan's family, then next week my family is going to visit ryan's family in Arkansas. Then we have about a week and a half, with our party in between, and then were OUT!!! Its so close! We are excited about spending time with our families, and before we know it we will be here...

Since we got word from the Peace Corps about our invitation, it seems like all we have been doing is packing! It has been a task: trying to figure out what to take with me to the Philippines, what to leave out for the next couple of weeks while we are technically homeless (lol), what to give away or get rid of, and finally what to pack away to put into storage. It has been a challenge. Here are some pics of me packing, my clothes pile to take with me to the Philippines excluding all my toiletries and random items, and then everything packed up ready to go with me on the plane. Enjoy!!!

Man!! These last few days have been a roller coaster of emotions! I mean one minute I'm extremely excited, the next almost in tears. This week I have had to say good-bye to my school where I work the past year. I have truly loved working there! The staff were amazing, so helpful, and understanding! It's so hard to leave that for a world un-known. Then there are the students...oh the students. I will miss them the most. There are so many of them that I will think of and wonder if they are ok, and others I will laugh because I know they are doing something funny or entertaining. I got to know my students so well this past year and it's weird leaving them. It's crazy, leaving somewhere you love to go to a far off place to teach English!!! But it's something that I know I will love doing, it will help me reach my life's goals, and enrich my life in so many ways. My heart longs to go to new, different, and exciting places... so I am ready to go. On the other hand Ryan and I found out today that we will be going to different staging events. This is like a pre-orientation and where we fly out of. It's not really that big of deal, because we will meet up in Manila, but just a little shocker! So I will be leaving out of Philadelphia and Ryan will leave out of Detroit, the reason being our different jobs. Our group this year is the largest going ever, 145 to be exact, and the only way to split us up is by jobs. So my group education, his youth and coastal resource. Let the adventures begin!!!!

Yesterday Ryan and I gave our two weeks notice. It went very well and we both feel like we are leaving on good notes! We were both very nervous to tell our bosses, but it went smoothly. It is a very bittersweet feeling: we are very excited about joining the peace corps and ready for that new adventure, but it's also sad leaving our schools, students, co-workers, etc. We really liked our jobs so it's weird saying good-bye.

Last night at 8:00 PM, my brother, Eric, Graduated from Seguin High School. It was a very nice ceremony. It was weird being back at SHS; it has been 7 years since I graduated from high school! Wow how time flies! Eric was so nervous and excited to graduate. It was so fun getting to be there and watch him walk the stage. I know it was an amazing feeling for him! :)
Ryan and I also had our school's graduations on Friday night and Saturday morning. It was great to see our students walk across the stage as well. Some of them worked so hard to get there, as did Eric! Graduation is a bittersweet feeling. The kids are so excited to be done, but at the same time sad to be leaving a place where they have been for the past four years of their lives. I have only been at RHS for a year, but it was emotional for me as well. It's a neat and indescribable feeling to watch the Seniors walk across the stage. It has been one of the most enjoyable things about my job!
Ryan and I have been working on our Peace Corps invitation packet. We have tons of paperwork to fill out, including visas, passports, aspirations statements, and so on. We are getting it done, but are super busy. Everyone take care and see you all soon!

Today Ryan and I arranged to pick up our invitation from UPS at 8 PM. We were so excited! We went home and opened it up and were going to....... the Philippines!!! We are so ecstatic. My family was coming into town the next day for us to go camping. So Ryan and I read as much as we could and then finished the tons and tons of information on Sunday evening and Monday. We called this morning to accept our invitation only to get a machine, so we will call later to make sure they got us down as accepted. So we will be leaving for staging on August 19th, 2010!! We will be serving until November 12th, 2012! How EXCITING!!!!

Well we talked with the placement office yesterday, and our invite is in the mail!!! FINALLY! We are so excited. We don't know what country yet, but we do know we leave in the middle of August. That is so great for us, now we have plenty of time to get ready. To pack, to sell my car, to move our stuff into storage, to buy things we will need, and to spend time with family/friends! We will get to go to the coast with the Patek's, be here for my mom's birthday, and spend time with Burns/Malins for Tammy's birthday! This is working out perfectly. I know I'm not a patient person, but this time patience paid off...BIG TIME. Next post...where we will be going! Oh so excited! :)

Ryan and I bought a shiny new toy last weekend. A Canon EOS Rebel T2i. Its amazing! We bought a package deal so we got a carrying case and a lens with it. I love the quality of the pictures, and it records in HD. I'm so excited about it and can't wait to use it overseas. We will have amazing pictures. I will also have a lot of fun making movies of our memories.









