March Madness!!
1:58 PM
Wow! I don't even know where to start. SOOOOOO much has happened since the last time I wrote. This will be a long blog, so be prepared, lol!
So let's see. First at the end of February I was elected to be on a committee called VAC. It's a small group that meets four times a year to work on policy issues between volunteers and staff. So Ryan had Warden training and when he was coming home I left to go to my first VAC meeting. This was also my first time in Manila. Manila is crazy! You can get anything there, but man, it's expensive! I was able to catch up with a lot of PCVs I haven't seen since we started and I also got to meet some people I never met. So our meeting went great! We were able to voice PCVs concerns and work them out with staff. We are very lucky and have a great staff backing us up. Then the next day we had a conference call with PC Director, Mr. Williams. We had an awesome discussion with him, and it really motivated me even more to be a part of PC. I might even think about trying to work for Peace Corps when we are done with service. Then my last day in Manila I was invited to go to the Peace Corps' 50th Anniversary Party @ the Ambassador's house! It was insanely nice. We had great food, got to meet some great people, and were able to talk to old PCVs and compare experiences. I really enjoyed every minute of it, and am so grateful that I got to be a part of that historical event.
So when I got back the next weekend Ryan held his Environmental Youth Hike. I got to help him out, and I'm glad I did. It was a huge success. There were about 200+ youth, whom all hiked 5K and picked up trash along the way. We played games, listened to various speakers, and took tons of pictures! It was nice to see that the youth care about their environment.
The next day we went to Ryan's supervisor's grandson's 1st birthday party. It was fun and a great cultural experience. There were tons of little kids there and I played "Hookie Pookie" with them. They loved it!
After all of that excitement we prepared for Kenny to come visit us! We borrowed some cots from the school for Ryan and I to sleep on while Kenny used our bed. We went to Tacloban to meet Kenny. When he arrived he was very hot, which was funny b/c it wasn't hot to Ryan and I, so I guess we are adjusting pretty well. We stayed the night in Tacloban and then headed to McArthur Park the next day. Afterwards we headed to Hilongos, to show Kenny what our everyday life is like. He got to see where we work, live, our friends, neighbors, places we like to eat, and how we like to spend our free time.
We then headed off for Vietnam! Well our trip didn't start out so great; we were supposed to leave Tacloban to fly to Manila, and then to Ho Chi Minh, except our flight in Tacloban got cancelled and we had to wait until the next day to fly to Manila. So we had to find a hotel, in the pouring rain, and hung out in Tacloban an extra day. We finally made it to Ho Chi Minh and had a great time. We visited some museums, went shopping, and tried lots of new foods. We then headed to Hanoi, which is in Northern Vietnam. When we got there it was cold! What an amazing contrast to the Philippines! Ryan and I soaked it in as much as we could! It was finally winter time for us, lol :) While in Hanoi we visited Ha Long bay, did more shopping, ate some amazing food, and had a great time hanging out. It was an amazing trip and we all had a really great time. Ryan and I want to try and go back to do some hiking when our service is over, but we will have to wait and see...
So we saw Kenny off and headed back to our site. It was a surreal experience. I was really sad to see Kenny go, but I'm sure glad he got to come visit us. Since he left I have gone through some more homesickness, but I will be fine and I know I will bounce back. Now it's back to work and time to dig our heels back into being volunteers. We will be transferring houses soon, which I think will be a better situation for us.
Just some random thoughts, Peace Corps has changed the way I look at traveling now. I found myself wanting to get to know more locals versus just going to the "touristy" places. I also wanted to learn some of the language, which helps a lot when your interacting with the locals. Not such a bad thing, I think.
School is ending and Graduation is next Monday! We have 345 students graduating! Summer is approaching, now if it will jut stop raining! (It has been raining here everyday, I thought the rainy season was over, but apparently not. I don't mind the rain, it just sucks when you have to hang laundry out to dry; it just takes longer that's all) Love you all, miss you like CRAZY. Until next time...
