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…