I also bought some make-up and have been playing with it. Enjoy the pictures. Other than that no new news :( I wish we would hear from them soon. It's not like I can do anything about it, but I wish they would hurry because it would be nice to know when and where we are going. The waiting is killing me. Hope everyone is doing well. Hopefully we will have a new important blog to post this coming week (All I have is hope) Take care.

Today was our One Year Anniversary! We had a very relaxing day and then had dinner at Medieval Times. It was great fun! We were on the red team, and naturally our guy won the battle for the King! We also had some of our wedding cake. I was kind of nervous about this b/c you just think this is one year old, but it was actually really good still. We watched Crazy heart. It was a good movie, I really liked the music in the movie. If Jeff Bridges really was singing he is really good at it. Some other movies I want to try and see soon: Whip It, An Education, The Lovely Bones, The Young Victoria, The Blind Side, Amelia, and Adam. I got a lot to see :) No word yet, maybe this week.

I have uploaded a new layout and am trying to move things around so I like it. Once I get it finished I will leave it this way and not change it anymore. LOL. Nothing new yet from peace corps. I am constantly checking my e-mail to see if we got an update from them, but no. So I have to be patient and wait. Next post will be when we find something out! Hopefully soon :)

Ryan and I have received our medical clearances for the peace corps! Now we are on to the next steps (oh there are so many steps) where the placement team in Washington, D.C. decides if we should receive an invitation or not, and where we would serve. Now our hands and peace corps future lays in the hands of the placement team. Maybe we will hear from them sooner or maybe not, so Ryan and I are still expecting to hear something at the end of April, which is around the corner. We are very excited we have been cleared and are excited in waiting to hear what the next bit of news is for us.

I'm nervous, scared, excited, and hopeful all at the same time. I must admit I am glad Kristy talked me into doing this 1/2 Marathon, because now I kinda like running :) It makes you feel so wonderful once it's all over. The race is April 11th, which is very soon. Not much more time to prepare. It's ok though I know I can do it, even if I walk more than I want to I will finish! Well I have to go run to get some practice in, who knew you had to practice running...lol. Hope all is well.

I have successfully ran 8.4 miles! Man was it hard... but my knee didn't kill me so that's an improvement. On Thursday Kristy and I will be going to a RunTex store where hopefully I will find out if I have been wearing the right kind of shoes for me to run in. If I need different shoes I will be buying some new ones and trying them out on Friday for my second 8 mile run. This 1/2 marathon is the hardest thing I have done so far. We won our soccer game last Friday, which was a lot of fun! 3-0. Go Dynamo FC! This weekend we also had Tammy and Mike come a visit us. It was a blast. We went to Fort Worth and saw the stockyards. I didn't realize how beautiful Longhorns were. Then on Sunday we had a tour of the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington. That stadium is amazing. We had a great weekend with some great food and company to enjoy it with :) Now we are in Seguin for the week spending time with more family. It has been a great Spring Break so far. Can't wait to see what the rest of the week holds. Here are some pictures to enjoy! :) Have a great night.

Today Ryan, Kristy, and I completed our second 6.3 mile run!! Yes, that's right, we have ran 6.3 miles TWICE! I feel like I have come such a long way, but there is still more to go. I ran with my iPod today, which made the run a lot easier for me, but it was still hard. Running that long takes a toll on your body. But I do feel like my knee is getting stronger and stronger. It did hurt today, but not as bad. I can tell there is a difference. I have started doing wii fit on the days we don't run and I think that is helping as well.

Early Thursday morning, starting at Midnight, it started snowing in Dallas. The snow did not stop until 3 AM on Friday morning. The DFW area had an average of 12.5 inches of snow! WOW! It was so much fun. Everyone had to go to work on Thursday, but we got out early. We ran a few errands, just in case we couldn't get out, and then went and played in the snow. It seemed like everyone else had the same idea. There were so many people walking around and having fun in the snow. I saw the most snowmen I have ever seen in my life, and some pretty huge ones at that. It was also kind of nice; as people walked around everyone said hello to one another and smiled. I think the snow brought some joy and happiness to Dallas. It was so much fun. Here are two pictures. Enjoy!