So let's see. First at the end of February I was elected to be on a committee called VAC. It's a small group that meets four times a year to work on policy issues between volunteers and staff. So Ryan had Warden training and when he was coming home I left to go to my first VAC meeting. This was also my first time in Manila. Manila is crazy! You can get anything there, but man, it's expensive! I was able to catch up with a lot of PCVs I haven't seen since we started and I also got to meet some people I never met. So our meeting went great! We were able to voice PCVs concerns and work them out with staff. We are very lucky and have a great staff backing us up. Then the next day we had a conference call with PC Director, Mr. Williams. We had an awesome discussion with him, and it really motivated me even more to be a part of PC. I might even think about trying to work for Peace Corps when we are done with service. Then my last day in Manila I was invited to go to the Peace Corps' 50th Anniversary Party @ the Ambassador's house! It was insanely nice. We had great food, got to meet some great people, and were able to talk to old PCVs and compare experiences. I really enjoyed every minute of it, and am so grateful that I got to be a part of that historical event.
So when I got back the next weekend Ryan held his Environmental Youth Hike. I got to help him out, and I'm glad I did. It was a huge success. There were about 200+ youth, whom all hiked 5K and picked up trash along the way. We played games, listened to various speakers, and took tons of pictures! It was nice to see that the youth care about their environment.
The next day we went to Ryan's supervisor's grandson's 1st birthday party. It was fun and a great cultural experience. There were tons of little kids there and I played "Hookie Pookie" with them. They loved it!
After all of that excitement we prepared for Kenny to come visit us! We borrowed some cots from the school for Ryan and I to sleep on while Kenny used our bed. We went to Tacloban to meet Kenny. When he arrived he was very hot, which was funny b/c it wasn't hot to Ryan and I, so I guess we are adjusting pretty well. We stayed the night in Tacloban and then headed to McArthur Park the next day. Afterwards we headed to Hilongos, to show Kenny what our everyday life is like. He got to see where we work, live, our friends, neighbors, places we like to eat, and how we like to spend our free time.
We then headed off for Vietnam! Well our trip didn't start out so great; we were supposed to leave Tacloban to fly to Manila, and then to Ho Chi Minh, except our flight in Tacloban got cancelled and we had to wait until the next day to fly to Manila. So we had to find a hotel, in the pouring rain, and hung out in Tacloban an extra day. We finally made it to Ho Chi Minh and had a great time. We visited some museums, went shopping, and tried lots of new foods. We then headed to Hanoi, which is in Northern Vietnam. When we got there it was cold! What an amazing contrast to the Philippines! Ryan and I soaked it in as much as we could! It was finally winter time for us, lol :) While in Hanoi we visited Ha Long bay, did more shopping, ate some amazing food, and had a great time hanging out. It was an amazing trip and we all had a really great time. Ryan and I want to try and go back to do some hiking when our service is over, but we will have to wait and see...
So we saw Kenny off and headed back to our site. It was a surreal experience. I was really sad to see Kenny go, but I'm sure glad he got to come visit us. Since he left I have gone through some more homesickness, but I will be fine and I know I will bounce back. Now it's back to work and time to dig our heels back into being volunteers. We will be transferring houses soon, which I think will be a better situation for us.
Just some random thoughts, Peace Corps has changed the way I look at traveling now. I found myself wanting to get to know more locals versus just going to the "touristy" places. I also wanted to learn some of the language, which helps a lot when your interacting with the locals. Not such a bad thing, I think.
School is ending and Graduation is next Monday! We have 345 students graduating! Summer is approaching, now if it will jut stop raining! (It has been raining here everyday, I thought the rainy season was over, but apparently not. I don't mind the rain, it just sucks when you have to hang laundry out to dry; it just takes longer that's all) Love you all, miss you like CRAZY. Until next time...