OMG!!! Today Kristy and I ran 5.19 miles. And boy was it hard. Now I am very sore. This run was a lot harder than 4 miles. And I guess it will only get harder. But that's what training is all about right? This 1/2 marathon is going to be very challenging, but also very rewarding. It felt very good finishing what we did today, I can only imagine the day of the race! I have never ran anything over 3 miles before deciding to do this...So I guess being 25 will bring on a lot of firsts.
Yes, now I am 25 years old. I had a wonderful birthday. My mom and brother came up and we got to have a great weekend together. We lost our soccer game again, but it was so much fun. I really do enjoy playing and will be sad when this season is over...maybe we can sign up for another season. And I think Ryan said he would play with us, so that would be super fun!

Here is what Kristy gave me for my birthday...


Isn't my sister great? I love her so much :)

Tomorrow we go to the doctor's to get the rest of our paperwork filled out. Hopefully everything will work out just fine and we can send our stuff out tomorrow evening. We shall see, and then more waiting, but that's ok. Until later...

So Sunday Kristy, Ryan, and I ran 4.1 miles!!! I was so excited, because honestly it wasn't that hard. I wanted to keep going, but my stupid knee started hurting so I had to stop a couple times to stretch it out. If my dumb knee didn't hurt I know without a doubt I could run this whole 1/2 marathon! But I guess everything that is rewarding has to have some kind of obstacles. So my knee is my obstacle. lol.

On another note, Friday I will be turning 25! And this morning I kind of freaked out about this. I mean I will be 1/4 of 100! WOW! Time flies. So the story goes like this. I was driving to work listening to my iPod in my car. The song "Tootsie Roll" came on. (You know you like this song!) And I know this is an old song, but in the beginning the song says something with the year 1994 in it. That's a long time ago. I started thinking some of the kids in my program at the school were BORN in 1994! Wow! It's just something crazy to think about. How times goes so fast; you have so many goals and all you can do is strive to meet them.

Time to go work out my knee...Have a good night!

So for the last couple fridays I have been playing on an indoor soccer team. Almost every time we have been short players, therefore really tired and we usually end up loosing. Let me also add that the teams we have been playing always have subs, and are usually at a higher skill level than us. BUT... this past friday we came up against a team that was at our level, and even though we still did not have subs, we finally won! Boy did we cut it close. We won within the last 4 seconds! It was so intense and fun. I did not realize how much I missed playing soccer. I really do like it, and this week I finally felt like I got back into my groove and was able to play fairly descent. Here's a picture before our very first game :)


Today I went to one of the Dallas Public Library and volunteered with the adult ESL classes. I went last Saturday as well and I have been having so much fun with them! Last week we just worked on getting everyone registered for the class and filling out paperwork. But this week I actually got to go around to the tables and help teach them English! There are people from all over the world; Russia, Mexico, Peru, several countries in Africa, and someone from Asia. I love working with internationals and I have so much fun helping out in these classes. The peace corps asked that I get more experience with ESL teaching and I have really enjoyed my experiences so far :) The teacher facilitator is also really nice. We had a sub in the class today so I haven't got to work with the actual teacher yet, but I have met him and he seems really nice. I'm very excited to be helping out and teaching others English. I have also been able to practice some of my Spanish with several of them, which has been interesting. I have to admit sometimes I freak out a little bit in my head when they ask me how to spell something, because I am not the best speller and I heavily rely on spell check. LOL.

Finally, about the 1/2 marathon coming up. Kristy, Ryan, and I have been running regularly and are doing better. Most days we run at least 2 1/2 miles, with several 3 miles in there. Tomorrow we will be running 4 miles. I'm scared, but determined. I really want to be able to finish this race. I'm hoping people will come out and support us. If you want to it's April 11th, 2010 starting at 8 AM. Finishing... who knows, but we have 6 1/2 hours to run the course, so we will see.

So... in the past couple of days I have been spending about 3-5 hours reading random people's blogs. Wow! Thats a long time, and you may be wondering why I have been doing that. Well I have been searching through current PCV (Peace corps volunteers) blogs and have decided I wanted to make my own blog. As you may, or may not know, Ryan and I have applied to the peace corps (PC). We have been through a lot already and would like to share our journey with you. We also thought it would be a great way of sharing info with family and friends IF we do receive an invitation from the peace corps. I have been so thankful for all the information I have been able to receive from these blogs that I thought I should have one as well. Maybe someone in the future will use it to help them gain insightful information. So here is how it all began...